Return from the Blue Lagoon

Actually, the Atlantic is more of a greenish silver along the New Jersey shore, and I really didn't spend any time near any lagoons, but I did return. I'm in Chicago, now, a decent summer breeze blowing in through my window. My return was not without troubles, of course. When I arrived at the airport and tried to check in, the lady at the counter informed me that I had cancelled my reservation. I told her that I hadn't and she told me I needed to take it up with Orbitz and/or buy a new ticket. Since I didn't have Orbitz's number handy, I bought a new ticket and resolved to take the issue up with Orbitz when I got home. Fortunately the new ticket wasn't too expensive, or else I would have been stuck. When I got home, I called Orbitz and told the nice customer service representative what happened. He told me the airline cancelled my reservation because I hadn't shown up to my first flight to PA...which, of course, was ridiculous and I told him so. After a half hour on the phone, in which the Orbitz CSR fought with US Airways over their snafoo, I was informed that the mistake actually belonged to US Airways, and that I would have to talk to them to get my money back. So, I'm hopeful? I guess.

It's good to be back, although it took some readjusting. And one of the things that had been looming over me, I got out of the way tonight. So it's not looming anymore. I have five more days of vacation to be here and just here and enjoy and explore my city and enjoy the good people of the world. Breathe easy, boy. Everything's just fine.

added a bit later...
Amanda just sent me a link to the Time Travel Fund. Time Travel is just great, but don't take my word for it, read from the page:

Morlocks aside, how would YOU like to visit, even live hundreds of years in the future? There may be a way, and that is the purpose of The Time Travel Fund(tm).

I love it. In reading the page, I realize that this is a somewhat less clever version of an idea my brother had. His idea was to work at a gas station his whole life, save every penny, then steal a time machine and travel back to give his younger self the money he had saved at the gas station.

In retrospect, perhaps my brother's idea wasn't so clever, after all.

Harry Steven Keeler also has a short story in a similar vein, in which a future utopia is founded on some enterprising fellow's investment of only a few dollars. I think the story goes along the lines that the interest on this investment compounds over several generations until the man's descendents own more money than the entire ownable universe is worth, at which time they die prematurely and the universe becomes owned by everyone equally. Something like that. It's a wacky plot, but no more wacky than the murder mystery in which the murderer turns out to be none other than the long-dead emperor Napoleon (read the link and it will all make sense...er...sort of.).