Well, as of today, the big move back to California is a scant 1 week away. To the day. (Though, technically, we're packing the truck the day before, so I guess it's more like 6 days, but I digress.

That, sadly, is not a lot of time, and last week I tried to combine packing and working, and got very, very little done. Looking at everything that remains to be done, I'm not really seeing how it's going to be possible working under my current schedule, so I think I'm going to have to cut out the comic this week.

I don't do this lightly, mind you - I've only missed a grand total of 5 days so far this year, and three of those are due to Comio Con. I do, however, have something of a contingency plan - guest comics.

Only, see, I don't have any banked at the moment. Zero. So, I'm officially putting out the call for guest strips. I'll be running them from tomorrow all the way up until next Friday. (The date we actually move into the new place) Requirements are easy - it just has to be 530 pixels wide, and preferably not suck. But even then, we accept a limited amount of suck, also. We're not picky. :) Be sure to put your name and website address on there, too - after all, why do a guest strip if it's not to get fame and notoriety? :D Once you're done, just send your creation to gregdean@gmail.com and we'll get to work putting it in rotation. :)

Again - I'll start posting these bad boys as of Tuesday, so hopefully someone with quick reflexes sees this and jumps on it as of today, 'cause I'd really hate to be left hangin' here. *laughs* Anyway, that's all for now - I've gotta get some sleep so I can put my nose back to the grindstone tomorrow. Later, guys!

So, there wasn't really any fanfare here on the site or anything, (especially since it was on a Saturday) but this past Saturday was Real Life's 9th anniversary. 9 freaking years. As a milestone, it's not the world's greatest, but it does mean I'm a year away from a DECADE of Real Life. That's gotta count for something, right?

We had a great time on Saturday, though - about 20 of us made it out to Kreuz' Market for some amazing brisket, and we sat and talked for a few hours. 'Twas fun.

Anyway, just wanted to give you guys a little heads-up to that footnote. :)

There seems to be a trend with me lately - it seems that, without fail, if I am on the phone with United Airlines, it's going to end in me cursing them out.

First, let me point something out. I used to be a devotee to United Airlines. For years, when we had trouble flying on American or Delta or *shudder* Southwest, United was always there as our rock - flights were usually smooth, we got decent service, and life was good. We signed up for frequent flier cards, (Even got a free upgrade to First class from L.A. to Chicago once) and I got a credit card that would give me bonus miles with them. I also had sort of a soft spot for them in my heart, given that my Grandfather worked maintenance for them for most of his life in San Francisco. After his memorial, I wound up taking a bunch of his old United memorabilia home with me, and I'm always going to treasure it, no matter what.

But coincidentally, that particular flight was where the love affair started to go south. See, it was around June, and it was when they started adding on fees for the second checked bag - which we didn't know about until we got to the gate, of course. I understood, to a degree - fuel prices were at an all-time high, and the airlines had to make up for the difference somehow. But I do clearly remember mentioning to the gate agent that "Heh... you KNOW those fees aren't going to go away when fuel prices come down again." How right I was.

Now, of course, fuel has dropped to the lowest price it's been in YEARS, and have they removed the fee? HA! They went one step further... because in early October, we booked a flight home so we could spend Christmas with our families. During that phone call, I discovered that not only had they added a fee for the FIRST checked bag (WHO flies without checking at least ONE bag?!) but they had increased the pet-in-cabin price from $85 per direction (It had previously been $75 the year before) to ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS per direction. Considering we'd be taking Selphie both ways, that adds up to MORE than the price of a ticket - just for the privelege of putting a dog carrier under the seat in front of us. And let's not forget the exorbitant booking fee for using miles for one of our tickets. The actual FLIGHT was only $280 round trip per ticket, but with the booking fee TO USE THE MILES TO PURCHASE A TICKET, we wound up paying over $500. The pet-in-cabin charge would be paid at the gate, of course. And don't forget the roughly $80 extra we would have to pay just to check our bags. This was the first instance where the phone call ended in extreme profanity.

Now, of course, we're MOVING BACK to California. We no longer have need for a flight from Austin to Sacramento. So, I decided to call United and see if it would be possible to convert the tickets into travel vouchers that we could use at another time. Certainly, said the reservations agent! There's only a fee of $150 per ticket to do so.

THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS?! FOR YOU TO PRESS A FEW BUTTONS AND CHANGE SOME INFORMATION IN A COMPUTER?! Needless to say, that phone call did not end in a civil fashion. I don't care if these people aren't personally responsible for these fees. They're representatives of United, and as such, they deserve to hear what I have to say. Take your fees and shove it.

And so, here and now, I officially renounce United Airlines. Call it whatever you want. A denouncement. A boycott. I don't care - the long and the short of it is this - I will never willingly fly United again, and I would urge anyone to whom customer service is important to boycott them as well. And not just United - I pledge, here and now, to never fly on another Star Alliance airline, either - domestically, this means no flying on US Airways. (Not exactly a huge loss) And I'm going to keep this up until United elects to rescind their fees for the first and second bags, and until the silly fees like $175 for a pet-in-cabin go away. But I'm not silly enough to think that the actions of one man are enough to get something done. That's why I'm calling on you guys.

I'm sure I'm not the only one furious with United Airlines for the treatment I've recieved - I'm sure many, many others have had the same experiences. Tomorrow, I will be writing up an actual, paper letter and sending it off to United, and I encourage you to do the same. If you feel so inclined, their mailing address is as follows:
Customer Relations
WHQPW
United Airlines
PO Box 66100
Chicago, IL 60666

Whether the fees go away or not is immaterial. I'm just pissed that United has $500 of my money that I'm never going to see again, and they're holding it hostage unless I pay an ADDITIONAL $300 to make use of it sometime in the next year. And so, I'm going to throw in my one profanity in this entire post - I say this so that people like my mom who don't really care for profanity can stop reading now.

Fuck you, United Airlines. You just lost a devoted customer.