American Airlines sucks and let me tell you why...

So I know it's been a while since I posted a blog of any real substance, and for those who have read my exciting posts about where I've travelled or other random posts I say thank you, and I hope this blog satisifies your needs to know about the inner workings of my life.

First I have to say it was good being home again, being home twice in two months was fun and the second time I definitley didn't feel rushed to do anything in particular. I got to spend time with my parents and family. Although the second trip was short, I think six days was plenty especially with the holidays.

So I spent all of Christmas in an airplane (well airplanes there were two of them), got to sit next to interesting people and things. First I want to give some advice to air travelers.

1) If you are on a longer flight and are REALLY thiristy or want more than the cup that holds one third of the can of soda, be sure to ask specifically for a CAN of soda. They will usually give you a full can but have to be asked for A CAN OF SODA. I say usually because there was one instance on American Airlines where I did not get a ful can, but I did get a nice glare from the stewardess, I guess it's tough deciding between a full can and a third can.

2) If you do fly on an airlines be sure you aren't by the backdoor which is also by the plane's rear engines. I say this because my last leg of my flight home from Chicago to Newark I was in this position. First off the rear door was open at the first airport as they did some last minute trash and reloaded the planes with cans of soda. Oh did I mention how warm it is in Chicago this time of year? Yeah that was sarcastic. It wouldn't have been bad for 5-10 minutes, but rather for 35 minutes was a bit long.

2B) Reason not sit in the rear next to the door and back engines, you hear many noises that are rather loud. I had my IPod that I had to turn to full blast so I could hear my music, and even that I could still barley hear my IPod. but at least I had good leg space, so horray for me, who needs hearing when I have a little more leg room. Oh have I metioned I hate flying on American. HATE.

Another side note story about American Airlines: When I flew to SF and back in April, I flew American, the first time that I can remember flying American. So they lose my luggage and damage some of my stuff. That's alright as long as the customer service takes care of you, however they didn't. I reported my bags damaged and items were missing and damaged, to which they continued to tell me I was getting forms to fill out so I could formally file a complaint, never came. So I called again at the end of May, to which I got the "Oh my, we'll get those right out ot you" again to no avail, now I get the well we sent them and you never sent it back route. That's great, I wonder why some airlines go bankrupt...I fly a lot these days, enough that in the past 2 years I've had enough frequent flyer miles for two free trips and pay for half of my friends airfare out from Seattle. It's a shame that soem arilines have terrible customer serivce and then wonder why they are in the fiscal situation they are in.

American Airlines is like school in summertime. Yup you saw right, school in summertime. Not so good.

Some Deeper Thoughts

I usually start my deeper blogs with a song and this is no different:

How to Save a Life

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
And you begin to wonder why you came
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two thingsHe will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same

And you'll begin to wonder why you came
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past few months about things that are important to me.

As I've been nearing the end of my term in PRSSA and really a close to college finally (because of my ties to PRSSA I've always felt like in some way connected to being a student), that I've been pondering what can we do as now professionals. The one thing that keeps drilling into my head is the thought that you leave a place, better than when you found it. From CWU to PRSSA what can I do. I was vastly ashamed of the Northwest today when I discovered no one, not one member of the Puget Sound PRSA Chapter is a Champion for PRSSA. I've found a Champion for almost every other region for New York PRSA, Ohio, California but none count 'em ZERO from Oregon and Washington. It dismays me because it send a signal of how the professionals here view furthering education in students. So what does it take to be a Champion for PRSSA? Annual due: $50.00. Yup one check $50 bucks. You know what I'm doing with my next check? Yup writing $50 to the Champions cause. These people are instrumental in helping develop scholarships and the giving that goes to PRSSA. If you are reading this and are in a position to mentor or help the youth of tomorrow. Do so. This is my challenege to all the professionals out there who talk a good talk about students and future education.

A year and a half ago I was offered a set on the Alumni Board by the late Dan Jack, at the time President of the Alumni Association before he passed late last year. I've started to investigate ways I can be active and helpful to the alumni association because again, giving to students who will come after me is paramount to me.

Another thing that I've been pondering, and this goes to all communication graduates who were leaders. I'm contemplating writing another scholarship for the PR department. This would entail giving a student x dollars for being a leader on campus that includes active in clubs and organizations, contributions beyond grade point, so community service, etc, and a essay as to a leader who was inspirational to them and why. I feel that too often great leaders go unrecognized because they are so involved that their grade point may not be the highest, but have contributed to what I call "enhancing the world around them". A letter from someone they've touched or a peer would serve as the letter of recomendation.
How do we save a life? I'm not sure, I'm working on ways to make it better while we can.

An Average Day for An Average Guy

So I'm actually in Bellevue/Seattle this week while still keeping (well trying) to keep East Coast work hours. Also this does vary with advertiser e-mails or requests that come in...So here's my usual day and the times...left hour is PDT and the hour after the / is EST. 5:00/8:00 Wake Up 5:30/8:30 Shower 6:00/9:00 Drive to work 6:10/9:10 At work 6:20/9:20 Check e-mail 6:40/9:40 Enter Rev Numbers 7:00/10:00 Approve Keywords for NY Team 7:15/10:15 Begin/Finish any tasks for clients that have not yet been done. 8:00/11:00 Optimize accounts, review mtd revenue stats 9:00/12:00 Check hourly rev stats for the day 9:15/12:15 Optimize based off of the rev stats for the day 10:15/1:15 Scan ad/age, Google alerts and Online Media Daily for any good stories to pass along to the NY team. 10:30/1:30 Call advertisers to give them ideas and ways to increase ROI 11:00/2:00 Send weekly reports to advertisers 12:00/3:00 Lunch 1:00/4:00 Check e-mail/hourly stats 1:15/4:15 Begin to optimize based on stats and return any e-mails recieved 2:00/5:00 Run ROI reports to ensure the day so far has gone well 2:15/5:15 Using above report optimize to help reach goals 3:00/6:00 Depart for home 3:10/6:10 Arrive at home 3:30/6:30 nap 5:30/8:30 wake up greet parents 6:00/9:00 dinner 7:00/10:00 go out/watch TV 11:00/1:00 go to bed Then repeat! I have some stories I will repost on here soon, probably next week when I'm back in the big apple!