Plagiarizing Mr. Underachiever

Well, I haven't met this unknown Blogger, but I have been lacking creativity lately and he has offered some ideas. The Underachiever's Corner is a fun blog. The author is a funny (haha) guy and he offers a great wealth of blogging ideas.

The latest idea is to answer the question "If you were to die tonight, what would you regret not saying to someone and why?" And he invited us to answer either in his comment section or on our blogs...hence this post!

Well, many of you may have heard this story...suck it up and keep reading! I was on a business trip to Atlanta last summer (2004). Flying from Hartford, CT. I have flown quite often and this was a quick flight with nothing to worry about (or so I thought). I had never been on this specific type of plane. This one had 3 seats on one side of the aisle and 2 on the other. This still wasn't an issue for me. Big, little, short, tall, I had no fear of flying.

The majority of the flight was fine. It was slated to be about 2 hour and 15 minute flight from gate to gate. About 1.5 hours into it, I feel some air rushing up from the seat in front of me. For those of you that don't fly often, this isn't a normal occurrence but I just chalked it up to being a different type of plane.

About 5-10 minutes later (give or take) the oxygen masks fall from the panel above for what seemed to be no apparent reason. Neither the pilots nor flight attendants explained what was going on so we didn't have a clue. Most of us, after looking around at each other, grabbed the masks and put them on.

You don't realize how well you pay attention to the safety talks at the beginning of flights until you have to put it into action. "Put the mask over your nose and mouth; pull the elastic strings to tighten. The bag may not inflate but it is still working. Make sure you are set before you help others." Once my mask was on, I checked on the 14 year old kid next to me. He was fine.

I then looked out the window.

Bad idea.

We were in a 45 degree dive (at least). I had the kid close the shade, because I would have otherwise freaked out...not the best thing to do in a situation like this.

We were in that dive for what seemed like eons. It was probably only 15 -20 seconds. But it was long enough to make me really scared.

****Answer to UNDR's question here****
As we were in the steep descent, I realized who I had unfinished business with. Many of my mother's family and a couple of high school friends were the first to pop into my mind. God also was on the list...ironically he was at the top.

We finally leveled out and the pilot got on the intercom and said (I will never forget this) "Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for your cooperation. There is nothing physically wrong with the plane. We just lost cabin pressure." To me...losing cabin pressure means there is something wrong with the plane - but I am no airplane mechanic so who knows!

The end of the story is that at 42,000 feet the pressurization 'stuff' started to let go. The pilot dropped 5,000 feet to see if it would alleviate itself, but that is when it let go all together. He had to dive to under 10,000 feet so we could fly with out external oxygen - hence the quick descent.

We made it off the plane alright and many of us actually did kiss the floor of the terminal when we got there.

The hotel I stayed in had me on the 43rd floor - I asked to be moved to a lower floor for obvious reasons. I did get back on a plane to fly home, and have traveled since, but certainly not without hesitation.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.

31 Questions from Undr!

Thanks Undr...I needed a distraction this morning!

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you: Jennifer Aniston and Thomas Edison. Beautiful and smart...I guess I missed the boat!

2. Where was your first kiss? On the bleachers watching a middle school baseball game.

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else's property? Nope...I'm a good girl.

4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex? Does my husband count? If so then yes...but usually to say that he is being mean to me...so it doesn't really hurt.

5. Have you ever sang in front of a large number of people? Yep - Karokee...not the greatest, but not the worst either.

6. Whats the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Eyes and Smile.

7. What really turns you on? What doesn't? Turn-on is a sense of humor. Turn off is an ego.

8. What do you usually order from starbucks? Mocha Frappuccino.

9. What is your biggest mistake? Ask me about the condom/radio thing that happened in middle school.

10. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose? Does working out count?

11. Say something totally random about you. I am scared of down escalators and driving under train overpasses.

12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? Nope.

13. Do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows? Yeah - Nemo, Shrek are good...but Beauty and the Beast is my favorite.

14. Did you have braces? Yes. But I didn't wear the retainer as long as I should have.

15. Are you comfortable with your height? Yup. Average...

16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the opposite sex has done for you? Proposed on a beach on the 4th of July.

17. When do you know it's love? When you know, you know.

18. Do you speak any other languages? Not really...I remember the first dialog we had to memorize in spanish class...Me llamo Liz, y tu?

19. Have you ever been to a tanning salon? Yeah- before my wedding...I didn't want to be the same color as my dress...

20. What magazines do you read? People, Readers Digest, and the Rick Reilly and Steve Rushin articles of Sports Illustrated.

21. Have you ever ridden in a limo? Yes - we won a trip to Boston for a cruise on Boston Harbor...

22. Has anyone you were really close with passed away? Yes. Both my parents.

23. Do you watch mtv? No - didn't have cable as a kid and never really got into it as an adult.

24. What's something that really annoys you? People who worry about things they have no control over...let it go, you will be a happier person.

25. What's something you really like? Ice Cream!

26.Do you like Michael Jackson? I don't like him as a person, but his early music makes me bob my head!

27. Can you dance? Yup...swing, cha cha, rumba are my favorites. If I had to, I could remember some tango and waltz...

28. What's the longest/latest you have ever stayed up? Probably 23 hours...when I was bartending.

29. Have you ever thought that you were honestly going to die? Not that I remember.

30. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?Nope. Thank goodness.

31. Do you actually read these when other people fill them out? Yes.

You can either answer them or not. If you choose to answer them...do so on your blog or in my comments section.

Smiles

Call Me a Sap!

Alright, I have known for a very long time that I am an emotional person. And it gets worse depending on how tired I am.

Last night, Sunday, I watched one of my favorite shows - Extreme Makeover - Home Edition. I like this show for a few reasons...1.) Ty Pennington is hooootttt! 2.) It is a real feel good show...people helping people in need. 3.) It brings communities together...which you don't see very often any more and 4.) Since Ty Pennington left Trading Spaces I have to get my Ty fix from this show.

Last nights episode was a good one...not the best they have done, but good. They visited a family who had recently lost their husband/dad. They had a farm and a really shacky shack of of home (weeds were growing through the window edges). The farm was on the brink of going under. EMHE came in and tore down the shack, built a 2000 sf farm house with an attached office for the business, a 6000 sf hay barn, the community came together, planted 20 acres of hay, and donated 15000 bails of hay for the family to sell.

At the end of EVERY episode, I cry. I get emotional because the people on the show are emotional - the recipients of the generousity, the design team, even members of the community. I cry because I can relate to some of the issues the families have triumphed over. And I cry because I am the world's biggest SAP!!!

This is a good show...if you haven't seen it and you like a feel good hour of entertainment...watch it sometime.

Smiles

How do you spell Failure?

I found this on a blog just around the corner from mine.

No wonder so many people say google's search engine can find anything for you:

1- Go to Google

2- Type in the word "Failure"

3- Instead of clicking "Google Search," click "I'm Feeling Lucky."

4- Giggle

The findings of the above search do not necessarily agree with the viewpoints of this blog.

Charitable Giving

So I am the coordinator of a 5000 person workplace giving campaign. I work at UMass Amherst and we run our own campaign. In the year I have been in this position, I have learned a lot about why it is beneficial to give to charities through work and why charities particularly appreciate the donations they get from workplace campaigns. A few of them follow:

Benefits to giving through a workplace campaign-

• Giving through work is easy...payroll deductions help so you 'don't feel' the deduction. You never even know it's gone...Trust me, the $5.00, $10.00, or $25.00 a week doesn't phase you.
• Usually a workplace campaign offers complete confidentiality, I know my campaign does. Only if you identify that you would like an acknowledgement from the agencies you designate, will you name and address be given over.

Benefits of workplace campaigns for charities-

• They don't have to raise funds to solicit the donations you give.
• They get one check from the campaign financial manager once a month. It takes a lot less man power to process one large check than hundreds of small checks. They can spend that time serving their constituents.

Especially when our country can use the financial help, not only third world areas, do your best to help out as much as you can.

~alright, I'll get off my soapbox now...