I ran my total miles for the year calculations in November - I was going to be about 3,500 miles short of 50K for the year (1P on United).
I had a $150 e-certificate from irrops (irregular operations) from a previous flight. I did some searching and found a fairly cheap fare from Seattle to Miami (everyone wants to get out of Seattle in December right?). The trip would get me roughly 6,500 miles and only ran me $150 and my time. I'd been reading about mileage running - traveling solely for the purpose of earning miles or status with an airline. Although this trip would not be a traditional mileage run (because I used an e-certificate), it would be my first trip for no apparent reason.
On Dec. 6th I rode the light rail to Sea-Tac around 10:00, and arrived at 10:45. Unfortunately the Red Carpet Club (United's lounge) closes at 7. I hung out outside the gate for a few minutes and it was time for boarding. My upgrade to first class had cleared the day before which made me even more excited for the trip. The snack provided in first was a wrap, salad and United's famous cookies. I asked the flight attendant if there was any extra cookies and she brought by another. Even though the flight was a red eye, I don't do much sleeping on planes. The flight attendant was also pretty aggressive about keeping my Jack and Coke's filled (hey, they are free right?). I dosed off for about 45 minutes before we started our decent in Washington, DC.
I headed the to RCC in IAD grabbed some breakfast, checked email and made some phone calls. I grabbed a root beer for the road and headed to the gate area for my flight to MIA. I caught up on email did some reading on the flight. Thankfully this flight was much shorter than SEA-IAD. We arrived in Miami and I brushed my teeth, freshened up and turned right back around to board the same plane in seat 3A to O'Hare. I listened to my recently received iPod and made some notes for the work week ahead. This was another short flight and uneventful. We landed at ORD and I headed to the RCC to grab some snacks. I had a little bit of time to check email and call my dad and then it was time to fly the final leg.
ORD-SEA was a good flight, we must have had a tail wind because we made some great time. I finalized my plan for the next week, enjoyed a nice dinner and watched Despicable Me. I got to Sea-Tac just in time to head to the RCC and catch the end of the Kansas game. A nice W was a fitting end to my first "mileage run".
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Thursday, December 16, 2010
First Blog - Restless
It is 2:33 am Pacific time (4:33 Central) as I sit here in the basement of my parent's house in Davenport, IA.
My Grandma (known to family as "Mimi") passed away this week and I made the journey home to celebrate her life. I've had trouble sleeping much since she has moved on. I've gotten in a few naps and and alcohol induced 5 hours of sleep in Denver thanks to United Airlines.
Mimi was such a wonderful person. She was married for 60 years to my Grandpa - Jim "Pop" Fox (who passed in '06). Grandpa is somewhat of a legend in the Quad City area. He coached 6 players that went onto the NFL, including Roger Craig and his brother. Between Pop's coaching and Mimi's teaching (27 years in the Davenport schools) there have been a great deal of lives affected by them both.
I was amazed, although I shouldn't be at the volume of ex-players, students and teachers at both of their visitations. Mimi was aging quickly in the past year. I was lucky enough to see her in October as I was home for work. She tired easily and you could tell she got people, days, places confused. Nevertheless she was still the best Grandma and friend anyone could ask for. Mimi was my source of information about the family - "XXXX had a new baby.", "XXXX and XXXXX are moving.", she knew everything that happened in the Fox family. I will miss getting her updates every week or so (even if she sometimes didn't respect the west coast time change). When my phone would ring at 5AM on a weekend I knew it was either work, or Mimi.
I have so many stories I could share about the 26 years I was able to spend with her and the many, many things she taught me. All I know is that she will be able to spend Christmas with Pop for the first time in 5 years and I can take comfort in knowing that she is in a better place checking in on all of us just as much as she would from Earth.
RIP Beth "Mimi" Fox
My Grandma (known to family as "Mimi") passed away this week and I made the journey home to celebrate her life. I've had trouble sleeping much since she has moved on. I've gotten in a few naps and and alcohol induced 5 hours of sleep in Denver thanks to United Airlines.
Mimi was such a wonderful person. She was married for 60 years to my Grandpa - Jim "Pop" Fox (who passed in '06). Grandpa is somewhat of a legend in the Quad City area. He coached 6 players that went onto the NFL, including Roger Craig and his brother. Between Pop's coaching and Mimi's teaching (27 years in the Davenport schools) there have been a great deal of lives affected by them both.
I was amazed, although I shouldn't be at the volume of ex-players, students and teachers at both of their visitations. Mimi was aging quickly in the past year. I was lucky enough to see her in October as I was home for work. She tired easily and you could tell she got people, days, places confused. Nevertheless she was still the best Grandma and friend anyone could ask for. Mimi was my source of information about the family - "XXXX had a new baby.", "XXXX and XXXXX are moving.", she knew everything that happened in the Fox family. I will miss getting her updates every week or so (even if she sometimes didn't respect the west coast time change). When my phone would ring at 5AM on a weekend I knew it was either work, or Mimi.
I have so many stories I could share about the 26 years I was able to spend with her and the many, many things she taught me. All I know is that she will be able to spend Christmas with Pop for the first time in 5 years and I can take comfort in knowing that she is in a better place checking in on all of us just as much as she would from Earth.
RIP Beth "Mimi" Fox
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