This week heralded the birth of octuplets somewhere in California and my first thought was “traveling with all 8 by air would NOT be a fun prospect!” Given that my job is a regional one, I do a lot of travel in the region and every once in a while to Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. Over the years, I have amassed over 2 million frequent flyer miles between two major airlines and although most of these miles have been earned on American Airlines, today January 29th 2009, I am formally withdrawing my allegiance from them and as for where I put it, who knows? Right now, I am leaning towards TACA who partners with United and Iberia so I will be covered practically to the places I travel most frequently. Why am I disgruntled with American Airlines? Well, briefly put, and in my humble opinion, they don’t seem to be all that concerned with keeping loyal customers and after many less than satisfactory experiences with them, I have decided it’s time to cut the cord. Most recently, I received an email from them inviting me to pay to extend my platinum status for a year but, upon clicking on the link, I was told I did not qualify. I then contacted them thinking that: a) since I was a Platinum Member and b) they had sent me the link that they would do the right thing and honor their initial invitation-mistake or not. Alas, that was not to be instead, I got the following response:
Dear Me,
The AAdvantage® Customer Service representative with whom you've been corresponding is not immediately available. Rather than keep you waiting, I'm pleased to assist you.We appreciate your sharing your feelings about the expiration of your AAdvantage Platinum® membership.
It is never easy to tell customers thatwe cannot extend the elite status they have enjoyed, even through an exception to the Retain for a Fee offer.Still, we are committed to the principle that members should earn elite status through their demonstrated loyalty. We believe in the importance of exclusivity and do not wish to dilute the benefits earned by members who have met the qualification criteria.
Please keep in mind that because premium fares earn 1.5 points per elite-qualifying mile flown, you can qualify for your desired elite membership even if you fly less than the required elite-qualifying miles. For more information about earning points, please visit our Web site at aa.com/aadvantage. Select 'AAdvantage Elite Status/QualificationRequirements.'I am truly sorry to disappoint you and hope you will be successful in earning the elite status you desire.
Please continue to favor us with your business.Again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. I look forward to assisting you in the future.
Regards,
XXXXXX.
AAdvantage Customer ServiceAmerican Airlines
I thought about asking how my request “dilutes the benefit” for others seeing as I am Platinum and have been for many years but decided against it. Apparently, they are only willing to dilute the benefit by just a little bit but not too much.
The caveat is I am pretty close to having 1 million miles with them, which would guarantee me elite status for life so, while I will no longer go out of my way to fly American Airlines, if I have to fly them once in a while because that is what work dictates, then I will. I am not sure just how long my allegiance will last with other airlines but we will see.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
President Obama sent me an email
There is no way I can let this day pass without an entry. Today will forever be etched in my memory and this entry is one way to be able to explain it further to K when he is old enough.
I of course sent in my contribution to the campaign and this got me on the mailing list in addition to this lovely tee shirt seen below.
Since then, I have begun to receive emails from the president keeping me informed with all his plans. I may save some of the more poignant ones for K. It is hard to capture what I am feeling at this point as well as what I have felt in the last 18 months or so. People will forever ask “what were you doing when you heard Obama had cinched the democratic nomination?” “What were you doing the night he won the election?” “What were you doing on January 20th 2009?” Common in all my responses was a sense of incredulity; like many black people I know, we never thought it would happen in our lifetime. There are feelings of elation, hope, vindication, fear, joy and finally exhaling. Living overseas adds another level to these feelings. The need to repair relations with other countries is important and people are also hopeful that this will happen.
In a few hours, history will be made when the first African American person will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. I wonder if the forebearers envisioned this?? It certainly was not an easy campaign for him but, it was to be expected that some people would not be as accepting. Although we tried not to say it but, race was an issue in this election from the question of Obama really being black to even if he is black, is he black enough? So, to some group of Americans, he is more palatable if identified as a “half black” man because at least there is some white blood in there (which African American doesn’t have some white blood?). And to some, he may look black but he has no street cred..seems like the poor man can’t win! He is carrying a lot on his shoulders, the culmination of the dreams of many, many people (past and present)..this cartoon is poignant to me…
Obama is inheriting a country that’s in which stark numbers tell the story of an economic debacle unrivaled since the 1930s:
• Eleven million people have lost their jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent, a 16-year high.
• One in 10 U.S. homeowners is delinquent on mortgage payments or in arrears.
• The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 33.8 percent in 2008, the worst decline since 1931, and stocks lost $10 trillion in value between October 2007 and November 2008.
Although he has been refered to as the 'magic negro', there is no way we can expect him to “fix” things by his first 100 days. I hope and pray that we give him a break, that we allow him the time to gain some semblance of control of the situation. But to the constant naysayers (of which there will be quite a few), this cartoon says it all.
I wonder what this means for K that the first president he remembers is like him (yes, I have no doubt Obama will win a second term) People constantly ask me “how do you think K will identify himself in the future” and depending on the specific day, sometimes I give a flippant response like “that is the last thing on our minds right now-I current focus is when will he sleep through the night and no pinching”. But really, what’s more empowering by saying “yeah, President Obama and I, similar stock and roots”
I ask myself, other than my financial contributions, what can I do? During the campaign, my “Obama Mama” group raised funds and participated in voter education and registration. We all pledged to pay our taxes on time, to support programs (no matter how painful) that will in the end be for the better good. Finally, I pray for his safety, mental health, his family and most of all for our country.
I of course sent in my contribution to the campaign and this got me on the mailing list in addition to this lovely tee shirt seen below.
Since then, I have begun to receive emails from the president keeping me informed with all his plans. I may save some of the more poignant ones for K. It is hard to capture what I am feeling at this point as well as what I have felt in the last 18 months or so. People will forever ask “what were you doing when you heard Obama had cinched the democratic nomination?” “What were you doing the night he won the election?” “What were you doing on January 20th 2009?” Common in all my responses was a sense of incredulity; like many black people I know, we never thought it would happen in our lifetime. There are feelings of elation, hope, vindication, fear, joy and finally exhaling. Living overseas adds another level to these feelings. The need to repair relations with other countries is important and people are also hopeful that this will happen.
In a few hours, history will be made when the first African American person will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. I wonder if the forebearers envisioned this?? It certainly was not an easy campaign for him but, it was to be expected that some people would not be as accepting. Although we tried not to say it but, race was an issue in this election from the question of Obama really being black to even if he is black, is he black enough? So, to some group of Americans, he is more palatable if identified as a “half black” man because at least there is some white blood in there (which African American doesn’t have some white blood?). And to some, he may look black but he has no street cred..seems like the poor man can’t win! He is carrying a lot on his shoulders, the culmination of the dreams of many, many people (past and present)..this cartoon is poignant to me…
Obama is inheriting a country that’s in which stark numbers tell the story of an economic debacle unrivaled since the 1930s:
• Eleven million people have lost their jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent, a 16-year high.
• One in 10 U.S. homeowners is delinquent on mortgage payments or in arrears.
• The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 33.8 percent in 2008, the worst decline since 1931, and stocks lost $10 trillion in value between October 2007 and November 2008.
Although he has been refered to as the 'magic negro', there is no way we can expect him to “fix” things by his first 100 days. I hope and pray that we give him a break, that we allow him the time to gain some semblance of control of the situation. But to the constant naysayers (of which there will be quite a few), this cartoon says it all.
I wonder what this means for K that the first president he remembers is like him (yes, I have no doubt Obama will win a second term) People constantly ask me “how do you think K will identify himself in the future” and depending on the specific day, sometimes I give a flippant response like “that is the last thing on our minds right now-I current focus is when will he sleep through the night and no pinching”. But really, what’s more empowering by saying “yeah, President Obama and I, similar stock and roots”
I ask myself, other than my financial contributions, what can I do? During the campaign, my “Obama Mama” group raised funds and participated in voter education and registration. We all pledged to pay our taxes on time, to support programs (no matter how painful) that will in the end be for the better good. Finally, I pray for his safety, mental health, his family and most of all for our country.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Officer in charge, bilingual 2 and half year old (and other stories)
People have asked me how exactly I got this job given that the whole issue of getting a job with the UN seems rather mysterious. Way back in 2005, I was invited to take an exam and passing it put me on something called the International Professional Roster. It was made clear to me that they would only go to this list if there was no one qualified internally. After 2 years of being on the list, I figured the chances of me getting a job were slim to none. But, nevertheless, I kept “expressing interest” in positions as they opened up but felt like my responses were going into a black hole. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I received an ominous 3 line email from someone in March 2008 asking if I was interested in being interviewed for a position at noon Geneva time. Before thinking about it, I responded “yes” only to figure out that noon Geneva time was 2AM my time and since K usually woke up around that time and being alone, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete my interview. I didn’t hear anything for 3 months and assumed I was out of the running till 3 days before my 40th birthday. So, 3 years, 9 months and 3 days after I received the initial email informing me of this exam, we all set off for our new adventure!
Getting to office in charge (OIC) I should explain the org chart. I belong to a group of staff people whose job it is to provide technical assistance to the entire region and as such, my supervisor is in Geneva. In essence, my team and I are being “hosted” here. Given my work style, I like having my boss miles and time zones away! Here in-country, there is a country rep who overseas the local staff but he isn’t my boss. He took his annual leave in December so for 2 weeks I got to be the officer in charge. I had many ideas for what I would do with all that power but in the end, I signed 56 different documents and ordered people to go home after the earthquake. The country rep came back on Monday so now, I am back to a being a “regular” staff person.
It is obvious that K at 30 months is starting to distinguish between Spanish and English even though he still speaks mainly “spanglish” some of his funnier sayings are:
1. During bath time, “No jabon in eyes”
2. During meal time, “una napkin please” not sure why una versus un
3. While playing with his trains “Thomas se hizo crash”
4. When he sees ants “Mama, baygon to matar the hormigas, please”
We are hoping to stay in a Spanish speaking country till he is 8 years old or so; that way he will have a solid base in the language. Since K has been on vacation, he spends more time with Spanish than English and it shows in his speech so, when I am home after work, I try to talk with him more and he has taken to repeating most things you say to him if he doesn’t understand. Rather cute..the whole process of language acquisition is fascinating to me. We are thinking of him learning Arabic or Chinese (mandarin) may be our next focus.
Speaking of ants, I have seen so many varieties and J is just in bug haven given the fact that he is an entomologist by training. I should add that I have this irrational fear of bugs in general. Topping the list are spiders, roaches and centipedes. Every time I dispose of one, I think about all those movies with giant bugs and envision for a second, all the spiders relatives coming back to get me-I did say irrational fear right?
Getting to office in charge (OIC) I should explain the org chart. I belong to a group of staff people whose job it is to provide technical assistance to the entire region and as such, my supervisor is in Geneva. In essence, my team and I are being “hosted” here. Given my work style, I like having my boss miles and time zones away! Here in-country, there is a country rep who overseas the local staff but he isn’t my boss. He took his annual leave in December so for 2 weeks I got to be the officer in charge. I had many ideas for what I would do with all that power but in the end, I signed 56 different documents and ordered people to go home after the earthquake. The country rep came back on Monday so now, I am back to a being a “regular” staff person.
It is obvious that K at 30 months is starting to distinguish between Spanish and English even though he still speaks mainly “spanglish” some of his funnier sayings are:
1. During bath time, “No jabon in eyes”
2. During meal time, “una napkin please” not sure why una versus un
3. While playing with his trains “Thomas se hizo crash”
4. When he sees ants “Mama, baygon to matar the hormigas, please”
We are hoping to stay in a Spanish speaking country till he is 8 years old or so; that way he will have a solid base in the language. Since K has been on vacation, he spends more time with Spanish than English and it shows in his speech so, when I am home after work, I try to talk with him more and he has taken to repeating most things you say to him if he doesn’t understand. Rather cute..the whole process of language acquisition is fascinating to me. We are thinking of him learning Arabic or Chinese (mandarin) may be our next focus.
Speaking of ants, I have seen so many varieties and J is just in bug haven given the fact that he is an entomologist by training. I should add that I have this irrational fear of bugs in general. Topping the list are spiders, roaches and centipedes. Every time I dispose of one, I think about all those movies with giant bugs and envision for a second, all the spiders relatives coming back to get me-I did say irrational fear right?
Friday, January 9, 2009
My weight loss journey
I was diagnosed with Graves Disease a few months after K was born-and to think I thought my weight loss was due to the nursing! The wonder drug PTU which helped stabilize me, also made me gain quite a bit of weight. I am probably the heaviest I have ever been. So, spurred on by the fact that I can't fit into any of my nice clothes, I joined a gym. It's been 2 weeks now and I refuse to even weight myself till the end of March. So for now, it's gym 3 times a week and in between, I ride my elliptical machine while K is either in the bath tub or napping. I have our nanny and housekeeper in on this as well and hey go for hour long walks 3 times a week. We all have about the same amount of weight to loose. The official "weigh-in" begins in 2 weeks....
Welcome to my blog!
I meant to start this blog ages ago but I am finally just getting
around to it. Today is the day (or weekend) that I will finally update
my website as well. It’s a Friday and we are recovering from the 6.2
earthquake yesterday. Let me formally introduce all the members of my
household. First of course is me, 40 year old wife to Jeff, mom to
K and bonus mom to C. Then there is 45 year old
Jeff-entrepreneur extraordinaire and owner of Sureharvest. Next is 14
year old C who is kicking butt in Santa Catalina and her 2 year old
brother K who is just kicking butt. Rounding off our household is
28 year old Cecilia from Peru who is K’s caregiver and 48 year
old Carmen from Nicaragua who helps with housekeeping. I probably
should also include our guard/gardener Lujan and his wife who live in a
house on the same lot as ours. So now, you will know whom I am talking
about in the future.
around to it. Today is the day (or weekend) that I will finally update
my website as well. It’s a Friday and we are recovering from the 6.2
earthquake yesterday. Let me formally introduce all the members of my
household. First of course is me, 40 year old wife to Jeff, mom to
K and bonus mom to C. Then there is 45 year old
Jeff-entrepreneur extraordinaire and owner of Sureharvest. Next is 14
year old C who is kicking butt in Santa Catalina and her 2 year old
brother K who is just kicking butt. Rounding off our household is
28 year old Cecilia from Peru who is K’s caregiver and 48 year
old Carmen from Nicaragua who helps with housekeeping. I probably
should also include our guard/gardener Lujan and his wife who live in a
house on the same lot as ours. So now, you will know whom I am talking
about in the future.
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