Just a little something to break the monotony.

Of all that hardcore dance that has gotten to be a little bit out of control. It's cool to dance, but what about the groove that soothes - that moves romance? Give me a soft subtle mix and if ain't broke then don't try to fix it.

This week, on a very special "askPaulie"..

I have two girlfriends that argue all the time. I want them to get along, however, they insist in arguing every time we go on a trip together. We always get a king sized bed for the three of us and I pay equal attention to both of them, if you know what I mean. How can I stop them from ruining our vacation together?

F. Scuttle

Well Freddy.. I think the words of the Fresh Prince should be heeded.. You've got your soft subtle mix, but it's getting a little out of hand.. You gotta reign it in, take control.. You don't have to be the alpha male or anything like that, but you gotta sit the girls down and say "Hey, what's the dilly yo?!".. Find out what causes the arguments.. It's maybe that there's not enough space on the bed for three people.. try getting 2 doubles in the room, or a cot, or a bedroll.. And try not to pay equal attention to them.. It's impossible.. You can't have a conversation with two women at once.. Having a conversation with one woman is sometimes more than our brains can handle.. If the ladies just can't get along, then take alternating trips, or just stop going on vacation altogether..

Next up, the summer travel season sure has someone in a tizzy..

Why is it that Airlines - companies that specialize in lifting an object that weighs more than ten semi-trailers 30,000 feet in the air for sometimes up to 10 hours and put them back on the ground with a negligible *thud* and a *chirp* - have sooooo much trouble changing a ticket from one date to another with months of advance notice...that they have to charge a $100.00 'ticket change fee' for *each* passenger wishing to change their departure date from one day to another. Are we still at the point in our technological evolution that CHANGING a TICKET is just about the most incredibly difficult thing to do that we have to charge a fortune for it? Are we still so uncivilized? SOMEBODY TELL ME WHY!!!!!!!

Grrr....

Well, in order to answer this question, I called up JAL, Japan Airlines, here in Tokyo. It went something like this..

"Hai, JAL de gozaimasu.. "
"Eigo wa wakarimasu ka?"
"Eee.. gomen nasai, wakarimasen."
"Good.. can you tell me why you charge 100 bucks to change a travel date?"
"ehh.. sumimasen, gomen nasai."
.click.

Well, There you have it.. the official reason is "Sumimasen, gomen nasai.".. I think this roughly translates to "Make up your damned travel plans BEFORE buying a ticket." I know that with a travel agent, the agents have to buy the tickets for that date by a certain time, so you can be screwed if you bail out on them, but an airline OWNS the planes. I think it's just a great big scam, myself. Isn't there an airline Ralph Nader or something out there?

Next time, we'll be looking at blisters.. well, I will, with all this freaking walking I've been doing lately..

Cheers.