Blahgorrhea

I received in the mail today a letter from Delta letting me know that they are combining their two different rewards programs, both of which I have been a member of for a number of years. The letter assured me that I would still be provided with the same excellent service I have come to expect (which isn’t saying all that much), but my concern really is whether or not those frequent flier miles are really worth anything anymore.

Over the last 10 years or so, I have accumulated over 200,000 miles that I can redeem for free travel, for stupid office gifts or for magazine subscriptions. I learned tonight that I can also donate the points to charities. I have been flying Delta most of my life, as they are based out of Atlanta, and I have had an American Express card that offers me 1 SkyMile for every dollar I spend. I am religious about using my credit card in order to amass rewards points, but I never actually redeem the points, so why do I keep up with this ritual, when I could instead use a credit card that offers me cash back? [Continue reading…]

I’ve been biking to work recently as a way to cut down on my frustration derived from driving. I try to be a good cyclist, because I know how much drivers hate cyclists in the city. And they have every right to hate cyclists who do things as stupid as bike the wrong way on a one-way street. What is the point of that, when there is most definitely a one-way street in the opposite direction one block away? Worse yet, I came across a guy biking on the wrong side of a two-way street, coming right at me in the bike lane. I yelled to him that he was biking on the wrong side, but he didn’t seem to care. You are ruining it for all of us.

I was reading in a local coffee shop yesterday when a woman barged in and announced, “I’ve found money. I need the largest house coffee you have. And I need a lot of room for milk and suger.” I wanted to slap her right there. She clearly hadn’t been taught manners as a child. She didn’t storm out in a hurry, so it’s not as if she needed to be curt to get in and out fast. And then, when she left, she took about 50 paper napkins. It’s too bad the barista was polite to her.