Trying to get a reasonably priced non-stop flight from LA to NJ to Buffalo to LAX, my wife suggested a travel agent instead of the tried and true Internet. I grudgingly agreed and knowing nothing about the travel agency business, I can only assume it’s a sea of sharks offering the same old crap as I can find on-line.

Nevertheless, off to the “Auto Club” (triple-A, or AAA if you prefer) to use their services. What looked like a 30-minute project turned in 180 minutes. The highlights…

• The agent transposed my son’s name requiring her to void (wtf?) the ticket and re-issue it
• Continental Airlines provided a 50% discount on Junior’s fare but only for one segment; apparently AAA’s system doesn’t easily support this so I waited while multiple helpdesk calls were made
• After the ticket voiding issue Continental changed their story and told my agent they didn’t offer any child discounts (another wtf?) which necessitated more phone calls
• The agent somehow lost the seat assignments (which had been rows 4 and 10) and promised to do so the following day; so today we’re in rows 15, 17 and 20
• After this ticketing debacle was fixed she announced the Auto Club’s $35pp fee for booking the flights

At this point I didn’t have the energy (or time) to argue so I sealed the deal. The airfare is reasonably priced considering all but one segment is non-stop. What I’d do differently next time…

Use a travel agency that knows how to handle flying with small children. It’s hard to believe that one small child caused the efforts of at least four people and countless phone calls.

About a month ago Junior wanted to help me type at the computer. This activity was going quite happily until he hurled his sippy cup at the keyboard causing the W key to become dislodged.

I couldn’t snap the key back into place becuase it’s of the “scissor switch” variety and one of the tabs was broken. All was not lost since a little rubber plunger was still attached to the keyboard but do you realize how difficult life becomes without W? Why couldn’t it have been the Z?

Not having learned my lesson, he eventually swiped at the rubber plunger and the W was finally laid to rest.

Now I’ve got a shiny new Apple Wireless Keyboard and one less wire cluttering my desk.

With oblivious recognition of his 1st birthday, Junior walked for the first time. Three times actually.

• #1 was for me
• #2 was for the wife and I was lucky enough to capture a series of images (thanks to dSLR)
• #3 on video. Photos to be posted in the near future

I’m sure I’ll be cursing this day a month from now but for now, yay!

Sickening as in “being under the weather.” Oh, I read the books and was prepared for the sleepness nights, poopy diapers, and spit-up. None of these were all that bad, especially if you spent a few hours with my wife’s former cat. Evil Dexter would swat at your feet in the middle of the night, barf on the carpet, and take a dump if he felt the vindictive urge.

But what I wasn’t prepared for is how many nasty viruses and bacterium that Junior brings home from day care. In days past I’d be sick a couple times a year - bad cold, sore throat. Now it’s every month, the most recent a two-day fever topping out at 103.2 and sore throat that feels like a cactus took up residence in my throat.

This is supposed to continue through pre-school…

Today was a day of firsts. My dive instructor has been asking when Junior will be “getting wet” and this morning was his first swim class. I had two concerns going into this:

• What does he wear as a diaper?
• What if he doesn’t hold his breath?

The answers after the jump.

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