Category Archives: Random

Culture, Family, News, Politics, Random

Barack Obama Acceptance Speech at the Democratic Convention

Wow! Saying that Barack Obama is the best orator of our generation does not do him in justice. He is a phenomenon that our country is better for having, regardless of the election outcome.

What I loved most about this speech is that he doesn’t promise to fix everything for us, but to help us believe that we can fix what’s wrong in our country for ourselves. I think that’s called democracy, and he is one politician that seems to really believe in it.

Barack Obama also achieved today what so many thought impossible in the US: a black man was nominated to be president. Even better that he accepted that nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream speech”.

It makes sense that a post-racial candidate like Barack would come from Hawaii, a unique place that prides itself on functional ethnic mixing and tolerance.  If all of this doesn’t give us healing and hope, I don’t know what will.

Shortly after his speech, a dear friend emailed me her reaction: “Cried so hard. I realize how thick my wall of cynicism is and how much I do want America to be a better country. Ah…hope can I really believe in it?”

Dear readers, that may be the question of our time.

I listened to all of Obama’s speech on NPR.  If you missed this speech that is history in the making, you can still hear on NPR in its entirety.

Lifestyle, Random, Travel

Compare Airline Checked Baggage Fees

Nearly all of the major airlines have followed United’s lead and implemented fees for checked baggage. Here is a helpful table comparing the various baggage fees from kayak.com. The table also includes fee information for meals, pets, unaccompanied minor service, and what it costs for extra legroom.

Among all the airlines, the most common fee structure for checked baggage is one free checked bag, $25 for a second checked bag, and $50 for a third checked bag. But the fees vary: American charges $15 for the first bag; Delta charges $50 for a second bag; and British Airways doesn’t charge at all.

If you think you can avoid checked baggage fees by carrying on your luggage, think again. On all international flights that use London’s Heathrow Airport, for example, carry-on luggage is strictly limited to one bag that weighs less than 20 pounds. Domestic carriers are increasingly enforcing their own carry-on rules in order to force customers to check baggage (and thus pay their fees).

Besides shipping your luggage ahead or traveling with just your toothbrush, becoming a frequent flier with at least the first tier of status is the only good way at this point to beat the fees. On nearly every airline, the fees for checked baggage are waived for frequent fliers (see previous post on how to “Avoid United’s $25 for a Second Checked Bag”).