Author: cdymek

So imagine my surprise yesterday morning when I get the following e-mai:

[FareAlert] Hilton Tokyo for $2/night

Now, in the past when I’ve received similar notes, either the location didn’t work for me, I’d already missed the deal, or it was with a travel partner I wasn’t interested in using. But having a few minutes before I had to run out the door, I figured I’d give this a try, even though I already thought it was too late. I was planning to stop over in Tokyo in February anyway on my way back from Thailand.

I plugged in the dates and voila, there was a room! So I tried to booked it and briefly struggled with a question about availability. I gave it another go and everything was all set, so I started getting ready to go out.

Then I figure, what the heck. I gave a try for the week of Labor Day in September, and booked a full week.

And from everything Flyertalk says on the topic, it looks like this rate really will be honored. So for about $35, I’m staying at the Hilton Tokyo for nine nights.

I’ve watched the games, on TV or live. I listened on the radio. Each time, I’d watch in disappointment as, even in the best cases, we’d snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Blown leads or blow-outs, Rutgers would find a way to lose.

Then a funny thing happened. Those blow-outs weren’t blow-outs anymore. Those blown leads stopped. The game may have come down to the wire, a la the UConn game, but Rutgers found a way to hold on. For the first time in recent history, they were playing a late October football game, and people cared. The game had meaning.

I watched, nervously, yesterday, before I had to head up to a family event. And I listened the rest of the way, looking for the Rutgers team I was knew to make an appearance. But they held on, and now we’re looking to make our way to a bowl game.

I’ve heard it all now.

Now UK telecome providers are upping their broadband speeds as well. I posted not too long ago about the great speeds available in Japan, and it’s even more disappointing to see the US fall even further behind. The impact of “very high speed” broadband access is still being seen, but it’s becoming clear that the US is turning itself in to a second tier player on this front.

It’s nice to see a company like Walmart take the initiative on important issues like a living wage.

The firm’s chief executive, Lee Scott, told analysts that the rate – stuck at $5.15 for almost a decade – was “out of date with the times”.

Customers were struggling to make ends meet, so a rising minimum wage would be good for business, he said.

But he resisted calls for Wal-Mart to raise its own wages.

Whoops, nevermind.

Good news today for those who were hurt by Katrina: the White House backed down on their suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act that would have ensured a fair wage for those rebuilding in the wake of the disaster.

The UK wants the EU to impose a ban on importing wild birds to stop the spread of bird flu. I suppose I could get all excited about this if it weren’t for the obvious flaw in the plan. Wild birds don’t exactly respect territorial boundaries, so what’s to stop one from, say, flying in?

The American public begins suffering from a case of buyer’s remorse. Would it be petty of me to say “I told you so”?