So my week of overindulgence continues. Yesterday I had lunch with my college friend Emily. Since I know you’re curious (and since it’s a funny picture), I’m pasting a pic of Emily below. She’s the one not dressed like Marilyn Monroe. Ha!















Anyway, not only did I have a great meal, BUT I heard a great story! Emily and her friends were in Park City last week for Sundance, and happened to see Mandy Moore and DJAM (hot – but weird – new rumored celebrity couple) making out!! So they take a quick picture with their camera and think nothing of it. A few days later, someone overheard them talking about it and says ‘The paparazzi don’t have any pictures of them kissing…I bet you could sell it!” SO…they called all the trashy magazines up and ended up selling the picture to TMZ for $1500.00. wow! I’m so impressed. So those of you who live in celeb-full cities, keep your eyes peeled. That’s the easiest way to make money I’ve ever heard!

And I give you…..the pic. http://www.tmz.com/2007/01/23/mandy-and-am-swap-spit-in-public/

In other news. Today’s airport for discussion is….Phoenix! As many of you know, I spent quite a bit of time in the PHX airport over the last few years. Most of this time was in Terminal 2 (The United and Continental terminal – also used to be the USAir Terminal, but that was moved over with AmWest when they merged). Anyway – Terminal 2 is horrendous. Terminal 4 (Am West, Southwest, USAir, etc) is better though. Let’s discuss.

Pros:
1. Free wireless internet. This is huge. I really appreciate and love this about the PHX airport.
2. Terminal 2 has very short security lines. Probably because that terminal only has like 10 gates and I’ve only ever seen 5 of them used before.
3. Terminal 4 has some decent food options. Paradise Bakery, CPK, Starbucks. Yes I realize those are actually terrible options, but as compared to Terminal 2, that’s heaven
4. Parking is very convenient. The garage is somehow built INTO the airport…so when you park, walk to elevator, then you arrive right in the middle of the airport! So you can walk to the ticket counters or straight to security. Very convenient
5. I saw Nick Lachey there once.
6. A nice young male gate agent almost upgraded me and Cara on our flight to Switzerland because we were flirting with him. But then he realized there were no seats left in 1st or Business. So he didn’t. Actually this maybe should be a ‘con’, but it’s the thought that counts, so I’ll keep it as a pro.

Cons:
1. Food selection in Terminal 2 is as follows. A pizza place. THAT’S ALL!!! They used to have a sandwich place, a hot dog place, and a pizza place. Then they started renovating and closed up everything. Pizza is your only option.
2. Magazine store has very limited selection.
3. For a terminal with only 3 retail spots, it seems odd that they would let a Native American art/jewelry store rent one of them. I have been at that airport probably 200 times (not exaggerating) and I’ve never seen a single person in that store.
4. The regional jets depart from a ‘side’ terminal that branches off Terminal 2. You have to walk about 100 yards outside then into another building. Outside in Phoenix in the summer with luggage and wearing work clothes. Not fun.
5. They close the airport when the temperature reaches 120 F. Something to do with the plane tires melting. Thankfully I’ve only experienced this once.
6. On a flight from PHX home to SFO once, I had to sit next to a man on the flight who insisted on reading ‘Playboy’ the whole time. It was uncomfortable.
7. On a flight from PHX home to SFO once, I sat next to a 20 year old girl with a baby. She said she was pissed she couldn’t go out and get drunk for her upcoming 21st birthday because of the kid. Then she talked about how hot Kevin Federline was and he was her ultimate man. This conversation made me terrified for the future of our country.
8. 25% of the men walking around the PHX airport at any given time are wearing cowboy hats. I don’t understand. I’m from TX and I’ve never seen as many cowboy hats as at the PHX airport.
9. OH WOW how did I not make this the #1 Con. The Rental Car Shuttle. PHX used to have a separate bus for each Rental Car Company (ie – Hertz, Avis, etc…each had their own bus/van). THEN…about a year ago, they built a massive new complex for all the rental car companies to share. They got rid of all the independent shuttles and just had 1 called ‘Rental Car Shuttle’, which you take to the big complex, then go to your company of choice). Anyway – the old way…there were buses like every 5 minutes, very speedy, and the lots were really close. However, with the new shuttle…the buses are more spread out, they’re always uncomfortably full, and the lot is like 10+ minute drive away. Actually, that’s not the bad part. It’s when you return your car and go back to the airport. I used to allocate about 15 minutes for ‘car return, bus to airport’, and that was always more than enough. Once they switched, I had to increase my time to 45-60 minutes. It’s terrible. Once you drop your car off, you walk through a huge burning hot parking garage, then up an escalator, then down a looong hallway, then to the busses. But the busses only show up about every 15 minutes (Terminal 2….again getting the shaft). So I wasn’t a fan of this new process. And I think this new ‘consolidated’ rental car complex thing is becoming more popular. I’ve seen it now at a few airports (DFW has it, for example) and I’m sure it’s more cost effective for the airport, and for some of the smaller regional rental car companies, but in my experience it’s just a pain.

Ok that’s it.