When I landed last Saturday at Boston Logan International Airport, I had arranged a shuttle with Zebra Airport Shuttle. When I booked the reservation I was quoted a fare of $10.00 to be brought from Boston Airport to Atlantic Union College, the college right near my house. See the confirmation below:

Before we departed the airport the driver called the dispatch and asked, “Have we figured out the issue with Mr. McNamara’s fare?” The dispatcher replied, “No”. I was never asked any questions or informed that there may be a problem.

We dropped off the first passenger in Needham and continued on to my home. The driver called the dispatcher again to see if they had figured out the fare discrepancy. They hadn’t and he responded that the passenger, me, could contact the manager in the morning. As far as I was concerned, nothing was wrong. I had yet to be addressed by the dispatcher or the driver to be informed that my fare was incorrect or wrong. I was dropped off at Atlantic Union College and I tipped the driver $20.00.

I look at my American Express statement and Zebra Airport Shuttle had charged me $10.00 in addition to $90.00. I never authorized nor was I informed about the $90.00. They had no right to charge me an additional $90.00 without my consent or authorization. If they made a mistake, it would have been appropriate to notify me. I filed a dispute with American Express, but I would not recommend anyone to use their service. My shuttle ride was good, but to be schemed by the company is unethical and not business appropriate.

So…I just had to go through this long complicated process to file the dispute, but hopefully justice will fall on Zebra Airport Shuttle….back to MBA applications

I have so much Christmas shopping still left to do…when I was in Florida my sister called me and told me not to get anything, that we would get something big for everyone and split it….THAT DIDN’T WORK. She called me yesterday morning and said, “How about we just do our own thing?” Some days I just want to ask her if she is functioning okay because she changes her mind every 60 seconds.

…anyways, I am going to go out later today after the gym when no one or at least not so many people are out. Will see if that’s the case…

The northeast got hit hard today with a major snow storm. A lot of our residents were calling Joy, our RD, to let her know that their flight was canceled. Funny thing is, Mark was driving the 1:00pm shuttle to Fort Lauderdale and actually ended up picking up Hattie and bringing her back because her flight got canceled. About 500 flights were grounded…I can’t even imagine what its like as a reservation agent when something like that happens.

I fly out to Boston tomorrow morning at 11:00am so I assume that most of the storm will be over, but it looks like we got more coming on Sunday…it will be a white Christmas after all….snow is enjoyable during the holidays as long as everyone stays safe.

For the past year I have contemplated whether or not to do graduate school immediately following college. Hilton Vacation Ownership was on campus last spring and practically offered me a job at graduation. The Atlantic Resort and Spa offered me a job at the end of my internship. The opportunities out there are bountiful, but how often to you have an opportunity to be in college?

As I sit by the fireplace at home, I browse through the Business Week magazine which has recently ranked the MBA programs around the country. It’s the college search all over. It reminds me of the long days that I spent in my guidance counselor’s office browsing through schools trying to make the right choice. I luckily was inspired and astonished the moment after listening to John Lallo from Lynn. I knew this was the perfect match and I would never want to trade it…the campus, the professors, the connections, the friends, the networking, the atmosphere, the EVERYTHING!

…this makes me sad…having to leave behind memories…I am going to postponed this “after college” blog until later…not too much later because then I’ll be behind, but not now…

You go from freezing outdoors to inside a shopping center that has heat piping full blast…anyways, I am in the Apple Store about to purchase a laptop for the SAACURH region. We came to the Rockingham Mall because in NH there are no sales taxes.

I think some people want to check out this computer….I’ll catch ya later.

Today is a day to be thankful. I am thankful for…

• My Family
• My Friends
• My College Experience
• My Leadership Opportunities
• My Professors
• My Health
• My Talents
• My Home
• My Pets
• My Country
• For what I have

Someone once said, “It isn’t what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart.”

…..reverse….I forgot to mention that we have a new kitten at home that my sister found a couple weeks ago. It is black and very rambunctious and named Rocky. My sister was watching Rocky Balboa the night she found him. Anyways, he runs around the house like he has been drinking Red Bull all day…he slips and falls on the kitchen tile floor…he bangs into walls when he rushes around corners.

I was showering, shampooing my hair…don’t worry I’m not going into details…as I rinsed out my hair and opened my eyes, I was not alone. Rocky was at the end of the shower playing in the water. We would slip and fall and splash water all around…the things kittens do!!!

Spring Break schedule was a little different. One individual need to go home for a substantial reason that was completely understandable. However, the others claimed they had plane tickets to go somewhere. I originally volunteered for the two days during spring break, which would leave only five remaining for a staff of 9 to divide. After arguing and disputing the schedule and everyone else in the room claimed they COULD not do it, I said I would.

I really wanted to go home for just part of spring break and it really disappointed me on how things happened. Karina said she would split it, but she really needed to go home and I didn’t want to change that. Well, spring break was here and four staff members were on campus the entire week. I really felt disrespected and lied to among my staff members. I texted them several times to see if they would take a day or two from my week to allow me to come home. No response except from ONE of them. Unless you consider a response “I’ll switch days”. I didn’t consider that a response because these were 7 days that I was doing in ADDITION to my normal schedule.

Anyways, thanks to Chris and Karina I was able to come home. I got a flight out at 8:35pm out of Fort Lauderdale and I am able to stay until Sunday. I really can’t say enough of how much I appreciate both of them.

From the moment I woke up on Christmas last year it just seemed quiet and unusually. Luckily this year my sister was able to come home. She hasn’t been home in two years. We just picked her up at Logan Airport after sitting in traffic bumper to bumper in the terminals.

We just got back to the house after eating dinner at Unos. She wasn’t feeling to well from the plane ride and being jet lag. We ending up staying up pretty late. She pulled out a shirt of mine out of her suitcase that she had since we visited in May. Every time we are together I end up going home without some of my clothes. She always finds a way to slip some of my t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, and sweatshirts in her bag without me noticing. This year we got her plenty of stuff in hopes that it wouldn’t happen. It was good to have her home.

I have been home only three days and it is continuing to snow. It is pretty nice considering last year when I was home it didn’t snow at all. The last time I was actually home for break was January. Spending the whole summer in Florida; it’s nice to be home and see the snow. The coldness is getting a bit much considering I have to go buy more clothes because none of my clothes are suitable for the freezing temperatures.

I spent the morning plowing the driveway with my four wheeler. I think it was the Christmas of my sophomore year in high school my mom bought me a plow to attach onto the four wheeler. Its pretty sweet. We have a lot of property and a huge driveway so it makes it easier to clear the snow away.

I went on the snow mobile for a little bit. It flew through the snow. These are the good times that I can always look forward to when I go home for winter break. I ended up going skiing after lunch. The conditions were so nice. It was snowing and the snow on the mountain was perfect for skiing. It was really foggy at the summit, but we plowed down the mountain.