I’m packing. I decide to go carry-on only which I feel is a good choice for multi-stop, multi-carrier flights. Not to mention, travel to lesser improved countries (No, I’m not being exclusive just being factual, okay?)

To accomplish this, ya gotta pack agressively. Here’s a couple tips to pack Mika-like:

- 22″ carry on. No bigger than 15″ wide and VERY MAX 7.5″ thick. Why? Sometimes you get older planes, and their storage compartments are significantly smaller than the new planes and the last thing you want is ALL your luggage to be put into baggage, especially any valuables you have in your carry on.

- Pack your small items and thin garments in the outer pockets of your roll aboard that you aren’t using for important things. EX: Tank tops, undies, etc.

- Wear clothes you’ll use at your destination or for “just in case” weather so they don’t take up space in the bag. Layer so you can shed and dress down easily.

- Pack things inside your shoes in the suitcase.

- Roll everything. They take up less space and stack nicely. Another option is to buy the vacuum-bags that suck out the air and make everything thinner.

- Pack multi-purpose clothes. EX: I packed long sleeve shirts that are thin and have sleeves that roll up easily. I can wear it all day long, and then roll down the sleeves for the evening instead of having another shirt.

V’s up and about getting ready for work and making noise, which to my irritation wakes me up. I guess I deserve it. After all, I woke her up at midnight to find her passport just to be sure before I clicked the “book now” button. I get up slowly as ever, and stagger to the computer to find the email. Seriously no joy!

After calling expedia, I am informed to book my flights somewhere else because they don’t have e-ticket agreements with Delta/United. What? An online travel site without e-ticket capability? Right. They’re blowing smoke for sure, but what can I do - agrue with them? I check a couple sites (bootsnall.com has a great multi-site pricing program you should check out) and end up booking a from cheaptickets.

Frustrating as this has been, it ended up saving me about 700 USD. And I am down with that!

I am still asleep, and an email just cam in from Expedia saying they can’t book the airfare portion of our flight on such short notice. No Joy!

So I got all travel-jealous with Keener, Hydro & Court all taking off. Not to mention a bit impulsive. Here it is, 12:01am on Thursday and I just got done booking a trip that leaves tonight at 11:20pm. I’m a bit stressed because that is QUICK for a longer trip. Good news is that one of the flight segments got upgraded to first class so it should make the re-eye a bit easier to deal with. Yeah, I did check into Visa requirement first guys - I’m not a complete noob…

I’m inspired to blog about the trip to Jamaica, so here goes. I’m going to update this a couple days at a time - the hotel has a “computer” for internet access, but it’s ancient and kind of buggy on how it runs so it’s going to be hit or miss, but expect it to be spotty at best and I’ll follow up when I get home. Mostly, I’ll be taking my notes and converting them to blog post. I’m blogging on paper (otherwise known as keeping a journal but not as geeky) so I don’t forget what happened yesterday.

12/29/05 12:03 AM - Portland, OR. Just finished booking for our trip. After some time (about 2 days) contemplating I finally chosed Jamaica as our destination. The weather forecast looks good and prices for both the trip and at the destination are similar to going somewhere closer like Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It is also a relatively short flight compared to many places in the Caribbean. Now, it’s time for bed because we leave today at 11:20 PM. Yes, today - talk about spontaneous.

We will be in Jamica on 12/30/05 and returning 1/5/06 to ring in the new year. Here’s the place we’re staying at:

Notice the popcorn inside the hard-hat. And no, it’s not mine.

I’ve had some opinions on the EU, and how it makes it difficult for countries (In this case, Norway) to deny entry to people it feels cause a disruption (Finns aparently) to it’s society.

Here’s proof.
Link courtesy of Hydro. Thanks!

I finally broke down and got it. I’ve been thinking of it for some time, but got hung up mostly on the fact that I’d have to install something on my dash or window that looks kind of cheesy.

I picked up the SIRIUS Satellite Radio - XACT Visor XTR3CK receiver unit, mostly because it’s so slim in frontal profile and will mount above the sun visor - hence the name.

Another contributing factor to this impulse purchase is my drive to Bellingham and back tomorrow in the box truck. No CD player, and crappy stations all the way up I-5 made this look really good. After the drive it will be installed into the Taco. I may end up getting a 2nd vehicle kit and permanetly mounting it for use in both trucks.

I just posted this on the company’s blog and thought it was useful enough (read: strange enough) to share.

That’s all there is to say about this.

Just ripped the window out of the house on 14th: