I post this as a warning to all fellow (e:strip)pers - do not use Orbitz, Cheaptickets.com or any of their affiliates (http://corp.orbitz.com/). They consistently advertise prices that they cannot guarantee.

Two times in the past week, I have ordered tickets through their website, only to later get an email (Once one day later, once seven days later!!!) saying that the airline cannot sell the ticket I ordered at that price. Even though they continue to say on their website that they can.

I called customer service to ask why I kept being denied and all they would say is that an airline wouldn't confirm my ticket. I asked which airline so I could avoid it, and they would not tell me. I pointed out that the flight was still available for a similar price and asked why it had not been removed. They suggested I fill out a feedback form on their website so the tech people could consider my suggestion. WTF!!!! How can a website offer a flight for a price that they cannot deliver. That is BS. I am never using Orbitz or Cheaptickets.com again. I suggest that you avoid them too.

I can't fall asleep for the life of me (yes I know it is not even 11 - I have the daily routine of an 80-year old). My mind is just going a million miles an hour. Not even the worried about the future or worried about work I have to do million miles an hour. Just a thinking about the past and certain feelings. A number of things are prompting this - talking to friends from both grad and undergrad about people in grad and undergrad; listening to Moby's "Songs" (greatest hits before he was on every tv commercial) which I listened to a lot during the first summer of grad school; a dream about a person I went to school with that I no longer speak with (not that I ever really did, she was kind of one of the background people that you wish you got to know more and still hang out with, like luca brasci in the Godfather movie, but you can just learn more about him by reading the book); writing "update" emails to professors; myspace stalking; Sivram being back in DC with a lot of undergrad people; taking a nap during the day; drinking a liter of pop; eating a lot for dinner; going on the Tour de France website yesterday (another thing I did religiously during my first summer of grad school - watching 3 hours of tour coverage nightly); the summer and warm nights, which always make me feel sentimental, specifically due to the fact that it is coming close to being two years from when I started grad school and one year from when I started my current job; it being three years from the summer I spent in DC. My mind just keeps going a million miles an hour and I am not sure that I want it to stop. All of these things are just combining to make me feel very strong emotions - specifically sentimentality, which I tend to be prone to. I don't know that I dislike it and I might even like it, but it is a touch overwhelming, and I do need to sleep.

Also, sorry I haven't been updating as of late. I know I have been bad.

Also, memorial day weekend was my three-year anniversary on (e:strip). YAY. Thank you (e:paul) for setting up this site even though I am a bad member.

I hope all is well with you and I love you all.

I don't know if you caught this
in the Buffalo News yesterday, but (e:strip) ' s favorite lawyer was quoted in it.

American Axle gets big cut in property taxes in Buffalo
But it is not known if the savings boost the odds of survival for the faltering plant
By Fred O. Williams NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER

Tax breaks aren't just for growing companies.

American Axle & Manufacturing has cut a quarter million dollars from its annual taxes in Buffalo - a move that other industrial sites are attempting.

"It's a substantial savings," the company's lawyer Bruce S. Zeftel said, "but the property was overvalued."

A county judge agreed last year, slashing the factory's $12.5 million assessment nearly in half. That cuts city and county taxes to about $270,000, from $531,000 a year.

The axle maker wouldn't say if the savings boost the odds of survival for faltering plant on East Delavan Avenue. The axle factory has shed about half its former 1,200 jobs, and is one of three sites where production lines could be idled.

The 41-acre site includes parking as well as the main plant built in 1923, plus more recent additions.

Detroit-based American Axle is also challenging taxes on its other area plants in Cheektowaga and the Town of Tonawanda.

"The going rate for industrial properties is pretty low," Zeftel said. Besides American Axle, he has filed assessment challenges for major employers including Quebecor in Depew and Praxair in the Town of Tonawanda.

Helping fuel the disputes is a glut of factory space in the Buffalo area, which is eroding market values. What they don't pay increases the burden on other revenue sources - mainly homeowners.

The region's best-known example is probably Lackawanna's longrunning battle over the former Bethlehem Steel property on Lake Erie. Assessed at $40 million, the disused industrial site is actually worth nothing, owner Mittal Steel argues. A court case is pending.

In the Town of Cheektowaga, the axle maker's challenge is one of about 40 ongoing tax disputes on commercial properties, Town Attorney Kevin Schenk said.

The length of the dispute process cushions municipalities from sudden hits to their tax base. In most jurisdictions, an assessment challenge is heard by a municipal appeal body before the issue can go to court. In Buffalo, American Axle's assessment cut stands in contrast to commercial properties closer to downtown, where values are growing, according to the city's assessment office.

Happy Birthday Mike. Wish I could be there. Hope you have a great day

Jesse

1. How did you find out about/why did you become of estrip?
I went to hs and was friends with (e:mike), (e:jill), (e:mk), and (e:diana) who were all using the site. I read their (and pretty much everyone elses on the site at the time) journals for a year before starting my own

2. How "out" are you about having a publicly accessible online journal. Do your friends know? Does your family know? Do your co-workers know? Does your boss know? Do you use your real name? Do you use your real photo?
The photo is really me (for better or worse). Jessbob is a nickname I have but is a variant of my real name (Jesse Robert). I try to limit the people who know about this journal. I have made a very conscious effort to not use my last name so people cannot google me and find the journal. My family doesn't know about the journal. My friends in Buffalo do. Some of my close friends from undergrad do. And a few of my friends from grad school might. I do not tell coworkers/bosses about it.

3. How many epeeps have you met real life?
I knew (e:mike) (e:jill) (e:mk) (e:beast) (e:diana) (e:maureen) before coming on the site. At the couple of parties at (e:pmt)'s house that I was at, I have met, (e:paul), (e:terry), (e:matthew), (e:metalpeter), (e:lilho), (e:ladycroft) And I'm sure more but I don't remember

4. How has estrip changed the way that you meet people, on and/or off line?
I guess I have met more people in B-lo, but as I have not lived their for more than two straight months since I have been on the site, its affects have been limited

5. How has estrip affected you love life?
Not at all

6. How many of your friends have joined estrip because of your influence?
Some of my friends joined after me but it was probably more the influence of other friends that were already on the site

7. Are you from Buffalo/do you live in Buffalo?
From Buffalo, since being on the site I have live in Washington, DC, Syracuse and am now in Albany

Equipment:
1. What type of hardware or software purchases have you made as a result of using estrip?
None, but I have started using Firefox

2. Have you used the mobile version of estrip? Why or why not?
No because I own the cheapest cell phone I could buy

Lifestyle:
1. In what way has estrip changed your Internet surfings habits? Describe the amount of time you spend on estrip, when you use it and about how long?
I check estrip a couple of times a day. It varies when I use it, but usually evening for maybe 15-20 mins daily average

1a. How many journals do you usually read per day?
I skim the top 12 usually 5-10 depending on who posted and what it was on

2. In what ways has estrip changed the way you perceive your local community?
It really hasn't. Most of the stuff posted on seems to be more personal rather than community oriented

3. How has journaling about your life affected the way you spend your free time?
It hasn't

4. Has estrip changed your living situation in any way?
No

5. Do you find that you mediate/document more of your experiences now that you share them with others?
I wish I did but I have been slacking on updating and am often too lazy to write the post an occurance deserves

6. Has publishing on estrip affected the way that write?
no

7. Do you have other online journals? If so, with what service and has estrip affected your usage of that journal?
No and No

8. Have you ever gotten in trouble for using estrip at work?
No, but I don't go on estrip at work. Big Brother might be monitoring my usage

9. If you have stopped using estrip, why?
My posting on estrip comes in spurts. I will post a lot over a few days and then not post for a month. But I never stop checking it