From a 737...

If I had a nickel for everytime I thanked God for twitter, I'd have atleast two dollars by now. A few weeks ago while perusing my tweet stream on my phone I saw a deal from Air Fare Watchdog's (follow @airfarewatchdog) twitter feed advertising a one weekend cheap flight from San Diego to Minneapolis. After a quick chat with my boss granting me a long weekend I had my flight booked less than an hour later for only $220 round trip, direct, taxes and fees included. How'd I get so lucky? Its not always clear why airlines cut rates for specific weekends, or when their seemly impromptu airfare sales go live, but two things are for sure: You need to be flexible, and you need to jump on a deal when you see it.

For those of you that don't know of Air Fare Watchdog or other deal hunting websites, but love to frequent sites like Orbitz or Priceline looking for cheap or impromptu deals, I'd highly recommend switching. These websites take all of the great deals currently listed by all carriers and keep that data in a central location. So instead of checking numerous websites a few times a week, one could check a single website (or follow one on twitter) to see when great deals are to be had.

I got particularly lucky to find such a solid deal out of San Diego, which is a relatively small airport, (especially with LAX just a couple hours north) but for any of you who are located in a major city with a large airline hub, these deals can come up more frequently. Last winter when I was living in New York there were fantastic international travel deals where one could get a round trip flight overseas for literally less than $500. So for those of you on a budget but looking for an adventure, its worth a check.

Now that I've promoted the hell out of a couple airline websites, I'd love to give an update on Southern California. Since moving nearly two months ago (wow) I've been lucky enough to hit my 200th roller coaster, tried surfing, and learned a lot about California's ridiculously large selection of labor laws. As mentioned earlier, I just visited Eau Claire this weekend, and that was really fantastic. I haven't been in Eau Claire since August and it was a real treat to see everyone throughout the weekend. I didn't get into town until 1AM Friday, but lets say that everyone was in a good place when I got there and we definitely didn't go to sleep right away. Wisconsin was good enough to snow twice while I was there (It's May, Wisconsin. Figure it out) and cancelled wiffleball, but all in all it was a fantastic weekend. There was Killer Bunnies, a near tattoo experience, and dancing outside near the Chippewa River.

Some exciting news. I normally try to keep most of my personal life off the internet whenever possible, but Laura was offered a job to be a camp counselor down here in California this summer. She will still be almost two hours away from me, but that's definitely better than 2000 miles. It's a really cool camp too, and she gets to go see a live show in LA every other weekend. Not a bad deal if you ask me. Looking forward to seeing her again in a month. :)

Quick Reminder: The Green Bay Packers are still NFL champions. The Vikings have still yet to win a Super Bowl. Thank you.

One thing I didn't really expect moving to California and starting this job was how I would spend my free time. The fact is this is the first job I've ever had where I've had a set schedule. For the most part I'm scheduled Monday-Friday, and I'm usually back home by 6PM or so each day. I make dinner, then I have no idea what to do with myself. I try and stay productive, I mean, I beat Portal 2 in a couple of days. That's good, right? I know, I need to get a life, but I promise I don't sit at home all the time.

The fact is I feel incredibly lucky and blessed with where I am right now. Yeah, there is a toddler kicking the back of my seat on this airplane, but I'm also flying over the Colorado River right now. I still get pretty damn excited when I see the ocean on my way home from work every day, and just laying on the beach listening to those waves puts me at ease no matter the problems I may have encountered during a day. Sometimes its tough not to get caught up in what I like to call So Cal Bling, or the idea that your status symbols defines who you are. It is certainly a different lifestyle out here, where people may not be as stressed as they are in New York, but they don't seem as happy with themselves either. Always needing something better, more expensive, higher class. Judgement may be all over the place, but just focusing on how damn lucky I am makes all uncertainty disappear. It's beautiful out here, and something is seriously wrong if you aren't able to enjoy it.

What I'm thankful for today: I get to enjoy a relatively quiet 3 ½ hour flight instead of a 2 ½ day road trip to cover the same milage. Also seeing my family/girlfriend this weekend. That rocked too.

So for a recap of those blog post in my best Nick Miller forgot his speech voice:

Guys guys guys, Twitter, airplanes, Wisconsin, Packers, Girlfriend, California, symbolism, COME ON!

Love you all.