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If the sky is high, why the price of flying should be low? Have answers? Please submit it to any major airline’s headquarter.

 
The summer is in its full swing, fuel cost is rising, and the rules of the game are changing once again.

 
I already wrote  about many ways the airline industry is finding to dump our spirit of flying and change our habits of traveling. At first we had to adapt to certain seasonal changes in tickets’ pricing, then - 7, 14 and 21 days buying ahead, then - weekend stay, then - paying for food, then - 2nd bag for a fee, overweight bags, and finally: paying for our fuel, soft drinks and excess weight.

 
You may pay anywhere from $15 to $35 for booking a flight thru the airline’s agent, pay for using your free miles, pay for the fuel for the overseas flights, pay a bigger fee for a missed flight’s ticket change, etc.

 
Actually, you are getting something new: an intertainment. You may be able to use an Internet soon. Of course, you’ll pay for it.
You also will be able to buy more leg room.

 
I am surprised, that airlines don’t sell gift cards, yet. Imagine, 2 sets of grandparents buying “airline gift cards” 3 years in a row, so their grandchild-student can visit them after the graduation.
I am sure enough people will choose this option instead of a sweater or a pair of shoes, and airlines, just like many retail stores, may hold and use the money for whatever…

 
Of course, many cards will be lost or never redeemed, because three $100 certificates can’t buy much. People also have tendency to move, change plans, clean drawers, forget things and, besides, there will be a sliding scale fee for using those cards.

 
If you are interested in reading details on coming and anticipated changes in flying, read this article in San Francisco Chronicle.

 
This post is an official and, probably, final update on my quest in search of the Limited Edition Remy Martin Cognac. The original post on May 2, 2008 Remy Martin VSOP Limited Edition outlined the progress of discovery and search of this particular issue of Remy Martin cognac.

 
Yesterday I picked it up. The box and the bottle look as good, interesting and colorful, as expected.
Those few bottles I bought were the only bottles the proprietor of the Wine Trading Company’s (San Francisco) had. He ordered them especially for me. He, Gary, said he can do it for anyone who asks and can mail it, too.

 
You may contact him at: (415) 731-6222 or toll-free at 1-800-681-WINE.

Update 1

 

Today, June 30th, I received a verbal comment to this article from a friend, who complained about not enough information contained in the original post and lack of time to click thru to the article I am referring to.I’d like to correct his now.

 

This article is about a power of thinking, when making a decision. No matter what media says, always think for yourself.

 

In this case, comparing a cost of Toyota Prius with the amount of gas for your travelling needs. The $15,000 in additional cost may be too much compared with the amount of gas you use. How long will it take you to spend this much on gas? Do you really want to pay this money up front? Don’t forget to consider a battery cost, which may need to be replaced in a few years, and how long you plan to keep the vehicle: it may alter your plans.

 

Yes, the price of gas is outrageous, yes, it’s getting more expensive by day, yes, maybe you should do something about it.  And maybe not.

 

 If you stop and think about how and why you drive, you’ll probably come up with a very intelligent decision, which is not influenced by public’s cries about highway robbery or a heard reaction of a throng in general.

 

 A very interesting article published by CNN News asks you to do the math and wait, before you embark on a journey in search of the best economy vehicle.
 Read the article and think about it: maybe you already driving this most effective, comfortable, great looking, price efficient economy car.

 

If you are planning on getting a new discounted cell phone from your mobile phone company and by doing this extend your contract for additional 1 or 2 years, maybe you should postpone it for now.

 
As of July 1, 2008 there will be a new player in the field: Virgin Mobile USA.

 
Virgin Mobile USA will be offering unlimited nationwide calling plan with no annual contract for $79.99 per month (unlimited text and messaging is for additional $10/mo).

 
There should be no activation fee, no roaming or long-distance charge and plan may be adjusted to a different level.  The service will be offered on the pre-paid basis.

 
For more details see:  Virgin Mobile USA

 
For phone models offered see: Phones. Catalog.

 
Via CNet News

Have you ever been to an auction? If not, you have a great opportunity to watch a record breaking painting by Claude Monet being auctioned at Christie’s Auction House.

 
An article by BBC News have a short clip of an actual auction .

 
Claude Monet by rerouting a river created a water-garden at Giverny, where he painted his famous “Water lilies” paintings.
Painted in 1919 and only once exhibitioned in public, the “Water Lily Pond” (Le Bassin Aux Nympheas) was sold yesterday for a record breaking price of $80.5 million, which was almost double the estimated price.

 
Here is one more short, but informative article on the subject by CNN.

Those of you, who signed up and receive free updates and those, who just visit this site often and read my posts regularly, know that I have 3 cats, which I adore. So, here is the story.

 
On Saturday, June 21, the weather was extremely hot (for San Francisco): burning, scorching 100 degrees felt much hotter, than it was, the trees or other outside shade provided no visible relief and the ever present wind made itself scarce.

 
On that fateful day, in the morning, when the indoor temperature was still somewhat bearable, I left the door outside open: all that heat must’ve affected me that much. I was doing some housework, when I heard a cat’s cry. I stopped all the activities and went to investigate.

 
My 3 cats were sitting in the corridor facing an unwelcomed visitor - some neigborgh’s innocently looking, medium sized gray cat. I came closer. They were quietly staring at each other and seemed to be firmly connected to the floor. 

 
My reaction was fast and moves - swift: I grabbed my biggest, but most shy and timid cat and carried him to another room. He allowed it with no protests. I dropped him on the floor and was going to leave for the further rescue efforts, when, while I was unbending, he with a lightning speed with all his 15 pound might, suddenly launched at me: grabbed my right hand with both his paws, plunged his claws deep into the flesh and hang there for the eternity, which was probably, a few seconds. At the same time with a strong bang, he plunged his teeth into my hand, as well. When the shock of the pain registered, I screamed his name, he let go off me and just sat there looking somewhere past me.

 
First glance at my injuries almost made me faint: deep, blood sipping lines of sliced skin with jugged edges and puncture craters in between them all over my wrist on the inner side and the upper side of my hand below the knuckles were getting darker and uglier by the second. I grabbed a towel, draped it over my hand and returned back to the other battlefield. Two of mine and the other cat were still there, eyeing each other. I made some war-like, commanding sounds and they all dispersed, with the invading party unhurriedly leaving the house in a very dignified manner.

 
I washed my hand and once again looked at the damage: it looked terrifying and started to hurt. My next move was to the computer: I googled “cats+bites+scratches”. The information was in abundance and to the point: the open wounds by cats are dangerous, may get infected and lead to problems. I knew that, of course, but in my many years of living with cats, nothing even remotely resembling this massacre, ever happened to me. I attended to my hand some more by cleaning it with vodka and applying ice, and in an hour my state of denial was replaced by a doubt and fear: things happen.

 
I pondered my options, “admired” my rapidly swelling hand and drove to the hospital.Three hours later I came out sporting a tastefully designed “hand piece”, which prevented the painful movement of the wrist, a bottle of antibiotics, a bottle of prescription painkillers and a slight feeling of a discomfort on the upper part of my other hand, where a very sympathetic nurse lovingly administered a tetanus shoot, while another one made me comfortable by explaining how to keep my arm elevated and promising a fast and trouble-free recovery.

 
As you can see, I was too preoccupied with my injuries and thus could not write a coherent post. On Sunday the heat was not as bad, I felt reasonably comfortable, albeit in pain, but avoided the computer nevertheless.

 
Fast forward: things looked worse on Monday, before they got to look better on Tuesday (I leave some gory details out). I visited my regular doctor, who explained me all the possible consequences of these things, what to expect in a future, expertly and tenderly examined my hand and assured me, that I am on my way to recovery and he will watch me as a hawk. I left happy.

 
The moral of the story: don’t just get yourself in a middle of a fight, even if your intentions are noble. First, estimate the situation, the level of emotions and the parties involved, then make an intelligent decision on the intervention and proceed with caution to execute it by the best method possible.Also, don’t ever forget: since animals’ bites and scratches are dangerous and could be lethal, don’t wait, seek medical help.

 
By the way, same applies to the human scratches and bites.

 
And now, have a pleasant day!

It’s been a while since I updated my site and I have a reason for it: I had a vacation.

 
My husband and I, together with another couple cruised the Baltic Sea on a Princess Cruises ship. Since it was not our first cruise, the expectations were equal to the experience received: a huge, beautiful, comfortable ship, a lot of food, room and restaurant service, great conversations and time shared with friends, entertainment and excursions ashore.

 
Since the excursions were really basic and short, hence the descriptions…
We flew from San Francisco to Copenhagen. There we embarked on the Crown Princess Ship and sailed from Copenhagen to Stockholm, then - to Helsinki, St.Petersburg, Tallinn, Gdynia, Oslo and back to Copenhagen.
St Petersburg (Russia) is a big, insanely beautiful and crowded city, full of history, which is present in each building, palace and canal. Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo are nice, with wide streets, full of history and stately buildings, Tallinn is green, clean and inviting and Gdansk, Poland is an excursion to the centuries past with specks of a modern time: absolutely charming, chamber-like city, which envelopes you with a “Stay longer” whisper.

 
We enjoyed our brief stay (while moving) in that part of Europe.

For those of you, who live in San Francisco and Bay Area, I would like to remind: there are two major art exhibitions, which can’t be missed: Dale Chihuly at the De Young Museum and Frida Kahlo at the Museum of Modern Art.

I already wrote about Dale Chihuly in my post Dale Chihuly’s Glass Creations in San Francisco.
The beauty of his creations is indisputably the work of a genius, who sees the colors, the light and the life, surrounding us in such a manner, that every glass sculpture becomes a triumph of the human mind, skill and limitless possibilities, once again brilliantly noticeable. Even if you are “not into art”, visiting this particular exhibition should be on your agenda.
Read more about the artist here: Wikipedia.org about Dale Chihuly

The exhibition of Frida Kahlo’s works at SOMA is a different story: it simply must be seeing. The talented artiste, who lived a life full of pain: tragic accident, mad love and crippled body, but remained a strong individual and left her mark as an artist, despite being in a shadow of her famous husband - Diego Rivera , is present in every painfully raw with emotions painting.
Reading a following article will help you better understand her work: Wikipedia about Frida Kahlo.

Tickets for both exhibitions are sold on a timed system to regulate amount of people in the gallery at any given time:
Info on Dale Chihuly’s exhibition: at De Young Museum
Info on Frida Kahlo’s exhibition: at SF Modern Art Museum

The world of real estate tumbles and comes back in unpredictable intervals.  Fortunes are made and lost by those who dare, in a record time.  Politicians, consultants and journalists make predictions and form the opinion of the masses.  The country’s financial outlook is judged by the health of the real estate prices.  The industry, where 20% of the people are making 80% of the money is one of the most feeble and difficult to hold on to.

 
Easy sounding sales job has broken and bankrupted many hopefuls.  The workforce full of retired teachers, full time moms, ex-executives, ambitious housewives and optimistic students, all claiming the knowledge and the finesse of the trade, regardless of the experience, are in full drove scouring “Open Houses” and RE listings, burning energy and fuel just to quit six month later.  The industry is a gold mine and a mine field combined in one.  Many, who bought or sold homes, come out of the battle scarred for life, but those who manage to understand and play the treacherous game, firmly grab the fortune for its neck and ride into the promised land of wealth and security.

 
If you were looking for a house would you work with a real estate agent who is 21 years old and looks very much his age?  Would you give this agent enough time to prove himself?  Would you listen to his assumptions, prognosis and recommendations?  Would you be comfortable to be guided into a RE transaction, where you might successfully unburden yourself of your entire lifetime savings, just so in return you could get a small, high-priced condo?  Would you try to teach this barely out of his teens man how difficult it is to make and manage money and how he can’t possibly know a thing about spending it, about rational thinking and the famous rule of buying low and selling high?

 
Well, if you answered “Yes” to at least 1 of the first 3 questions and “No” to the last one, you probably like taking risk, learned how to benefit from it, don’t discriminate on the subject of age and successful enough to know, that it’s perfectly acceptable to listen and take seriously a very young person.  You, of course, may be as young and know, that it’s all right to let a young , resourceful and talented RE agent to unearth for you a suitable place to live in the heart of NY. 

On the other hand, it could be, that you know, that all this preliminary dancing around these tricky questions, was to lead you to the introduction: Vice President of Corcoran, Jared Seligman. The fastest rising star on the New York’s dense starry “skydome”, the new breed of the businessman, who invents his own rules; the wunderkind, employing the benefits of technology to its fullest: he is all that and more. Working with Olsen twins selling a multi-million listing, NY runway models and other famous or close to them people buying properties in a prestigious or trendy location, he’s got a reputation of fast, discreet and smooth transaction closer.

 
His profile at Corcoran doesn’t list any of the Ivy League Diplomas, yet the list of his achievements is impressive.Read the Source: Curbed.com, where you may find out more about the work and business style of the rapidly ascending celebrity, the new leader in his own right: “the real estate agent to the stars”.

Update 1
To offset fuel cost United Airlines are raising the roundtrip cost by $60 and  considering charging for a first piece of luggage checked-in.
Source: online.wsj.com

 
“Domestic flight delays cost the industry and passengers $40.7 billion in 2007″. How you interpret this study is up to you, but the Joint Economic Committee from the House and Senate included in the study it conducted, the time you (the passenger) lost while waiting at the airport, the time which you could’ve spend making money, being involved in any of your favorite activities, or quietly resting at home. Essentially, our time was estimated as valuable, which is nice, but so what?

 
“The cost to airlines includes $1.6 billion in fuel costs, as idling planes wasted 740 million gallons of jet fuel, the report said, releasing more than seven million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air. This was based on the 2007 average wholesale fuel cost of $2.15 per gallon.”

 
Now that you are aware of these facts, which apply to all airlines, I’d like to inform you, that starting June 15, 2008 (if you bought your ticket earlier then this date, you should be spared) American Airlines will be the first carrier to charge its passengers for each bag checked in. That’s right: your first bag checked in is going to cost you $15, second - $25.

 
“The carrier also said Wednesday it will cut its mainline domestic capacity by up to 12 percent in the fourth quarter. Regional capacity will be cut up to 11 percent and the carrier plans to retire at least 75 regional and mainline airliners.”It won’t be a surprise to see all other airlines joining the suite.

 
Next thing will probably be weighting your carry-on luggage and charging you on a sliding scale for anything heavier, then 5 pounds.

 
Via bizjournals.com.

Click to money.cnn.com to read about the study.