They Made it!

NYC couple complete 2,500-mile cab ride

By TERRY TANG, Associated Press WriterMon Apr 16, 11:43 PM ET

A retired New York couple who hailed a taxi for their 2,500-mile move to northern Arizona arrived with their two cats at their destination on Monday.

Neither Betty nor Bob Matas drive and they wanted to spare their cats, Pretty Face and Cleopatra, a trip on an airplane to their retirement home about 90 miles north of Phoenix.

They left the couple's Queens neighborhood April 10 in Douglas Guldeniz's canary-colored Ford SUV cab and traveled about 10 hours a day for a $3,000 flat rate plus gas, meals and lodging. The SUV is a hybrid-electric vehicle, which helped lessen the cost of fuel.

"It was pretty tiring, for my wife especially," said Bob Matas, 72, a former audio and video engineer for advertising agencies. "We're happy where we are. We're happy and that's it."

Matas said he was "flabbergasted" by the attention surrounding the couple's trip. Passers-by recognized them when they saw the New York cab, he said.

"Every state that we hit, people would say 'Are you the ones?' and we would say 'Yes, we are the ones,' " Matas said.

The Sedona mayor welcomed the couple at a noontime ceremony Monday, presenting them with a bag of Sedona souvenirs. Their real estate agent presented them with the keys to their new home in the Village of Oak Creek, a community just south of Sedona.

The couple will stay at a hotel for a few days until all their belongings can be moved into their house. A friend followed the cab in a rental truck carrying the couple's possessions.

Brat Brat Brat

I am a shoe brat.
We begin a lovely afternoon; a well loved online store announces a new shoe store. I like shoes, I’m intrigued. Oh, BTW – for your first order will be over-nighted for free plus an additional $5 off. I’ve migrated from intrigued to surfing.
I love good shoes like Kenneth Cole and Nina – low and behold, so many great makers of shoes
I love heels – low and behold, they have lots of heels
I love Mary Janes – low and behold, do they have Mary Janes
I love black shoes – low and behold… you get it
I need size 10 – yadda…..
What do I find?
[insert angelic music here]

Yeah…
I know…
Charles David… I know!
So Gorgeous… I know!
Price is $35… HOLY POOP!
If you think I left $150 pair of Charles David’s for $35 plus $5 off plus free over night… well, you don’t know me very well, now, do you.

I am a brat b/c:

A: I’m not sharing the name of the store b/c if it gets out, I’ll never find my dream fabulous shoes that people might like to talk about b/c they are so fabulous and size 10 can be REALLY hard to find in shoes not designed for Phase 3 of Del Boca Vista Retirement Community.

B: Someone work @ said, “Oh, so-and-so has a pair like those” … um… no, she doesn’t… these are not from the Jacquelyn Smith Collection and she wouldn’t wear 4 inch stacks.

C: I got them today, at the office, ran downstairs and put them on. Yes, I have them on right now

BRAT
I try to be good; I try to think of the great good.
But these SHOES!!
brat

Round and Round it goes

(this should have posted 2/9/2007 but silly me left it in Draft Mode)

There is a movie – Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda – Yours, Mine and Ours. A pair of widowers with large families meet and date and eventually marry (I’m not spoiling anything, did you expect there not to be a happy ending?). In the midst of dating portion of the movie, Henry brings Lucy home to meet is 8 children and have dinner. The kids want nothing to do with her “I don’t want another mother!” and proceed to sabotage the dinner. Before dinner Lucy’s cocktail is spiked to all holy heavens and by dinner she’s loaded and not on a good footing. They all sit at a round table with this HUGE Lazy Susan in the middle, piled high the entrees, side dishes, salt, pepper, milk and juice. The kids proceed to chow down and that lazy susan start spinning around and around at NASCAR speeds. Poor Snockered Lucy – her view of this is beyond dizzying and somewhat maddening.

On a regular basis, I find myself focusing on many things – bills, school, work projects, family, social life (albeit non existent). Everyday I review in my mind what I need to do, what I need to focus on and it changes depending on mood, day of the week, family events. Sometimes I don’t think I have a clear path or list of things I need to do b/c it just keeps changing.

Last night was conversing with Melly Mel about her dealings with a particular Male of Human Species (although, with the behavior of said Male, Final species identification is still to come). His lack of focus on one thing or another led me to conclude, “This guy is driven but it doesn’t sound like he has a priority list for himself, more of a Priority Lazy Susan”

[insert lit light bulb here]

Huh, it’s not that I don’t have a priority list, I have a Priority Lazy Susan. Meetings, phone calls, birthdays, events, appointments, homework, vacuuming – they just keep spinning by and as I recognize something I can slow the Susan and pick off what I need and take care of it, but the Susan picks right back up and still spins. Although…I find there is a reverse physical theory to it - It seems the more items I have on the Lazy Susan, weighing it down, the faster is spins. The more I take things off, it slows down. If I pause too long to see this spin, I become Poor Snockered Lucy.

What do I take care of next? Who do I need to call? Did I email in my paper?

I get it now, I can see it – I think… no… I know I have a better grasp on this now. And now that I get it a little better than before, I feel like the Priority Lazy Susan has slowed, as if she has seen that light bulb and now will work with me instead of against. Good Ole PLS!

Don’t think I can set a fixed numbered list (paying taxes, ok, THAT one? Yeah, top of the list.) But the rest, as long as Priority Lazy Susan and I can see eye to eye, I can take off items and TCB (Take Care ‘o’ Business) and not let life whoosh past.

Why not?

Why not indeed.

I’m a huge proponent of using the word “adventure” as a verb. I signed up for one for this year, but since my innards are still not 100% from last years Gall Bladder Incident (stupid gall bladder), the idea of a possible colitis flair up while camping for 7 days with no porcelain in site is not appealing and thus I’m postponing until 2008. Trust me – California will still be there and I will still want to adventure.

In its stead, I am sure I will find another opportunity for people to say, “Oh dear lord, what is she doing now?”

I might cut off all my hair and donate it – it’s about 2 ft long right now.

I will take a trippy trip out to Cali to see friends.

I’m sure I’ll go and do something ridiculous on my bike – that is a given, a constant, like gravity.

What prompts me to get off my fanny and blog today?

Adventure - NYC couple hail cab for 2,400-mile ride

I don’t know who I admire more in this story – the couple or the cabbie =)