I'm sure you all know that I am one of America's Top Pharmacists. Evidently, I have much in common with the Drugnazi. I'm thinking it might be a bad idea to continue reading the Drugnazi's blog at work...

35 is the new 25.

Maybe it's my new sunglasses. (Have any of you noticed that my equipment get's a little better with each marathon)?

Or maybe it's the new disc brake I put on the tandem...

Either way, I can get the bike up to 35 MPH without feeling it at all (downhill, of course...I still feel 35 on flats).

Newport's best sunset, and Dine Out USA night #1.

For the best view of the setting sun in Newport Beach (and a mighty good martini), try the Back Bay Cafe. Less touristy than I would have imagined, and exactly as I remember from Blind Date.

Dine Out USA night #1 was at Sage Restaurant. Evidently my reservation was at Sage on the Coast. How embarrasing for me.

Steve Holt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, I met this Steve Holt, evidently the above mentioned Steve Holt was named after this one. Steve Holt came by to audit my sailing class this evening. I only yelled: "Steve Holt!!!!!!!" once.

Marathon Tourism

Here's me near the end of the San Francisco Marathon. I look rather happy...probably because I have no more hills to run up. I had no idea there were so many hills in the City.

I will spare you the boring details of how difficult it was to get to San Francisco. The morale of the story is: If you are ever offered a trip to anywhere if you will take a later flight to San Francisco, take the trip to anywhere (and the later flight).

Things to do in San Francisco after running a marathon:

1) Look at the cable cars outside your hotel room.

2) Kill the pain with a martini served in a wooden cask.

Expedia.scam

I usually try to make my complaint letters funny, but I was rather angry about this one:

To whom it may concern: I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction with my recent travel purchase using Expedia.com. I have used Expedia for many purchases over the last several years, and have always been very happy with your service.

Yesterday, I purchased two round trip tickets from LAX to Rome (itinerary number 120620811764). I received confirmation that my tickets had been booked (Alitalia confirmation code: JPUZJA), as well as a follow up email confirmation. Nine hours later, I received an email stating that: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to process your request for an airline ticket." When I called your company to see what the problem was, I was told that the price had gone up, and the two tickets that I had booked for $972.60(business class) would now be $2371.40 (economy class). When I agreed to pay the $972.60 we entered into a contract...I understood that I could not make any changes to the contract (ie: canceling my flight) without paying a penalty; I assumed that your company understood it had agreed to the same thing. The Expedia promise(http://www.expedia.com/daily/highlights/Expedia-Promise/default.asp) seems to indicate that your company understands this very well. I thought I was shopping, booking, and clicking with confidence. I would like to draw your attention to this line from your website: "We'll take responsibility, at no additional cost to you, if we make a mistake booking your travel." I have already booked the rest of my trip around this airfare purchase. I am certain that there is still plenty of room on the planes we had booked. I would greatly appreciate your booking these tickets at the originally agreed (and booked price).

Excerpt from the (long, boring) response from Bonnie Sharkey (assistant to Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO and President of Expedia, Inc):

This itinerary you intended on reserving was not allowed to be ticketed due to several problems in the booking path on your purchase. Reviews of the recorded path taken during purchase and creation of the itinerary reflect numerous errors occurring regarding both flight availability and pricing. The created flight record and itinerary were later rejected by our quality control teams and cancelled due to the noted error responses from the air carriers and our website. Some of the response you witnessed on your booking included: Select to check price, then showed a price of $4786.20
One of your flights is no longer available at this price
Please go back and select a different trip or try building your own trip flight by flight. You may also want to try changing your travel dates or times.
We're Sorry; We Had a Problem with Your Selected Flights
We're currently having difficulty confirming the price for your itinerary. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please try again later. If you need immediate assistance, please call us at 1-800-EXPEDIA (1-800-397-3342) or 1-404-728-8787.

A reply from the office of the CEO/President is rather impressive. Ms. Sharkey, I saw none of these error messages when booking these tickets. Is this a form letter you sent me?

On the bright side, Expedia's agent for service of process is in Irvine. I will get you yet, Expedia.

My new career

Some of you may remember my strategy for a cheap hotel room.

I am actually even better at booking cheap airfare.

Here are the basics:

1) 70 days prior to your trip, check prices on expedia.

2) Check the individual airline sites directly for the two or three cheapest airlines on expedia. (did that make any sense to anybody but me?)

3) Repeat step 1 and 2 every 10 minutes until you have found an acceptable price. Yes, you can still sleep, but you should wake up at midnight and 1AM (for all Continental US time zones)...that's when unpaid reservations usually expire.

I suppose it helps to have a job where you sit in front of a computer all day, otherwise it probably is not worth the effort...even if you are able to book 2 round trip tickets to Rome (from LAX) for $486.30 each (tax and fees included). Did I mention that's for business class? Look at that, business class comes with access to airport VIP lounges in NY, Paris, and Rome.

New pet peeve: People who do not know the difference between PST and PDT.

Jeez, did Nicole write the directions for the Shimano Flight deck?



Follow up question: Why would I ever look at the thing when I wasn't riding?

This contract limits our liability, please read it. This parking pass LICENSES the holder to park ONE VEHICLE as directed. The University hereby declares itself NOT RESPONSIBLE for and assumes no liability arising from fire, theft, damage to or loss of the vehicle or any article left therein including but not limited to damage from trees. ONLY A LICENSE OF SPACE IS GRANTED HEREBY AND NO BAILMENT IS CREATED. Acceptance of this parking pass constitutes acknowledgement by holder that he or she has read and agrees to the provisions of the foregoing contract. Your PERMIT IS NOT VALID IN METERS. RESALE IS PROHIBITED AND NOT TRANSFERABLE.

As my lawyer friend is fond of saying: "Those parking tickets can't force me to read them..."

On that note:

At Hogsmeade, Harry and friends are cornered by Death Eaters and saved by Aberforth Dumbledore. Aberforth opens a secret passageway to Hogwarts, where Neville Longbottom greets them. Harry alerts the Heads of Houses at Hogwarts to Voldemort's imminent arrival and evacuation measures are implemented to ensure the younger students' safety, with the older ones able to stay and fight. After saving Draco Malfoy's life, Harry finds Ravenclaw's diadem in the room of requirement and it is destroyed. Hagrid is captured by acromantulas and later ends up a captive in the hands of the Death Eaters. Fred Weasley is killed by a Death Eater just after his estranged brother Percy Weasley comes back to reunite with his family. Harry, Hermione and Ron go to the Shrieking Shack, where they see Voldemort kill Snape, believing this will transfer the Elder Wand's power to him. As he dies, Snape gives up memories to Harry, which reveal that Snape was on Dumbledore's side, motivated by his lifelong love of Lily Potter. Snape was asked by Dumbledore to kill him if the situation demands it; the curse placed on the Horcrux ring limited Dumbledore's life, regardless. Resigned to his fate, Harry sacrifices himself to Voldemort, and is seemingly killed.

However, Harry awakens and meets the deceased Albus Dumbledore in what appears to be a deserted King's Cross station. Here, it is explained he cannot die whilst Voldemort lives since he used Harry's blood to recreate his body, and Lily's protection binds the two. It is unclear if he actually dies, or it is merely a dream. He discovers he was the final Horcrux and needed to die before Voldemort can be killed, finding that the spell destroyed the part of Voldemort's soul he had inside himself represented by a wounded dying creature. He also discovers Dumbledore himself sought the Hallows, with Grindelwald, for less than noble reasons - resulting in the death of his sister Ariana from neglect. Only Harry is worthy of possessing the Hallows. Harry is given the choice of "going on" or returning to try and stop Voldemort, which he decides to do.

Back in the forest, on Voldemort's orders, Hagrid carries Harry (seemingly dead) back to Hogwarts to much dismay and shock to those there. Bravely, Voldemort is faced down by Neville, who rejects his offer to join him and become a Death Eater. Voldemort then proceeds to torture Neville using the burning sorting hat - at that moment, the Centaurs attack. In the confusion, Harry covers himself with the invisibility cloak and Nagini, the last Horcrux, is killed by Neville using Gryffindor's sword pulled from the sorting hat. In the ensuing battle, Bellatrix is killed by Molly Weasley and Harry reveals himself to prevent Voldemort from killing her in retaliation. Coming face to face with Voldemort in the Great Hall, Harry is seemingly faced with impossible odds - with Voldemort possessing the Elder Wand, he cannot be beaten in a duel. However, Harry gambles correctly that Draco Malfoy was the true master of the Elder Wand, not Snape - by Disarming Malfoy, the mastery of the wand has passed to Harry, not Voldemort. When Voldemort strikes Harry with the killing curse from the Elder Wand it rebounds on him, due to Harry's mastery of the wand, killing himself once and for all. Harry decides to return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's grave instead of keeping it for himself but first repaired his old wand with it.

In the story's epilogue, taking place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny Weasley are married and have three children named James, Albus Severus, and Lily. Ron and Hermione are also married and have two children named Rose and Hugo. Draco Malfoy has a child named Scorpius. Lupin and Tonks' orphan son Teddy is apparently in love with Victoire, Bill and Fleur's daughter. They all meet at King's Cross, about to send their children to Hogwarts at the beginning of term. Neville Longbottom has become the Herbology Professor at Hogwarts. It is revealed that Harry's scar has not hurt since the Dark Lord's defeat, and there, the story ends.

As I have said before, there truly is a wiki for everything.