Angie's Adventures

Check This Out! Kidney Donation Story on The Early Show

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:36:00 +0000

My friend Anthony DeGuilio who gave his kidney to a stranger recently (see previous post) was featured on The Early Show yesterday!

Check out Anthony on The Early Show here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/06/earlyshow/main4324353.shtml

Anthony will be making an appearance on CNN tomorrow between 5 and 6 PM EST during Headline News.

Congrats Anthony! :~)

Scrabulous Game Removed from Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:53:00 +0000

Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072901393_pf.html

A preview of the article...

It's game over for Scrabulous; the popular Scrabble knockoff game on Facebook is no longer available as of this morning.

Facebook users who logged on to play the word puzzle game this morning instead got a message that it has been "disabled for U.S. and Canadian users until further notice."

The game was one of the most popular applications on the social networking site, but Hasbro filed a lawsuit last week accusing Scrabulous makers of having infringed on copyrights with the Facebook game.

Hasbro and Mattel, which share global ownership of the Scrabble trademark, had asked Facebook to remove the game in January. Hasbro has partnered with game publisher Electronic Arts to develop a new version of the game for Facebook.

According to the Scrabulous page on Facebook, the game developed by a pair of brothers in India had 509,505 daily active users. The application was launched last summer.

Washington PR consultant John Edgell said he logged onto Facebook at 7:30 a.m. to continue a match he was playing with a Facebook acquaintance, only to find that the application was down.

"I was getting creamed, so it's probably a good thing in that respect," he joked. "The country is probably 10 percent more productive today."

One of those users was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has said that he is a fan of the game and plays it with his grandparents.

Electronic Arts launched its Scrabble game, for Facebook and cell phones, earlier this month.

In a statement released today, Hasbro steered frustrated Scrabulous fans to the new application.

"In deference to the fans, we waited in pursuing legal action until Electronic Arts had a legitimate alternative available. We invite Scrabble fans in the U.S. and Canada to log onto Facebook and try out the authentic Scrabble application."

But the new Scrabble application was generating mostly hate mail today. Users complained on the application's Facebook page that the game was slow and buggy.

"Scrabulous was great PR for you and you had to ruin it for EVERYONE," wrote one Facebook user. "As the mother of 2, i will be boycotting all hasbro products until you do the right thing."

Job Posting: Business Manager

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:53:00 +0000

Below is my second job posting. If you are interested in this position, drop me an e-mail at: JobPostings (at) AngieDawn (dot) net.

Business Manager

Description
This job posting is for a Business Manager position at an Internet based publishing company.

General Summary
Do you know a driven Business Manager who'd like to lead a Email Marketing team of A-level professionals and work from ANYWHERE in the world?

Here's a description - please pass it along!

Email Business Manager

You will lead a TOP-NOTCH team of fun and smart professionals...
AND work from home ANYWHERE in the world

You possess the following skills:

Driver" Personality -- You must be willing to get your hands dirty, take accountability for this exciting area of our business, proactively communicate with the rest of us, be a self-starter and be able to work with the team
Process-Oriented -- You have experience quickly jumping into teams, getting to know your teammates and providing active assistance to optimize process work-flow. You'll learn our current email delivery processes, optimize this process, monitor quality assurance, balance other business needs and enable us to scale
"Bottom Line" emphasis-- You have an analytical understanding of return on investment (ROI) analysis and are comfortable allocating resources
Management & Leadership -- You have a proven track record of getting at least a few people to GET THINGS DONE!

If you know these, it's a plus!

Email marketing campaigns
Analyzing diverse data sets such as SQL and Excel
Effectively communicate the "health" of a business area to key business stakeholders
Managing ISP partner relations to insure quick, cost-effective and scalable resolution of problems
ESP companies: Dartmail, Responsys, Cheetahmail, etc.
ISP companies: MSN-Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc.

If you are interested in this position, drop me an e-mail at: JobPostings (at) AngieDawn (dot) net.

Job Posting: Sales Associate

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:43:00 +0000

Here's my first official job posting. If you are interested in this position, drop me an e-mail at: JobPostings (at) AngieDawn (dot) net.

Sales Associate

Description
This posting is for a Sales Associate Position at an Internet marketing agency.

General Summary
The Sales Associate will be responsible for generating qualified sales leads. The ideal candidate will be energetic and demonstrate professional phone skills. Your goal will be to perform phone-based qualification by identifying the prospect business drivers and pain and then map those to the contracted software companies based solution. You will articulate a value proposition in a manner that will generate interest. You will rely on your experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. This position reports to the managing partner.

Duties and Responsibilities
The Sales Associate will serve as an integral part of the sales & marketing team. Responsibilities will include inbound and outbound lead generation, qualifying potential customers, increasing awareness of the company’s products and services through any means possible, maintaining information in a CRM (Customer Relations Management) database and handling incoming inquires.

The Sales Associate will also be expected to attend networking events such as Chamber of Commerce and the Sales & Marketing Society gatherings in an effort to gain contacts and raise awareness about the organization. Associate should be constantly looking for new opportunities or relationships that will help further the company’s objectives and maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the company’s sales efforts as a whole.

Additional duties such as organizing presentations for the executive staff to present the company’s services in venues such as seminars or “lunch & learn” events will be required as needed. Other marketing duties, such as finding and posting articles relevant to the company on the website and helping to write or improve marketing collateral and materials, will also be part of the overall job requirement. The Sales Associate will also be expected to perform other duties as assigned by management.

If you are interested in this position, drop me an e-mail at: JobPostings (at) AngieDawn (dot) net.

Kindness of Strangers

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:16:00 +0000

Back in January, I wrote about my friend Anthony DeGiulio who was planning on giving one of his kidney's to someone he doesn't know. Well, Anthony finally donated his kidney yesterday and has continued to document his progress on his blog, http://giveakidney.blogspot.com.

It still amazes me that Anthony went to so much trouble to give his kidney to a complete stranger. Apparently, it's pretty hard to do that... there's a lot involved if you're not giving your kidney to a family member or friend who you already know.

I haven't gotten to speak with Anthony yet, but I think he is doing well. I see that he has already posted a blog since his surgery, and today he felt well enough to IM me.

An article will be running in today's Wall Street Journal about him in the Taste column. Here's a preview:

Lots of well-intentioned individuals want to give something of themselves, but few take the project as far as my friend Anthony DeGiulio, a 36-year-old securities trader who yesterday donated a kidney. The really unusual thing is that he gave it to a perfect stranger.
Anthony's been a nice guy for as long as I've known him. We met in the spring of 2006 when he advertised some free mulch on Craigslist. I drove over, and before I knew it he was filling his own trailer, using his own front-end loader and then driving the whole mess over to my place with his own truck. Subsequently, after clearing some land, he gave away thousands of dollars of firewood to all comers. He's also a big supporter of a couple of charitable organizations.

But when he first told me about the kidney, I wondered about his sanity. Anthony has had this response from lots of people, including relatives; after all, only 533 others in this country have ever given a kidney away without a recipient in mind, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network created by Congress in 1984. In other words, Anthony didn't just choose a stranger; he gave a kidney to someone whose identity he didn't even know (although they were scheduled to meet sometime after the surgery).

For the rest of the article, check it out in your Wall Street Journal, or click here.

Job Postings

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:24:00 +0000

Alright, a quick note: Fairly often, friends send me emails asking one of two questions:

Do you know where I can find a job?
Do you know where I can find an employee?

Both of these questions often leave me scratching my head. Who would be interested in this job? Who would be the best fit? Who's looking?

To connect the dots between these two questions, I'm going to start posting job openings that I've been asked to provide recommendations for. Since my blog is fed into Facebook, most of my friends will have the opportunity to see the postings.

I will not put in any identifying information about the company or how to contact them. If you are interested to apply for a particular posting, please e-mail me at JobPostings (at) AngieDawn (dot) net and I will forward your information along if 1. I know you, and 2. you're a good fit.

It's a little odd, but I think it just might work. I've added a link to the right hand side of my blog named "Job Listings." To see all the listings together, click that link.

Happy Hunting!!

Muvico to Close in Peabody Place

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Quick Note:

I've heard the news before, but today I've read it in two different places.

Supposedly, the Muvico located in Peabody Place is scheduled to close after this weekend.

The rumor is that Belz is going to reposition the Peabody Place Mall, and possibly to create lodging inside of it.

So, if you're like me and have a movie that you've been dying to see, you need to head over quick before it's gone!

The Midwesterner's Guide to Living in L.A. by Katie Martin

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:14:00 +0000

Wow, it's amazing how talented my friends are! :~) I'm feeling very fortunate these days.

Another friend has completed another book. My long-time friend Katie Martin has written a book called The Midwesterner's Guide to Living in L.A.

To give you a little background on this, I grew up with Katie in Oklahoma. We became friends in middle school and have kept in touch over the years. Just by chance, we both happened to be living in L.A. at the same time a few years ago; both struggling.

Living in L.A. can be like living on another planet at times, and Katie's book does a great job at preparing you if you're thinking of taking the plunge. I had the good fortunate of reading The Midwesterner's Guide to Living in L.A. before it was published... that's what makes me so sure you're like it. :~)

One example I always think about when thinking of the differences between L.A. and other cities is finding an apartment. Finding an apartment in L.A. can at times be about as hard as finding a job in other cities. When I moved there, I wanted to live in either Santa Monica or Malibu.

The process turned into a job interview. I was asked to send my resume, credit history, photos of me with my little brothers. I had to fly down to meet the renter to see if they liked me and would choose me. The fact that I could pay the rent had very little impact to whether I would get an apartment. Luckily, after scouring the city, I found a great place where I lived for two years. But never the less, Katie's book would have prepared me. It was definitely a lesson I learned the hard way!

To get a copy of Katie's new book, check out the Tate Publishing website and search for The Midwesterner's Guide to Living in L.A. by Katie Martin.

The Promise of New York, The Raul Productions

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:12:00 +0000

A good friend of mine from college, Raul, recently called from NYC to announce that after years of hard work, his feature length film, The Promise of New York, is complete! I have known Raul since 1997, when we were both studying at Rensselaer in upstate NY. We have stayed good friends over the years, and I'm so excited about his film!

The Promise of New York is about a 3 guys who compete against one another and rival incumbent Michael Bloomberg for the position of New York City mayor. As ordinary (and less wealthy) citizens, the movie looks into the meaning of democracy.

This is the perfect time for such a film!

The film can be viewed in June at the Hoboken International Film Festival and at the New Jersey International Film Festival.

Raul has also submitted his film to the Indie Memphis Film Festival that occurs every October in Memphis. I would love to see his film be shown at the Indie Memphis Film Festival. On top of seeing the film, it would be great to see Raul and to meet the rest of the folks he's been working with on it.

Please check out The Promise of New York web site here.

Feel free to link to this post about Raul's new movie, or pass along any information to Indie Memphis. :~)

Thanks for your help!

Angie

Anybody Want to Go to a Cub's Game Saturday?

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:20:00 +0000

Do you ever exchange emails with groups of friends? This is an actual group e-mail I received this week:

------------------------------------------------

From: Dave
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 10:25 AM

Chicago Cubs are in town this weekend. Anybody interested in heading to the game on Friday night?? Let me know. I plan on picking up tickets on Friday at lunch. Just the cheap seats, $9. We can always move around to better seats. I assume we would drink beer at an event like this?? So, it could be a good time.

Come on!

Dave

------------------------------------------------

From: Julie
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 7:35 AM

Paul and I got tics over the weekend, see you there if you go!

------------------------------------------------

From: Vickery
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 10:44 AM

Hey Dave – Brent and I are in. Let us know the meeting time and place.

------------------------------------------------

From: Angie
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 1:28 PM

Hi guys--

I think you may be trying to email someone else... I'm Angela Copeland in Memphis, Tennessee.

Thanks,
Angie

------------------------------------------------

From: Neil
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 1:47 PM

Memphis? Do you want to come to a baseball game in Toronto this weekend? You can stay with Jenny!

Anybody Want to Go to a Cub's Game Saturday?

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:57:00 +0000

Do you ever exchange emails with groups of friends? This is an actual group e-mail I received this week:

------------------------------------------------

From: Dave
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 10:25 AM

Come on!

Dave

------------------------------------------------

From: Julie
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 7:35 AM

Paul and I got tics over the weekend, see you there if you go!

------------------------------------------------

From: Vickery
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 10:44 AM

Hey Dave – Brent and I are in. Let us know the meeting time and place.

------------------------------------------------

From: Angie
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 1:28 PM

Hi guys--

I think you may be trying to email someone else... I'm Angela Copeland in Memphis, Tennessee.

Thanks,
Angie

------------------------------------------------

From: Neil
To: Sasha, me, Todd, phil, dharshan, jason, jenny, Julie, neil, ryanleib
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 1:47 PM

Memphis? Do you want to come to a baseball game in Toronto this weekend? You can stay with Jenny!

Memorial Day Trip to Florida

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:35:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've posted much. I guess it's time to start up again...

Last weekend for Memorial Day, a little group of us drove down to Destin, Florida. We rented a little condo that sits right on the beach and basically just either went to the beach or cooked at home.

One day, we went shopping for an hour or so. Another day, we checked out a local restaurant / dance club.

There were four of us; three guys and me. Don't ask how that happened, but it worked out very well. I ended up cooking for most of the weekend which I really enjoyed. One morning though, I stayed in bed for a few additional hours and got up around 10 AM. Right away, I realized something had been burning, and the dishwasher was overflowing with bubbles. Breakfast had been burned and liquid dish soap had found its way into the dishwasher. Too funny.

We had such a great time that we're going to try to go back soon if possible.

Launch Memphis: Beta Testers Needed

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:09:00 +0000

Help needed! I've been working on a new business idea this weekend, and we need help.

A group of entrepreneurial Memphians has gathered this weekend to launch a business.... 100 of us from programmers to designers to biz dev types. Amazingly, after vetting 30 ideas last night
we have honed in on the ultimate frisbee community for an initial offering. We have a bunch of ideas to enhance the ability to get games, rank players, etc. Can any of you - or others to whom you might forward this - point us to players who i) be interested in this concept and ii) test the application as we get it done? Our basic idea is to create a means for Ultimate players to find each other, get games together, and rank each other after a game - currently operating under the banner SpynR.... Pronounced "spinner." Those interested in beta testing should email UltimateFrisbeeRocks@gmail.com with your contact info (name, email, and optionally a phone number) to be included in the beta.

Thanks for your help!!
:~) Angie

Angie's Brothers Graduate

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:51:00 +0000

My little brothers are graduating from high school. It's amazing how time flies by! Fortunately, I've been old enough to remember every step of the way....

They used to be tiny enough to carry one on each hip, and now they're big enough to carry me!

They have finished up their high school career famously. They end it all as Eagle Scouts, Valedictorians, and as top players in Oklahoma Tennis.

But, they've also had a little fun along the way. Recently, they taught me a new concept that I wish I could go back in time to try out. They say they "post-it-ed" a car. They get approximately 20 packs of 100 sheet post it notes and completely cover a car, top to bottom. It doesn't do any damage to the car, but it does give the owner a huge suprise.

Anyway, I've been traveling around non-stop lately and today is no exception. I'm back in Oklahoma again for their graduation. Last night was the pre-graduation church service and tonight is graduation.

For a few photos, click here.

I'll be back on Wednesday afternoon and will remain in town until Friday afternoon. I may have to hibernate until then to get everything out of it that I can.

Memphis BBQ Fest

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Sat, 17 May 2008 20:36:00 +0000

My very first real Memphis in May Barbecue Festival experience has been GREAT!

I went down with the Dirty Dozen on Thursday and Friday nights and had lots of fun each time.

Here's a photo of me and Edison on Friday.

Memphis, You Had Me at To-Go-Cup!

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:14:00 +0000

This weekend, among other things, a new funny saying was born. It's so perfect in fact that it needed a t-shirt. Thanks Dustin!

Check out the t-shirt below. It's available in my Cafe Press store, and I just ordered mine. :~)

The After Party

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:01:00 +0000

Alright, well The After Party went off without a hitch. It was what one might call FABULOUS.

As a matter of fact, I'll tell you a little secret... The South Main Dirty Dozen may just start to make a habit of this whole party thing over the summer... so watch for more... :~)

To fill you in on the details... we rented out the back of Earnestine & Hazel's downtown on Saturday night. Super 5 played and did a great job! Thanks guys! Last but not least, we also had a great open bar. Not bad at all.

Here are a few photos below. Also, feel free to check out other collections of photos:

Edison's: gallery.mac.com/edisonv

Victoria's: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051708&l=0894b&id=8506572
Brian's: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18428&l=14f50&id=855209169

Robbie's: TBD... check back. :~)

Don't Forget: Ben & Jerry's Cone Day

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:45:00 +0000

Don't forget: Tomorrow is Ben & Jerry's annual Cone Day!! Stop by your local B&J for a free cone anytime tomorrow!
:~)

Congrats to Chris & Nick!

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:40:00 +0000

Congrats to my little brothers Chris and Nick for continuing to keep their tennis game strong through the end of their senior year! Below is an article that appeared about them in today's Daily Oklahoman newspaper. :~)

Memphis in May Beale Street Music Fest Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:56:00 +0000

Memphis in May Beale Street Music Fest schedule below:

Vacation to Memphis

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

I just got back home-- after going on a mini-vacation this weekend. You'll never guess where I went-- Memphis!

The rules were simple: no driving, no going home, and all tourist attractions.

Last night, I had an early dinner at Grill 83. I had a tasty goat cheese salad, and a wonderful duck entree. I've always liked Grill 83. They're never too full... the food is great... and the people are laid back.

After dinner, we headed to Ballet Memphis to see their production of Under the Sea. Under the Sea is the story of the Little Mermaid. I'm a big supporter of Ballet Memphis-- they have great choreography, wonderful music, and creative costumes. I'm never disappointed when I go and this weekend was no different. Thanks also to Arts Memphis for the wonderful tickets!

After Ballet Memphis, we headed to Val's going away party. Val is moving back to Boston and we'll miss her. Best of luck!

Last, we stayed at the Madison Hotel. I was incredibly impressed that such a great hotel is right near my house. The room was very nice and they have a cool pool and workout room- not to mention the wonderful view of the river. I felt very welcome and that the experience was top notch.

My only complaint is this: this morning was alarm HELL. First, the alarm clock started playing music (progressively louder) at 6 AM. Then, at 8:00 and 8:10 AM, we received two unscheduled wake up calls. Then, around 8:30 AM, the alarm started making some kind of duck noise. UNBELIEVABLE!

So much for sleeping in.

Needless to say, we were over an hour early to brunch at the Peabody. Brunch at the Peabody is always tasty. I had 3 courses-- breakfast, seafood, and a dessert. And of course, I had champagne- the best part about brunch!

We spend today cruising up and down the Mississippi on one of the Riverboats. We had a nice time, and got a few good laughs in. Be prepared: The tour guide knows the history of Memphis AND he's opinionated. :~) It was one of the most random and humorous tours ever.

Now, I'm back and home and enjoying a beautiful sunset over the Mississippi. Speaking of which, I've gotta run or I'll miss it!

Talk to you soon.

Weird Things Go Bump in the Night

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:12:00 +0000

This is going to sound strange, but here it is: I woke up this morning at around 4:20 AM (5:20 AM EST) to shaking. My entire apartment was shaking, just a little. I was very calm and lie thinking about the after effects of earthquakes that I used to feel when I lived in LA.

When I woke up, I wrote down the time and date of the shaking, so that I could compare notes in the morning with the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (located in Memphis!).

This morning, I checked online and learned that just before I woke up to the light shaking, there was in fact an earthquake a few hundred miles away in Illinios. So far, people have reporting feeling its after effects as far down as St. Louis, MO so, I documented Memphis too.

Let me add that for some reason, I'm pretty sensitive to this sort of shaking. When I lived in LA, I'd wake up to a tiniest earthquake, and my next door neighbor would sleep right through it. We'd have a disagreement about whether or not it had even happened, and I'd have to pull up the earthquake site to prove my point. :~)

Here's the map of the tremor that I felt last night.

As you can see, it happened early this morning and the magnitude was at a 5.2 -- pretty strong.

Update: The Wall Street Journal has an article today detailing the quake. They say it was actually a 5.4. Check out the article here (or read it below).

Update 2: One of my neighbors also woke up to the earthquake this morning. SO glad it wasn't just me! :~)

WEST SALEM, Illinois -- An earthquake struck the U.S. state of Illinois early Friday, and it appeared to rival the strongest temblor ever recorded in the country's Midwest region.
The quake jolted residents in several nearby states as well, but no injuries or significant property damage were immediately reported.

The quake, measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale, hit just before 4:37 a.m. local time (1037 GMT) and was centered six miles from West Salem, Illinois.

"It shook our house where it woke me up," said David Behm of Philo, Illinois. "Windows were rattling, and you could hear it. The house was shaking inches. For people in central Illinois, this is a big deal. It's not like California."

The jolts were felt in a region that included parts of the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Its Web site said earthquakes seldom occur in the area, and that the largest recorded earthquake in the region -- also a magnitude 5.4 -- caused damage in southern Illinois in 1968.

Friday's quake shook buildings in central Chicago and the cities of Indianapolis, Indiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; and St. Louis, Missouri.

Blake Loses at Ping Pong

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:13:00 +0000

Check out my neighbor Blake losing at ping pong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cm2Ja9oqbM

It's Official: NWA and Delta Merger

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:15:00 +0000

All I can say is, I hope Delta decides to keep the Memphis hub...

Here's an e-mail I received this morning about the merger:

As a valued Northwest Airlines customer and WorldPerks^® member, I wanted you to be among the first to hear that we have announced a merger with Delta Air Lines. Subject to regulatory review, our two airlines are joining forces to create America’s premier global airline which, upon closing of the merger, will be called Delta Air Lines.

By combining Northwest and Delta, we are building a stronger, more resilient airline that will be a leader in providing customer service and value. Our combined airline will offer unprecedented access to the world, enabling you to fly to more destinations, have more flight choices and more ways than ever to earn and redeem your WorldPerks miles.

You can be assured that your WorldPerks miles and Elite program status will be unaffected by this merger. In addition, you can continue to earn miles through use of partners like WorldPerks Visa^®. And once the new Delta Air Lines emerges you can look forward to being a part of the world’s largest frequent flyer program with expanded benefits.

The combined Delta Air Lines will serve more U.S. communities and connect to more worldwide destinations than any global airline. Our hubs – both Delta’s and Northwest’s – will be retained and enhanced. We will be the only U.S. airline to offer direct service from the United States to all of the world’s major business centers in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa and around North America.

Both airlines bring tremendous strengths to this new partnership. Our complementary service networks form an end-to-end system that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. This is a merger by addition, not subtraction, which means all of our hubs – both Northwest’s and Delta’s – will be retained. In addition, building on both airlines’ proud, decades-long history of serving small communities, we plan to enhance global connections to small towns and cities across the U.S.

All of these positive benefits of our combination mean that we can:

Offer a true global network where our customers will be able to fly to more destinations, have more schedule options and more opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles in what will become the world’s best and most comprehensive frequent flyer program.

Continue to serve our current roster of destinations and to maintain our hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Salt Lake City, Amsterdam and Tokyo.

Improve our customers’ travel experience, through new products and services including enhanced self-service tools, better bag-tracking technology, more onboard services, including more meal options, new seats and refurbished cabins.

While we work to secure approval of our merger, which may take up to 6 to 8 months, it will be business-as-usual at both airlines. We will continue to operate as independent airlines and the people of Northwest will remain focused on providing you with the very best in safe, reliable and convenient air travel. At the same time, both airlines will be planning for a seamless integration of our two airlines, one that delivers to you the enhanced benefits that will earn – and retain – your preference.

As we work through this process, we will keep you informed at every step along the way. Thank you for your business and we look forward to serving you on your next Northwest flight.

Sincerely,

Bob Soukup
Managing Director, WorldPerks

Big Recap - The Last Week in Review

noreply@blogger.com (AngieDawn) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:38:00 +0000

The last week was another busy one. I flew around, trying to remember what timezone I was in and what the weather would be like from day to day.

My schedule:

Tuesday afternoon - Flew from Memphis to NYC

Wednesday - Spent the day in NYC for work

Thursday - Spent the day in NYC for work; met up with RPI friends Andy Andyland, Raul, and Adam Garrison for dinner

Friday - Flew from NYC to Memphis in the afternoon; went to the gym; went home to work and shower; went back to the airport; flew to Denver

Saturday - Snowboarding in Denver in the morning; visited Memphis Rob in the evening

Sunday - Flew back to Memphis

Monday - Survived Monday

That brings me to today-- It's Tuesday again (tax day in fact); the day I go horseback riding, and generally the day the weather is bad. Like clockwork, there was a freeze warning last night. Weather.com is reporting a high today of 63 degrees. Let's hope they're right.

On the topic of horseback riding-- A few weeks ago, I was checking the mail in my building after horseback riding. I was wearing riding gear and a neighbor stopped to say, "wow- cool outfit!" My response was along the lines of, "Thanks... I'm wearing this because I was riding horses."

But in NY last week, women everywhere were wearing riding boots as a fashion statement! It seemed that at least 1 in 4 women I saw were wearing them-- along with the tight looking riding pants. One woman was even wearing a spur to work. This is a style I haven't seen in LA... or in the middle of the country, so it was quite a suprise. I guess I'll be in style tonight during my horseback riding!