life as a dog…

Finally changed the picture at the top of the page.  Geneva gets the nod.  Also added some sites to the links page.

Who doesn’t browse craigslist these days?  Craigslist is a great thing.  Unlike eBay, you can find some decent stuff, if you look hard enough (and long enough).  Plus, you can actually go and see the item before agreeing to buying it.  You also don’t have to worry about snipers (and yes…I’ll admit…I’m guilty of sniping items on eBay).  The sellers benefit, because they don’t have to pay eBay’s increasingly overpriced fees.

As I search craigslist, I come across things in the descriptions have become, at least for me, increasingly tiring and annoying.

RETRO

I am really tired of people calling something “retro.”  Just call it what it is…ugly used 1970s or 1980s crap.  It seems to happen a lot with furniture…especially couches.  “Retro” should be banned on craigslist.

STUNNING

Here’s a word I really hate seeing on craigslist: “stunning.”  I have NEVER seen a “stunning” piece on craigslist.  It may be nice…but it’s not stunning.  I especially like it when it is one of those gawdawful bedroom pieces that look like they belong in a hooker’s bedroom.  Stunning indeed.

EAMES ERA, HEYWOOD WAKEFIELD

Another couple of descriptions that get used WAY too often:  “Eames Era” and “Heywood Wakefield.”  More often than not, neither one should be used.  If it’s not an actual Wakefield, don’t use that description.  Wakefield stuff can be really expensive.  If I see an $80 side table using that description, I know it’s NOT.  People seem to like to use Eames on anything that looks like it may be from the 60s or so.  Just stop people.

ANTIQUE

If something is from the 1940s or more recent…it’s NOT an antique.  I’d argue that anything less than 100 years old is NOT an antique.  Calling it vintage is fine.  But don’t call it an antique.

MAKE ME AN OFFER

One of these days, I feel like sending an email saying, “Make you an offer?  I’ll give you $10.

Related to that… I hate it when people WAY over price something.  Someone will put a piece up for $500 and say something to the effect, “only 1 year old, I paid $800.”  Guess what people…I don’t give a rat’s ass what YOU paid for it (as if that’s an excuse for what you should be able to charge for it)…and if it’s furniture and you’ve hardly used it at ALL (even if you’ve only sat in that chair once), the price should drop considerably.

I understand you are trying to get as much as you can for your item.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  But let’s be realistic.  Unless it’s truly something unique (a real antique or real Heywood Wakefield, for example), any kind of furniture that has fabric (read: chairs, couches, bedding) shouldn’t be more than 50% of what you paid for it.  Even if it’s less than a year old.

PICTURES

Can people PLEASE orient their pictures correctly?  I’m sorry…but it’s not that difficult to turn a picture 90 degrees.  Also, why do people seem to think it’s acceptable to post a blurry or dark picture?  Hello?  We’d like to see that piece CLEARLY.  Of course, there are also those that post itty bitty pictures.  Well…that makes sense.  One last thing about pictures – if you post something like a table with pictures…don’t just show a side view of the thing.  Post a picture of the top.  Not posting a picture tells me you are trying to hide something.  Let me see the scuffs/scratches on there.  It’s not a major issue if it has scratches (though you better mention it in the post).  But let me see them.

CLASSIFICATION

There are a few posters on the DC craigslist that need to learn what categories they should be posting in.  Dealers…don’t post your stuff in the “furniture by owner” category.  Movers…don’t post your services in the “furniture” category.  Occasionally, someone will post a car in the furniture category.  Huh??

OK…enough of my rant.

International trip #2 is now history.  It was interesting, to say the least.  The job and spending time in Geneva were perfect.  Getting there and returning were less than perfect.  I have heard horror stories about Continental.  My trip to Barcelona was on Continental and went almost without a hitch (the return flight to Dulles was delayed, so I took the train on that trip).  After this trip, I would have to agree…Continental is not a good airline to take.  Just a shame they have been so much cheaper than anyone else.

I really hope another international trip comes up soon.  I am ready to go back again.  Before that happens, I need to get my passport renewed.  It expires in July.  So I guess that will be one of my next things to get done.

Next on the travel schedule… Orlando and Indianapolis in a few weeks.  There are possibilities coming up that, while getting me to travel, aren’t exactly high demand locations… Tampa, Iowa, Ohio and Kansas.  The only other trip that is almost certainly to happen is New Orleans in July.  I’m not looking forward to that, simply because New Orleans in July is just… ugh… can’t even think about that.

Today was travel home day, unfortunately.  Geneva to Newark.  Newark to Dulles.

The day started off as expected.  I woke up at about 5:45 to get to the airport at 7:30 for a 9:30 flight.  What I didn’t realize was that the flight was at 9:15.  Not a big deal.  However, we didn’t get out of the hotel until about 7:30.  OK…still not a major issue.  The airport is only about 5 or 6 miles from the hotel.  What we didn’t count on was the rental car shuttle taking forever to make it’s rounds.  We didn’t get to the terminal until about 8:15.  So we knew we’d have to rush.  Not run or anything…but just make sure we got through security quickly.

Switzerland must have one of the easiest customs process…both entering and exiting.  Or at least, Geneva does.  We were through security in about 10 minutes.  We ended up arriving at the gate about 15 minutes before they started boarding.

I will say one thing… it is clear the international carriers are much better than the domestics.  On my flight over with Air France I got decent food, I had full control over my video and the quality of the video (meaning the screen) was good.  It was actually a touch screen.  I could pause the movie if I needed to go to the restroom or while I was eating or whatever.  Not so with Continental on the return trip.  I only had the choice of 3 movies, the screen looked like crap and the food…meh.

I still can’t stand arriving in Newark for international travel.  We arrived at terminal C and my connection to Dulles was in terminal A (aka “puddle jumper” terminal).  The time spent going through customs was ridiculous.  We waited a good 45 minutes for our bags to reach baggage claim with no explanation.  This wasn’t really a big deal for me…I had a 4 hour layover.  My coworker, on the other hand, had a 1.5 hour layover.  Considering we still had to go BACK through security (why?), he was a bit rushed.  I still don’t know if he made the flight.

Terminal A was ridiculously packed.  I needed to charge my laptop and my phone and had a hard time finding power.  All the Samsung power stations were crowded around with people NOT charging anything.  That makes sense.  I finally found an outlet on a wall with some seats that were actually hiding it.

If I had been on a flight to National, I probably would have done the same thing I did when I returned from Barcelona – go to the Continental counter and get my ticket changed to an Amtrak ticket.  Flying into Dulles would have made that a pain in the ass – having to get a cab to Dulles to get my bags and car does not interest me.

At about 3:00, I was looking at the gate sign.  No Dulles listed at 4:00pm, but a Baltimore flight for 5:00 listed.  What the hell?  I got to the customer service counter and am told that the Dulles flight is now leaving out of gate C130.  WTF?!?!  I just came from terminal C.  They NEVER made an announcement.  Thanks a LOT Continental.  So I had to go BACK to Terminal C.  Ridiculous.

The flight to Dulles was supposed to board at 3:25.  3:45 rolled around and we FINALLY started boarding.  We then taxied and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  We did not take off until about 4:45.  45 minutes after we were supposed to.  No explanation.  Then on the flight, the flight attendant started making his way down the aisle getting people snacks and drinks.  I was in the second to last row.  He literally got to the row right in front of me and then turned around and took his cart back to the front and announced, “we are now starting our descent into Dulles.”  What the hell?  You couldn’t take less than five minutes and get the last 6 people??  Unbelievable.

So we landed, I got my baggage and got the hell out of there.  Picked up Harley and came home.

Today was a completely free day.  I planned for a long day of walking – the old part of Geneva and the international area (United Nations and whatnot).  My hotel is directly between them, which was good because I could hit the hotel and get a little rest between, but also bad because it meant I had a lot of ground to cover.

Woke up about 8:30 and was still pretty damn tired.  But the weather at that point looked pretty close to perfect, at least looking out the window…just few clouds in the sky.  Ended up not heading out until just before noon.

I walked ALL over the old part of Geneva.  Made it up to the cathedral where John Calvin did his preaching.  Even climbed what seemed like 10 stories to the top of the cathedral.  What a view!  Unfortunately, I never made it to the international area…at least not much of it.  Did get to one of the parks in it, but no further.

Lunch was another great meal.  Half a chicken with salad and french fries (they really seem to like their french fries here).

The weather cooperated fully.  The morning started nice, the afternoon was good…even by 7pm it was mostly sunny.

Dinner was at Hotel Edelweiss.  After the last couple days, it was a bit of a disappointment.  The food was decent, but the service was horrible.  The restaurant itself was a bit cheesy.  “Live music” was a guy coming out playing spoons and occasionally the alphorn.  Oh, and with an accordion accompanying him.  It was very Disneyesque.

I will get pictures up sometime within the next few days or so.