SuperShuttle Baltimore

Over the past 3 years, I've used the Super Shuttle's airport transportation service to BWI at least 4 times each way (to and from my home). I have used both their share a ride service and their private car service. As I promised in one of my earlier blog entries, here is my review/opinion of them. A reminder, all opinions of their service stated here are my own. I haven't received any kind of remuneration from Super Shuttle. I don't claim to know all the circumstances of the some of the incidents that happened and, any incidents I mention here may not happen to you.

I forget exactly when I first used Super Shuttle's service in Baltimore though I'm pretty sure it was so I could catch a flight from BWI to Detroit Metropolitan (DTW). I usually fly to Michigan to visit my Dad and step-mom at least once a year and BWI is the closest airport to where I live. Comparing the cost of long-term parking vice using Super Shuttle's share a ride service, I found that for trips that are longer than 5 days, it was better to use Super Shuttle's service.

I have had some mis-adventures with Super Shuttle. Some of the mis-adventures were their fault and some were mine. One mis-adventure that was their's was when I was travelling home for Christmas. I arranged for the shuttle to pick me up at 0430 a.m. on the 23rd I believe. At 0430, there wasn't any driver. I waited another half an hour and then called them. They assured me the driver was on his way. 0530 still no driver, 0545 still no driver, 0600 I call again and they said they didn't know where the driver is. Great! They subsequently sent another driver. The second driver did show up and got me to the airport at 0630. Unfortunately, my plane was due to leave at 0705 and because of that, I couldn't check my bags in at the curb. I had to check-in at the check-in counter. By the time I got to the check-in counter, my flight was pulling out of the gate. I ended up getting to fly stand-by all the way home which was a bit nerve wracking.

To be fair to Super Shuttle, I will tell about one time where it was my fault concerning their service. I had made reservations to do a holiday in Iceland. I arranged to have Super Shuttle to pick me up at 6 p.m. to take me to BWI. I waited until 6:45 when I decided to call them. Thankfully, I showed the good sense to not say they were to blame right off the bat i.e. I hadn't forgotten the Christmas fiasco. I said I was checking on my reservations with them. To my horror, I found out I'd made the reservations for the wrong day and it was too late to get them to pick me up that day. I ended up driving into BWI and parking at their short term parking. I didn't have time to find their long term parking. My flight was going to leave in 90 minutes. I made my flight and had further mis-adventures in Iceland. I also had to pay the short parking folks $94! OUCH!!!!!!

As you can see, I've had some interesting mis-adventures with Super Shuttle. Because of these misadventures, I am a little paranoid when I use them. Recently, I got to use them on December 20th to get to BWI and yesterday when I returned to Maryland. I ended up having another mis-adventure with them on the 20th. I triple checked to make sure I put the right date on my reservations with Super Shuttle. I made my reservation for them to pick me up between 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. (You give them a 15 minute window when you want to be picked up.) My flight left at 5:05 and it takes 20 minutes from where I live to get to BWI. If I left at 2:30, I'd have over 2 hours to kill at BWI. I was not to be so lucky.

To my delight, at 1:58 p.m. the Super Shuttle driver called me and told me he would arrive at 2:30. That was within their time window so I said fine. I made sure I was outside waiting for him at 2:15. 2:30 shows up and there isn't any driver. 2:45 shows up and there isn't any driver. My step-mom Kay calls and asks if I'm at the airport. I have to tell her I'm not but I assure her I'll make it one way or the other. My back-up plan is to drive out to BWI, park in the long term parking (I knew where it was now, I made sure I found out after the Iceland fiasco.), and take their shuttle service to the airport. If you're wondering why my step-mom was a little anxious about me making it to the airport, it's because I'm the one who had all the information on the limo service we planned to use from Indianapolis International to the Downtown Indianapolis Radisson hotel, the hotel reservations were in my name, and so were the tickets to the Lord of the Rings film exhibition. I think you can understand why she was a little anxious. She wasn't the only one.

As the driver had called me on my cell phone, I had his phone number and called him. He assured me he would be picking me up soon. To my relief, he showed up at 3:05 p.m. and we drove straight to BWI. We made it in time and I was able to catch my flight with no problems.

Super Shuttle also has a service where a private car can pick you up. This service is triple what the share a ride van service is because you're the driver's only passenger. I used this service when I flew out of BWI to Dallas on what would be the beginning of my Globus tour of Australia. That time, there weren't any mishaps with Super Shuttle and I arrived at BWI right on schedule.

In regards to taking Super Shuttle from BWI to where I live, I've never had any problems there. They've always been prompt. I've never had to wait more than 30 minutes. I would definitely recommend taking them from BWI.

Overall, I'd say Super Shuttle has a nice service in Baltimore. I'd give yourself about 3 hours with them if you are going to the airport. That'll give you plenty of leeway if you have a mis-adventure with them. You shouldn't have any problems with them getting back home from the airport. Price wise, I think they're share a ride service is cheaper then a taxi and I know it's cheaper then a limo service. Remember, their private car service is more expensive but you don't have to worry about waiting for them while they pick-up other passengers. Depending on how important your trip is, it could be worth the extra cost. I felt it was on my $5,800 trip to Australia. The Baltimore Super Shuttle website is: http://supershuttle.com/htm/cities/bwi.htm. One last note, as I remember, they give frequent flier miles for the Frontier and America West programs.

Southwest Airlines

As promised, here is my review/opinions on Southwest Airlines. First, let me tell you what routes I flew so you can properly judge on what I base my opinions. None of the flights I took were longer then 1 hour 45 minutes. The longest route I flew was from Chicago Midland to Baltimore Washington International (BWI). Second, all the flights I flew were during the Christmas holiday season i.e. it may have been busier than usual. Third, the routes I flew were Baltimore Washington International to Indianapolis International, Indianapolis International to Chicago Midland, Chicago Midland to Detroit Metropolitan (and back), and Chicago Midland to Baltimore Washington International.

I got to fly on Southwest Airlines for the first time on December 20th. I was to find it a nice experience barring my initial confusion on how they work. When I first printed out my boarding pass, I wondered what the "A" stood for. I found out when I got to BWI airport. It turns out Southwest boards people by group. There are preboarders such as handicapped people and people with children under 5 years old (I fully support them allowing these people to board first as I feel they deserve it.) then, there are groups "A," "B," and "C." As far as I know, you get into groups A, B, and C depending on when you check-in. I found that if I checked-in as soon as possible (24 hours before my flight left), I could get into group "A." I quickly discovered the advantages of being in group "A." Group "A" gets first pick at the seats on the plane barring the pre-boarders. It also makes it easier for you to find an overhead bin to put your stuff in. The biggest advantage I saw of this was it enabled me to sit at the front of the plane. That meant I was able to get on and off the plane quickly which can be pretty nice. Another advantage of this is it virtually guarantees you should be able to sit with someone you're travelling with.

If you're in group "B," you're going to sit further back in the plane but you should still be able to get an aisle seat if you want one as well as find plenty of bin space. I got placed in group "B" on my way back to BWI and, I had no problems getting an aisle seat or bin space.

Group "C" in my opinion gets the dregs. You have to sit where ever there is a seat and you may have to hunt for space in the bins to store your stuff.

In terms of service at the check-in counters, I found the people there nice. I did take one issue with a lady at one of the gates. On my BWI to Indianapolis flight, it was known the flight was going to be late. The lady at the gate had to have known. She didn't bother to inform the waiting passengers as far as I know until it was almost time for the flight to arrive and, she didn't update the flight information on the board behind her till then. I also heard that the BWI to Indianapolis flight is routinely late leaving from BWI because it is regularly late arriving. Southwest might want to try to fix that if possible.

I found the stewardesses consistently kind and efficient. They were very quick in handing out the complimentary drinks and snacks. I found if your flight is under 1 hour, you'll get a complimentary drink (soda, water, juice) and a couple small bags of peanuts. If the flight is under 2 hours, you'll also get a bag of stuff similar to Chex Mix (it contained stick pretzels, small Ritz crackers, cheese flavored sticks). I found the stewardesses had no problem if you ate food you brought with you on board. I ate some of White Castle hamburgers I bought in Ann Arbor on the Chicago Midland to BWI flight and, they didn't say anything.

Seat wise, I feel the seats were a little small. I found myself repeatedly slightly scrunched in my seat. On two flights, I did have the bad luck of sitting next to very heavy lady and in the other flight to a very muscular gentleman. I feel the seats weren't terribly roomy or comfortable.

Baggage wise, I found Southwest's skycaps polite and helpful. I also found they were prompt on getting the bags out to the baggage carousels. I did feel I waited a bit at the Detroit Metropolitan airport but, they may have been due to the construction going on there. I found they were prompt at Indianapolis and BWI.

Price wise, Southwest can be a real bargain. Southwest doesn't penalize you if you go only one-way like other airlines do. They also offer some great prices on short flights. My step-mom checked into airfares and found Southwest charged $150 round-trip from Detroit to Indianapolis. All the other airlines wanted $300 plus.

Overall, I'd say Southwest is a very good airline and one worth considering. Because of the size of their seats, I wouldn't want to fly them on a long flight. I would absolutely check them out if you are planning on taking a short flight as you might be able to save some serious money flying them on short flights. A word of warning, you may have to change planes at Chicago Midland. It appears that is one of their major hubs and a lot of their flights go there. I've also heard a lot of their flights go through Dallas Love Field too.

White Castle Hamburgers

Today, I got to pick up a case (30) of White Castle hamburgers. It brought back lots of memories. The most vivid ones were of trips to my grandmother's trailer home in the back woods of Indiana. Once a year, my Dad and Mom would pile me and my sister in the car and drive to Indiana to visit my grandmother (on my Dad's side of the family). Grandma lived in a trailer out in the country. It was so country that until she and my Grampa got a full size trailer, they didn't have a bathroom. They had an outhouse and that was real interesting. I remember it well because it stunk and me being a kid at the time, the last thing I wanted to do was have to go to the bathroom when it was cold and dark outside. Later, they did get a full size trailer which got a bit full when my family, my Aunt Marge's family, and my Aunt Norma's family showed up. It became something of a massive slumber party then. Still, it was a lot of fun visiting grandma.

One of the highlights of the visit ironically wasn't seeing her. It was stopping by the Columbus, Ohio White Castle restaurant. The drive from Pittsburgh (where we lived at the time) to Indiana was something like 9 hours. Me and my sister Marjorie being typical kids could only stay good and patient so long. One way my folks kept us more good was to stop by the Columbus White Castle.

What is so special at the Columbus White Castles' you might ask? Actually, it was like any other White Castle restaurant. What it made it special was the food. White Castle hamburgers are square shaped hamburgers that a kid could easily handle. To make them more fun, since there not terribly big, you could eat a lot of them. I remember stacking the empty boxes they came in after we'd finished eating. To me, they were a special treat. They have remained so ever since.

One annoying thing about White Castle restaurants is that they are primarily located in the Midwest. There aren't any in Maryland as far as I know. I can buy the frozen White Castle hamburgers at Sam's Club but they're not the same. The frozen ones don't come in the stackable boxes and they don't have the same flavor after you microwave them. I wanted some right off the stove. Today, on my way to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, my step-mom who was taking me stopped by a White Castle restaurant where I could get a case of them. I was delighted. Later, during the flight to Baltimore Washington International Airport (I was on my way home from staying with my Dad and my other step-mom Jane during Christmas.), I got to enjoy seven of them. They were great. I still have 22 left so I'll be able to savor for a little while longer some more White Castle hamburgers and reminisce about years gone by.

FYI, White Castle hamburgers come 30 to a case. If you did the math above, you'd see I should have 23 left. My step-mom Kay, who also loves White Castle hamburgers, jokingly charged me a transit fee of one hamburger. I gladly paid. White Castle hamburgers cost 48 cents each. A case normally costs $14.40 however, they are having a special promotion where you can buy a case for $12.99 not including tax. For further information on White Castle restaurants, their website is: www.whatyoucrave.com. If you don't have a White Castle restaurant close to you, you might see if there is a Krystal restaurant close by. Krystal's serves the same burgers White Castle does (in my opinion). I found this out when I ate at a Krystal's in Mary Esther, Florida. As far as I know, Krystal's is primarily located in Florida. Their website is: www.krystal.com. One final comment about White Castle restaurants. They're also located in New York and New Jersey. Also, fyi, this comments about White Castle and Krystal restaurants are my own. I also don't receive any kind of remuneration for this positive review. Lastly, I don't promise you'll like their hamburgers. Each of us has different tastes. I know I personally enjoy their hamburgers and heartily recommend them.

Carey Indiana Limousine Service

The following statement is my own and is not in any way endorsed by the Carey Indiana Limousine Service. Nor has Carey Indian Limousine Service in any way paid for the following comments about their services. In fact, the service has no idea of what I've written here about them. They are my own personal comments and observations about their limousine service. Should you try their service, I can't guarantee your experiences will be the same as mine though I think it very likely. Prices quoted are subject to change by the service and I have no idea when they may be changed. I have no affiliation whatsoever with Carey Indiana Limousine Service.

In my last post, I told of my visit to the Lord of the Rings film exhibition at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis. As I don't live in Indianapolis, I had to fly out there to see the exhibition. I flew to Indianapolis on Southwest Airlines and plan to post a blog on what I thought of their services. This blog entry however is about my use of Carey Indiana Limousines Services.

As I was making my reservations for my trip to Indianapolis back in October I ran into a problem, I couldn't find an airport shuttle service from Indianapolis Airport to downtown Indianapolis. I decided to call the Radisson where I was going to be staying. They told me about the Carey Indiana Limousine Service. The Radisson is one of an unknown number of hotels who have a deal with them to drop off travellers at their hotel. I then called the service and found out it would cost $11 each way per person. I thought that was a great price though I didn't realize at that time just how great. I subsequently made reservation for me and my step-mom.

The day finally came to fly out to Indianapolis and I used the Super Shuttle (Blue Van) service (I'll give my impressions of their service later) to Baltimore Washington International Airport. From there, I caught a Southwest Airlines flight to Indianapolis. When I arrived at Indianapolis, I met up with my step-mom, picked up my bag, and we went in search of the Carey Indiana Limousine Service. The service was located across the street from the arrivals entrance. We walked over to the building they're located in and checked in. About 5 minutes later, our transportation arrived.

A lot of limousine services use vans, buses, as well as limousines. For $11 each way, I expected a van. Me and my step-mom were both stunned when we stepped out and got to board a great looking stretch limousine. It was absolutely fantastic. It was a great start to our visit to Indianapolis. The driver and his assistant promptly got us to the downtown Radisson and were very courteous. We ended up tipping them $8 because we were so delighted with their service.

When it was time to depart, we waited for what we expected would be a van this time. To our surprise, Carey sent a stretch limousine AGAIN! We were delighted. The driver was just as great as the driver that took us to the Radisson. We were at the Indianapolis Airport in no time. The driver also very kindly told us where we needed to go to check-in for our flight.

I don't know if you'll get a limo every time like we did but, if you need a cheap but high quality service to get you to downtown Indianapolis, you might want to try Carey Indiana Limousine Service. Me and my step-mom found them consistently excellent and will gladly use them again in the future if we have to travel to Indianapolis. Their phone number for reservations and rates is 317-241-6700.

Lord of the Rings Film Exhibition

Currently, the Indiana State Museum is hosting the Lord of the Rings film exhibition until January 3rd. Me and my step-mom finally got to see the exhibition yesterday. If you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings films, it is a must see. They have the costumes warn by Christopher Lee (Saruman), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), and Orlando Bloom (Legolas) on display. There is also have the armor and weapons used by Bernard Hill (Theoden). The character Sauron is represented by his armor and terrible mace. For those who are fans of the dwarves, they have the armor and weapons worn by the double for John Rhys-Davies (Gimli). They also have armor worn by orcs, goblins, and Lurtz the terrible Uruk-kai created by Saruman. A row of different suits of armor is also on display. The row shows the different kinds of armor among the various races. There is a beautiful set of Elven armor, a suit of armor from Numenorean times, two suits of armor someone of the Rohirrim would wear, a suit of armor a Gondorean of the third age would wear as well as others. Videos tell about the actors and actresses involved in the film. A wall shows some of the thousands of prostetics that were created for the films. For special effects nuts, they show how they performed some of the special effects and for $6 you can get your picture taken where a you can be shrunk to hobbit size. The models of Isengard and Barad-dur are on display too. One thing that really impresses is the attention to deal that Peter Jackson and others showed. Many of the items are beautifully made and very intricate. On film, it is extremely unlikely that movie goers would notice these details but that didn't stop the special effects and costumes people. They made some truly breath taking costumes, armor, weapons, and other items (they display the telescope Elrond had at Rivendell).

Another nice aspect of the exhibition is all the artwork that is on display. Drawings by Alan Lee, John Howe, and other artists are on display. Some of them are really beautiful. They had a color painting of Bag End by John Howe I wish I could've purchased. Supposedly, the exhibition is unique in having all the artwork that is on display.

For those who wise to acquire some kind of film souvenir, the museum has a very good gift shop. You can buy maquettes of some of the characters, replicas of the some of the swords, jewelry replicas including a copy of the Evenstar jewel, magnets, book marks, books, and for those who want to look properly elven, a replica of the Fellowship cloak. Two warnings about the cloak. First, it is purely costume. The cloth is very thin and can't be expected to keep the rain and wind out. Second, the cloaks are imported from New Zealand and are expensive. I saw a price tag of $889. Still, I will say the cloaks are pretty. I just don't need to look elven that badly.

Overall, the exhibition is awesome. Me and my step-mom thoroughly enjoyed it. We walked around in delight viewing each of the outstanding exhibits. I left with an even greater appreciation of the films and those who played a part in their making. They truly are benchmarks for any future fantasy films. If you can make it to Indianapolis, I would strongly recommend you catch the exhibition.

One last item of information. Once the exhibition closes on January 3rd, the exhibition will return to New Zealand for 6 months. It hasn't been announced where it will go after New Zealand.

SHARE Distribution Day

4:00 a.m., time to get up. It was the beginning of a busy morning. I'd promised the folks at SHARE that me and Tami Baldon would help out on distribution Saturday. That meant I had to be on the road by 5:15 a.m. Poor Tami, who really hates getting up early had to drag herself out of bed only to find her mom in the bathroom. Her mom was recently promoted to assistant manager at the Chik-Fil-A down the street. Part of her assistant manager duties is opening it at 5 a.m. So Tami found her mother busy getting ready for work at the same time she needed to be out the door so we could drive to SHARE. She finally made it and off we went.

The drive to SHARE was uneventful. We made good time though we did get one shock when we got there. Previous distribution Saturdays didn't start till 6 a.m., not so on this one. We got there at 5:35 a.m. and all the parking spots were filled. People were picking up food packages already. We managed to find a spot thanks to Sam Minor, SHARE's webmaster I've mentioned previously. We then walked in and wondered where we should help out at.

Sam suggested bagging sweet potatoes but I wasn't thrilled with doing that. Jingle then came up and asked if I'd like to be a checker. What is a checker you ask? A checker is a person who takes the customer's order sheet and fills it. There are two kinds of checkers at SHARE. One checker gets single or small lot items such as 5 bags of apples while the other kind of checker handles orders for cases of stuff example: 4 boxes of black eyed peas. Both jobs are very important as they make sure the customers get what they've ordered. Neither me or Tami had been checkers before. I nervously decided to try it. Tami unbeknownst to me became a checker for cases of items.

In my opinion, the small order checker job is the harder of the two checker jobs because you've got more items you have to watch over though the large order checker could cost SHARE more money if they mess up. The small order checker checks off the number of each item the customer receives and makes sure the customer agrees with that number. You also have to make sure the people handing out the items give the customer the right number of items. A few times I found those giving out the items miscounted. Another problem you have is with stuff that the customer rejects an item for one reason or another. In one case, a customer rejected a bag of onions because one of the onions in the bag was bad. The checker also had to explain to the customer how things are done. Repeatedly, I had to explain to customers how they were going to receive their order of tangelos. We were prebagging them 20 to a bag and then putting in another bag anything under 20. So if a customer ordered 75 tangelos, they received 3 bags of 20 and another bag of 15. Lastly, I had to make sure the customer agreed he or she had received all the items I'd checked off and signed the form proving they'd received the goods. I then signed it and turned it into the office. For me, it was a nerve wracking job because I wanted to be absolutely sure the customer received everything they'd paid for.

The morning went quickly as the line of customers didn't seem to shrink for hours. I would finish processing one order, sign off on the paperwork, and promptly go back to the beginning of the line to start processing another order. The orders didn't slow down till 11 a.m. It was incredible how much food was distributed. When me and Tami first arrived, there cases of food stacked up on the warehouse floor. When we were all done, almost all the cases were gone. We actually ran out of turkey link sausages and had to substitute those with packages of ground turkey meat. The warehouse which had been filled with food now looked incredibly empty. Having the warehouse so empty though was a good thing as it meant those who figured how much to buy of each item had gotten it right. They would have very little left over that they would have to sell later.

Me and Tami left about noon and drove back to the apartment complex. For the people who work at SHARE, they would put away the leftovers, and see about tidying the place up. For them, the big holiday surge was over. They could finally take a breather though in 2 weeks time, things will begin to spin up again. It is a continous cycle. The beginning of the month sees them taking orders and then ordering the necessary food. They also organize how ever many volunteers show up to help do whatever jobs need to be done (bagging potatoes, beans, or other food stuffs, making bags, boxing fixings, etc.). Things will begin to surge as it gets closer to distribution day. Distribution day is the peak of the surge. After all the food is distributed, they'll see what's leftover, start working on what is going to be in the next month's food packages, and take a short breather.

The people at SHARE have to find their work deeply satisfying. They help a lot of needy people stretch their food dollars while at the same time ensuring they get good nutritious food. They also help to build community by encouraging volunteerism. People who buy the packages are expected to do 2 hours of community service for each package they buy. SHARE is also a place where young people learn about community service and helping others. I've seen a lot of high school students do their mandatory community service there. For some students, it may be one of the few times where they get to help those less fortunate. I'll never forget meeting some students from Georgetown Preparatory School. Those kids reeked of money and the good life. It had to be a real eye opener for them to help out at SHARE.

If you might be interested in helping out at the SHARE warehouse in Bladensburg, I have their webpage linked on my blog. The webpage has a phone number where they can be reached as well as directions on how to get to the warehouse. I can promise you you'll meet some nice people including Jingle and help a worthy cause.

SHARE 12/16/05

I helped out at SHARE for the third day this week. I must be a glutton for punishment. I also got a surprise today, SHARE decided to set up a distribution line that stayed open until 5:30 p.m. The line wasn't as busy as it is on distribution Saturday's but we did get a fair amount of customers. I ended up helping out in a number of areas. I handed out potatoes initially, then started bagging tangelos for the table next to mine. Later, I handed out onions, apples, celery, sweet potatoes, black eyed peas, and pancake mix. It kept the work interesting. I also got to enjoy some of Jingle's excellent chicken and rice soup. That helped keep you warm in the warehouse.

Another person I'd like to tell you a little about is Scott. Scott is the executive director at SHARE, the big man who runs the whole show. He's a very nice guy who shows no sign of having a big man attitude. Like other people who work at SHARE, he's a jack of all trades. He helps fill orders, hand food out, and do whatever else needs to be done. Scott also usually leads the morning prayer on distribution Saturdays. It's a nice prayer and a nice way to start things on those days.

One correction I have to make to my last SHARE post, there isn't any sub-group managers. I spoke with Chris today to make sure I understood how things work as far as the orders go. He said the individual who wants to order for a package or packages goes to whatever group that is taking orders (usually a church) and they in turn come to the SHARE warehouse to pick up the orders. Chris and the other four group managers deal with those groups over any problems, showing them how to promote SHARE, how to take orders, and how to turn the orders and money in.

SHARE 12/14/05

I'd promised Sam and Karen yesterday that I would help out again today. Still, I was dragging my feet. I finally got my act together around 10 a.m. and hit the road. Traffic was light on Interstate-295 (Baltimore Washington Parkway) and I arrived at the SHARE warehouse in Bladensburg half and hour. I expected another boring chilly day of bagging sweet potatoes. It was not to be to my surprise.

The first surprise I got was when I bunch of 3rd or 4th graders showed up at the warehouse. I don't know what school they were from but I have to applaud them. It was great of them to bring the kids down to warehouse to help. It helps teach the kids about giving something to the community and caring about others less fortunate. Karen alias Jingle (probably because of her wonderful personality) briefed the kids on what they had to do. It was the same job I'd done the day before. You weighed out 2 and 1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes, put them in a plastic sack, tie the open end of the sack, and put 12 bags of potatoes in each box or large potato sack. The kids took to it with gusto though they did have to be shown just what was 2 and 1/2 pounds. Barring that, I doubt SHARE had seen such enthusiastic volunteers.

The second surprise I got was when Chris, one of the group account managers, told me they needed help in the back. Little did I realize what I was getting myself in for. Certain orders are so big that SHARE gets these orders ready ahead of distribution day. Chris and some other volunteers were busy getting these orders ready. It is hard work as an order may have 5 50-pound sacks of potatoes, 3 40-pound sacks of onions, 8 40-pound boxes of apples, 4 40-pound boxes of celery, and 5 30-pound boxes of tangelos. In no time, I was beat from lifting the boxes though Chris kept right on trucking. I guess he's use to such work. I know I'm not and found new admiration for his surprising strength.

FYI, SHARE has five group account managers of which Chris is one. Each group account manager manages a certain region. Chris told me they have one that handles the city of Baltimore, another handles Washington D.C., and others handle regions in Maryland and Virginia. The individual members of the SHARE program will go to a sub-group manager who in turn goes to the group manager. Only if the matter is particularly urgent will an individual member go to the group manager i.e. they got shorted 50 pounds of potatoes or large quantity of some other item.

Karen alias Jingle is another person you should try to meet at SHARE. This lady walks around with a permanent smile on her face and a song in her heart. I've never seen her angry. She has repeatedly shown great kindness to volunteers who help out at SHARE. One of the first things she did when I arrived this morning was direct me to where some hot chicken soup and hot chocolate was. She is also working on a list of volunteers so SHARE can host a get together for them to show its appreciation for what they do as well as let them know of other events at SHARE. She is definitely one of the people that help make it fun to help out at SHARE. If you show up there some time, make sure you say hi to Jingle.

SHARE

I got to help out at SHARE today. Today, they had LOTS of boxes of sweet potatoes that they needed broken down into 2 and 1/2 pound bags. Once we had 12 bags of sweet potatoes, we'd put them back in the box we dumped out and stack them on a pallet. SHARE is busy getting things ready for distribution Saturday. It's incredible how fast those bags of sweet potatoes will go come Saturday.

There were a surprising number of volunteers today at SHARE. At one point, they had people working at seven tables bagging sweet potatoes. It was really nice seeing so many people coming out to help out. The people who run SHARE were busy as always. I got to chat with Sam, SHARE's webmaster par excellence. Sam is a wonderful person who is constantly busy organizing volunteers, showing them what needs to be done, moving loads of food, getting food shipments ready, and taking care of their webpages. If you ever get over to SHARE, you should look him up and say hi. He really is a nice person.

Book Review

I finally finished a book I'd started months ago. The book is "No Phule Like An Old Phule" by Robert Asprin with Peter J. Heck. It is the fifth in the Phule series. For those of you who may not know about the series, what it basically is about is the comedic adventures and misadventures of Willard Phule, heir to the Phule Industries fortune, and his command of the biggest bunch of misfits and outcasts in the Space Legion. The series at times can be quite funny. This one was all right. Why do I think it was just all right? I guess because the gags just didn't leave me rolling laughing. Asprin can do a lot better and this was not one of his better works. That is why I rate the book as fair. If you are a fan of the Phule series, you'll still want to check it out.

A little information on Robert Asprin. Robert Asprin has also worked on the Thieves World books and Myth adventure books. I've never read any of the Thieves World book but I have read some of the Myth books and enjoyed them. I would recommend you check out some of the Myth books if you like fantasy comedy books.

I finally wrapped up the the women's literature class yesterday that I was taking at University of Maryland. I was scheduled for my final yesterday at Maryland's Cole Field House. I'd never taken any of my finals there and it ended up being an interesting experience compounded by the fact I ended up being late for the final. The final was open book and I decided to print all six modules we'd used in the course. This ended up taking longer then I expected. To compound my tardiness, I didn't take into account how long it would take me to clean off all the ice and snow on my car from Friday's morning snowfall. I finally pulled into the parking lot at Maryland at 9:02. My final started at 9:00. I prayed the folks there would cut me some slack. To my relief, I found out I wasn't the only one that was late. It turned out I lost 15 minutes out of the 3 hours given for my final due to my tardiness which I didn't consider any big shakes. It was interesting to see how they set things up. Those who had open book tests got to go down to the playing court and sit at tables. Those who had closed book tests got to sit in the stadium seats to take their tests.

Of the modules that I thought I might need so badly they caused me to be late, one of the modules I printed did turn out to be invaluable for one of the essay questions Professor Beaudry asked. Of the final itself, we had to write 3 essay answers of at least 600 words to three different questions concerning material we'd covered. I won'te say what the questions were in the one in a zillion chance that one of my classmates who hasn't taken the final might actually read this post. In regards to how I did on the final, I managed to knock two answers of 600 words and gave something of a decent answer for the third. Overall, I thought I did all right on the final. With that and the fact I actually turned in all 3 papers this time (though I can't brag too loudly on that as I only managed to do that because of Professor Beaudry's great kindness as far as timeliness), I should pass the class. I happily sold my textbooks back to Maryland after I was done. Concerning English 354, I'm mixed about it. I can't say I liked all the material or some of the stuff we had to study. I will say the Professor Amy Beaudry is a great teacher. She is kind, cares about her students, and genuinely works to make her class really nice. I would strongly recommend this lady for any English classes you have at Maryland. I hope I have her as one of my instructors again.

After the final, I walked over to the University book store so I could make sure I have the required texts for my spring semester class (English 433 - American Literature 1914 to the Present). To my relief, I have all the needed texts. I didn't want to have to buy any more of them considering what they can cost. The cost of textbooks can be insane.

On the way back to my car, I got to see a beautiful set of statues you may not be aware of on the College Park campus. I don't know for sure but I guess Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, attended the University of Maryland. In a memorial to the man, there is a bench by the Adelphi student center with two statues. One is a life size statue of Jim Henson and the other is of Kermit the frog. The statues are positions so it appears they are talking to each other. It's a very beautiful memorial to Henson and if you're ever on the College Park campus, I'd recommend you see it.

Book Review - Praisesong for the Widow

The last novel I had to read for the college class I'm taking this semester was Paule Marshall's "Praisesong for the Widow." It's an interesting novel because it tells of an African-American woman named Avey Johnson who finds herself widowed, her children grown and living their own lives, and doing what was expected of an elderly woman in the early 70's. Little does she realize that in her rush to achieve the American dream that she has had to sacrifice a lot of her personal happiness and identity. Due to some strange occurrences that begin to happen to her, Avey begins a journey of discovery. The journey will have its pitfalls. She'll have to trust a man she doesn't know at all and who may be something of a crackpot, she'll go on a boat journey that will make her violently sick, and she'll deal with people who speak a language (Patois) that she doesn't even know. Still, she'll persevere on and discover the terrible price her and her husband paid to achieve the American dream. She finds that she doesn't even know who she really is where once she did. She also finds that there are ties to Africa that she wasn't aware of. Finally, she finds a new sense of purpose in life. Avey had been feeling like she was no longer of any value. In her journey, she finds that she can still do something useful in life. She can help instill in her grand-children a sense of identity and of their heritage as African-Americans. It will mean that she will have to break from what was expected of a typical widow of that time but, Avey is willing to pay the price in exchange for the sense of purpose and self fulfillment her purpose gives her. The novel ends on an uplifting note with the reader wanting to cheer on Avey. I would definitely recommend this novel to some one who is African-American as I think they would find it a great read. For someone who is white like myself, I think you can enjoy it too as it is still a beautiful novel of self discovery and the realization that our later years in life can be every bit fulfilling and exciting as our earlier years are. The elderly still have a vital part to play in our society and this novel shows just one important task they can play albeit from an African-American part. Still, there are undoubtedly many important things elderly white Americans can do. Our later years in life shouldn't be ones of doom and gloom. Instead, they should be ones filled with new challenges and dreams. This novel serves to inspire elderly people to do just that. Be you white, black, red, or yellow, I'd recommend this novel to you as it shows that our later years don't have to be one of misery but of fulfillment and purpose. Hopefully, those who read this wonderful novel will find new inspiration themselves.

Boxing Day at SHARE

I got help out again at the Self Help and Resource Exchange (SHARE) in Bladensburg today. Today was boxing day at SHARE. What boxing day is is where you put together boxes and then fill them with the fixings that go with their ham or turkey food packages. Typically this includes stuffing mix, mash potatoes, a bag of frozen vegetables, corn bread mix, and some other stuff.

The warehouse opened at 7 a.m. In order to be there when they opened, me and Tami headed out at 6:15 a.m. The drive was uneventful and we arrived shortly before things kicked off. Putting the boxes together was easy. I found once I got into a rhythym, I was able to steadily knock out quite a few boxes. Initially, I thought all we were going to do was put boxes together but, I found out the people who run SHARE also planned to fill them in advance of distro day. Tami and I got tagged to help out with the line they formed for filling the boxes. Tami stuffed the bag of frozen veggies, a packet of some kind of seasoning mix, and a box of stuffing mix into the boxes. My job was to stack the boxes on pallets and when we got enough boxes, wrap them in something resembling saran wrap. The group we were with worked hard and got a lot done. I figured we assembled and packed over 500 boxes of fixings for distro day before me and Tami left. The two of us ended up spending over 4 hours at SHARE. It was nice to help out again and I look forward to helping out on distro day. I may also try to help out after I take the final for the college class I'm taking.