The Daily

I got the following message in my inbox from the kind folks at Expedia:

We have received an unconfirmed response on your reservation. This means that the airline has not acknowledged the flight and/or fare that you originally purchased. We have attempted to restore the original flights and have been unsuccessful. Without confirmation from the airline, we are unable to ticket this reservation.

Please call us at 1-800-EXPEDIA as soon as possible and refer to your itinerary number so that we can work with you to make alternate arrangements. Unless you call within 72 hours of receiving this e-mail, your reservation will automatically cancel.

If you have further questions, feel free to reply to this e-mail or contact Expedia customer services at 1-800-397-3342 and reference case ID xxxxxx. You can also visit the Expedia.com “Customer Support” page () for more customer service information.

I always thought when I bought plane tickets from Expedia that somewhere tickets, real tickets, would be issued to me, a seat reserved and noted, etc. Unfortunately, everything seems to operate in batch-mode, where airlines give blocks of seats to online vendors who match them together in strange ways that allow the possibility that the tickets they’ve resold may not represent spots on a plane:

I’m not the only one complaining about this practice. See:

• Expedia dot SCAM?
• Rate IT All Expedia
• Mouth Shut on Expedia
• Victims of Expedia

My bank account also looks quite cute, waiting for $3000 in refunds:

This isn’t to blame Expedia though. To their benefit, they are refunding the total amount over those two cancelled flights. Also, their customer service reps on the phone were extremely apologetic and kind. It’s more a flaw in the system of batch-time ticket booking. With a real-time synchronized process, this sort of thing could not happen.

Supervisory Communications

Author: Edward E. Scannell

ISBN: 840326823

Media: Paperback

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Mulholland Falls [VHS Tape] (1998) Lee Tamahori; Nick Nolte; Melanie Griffith

Author: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith

ISBN: 792838734

Media: VHS

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Herbs [Hardcover] by Crockett, James Underwood

Author: James Underwood Crockett

ISBN: 316848263

Media: Hardcover

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A boyhood in Nelson: Growing up during the Depression

Author: Kenneth A Morrow

ISBN: 972746501

Media: Unknown Binding

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Kissed: Motion Picture Soundtrack [Enhanced CD]

Author: Various Artists

ISBN: B000005DDK

Media: Audio CD

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The New York Times Book of Wine [Hardcover] by Robards, Terry

Author: Terry Robards

ISBN: 812906624

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Here's book that left my library just yesterday, and after it was gone, I said to myself, I should have taken the time to read. The title alone grabs me and you I suspect. Powerful business communication is what it is all about, and I know I need some more help with that at all times.

The book is Words That Change Minds by Shelle Charvet

If it's available used from us you can also search for it at our Google Base used bookstore
among other locations.

Just as an aside.  I noticed that the email the buyer used was tony_soprano1@....   I kid you not.  Hope the condition is satisfactory.

I was struck by how different the Venezuelan women were many years ago on a cruise, (a honeymoon, to be exact in case you get the wrong notion) and this got my attention yesterday in reading the Globe and Mail story.  At that time, it was about women with figures that shouldn't have been exposed at all, and yes, some that should be I thought, running around in the skimpiest of bikinis.  This is different in some ways.

globeandmail.com: Venezuela's rouged revolution

Clearly, I would never pass in this country, where the look is long, dark, shiny hair (even at 40), small nose, café au lait skin, large breasts, flat tummy and shapely derrière.The good news is that plastic surgeons can help you achieve this uniform beauty standard -- for one-third to one-half what you would pay in North America. Breast implants cost just $3,000 (U.S.), a nose job sets you back $2,000, and a facelift as little as $6,000.

Cosmetic surgery is so acceptable here that girls request breast implants for their 15th birthdays.

"Girls will pressure their parents to bring them in at 13 or 15 and they'll ask for breast implants, liposuction or a nose job," says Dr. Pedro Meneses, a U.S.-trained plastic surgeon with the Hospital de Clinicas de Caracas. "Women here like their curves. But I won't operate on anyone who isn't 18."