Why Don’t We Focus On Conquering Air Travel Before Space Travel, Eh?

This is a book blog with underlying themes of Airline Hate.  This week’s entry is sponsored by the idiots at AirCanada, who made a mother-to-be go without her vitamins and most of her maternity wardrobe for 3 days.  Not to mention hairbrush.

This frustration was the background to Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer, lent to me by Blog Reader Valerie.  Netzer was recently in Richmond at The Fountain Bookstore, approximately 100 steps from my office but I missed the book signing due to Norman’s rigorous schedule of food and exercise. 

When Valerie gave the book to Andrew to give to me, my Hardworking But Not Dependable on Social Details Husband forgot to mention the little tidbit that Valerie didn’t really like the second half, and wanted to know what I thought.  Here is what I thought:  not good.  The book was definitely unique – I don’t read a lot of stories about a bald woman and her husband who is populating the moon with robots – but it was too weird for me.  Not enough reasons to be sad, and very, very far fetched.  Man will never get to the moon!!  We can barely get home from Canada and back with all of our makeup. 

Bookworm enjoys ice pop in Canada.
Does not realize airline sadness is just 24 hours away.

Riches in the Form of Books Poured All Over Mama Bookworm

I love my blog readers.  It’s likely because I know almost all of them personally (though I have branched out a bit thank you Loyal Reader Debbie).

This week’s success story comes from Dedicated Reader & Former Co-Worker & Current Brooklyn Dweller Courtney.  She has gifted my unborn child an incredible book… about books. 

It’s a Book by Lane Smith puts these digital times in perspective by describing what a book truly is – and more specifically, what it is not.  True, it has a bit more swearing than the average kids book, but that’s because the character unfamiliar with this idea of  “books” is a jackass both literally and figuratively.  This book nails me both in hobby and personality.  Well played, Courtney.  A sincere and barely public thank you.

This packaging made me feel famous

I’d also like to thank Longtime Loyal Reader & Receiver of Grief Lane for sending me two lovely and beautiful books for my fetus before the news was even public.  In fact, Top Reader Katherine used a photo op of this occasion to announce to our entire office that I was pregnant.  Another win for social media, friendship and what can only be categorized as minor hazing.

This photo announced my pregnancy to about 150 of my closest co-workers.

Most commented on the chicken salad I was about to eat for lunch, which was indeed delicious.

Bookworm cannot contain excitement about presents.
Especially when those presents are books!

PS The formatting issues in this post are due to Blogspot, who truly brought a Delta Airlines performance to the table tonight.

Ignore This One Readers - It's For My Friends at Delta Airlines That Ignored My Official Complaint

Dear Delta,

My husband and I had an appalling experience on your airline August 12, 2012.  We purchased a direct flight from Cincinnati to Richmond.  This flight was delayed for 5 hours before ultimately being cancelled due to a mechanical issue.  It was a perfectly clear day, and no other flights were delayed.  I had been advised not to find an alternate route, and to wait until this flight – which never flew – took off.

No replacement flight was ever scheduled.  We were told we could make it back to Richmond at 5 pm on August 13, a full 25.5 hours later.  This was unacceptable for us.  We instead re-routed ourselves to DC, finally arriving at home in Richmond after midnight.  Despite all the hours of waiting, we were on edge waiting for updates the whole time, as well as negotiating with a gate agent about how to get home.  So despite the $6 meal vouchers, at 4 months pregnant I had to skip dinner.

Below is a breakdown of our financial loss, as well as our time loss.

Financial

We paid $677.80 for our two round trip tickets.  Our outbound flight was fine, so we consider the loss to be the return flight that never happened, totaling $338.90.  This, of course, does not take into account the fact that we chose a more expensive flight for the benefit of a direct return home.

We rented a car from Avis, including a one-way drop off charge.  The total cost was $215.33.

Our gas to drive from DC to Richmond was $14.52.

We added a night to our doggy daycare, which totaled $30.

Our extra 24 hours of airport parking was $12.

Total financial loss = $610.75

Time Loss

We departed from Cincinnati 6.5 hours late.

Total time to rent a car, and then drive to Richmond was 3 hours.

Time to return rental car the following day was 1.25 hours.

Time to submit this complaint equals 1 hour.

Total time loss = 11.75 hours

I would like to be refunded $610.75 in full.  I was insulted by the arrogant offer to get $50 off my next Delta purchase by the gate agent.  A voucher will not suffice; I need to recoup my financial loss here.  Obviously this amount does not include compensation for significant time loss or frustration.

This is my first attempt to be refunded.  If this does not work, I will turn to social media – I bet this story and thorough breakdown of injustice would be popular.  My third action will be contacting the Better Business Bureau.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Allison & Andrew Oxenreiter

aldonahue@gmail.com 

Erin #2 is #1 Book Recommender

Do you know what my favorite thing about the Cincinnati Airport is?  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  This is a detail that won’t be covered in my upcoming social media campaign against Delta Airlines. 

Since I have a long-standing policy against airport stories, I will stick to books.  Gone Girl was recommended to me by Blog Reader And Expert Book Recommender Erin #2.  Erin has a remarkable success rate and she really outdid herself on this one.  Everyone should read this awesome book.  I was 100% riveted.  I wasn’t crazy about the ending, but the story is so damn smart all the way through that I still give it a million star rating. 

This book was so good that I described it in detail to Reluctant Listener and Blog Follower and Husband Andrew during a midnight drive from Washington, DC to Richmond brought to us by my good friends at Delta Airlines.  He even seemed to be listening as I rambled on about the intricacies of this incredible story. 

This is a great book for non-reader friends to make them fall in love with reading (yes, I am talking to you Lane).  It is also great for passive aggressive airport rage and house-cleaning avoidance – so I hear.

Starts Off With Long List Of Dislikes, But Ends Up Positive

I don’t like hiking, exercising, sweating, or lifting heavy things.  I know that makes me sound pretty lazy and unhealthy, but I do all the dishes in our household (Every.  Single.  One.) and eat a lot of fruit.  That’s the best I can do. 

So I can’t really relate to Cheryl Strayed’s true story Wild about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.  I am not sure what would lure someone to walk hundreds and hundreds of miles in knowingly uncomfortable situations.  I prefer a vacation with museums and frequent beer stops (sigh).

Despite not relating to this pretty crazy woman, I enjoyed her story of bravery and brought-upon-herself hardship.  Like Cheryl, I too was tired of it by the end and could understand wanting to sit and relax on the rocking chairs on the beautiful deck at the Crater Lake Lodge.  I am Pro-Rocking-Chair Sitting as an activity.

Enjoying rocking chairs at The Crater Lake Lodge with my grandparents, circa 1993.
I believe my t-shirt has a dog on either a skateboard or a surfboard on the back.

Special thanks to Potential Blog Reader Paige for recommending and lending me this book.  An additional thank you to Paige (and perhaps apology?) for doing a bunch of my work this week.  I can’t think of a better combo than lightening my workload and then lending me a good book.  And then for Misty and Kerri to get another gold medal.  Winning all over the place this week.

Crater Lake is truly unbelievable.  I want to see it again with as little walking as possible.
Doing what I do best - sitting - with my brother The Goat.

The Key With Kids Is To Give Winding Unclear and Wordy Direction, As Seen Here

Has anyone noticed that there has been, on average, one more audiobook than usual available for download from the Richmond Public Library?  That’s because I took a little hiatus from listening to books in exchange for napping.  But I’m back, as I have found audiobook listening to be a perfect activity to pair with nesting, the act of a mother-to-be looking at cute baby stuff on Pinterest.  In olden times, this term was used to refer to cleaning and organizing.  Silly pioneer women!

Ok, so about this week’s audiobook.  Several people – but most notably Top Blog Reader Kiley – have been surprised for years that I have never read the Harry Potter books.  I have never been interested in the Fantasy genre (and have lived to regret my brief foray into the Twilight series).  But when I saw that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling was available to download, I thought I’d give it a listen.  I’d love to add 500 books to my To Read Pile.  (That’s how many are in the series, right?)

Turns out, I don’t care about wizards going to wizardry school and their dumb wizard problems.  This book was completely uninteresting.  I mean, wow.  I can’t believe how much people (mainly 10 year olds, Kiley) love this stuff.  I’d like to recommend they check out the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Wow, is that good stuff.  And based on true stories of suffering and overcoming hardship, which every kid should want to learn about.  At one point they lived in a hill! (On the Banks of Plum Creek, Book 4 in the series)  For Christmas they got a peppermint stick! (every single one of the books)  And, perhaps even more sad – no Pinterest.  How did they decorate their dirt walls?

Ok, ok I think kids reading books is good no matter what wizardry crap they are into.  I remember reading some (perhaps 100) pretty useless books about silly babysitters and their little babysitter problems.   And now I run a completely unsuccessful blog about reading books.  Aim high, kiddos!

Bookworm Confession: A Damn Big One (Note to Self: Stop Swearing Soon)

Dearest Readership, I have a confession to make – I have been reading behind your backs.  Yes, it’s true.  Here is my current reading list in different stages of completion:

Baby Care Book came
from Mother-in-Law
in cutest wrapping paper ever

•        What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel (cheesy, but informative)
•        Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy (I am practically a doctor now)
•        The Baby Care Book: A Complete Guide from Birth to 12 Months Old by Dr. Jeremy Friedman and Dr. Norman Saunders (still relatively clueless about how to keep a baby alive) 

That’s right, The Bookworm is having a Baby Bookworm in January 2013.  More immediately, The Bookworm (henceforth referred to as “I”) is taking lots of naps during ideal reading opportunities.

One of Loyal Blog Follower Katherine’s first questions upon hearing the news (notably followed by a relatively horrified “on PURPOSE?!?!”) was about whether this blog would turn into a “Mom Blog.”  This was asked with a certain level of distaste.  No need to worry, this blog is committed to books and vaguely book-related topics.  Mom Blogs have such a wide audience, I worry about becoming too popular and over-exposed.  This underground blog allows me to continue my “normal” lifestyle and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

To maintain normalcy, Blog Reader Susan suggested I continue to
post gratuitous pictures of World's Best Dog Norman.