Artichokes, sunny cat, and view from a kayak

It's been a busy spring around here! Between running 4 mile and 5-k races, working like crazy, and visiting old friends, I've managed to find a few minutes to snap some shots of my amazing artichokes!



We've picked over thirty different artichokes (most of them small), and they've all been quite tasty!


This is Montana's favorite postition lately. She loves to sit in the sun upside-down!


We had a great day kayaking in Elkhorn Slough today, even though it was overcast and chilly. Here's the view from my kayak:

Ticketmaster is an inefficient monopoly!

I have been trying to buy tickets to see Wicked in San Francisco for the last couple of weeks. I have tried to use their website many times, and I always get to the page where it says, "Select these seats," with the specific dates, rows, and times shown. I select the seats I want, and without fail, I get an error that those seats are not available for purchase. Even though it said on the previous page that those three sets of seats were being held for me for two minutes and thirty seconds with a countdown clock. 

So I finally called them to see if I could have any better luck on the phone. As it turns out, despite a very helpful (and, I believe, competent to the best of the system's ability) representative, it took fifty-six minutes to buy the tickets. Nearly an hour! Inexcusable. 

Here was my request: 

"I would like to buy two tickets to see Wicked on a Saturday matinee in July or August. I want good seats. I am willing to pay $XY per ticket." (I already knew how much the good seats cost, since I had spent so much time trying to buy the tickets on their website.)

"Which date do you prefer?" she asked.

"I don't care--whichever Saturday in July or August has the best seats."

"Ok, please hold." Ten minutes later, as I started to wonder if my phone was still working, she came back on the line. "Thanks for holding. I have just gotten through July, and I'm starting on August now. Just wanted you to know that I hadn't forgotten about you. It will be a few more minutes." 

Fifteen minutes elapse. 

"Ok, I found seats in row L on Aug X or July Z (not a Saturday) for the price you mentioned." (proudly) 

"Great! Are they in the middle orchestra or side orchestra?"

"I'm not sure, let me check." 

Five minutes pass. 

"They are in the side orchestra."

"Oh, I really wanted to be in the middle orchestra section. Which date has the best seats in the middle orchestra section?"

"Please hold. It will be just a moment. Actually, it will take more than a few moments. I have to search each date individually and go into the page as if I'm going to buy tickets for that day."

Twenty minutes later: 

"Here are your options: row V on this date or row Y on that date." 

"Row V sounds great, thanks!"

"Do you want to buy these tickets?" 

"YES!"

I cannot believe that such a simple request took so long to fulfill. I can't believe that this request is so different from what most people would ask for. It seems that their database was not designed with the user in mind. If I could purchase Wicked tickets any other reasonable way, I would!

I can't travel without clean underwear in my carry-on

Here are four things I can't leave home without.

clean underwear in my carry-on
My luggage never gets lost. Even on complicated multi-national trips. Last year, however, when I traveled to Australia on a business trip, somehow my luggage did not arrive for four days. Each day, the airline promised me it would arrive the next day. When it didn't, I had to run out and buy a new outfit (or borrow one from a colleague). Lesson learned: pack underwear!

herbal tea
I can't leave home without my herbal tea. Great for soothing upset stomaches and homesickness, chamomile tea is always with me. (I also learned recently that if you order tea in many countries, it will automatically be black tea. To order herbal, you must order an "infusion.")

hot water bottle
A hot water bottle again helps soothe my stomach. And since I use one at home every night, having it when I'm away from home helps my get to sleep. A bonus is that it can double as a teddy-bear!

water heater
Two items above require a water heating device. Many hotels have coffee pots, which will work in a pinch. For making a single serving of tea, however, I have an electric device that plugs into the wall and has a metal coil that sits in the tea cup. It heats the water to boiling in moments! (I've heard this is not a new invention, that it has been around for a while, but it is new to me!)

Cool Trend: Real Frozen Yogurt

I am trying out using Plinky, which provides provocative question prompts to make blog posts more interesting and exciting! This is in response to, "What's the best place to get dessert?"

Everyone loves frozen yogurt these days. The new trendy frozen yogurt takes real yogurt and freezes it (shocking concept, I know)! Fraiche has the best, in my opinion. It's not particularly sweet (no sugar added, just milk and yogurt cultures) but you can add fresh fruit to make it extra tasty.

Letting go of the inner "shoulds"

I have been trying very hard lately to be less stressed. I've survived the layoffs at work, which has been a stressor for the last few months. I've heard word of several instructional design positions that are out there anyway, so it seems that there are options out there. We even talked about, if worst came to worst, selling our house and buying a farmhouse in Vermont (where we could raise sheep and babies and be legally married and frolic in the wildflower-covered mountains).

Two more things I'm doing now to reduce the daily stress:

• Implementing David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology to manage and keep track of tasks on the horizon
  
• Releasing the "shoulds" from my inner voice. These include
• I should practice guitar between guitar classes each week
  
• I should plant cucumbers and popcorn in the garden ASAP
• I should set up the drip irrigation system in the garden to reduce water usage
  
• I should pull out all the bamboo and replace the fence so we can plant blueberries and lemon trees
• I should feel bad about not having an upcoming run or triathlon to train for
• I should pick an upcoming run or triathlon to train for

I'm already starting to feel a lot less stressed. I also just booked a trip to go visit family on the east coast so we can celebrate three upcoming milestone birthdays, which I think has helped, too!