(George Hincapie not Jeff: I couldn't find one of Jeff on his bike and since I love me some Hincapie, I figured this was close enough. )
Yesterday...
Me: "What are your plans for today?"
Jeff: "I think I'll go for a little 35 mile maintenance ride."
Me: "Hmm, maybe I need a maintenance mileage run...."
First, someone tried to take off the front and back covers from my passport. I guess they thought, they could just slide in the pages in the binding?
Then, realizing that this would not work, they taped, yes taped, pages into my passport. And it's quite obvious the pages are taped in as you can see by the photos.
Smash, the upcoming show on NBC about a musical based on Marilyn Monroe, produced by Steven Spielberg debuts after the Superbowl, but passengers on American Airlines flights have been watching the first episode for the couple of weeks.
When I saw the advertised previews on television, before my twelve flight mileage run, I wasn't too impressed. While I love musicals and the creative genius of Steven Spielberg, I'm not a big Marilyn Monroe fan. So I hadn't planned on watching SMASH.
However, being a captive audience in an airplane for 9 hours changes one's opinion.
The first few flights I caught bits and pieces without sound in between naps. Since I couldn't figure out what was going on, about two weeks ago, I decided to watch the first episode in it's entirety. And I was/am hooked.
While Marilyn Monroe features prominently, as the musical being developed is based on her life, Smash isn't about Marilyn, it's about the characters, their interactions, and the internal dramas of each.
We are quickly but without feeling rushed introduced the characters adn their struggles, starting with Karen Cartwright, played by Katharine McPhee. Karen is a newcomer, trying to break into showbusiness, her parents disapprove, but she is supported both financially and emotionally by her boyfriend Dev Sundaram, played by Raza Jaffrey. His love and support gives her the confidence to succeed.
Ivy Lynn, played by Megan Hilty, has been relegated to being in the ensemble, yet to land the starring role.
Ivy is the yin to Karen's yang. Karen is the innocent, girl next door, Ivy is the bad girl, the hard knock kid, who has no one in her corner. When she calls home to tell her mom she got a callback, she doesn't get the approval she craves and needs.
Debra Messing plays Julia Houston, a songwriter who promised her husband, Frank, played by Brian d'Arcy James, she would take the year off so they focus on their adoption efforts. Julia breaks her promise to her husband when the musical evolves from a casual suggestion by Julia's partner, Tom Levitt's assistant Ellis Tancharoen, played by Jaime Cepero. It is because of Ellis, the musical takes off, in more ways than one.
Tom Levitt, played by Christian Borle, has his own demons. Tom is a gay man who can't remember the names of his partners and has a hate-hate relationship with the director, Derek Wills, played by Jack Davenport.
Finally, we have producer Eileen Rand, played by Anjelica Houston, who is going through a vindictive divorce and may or may not have money to fund the production.
Smash is worth watching.
"Back in black
I hit the sack
I've been too long I'm glad to be back"
Stealing a few lines from AC/DC.
Black as in black American Airlines Executive Platinum card - my last one expired 2/11. This isn't my card, but my new one will be arriving soon.
And all it took was 12 flights from San Diego to Los Angeles to Chicago and back in the same day with just an hour layover each way, thanks to American' DEQAA (Double Elite Qualifying miles) systemwide promotion that ended on January 31st plus DEQ11 (Double Elite Qualifying Miles LAXORD). Only a few delays, and thankfully despite some snow, I made it home every night.
Now to reap the benefits...
Missed a call from American Airlines this morning. No message was left. I'm flying five days out of seven next week, haven't received any schedule changes so I thought I'd call to make sure there were no radical changes to my flights.
AA Reservations looked and said everything was good and transferred me to the Platinum desk in case they were the ones who called. Helpful agent said they hadn't called and maybe I missed an invitation because "sometimes American Airlines will call to invite people to things and if they don't answer they go on to the next person."
The big thing coming up with American Airlines is the Oneworld MegaDO 2012, beginning on January 23rd (the international portion) with the domestic portion starting on January 25th.
So American, if you called me this morning to invite me to the Oneworld MegaDO 2012, I promise to answer the phone. I wasn't screening calls, just indisposed. I promise to now bring my phone with me at all times...
Sitting patiently waiting for the call back from American Airlines....
Traveling internationally? Global Entry, a program offered by U.S. Customs, will get you through Customs faster.
I first heard about Global Entry In 2009 when I did my first mileage run. I did a few mileage runs that year and never waited longer than about 15 minutes to clear Customs so I didn't bother applying.
This year, however, was a different story. I did two mileage runs to Shanghai and after waiting over 45 minutes to clear Customs after the second run, I decided to relook at the Global Entry program.
I got back from Shanghai on the evening of the 23rd. The next day, yes Thanksgiving, I submitted my Global Entry online application at 11am. The application process is very straightforward. Simply fill in the blanks: basic personal information such as name, hair and eye color, height and weight, to include any other names used, contact information, citizenship, passport and driver's license information, employment, list the countries (outside of the US, Canada, and Mexico) that you've visited in the last five years, and confirm that you haven't been convicted of a crime or in violation of any customs or immigration laws. Finally you enter your payment information for the $100 application fee. Very straightforward and takes about 15 - 20 minutes.
As mentioned I applied on Thanksgiving at 11am. At 10:35am, on Black Friday, I received an email indicating that my status has been changed. I was now conditionally approved. The next step, schedule my interview at a Global Entry interview location.
Although LAX was the closest Global Entry interview location, I did not want to drive to LAX. Since I was doing a mileage run to Chicago on the 30th, and ORD is a Global Entry interview location, I opted to schedule my interview at ORD.
My flight into ORD was to land at 2pm, so I scheduled my interview for 3pm. However, this flight was like no other or more accurately, this day was an event to remember as you may recall from my brief 3 flights in 2 Hours post. Earlier that morning I had called the agents at Global Entry to let them know I was going to be late for my appointment.
I finally arrived at ORD at 3:40pm at Terminal 3 and was off the plane at 3:45pm. My departing flight was leaving at 4:40pm, which meant boarding would be at 4:10pm. My Global Entry interview was in Terminal 5. Which meant I had to take the train to Terminal 5, go through security on the way back and make it to my gate before the plane left. It was a gamble, but a gamble that paid off.
I arrived at Terminal 5 at 3:50pm. There was one person in front of me. I asked how long she had been waiting. 15 minutes was her response. I politely started to ask, "Would you mind." when I got an abrupt, "No." Ok, no worries. I told myself that I needed to get out of there by 4pm so I could make my flight.
After a few minutes the woman in front of me gets called back. It's not 3:55pm, I'm not sure how long the interview is going to take so I'm stressed. If it takes 30 minutes, I'm not going to make my flight. If it's less, I'm good to go.
Thankfully, I get called back. The agent doing the interview runs through my application and asks about my travels to Mexico. Since Mexico was specifically not listed on the application, I confirm what my passport shows, yes, I've travelled there quite frequently over the past five years.
She takes my picture and fingerprints and leads me to the Global Entry kiosk for a quick demonstration. Asks if I have any questions and tells me to expect my card in the mail. I'm out of there and the woman who had been in front of me, is still sitting there answering questions. :)
Despite it all, I made it back to Terminal 3, through security, and on my flight, boarded with Group 4 as I had long missed my Priority Access window.
Could the process have been completed sooner? Yes, but it would have meant a drive to LAX over Thanksgiving weekend. All in all, I'm ok with a 7 day turnaround.
Oh, my Global Entry card arrived in the mail today. They must have mailed it out that afternoon.
I'm looking forward to my next international flight.
AA Customer Service Rocks!! Just got a call and per Kathy, they will reinstate my original mileage credit from my flight on Wednesday. So I will get my SANLAXORD routing that I had booked but wasn't able to fly due to the fog in LAX that morning, which will give me the DEQM (Double Elite Qualifing Miles) for LAXORD portion.
Enroute to Shanghai on a mileage run, stood next to David Alan Grier on the American Airlines shuttle bus from the commuter terminal to Terminal 4. No one seemed to recognize him. I wanted to say something to him but the bus was crowded and I didn't want to blow his cover.
