Life and its little pleasures

Yes! Got it!

Today in my email:

The Vermont Service Center has approved the following
I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker
that had been filed under the Premium Processing Service:

Petitioner: THE CAPITAL MARKETS COMPANY INC

Beneficiary: CLAUDIA A P SCHIEPERS
Classification: H1B
Starting Validity Date: 10/01/08
Ending Validity Date: 08/31/11
Consulate notified (if applicable): LONDON
I-94 # (if applicable):

Me = happy, happy, happy, happy...

Moving in September!!! Yay!

Does Jennie fit?

She does. Both in Phil's Porsche and in Alex's Crossfire! Good stuff this weekend! That accent up north... wow...

Britain's talent

Another one I really liked.

Manchester

Today, I'm driving up to Manchester to celebrate Rachel's 30th birthday. The party is Sunday night in a hotel and we are staying in the same place for the night (convenient he). It will be good to see the Southampton university gang again. Most of them came to my fabulous decade party, but I didn't really get a chance to talk to them much as there were also about 70 other guests to entertain.
Then Tuesday, I'm off to New York again for some hardcore prep for the company's partner meeting. That will be in Miami the week after. I'm really really looking forward to that one. After the last partner meetings in London and Brussels, I have to say, I scored some good points with the partners to it move to a warmer climate. And the "team building" will definitely be less violent than previous years. No more paintball, shooting, archery etc, but a cool deep sea fishing trip on the ocean!

Fleet week!!!

It's fleet week in NYC! All Sex and the City fans know exactly what I mean wih that. If you have never heard of it, well, it's supposed to be fantastic! I will arrive in NYC on the 27th, so I only get to experience the last day! That's also the day the Sex and the City film has it's premiere in New York. How appropriate.

Thousands of Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen from U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard ships will be in town for Fleet Week New York.
Hosted nearly every year since 1984, Fleet Week New York is the City's celebration of the sea services. This annual event also provides an opportunity for the citizens of New York City and the surrounding Tri-State area to meet Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, as well as witness first hand the latest capabilities of today's Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Team.
Fleet Week includes dozens of military demonstrations and displays throughout the week, as well as public visitation of many of the participating ships.

 

Kaisers

I just got four free tickets to the Kaiser Chiefs tomorrow in Leeds. As I was going up north anyway this weekend for Rach's birthday in Manchester on Sunday, I think this will be an excellent start to the Bank holiday weekend. I'm actually not doing anything for work on that official holiday. I think that's almost a first!

Now I only have to convince P. that the Kaisers are an excellent idea... Two tickets left! Let me know if you want to join.

15 Minutes

Wow, 1700 hits on my blog yesterday... over 600 today... And a couple of emails from "fans". Funny, those 15 minutes of fame.

Now I just have to find a way to see it as the multi-functional DVD-recorder with hard drive in Riemst failed to tape it, although bro Rob assures me he set it correctly. Yeah right...

Edible

I can't help it, I find this fucking hilarious. Great gift. Just like when my ex-boyfriend bought edible underwear for my dad for Christmas :-)

Britain's talent

Another one of those unexpected "kippenvel"-moments on Britain's got talent. Kuddos to this boy. I'm becoming a real fan of this program.

BA - Bullshit airline

I just got back from a 10 day trip to New York and I'm telling you, I have had it with the idiots at British Airways. Unfortunately, my next trip with them is already booked for the end of the month and non-refundable, so I can't cancel that ticket. I guess it's their last chance to redeem themselves, although I'm not hopeful.

I've flown BA ever since I moved to London about 2 years ago for at least 2 atlantic flights per month, sometimes more. Because my office always booked the cheapest flights, I never got any miles on BA (correction, I got about 800 for an atlantic flight, while you normally get about 3500 for that on other airlines). But I stayed loyal, hoping that I would get to the point where they would recognize my recurring business and give me an upgrade every now and then. Recently, I have asked the travel agency not to book the cheapest flights anymore but the full fare economy ones, so I could get full miles. This was more to avoid getting middle seats in the back again when on a red-eye flight back to London and having to work the next day.

Other airlines have very specific promises when buying full fare economy seats, like e.g. Continental:

No Middle Seat" Guarantee: To ensure a comfortable flight we'll guarantee that you receive a window or aisle seat in Economy Class if you are not upgraded to the front cabin when you purchase a full fare on Continental Airlines and Continental Micronesia operated flights. We're so committed to this guarantee, we'll automatically reward our OnePass members with 2,500 OnePass miles if they do sit in a middle seat.

But not with BA... noooooo. I arrived at the desk with my e-ticket with confirmed seat 22A. "I'm sorry miss, but our flight is a little full and I only have middle seats left".
Me: "What do you mean, I have a confirmed seat and paid full fare to make sure I got this seat?"
Them: "I'm really sorry miss, but I have no other seats available".

So there you stand then with your full fare ticket... And of course once on the plane, the whole freaking business class is almost empty but they would rather die than upgrade you to that.

See, I can deal with the lousy service at Heathrow (thank god my flight changed back to terminal 4 instead of terminal 5), the losing my bags every now and then (3 times on BA, never on another airline), the arrogant staff at check in, the horrible state of the BA check-in counters at Newark (I know... you are remodeling), the horrendous food on the planes, the shitty inflight entertainment systems, the freakishly cold flights etc... But when I pay for my full fare, I expect to get what I pay for and I don't think that is too much to ask.

I'm flying again to NY on May 27th. Last chance to make me change my mind. I already applied for the Continental Airlines One Pass as I don't believe in miracles or fairy tales anymore.