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And the packing nightmare continues…

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As I have mentioned before I hate packing. I stress about what to take for a long weekend let alone how to pack up my life. And today  is no exception. My room looks like a bomb has gone off. There is enough space for me to sit cross-legged on the floor and you can’t even see the bed. But it is actually progress and I knew it was going to get worse before it gets better.

Seeing as I leave in 5 days (and early in the morning) and my mother has been pressuring me for days, I went ahead and packed a bag today. Only to have panic truly set in. I still have my giant rolling duffle bags from college. They have served me well over countless cross continental adventures and two transatlantic moves. I don’t know if its the fact that I am older or I just have more stuff but I am seriously starting to doubt that two suitcases is going to be enough.

Mid-way through packing my first bag I realized that it was going to be an overweight bag and that 50 lbs wasn’t going to cut it. So I grabbed my computer and did my research. I am already going to pay for checking a second bag – I might as well just compound the hurt and pay for the extra weight. So I checked – all three airlines (although I should only have to pay twice) and now my bag is weighing in just shy of the 70 pound cut off.

But what really has me worried is that I feel like I have barely made a dent. Granted the suitcase I did pack has multiple pairs of shoes and a large portion of my toiletries. And we all know those are the heaviest items. But still… I haven’t event begun to pack up my clothing. I guess I will just have to overstuff my carry-ons.

How did I ever manage this in college? I don’t ever remember it being this hard. And I went to school in Boston. I had to pack all of my heavy winter clothing so I didn’t freeze to death. But then again my parents always made the fall trek out to Boston with me. And when I graduated my grandmother carried an extra bag back to California as well. But when I went to London for the year I did it alone. Granted I did manage to score free overweight bags on the way home when I got to the desk at Heathrow. Maybe the nice people at American airlines will take pity on me on Tuesday morning. I’ll try not to hold out too much hope for a miracle.

Basically the moral of this is: I have too many clothes. And shoes. And stuff. And I might have to pay for two overweight bags.

On that note I am going downstairs for a glass of wine – ok maybe my own bottle and a straw.

An end or a new beginning? Shakespeare Santa Cruz

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I promise mostly to make this blog about my adventures living in Bordeaux and about my experiences with wine. But on occasion I will vent my opinions or promote other things. Or even ask for help. This is once such occasion.

I will confess Shakespeare has long been my favorite playwright and writer. I have seen countless performance, read all of the sonnets & poems and 22 of the plays (yes I know my geek flag is flying high), took a Shakespeare class in college because I could (yup it raised itself a little higher) and own several copies of the complete works.

Not too long ago I posted about Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Sack wine and a wonderful performance of Henry V. I encouraged the San Francisco Bay Area folks to go see a show and enjoy the majesty of Shakespeare’s work performed outside by an awesome team. But abruptly – before the festival was completed and without speaking to the festival staff and board of directors – the University of California Santa Cruz pulled funding and support for the program effectively ending the 32 year tradition of excellent theater. Much of the reasoning behind the statement doesn’t add up and the community of fans is hugely disappointed. You can read the university’s statement here.

I write today to spread the word that an exploratory committee has been formed to explore additional options for creating an independent, non-profit professional theater organization in Santa Cruz to continue this tradition of excellent theater. But Shakespeare Santa Cruz is more than just a theater company – they are a link to the community and an invaluable arts education asset.

If you are a fan of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, would like to know more or would like to help please email:  shakespeareplayon@yahoo.com. Despite my pending departure I will be doing all I can to continue to support Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Please join me. 

How NOT To Woo Potential Customers

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This past weekend my parents and I decided to do a little local wine tasting. After scrapping our initial plan of spending two plus hours in the car to head to Sonoma we decided to visit some local Santa Cruz Mountain wineries. Obviously we are a family that enjoys wine and we like to support local businesses so this was the perfect opportunity to indulge in both.

Our first planned stop was Ridge Vineyards. One of the largest and most well know Santa Cruz Mountain wineries Ridge is know for big bold red wine. Again, for those who know us, an obvious choice in our household. And one we have often enjoyed. In fact at a family birthday fete on Saturday my parents opened two different large format bottles of Ridge Zinfandel. With a tasting room buried in the picturesque Santa Cruz Mountains we decided to make this our first stop. And we (ie the parents) had plans to buy.

After a windy, twisty, stomach-churning long drive to reach the Montebello location we were informed by a rather snotty attendant that the tasting room was closed for a wine club event and that we should have checked the website before making the drive. ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND.  Yes they chose to close their tasting room on a holiday weekend. Since then I have investigated the website and see no mention of upcoming events or even tasting room closures. Anywhere. And more importantly why was a sign not placed at the bottom of the hill before we waisted our time driving to the top.

I understand that club members are always a winery’s priority. They are typically your best customers and your best advertising. And wine club events are a great way to keep people engaged, interested and up-to-date. Ridge should absolutely be celebrating their club membership and providing them with unique opportunities. However, not at the expense of other potential customers. Hold events after hours. Or at least have the courtesy to give people a little more advanced notice (ie the sign at the bottom of the road).

All in all that day Ridge was ultimately the one who suffered. We went on to visit two other local wineries – Cooper-Garrod and Savanah-Chanelle – where we bought not only lots wine but craft products sold in the tasting room.

So my advice to Ridge Vineyards: you might want to work on your customer service skills.