My sister is coming to town and she found the cheapest flights using cheaptickets.com. I tried to pay for her ticket, but I didn’t have her frequent flier number, and she wasn’t answering the phone because she was busy watching the stupid TV. “Oh, I had to watch Lost and West Wing.” Well, in the time between 8PM and 10PM when her stupid shows were over, the web site has deteriorated. First, it wouldn’t let me pay for the ticket, then it wouldn’t render. It’s slowly coming back to life.

So I started looking up cheaptickets.com on the internet. Searching google, I found that as recently as July of 2001, cheaptickets.com was being called an “INTERNET AIRFARE SWINDLE!!!” on misc.consumers on the usenet. Most recently, they sold email addresses to “affiliates” leading to more unwanted commercial email (UCE, or spam in simpler terms).

Anyway, I have to pay for her frigging ticket, so I figure I get to complain. We’ll see if cheaptickets.com will let me buy the tickets.

Little Johnny was in his 4th grade class when the teacher asked what their fathers did for a living. All the typical answers came up: fireman, cop, salesman. Johnny was being rather quiet so the teacher asked him about his father.

“My father is an exotic dancer in a gay cabaret and takes off all his clothes in front of other men. Sometimes, if there’s a really good offer, he’ll go out to the alley with some guy and make love for money.”

The teacher hurriedly set the other children to work on some coloring, and took Little Johnny aside to ask, “Is that really true about your father?

“No,” said Johnny, “He plays for the New York Yankees, but I was too embarassed to say so.”

Go Red Sox.