13 Suckier Things About Travel

You caught me.  I say I love to travel.

But what I really mean is I like to be in different and strange places.  Nobody really likes to travel these days.
And if you're forced to endure the ordeal that business travel has become I pity you.

This post is dedicated to you.  Let's commiserate!


13 Crappy Things About Travel That Have Only Gotten Worse in Recent Years

1. Airport security.  The illusion of safety.  Now we have body scanners.  If body scanners are intended to detect items not picked up by metal detectors, and vice versa, why doesn't the TSA march us through both?

2. No free meals.  Remember when you'd get a free sandwich for coast-to-coast flights?

3. Airline baggage fees.  Every airline now charges for checked bags depending on your status.

4. Overhead bins.  The overhead bins for carryon luggage are smaller and crammed fuller than ever before.

5. Packing.  You are now forced to allocate your toiletries into Petri dish-sized containers.

6. Standby.  Have a change of plans?  Want to get home before that terrible storm rolls through?  Unless you have earned a mid- to high-tier status, you will now be charged a hefty fee (~$75) to standby for an earlier.

7. Mileage status.  Your travel miles earn you fewer perks.

8. Mileage status (again).  Should you lapse in status for one year, the next year you're deported to the end of the line.  Hello, boarding group 11 and 12!

9. Delays.  The airlines will try to sell you the idea they have improved on-time performance.  Just look at our shiny new statistics.  What they don't tell you is they measure their performance by an inflated "travel time" not actual flight time.  They don't even need to burn extra fuel to make up the time in the air.  The extra padding ensures an "on-time" arrival for most flights with a late departure.

10. Common courtesy.  Passenger courtesy has declined significantly.  People push and shove to board so they can pack their sprawling belongings into the overhead bins.  These also happen to be the same folks eager to slam down into full recline without checking for a laptop or sore knees pressed into their seatback.

11. Flight options.  Fewer and fuller flights mean you have fewer alternatives when they cancel your original flight for "mechanical" reasons.  Don't fret!  You may receive a discounted, $99 hotel voucher to the dirty airport hotel room of your choice.

12. Hotel pillows.  I'm pretty sure the only reason the pillows in the hotels are worse than in years past is because they are the same pillows.  Does anyone like feather pillows?

13. Toilet paper (yes, I went there).  Any time your toilet tissue crinkles, you know you're in for an uncomfortable stay.  To make matters worse, this rough (cheap) toilet paper somehow has been designed to ensure frugality and rips off into individual squares.

Do you think traveling has gotten better or worse in recent years?

Thank you CubaGallery on Flicker for the great photo!

Yuvi's Zalkow's Fear & Failure Experiment

Today's post is dedicated to author, Yuvi Zalkow, whose work I first read in the literary magazine Glimmer Train.

I immediately loved reading his quirky voice and was delighted when I rediscovered him through his wonderful blog and hilarious Failed Writer videos.

It's hard to refer to Yuvi as a "failed" writer since his debut novel was released earlier this week.  But that hasn't done much to ease his mind.

Even in the midst of his book launch – the very definition of success for most writers – he discusses his fears.  As a way to commiserate with other writers about fear, he started the Fear & Failure Experiment.  I'm showing support for Yuvi by sharing some of my own fears. 

In the past, I have talked about failure and quitting, (Go Ahead, Quit! It's Not Taboo) but this time I'm going to talk about my fear of failure – not just quitting outright.  For me, fear of failure is a terrifying issue.  And as usual, I will discuss this in two parts.

A Puzzling Fear
You probably know by now, but I have a puzzling reputation to uphold.  It didn't take me long to conquer the major Rubik's puzzles without much difficulty.  But not long ago, I decided to discard the safety nets and find a new challenge that would put my reputation on the line.

I sent away for a Crazy 3x3 Cube (pictured above).  Now this puzzle is not stocked at your local Toys "R" Us.  It looks like the result of an apple corer and a Rubik's Cube getting into a fight.  Undeterred, I thought, "How hard could this be?  It just has a few more pieces in the centers than a normal Rubik's Cube."

It turns out those tiny pie-shaped pieces brought me to the brink of insanity.

I bought this puzzle when it was first released so I didn't have the luxury of cheating with YouTube tutorials.  I was on my own.  My plan was to very carefully experiment with different tricks and techniques I had learned from the other Rubik's puzzles.  Starting with a solved Crazy 3x3 Cube I thought I could simply determine which techniques I could adapt.  But before I gathered any meaningful data points, the entire puzzle was scrambled beyond belief.  I had inadvertently jumped into the unknown.

It took the entire first night just to get it to the state pictured above.  It may have appeared to be nearly solved, but there were still 24 pieces out of place.  It was past midnight, I had no plan, and I had to work the next day.

For the record, I did not give a second thought to the cube until well after 5pm that following day.  However, a cursory glance through my internet history at lunch just might have shown a frantic search for a video tutorial to solve these tiny pie-shaped pieces.  It was torture.

When I finally got my hands back on this crazy cube I had a primal urge to determine how the pie-shaped pieces moved about the cube.  I felt like Newton and would invent Calculus if need be.

I spent the evening scribbling notes and trying to chart positions.  It was a terrible and cruel shell game.  Pieces moved, but I could not decipher the patterns.  That's it!  I told my wife.  I cannot figure this one out.  This is the hardest puzzle I have ever tried to solve.  I cannot do it.  It's over.

I went to bed defeated.  I had failed.  Was I even worthy of calling myself a puzzler?

On the third evening, I reluctantly picked up the crazy cube.  There was one sequence of moves I rarely used on the normal Rubik's Cube.  I gave it a try.  For some reason, something clicked in my brain and I realized that there might be a way to isolate a pair, or three, or four pieces at a time.  If the pie-shaped pieces could be isolated, they could be swapped with others.  I scribbled more notes and eventually made progress.

It was painful, but before midnight on that third night I solved the Crazy 3x3 Cube.
Writing Fear of Failure
There is no such happy ending with my writing.  I'm still paralyzed by the fear of failing.

For the past several years I have been "working on my craft".  I have told myself that I'm not ready to publish yet because I have more groundwork to lay.  That's not true.

Yes, I will always work on my craft and continue to evolve as a writer until I die.  But that's not the reason why I haven't seriously submitted my work for publication yet.

It's fear.

It's the same fear Yuvi has reading in public.  It's the same fear I had my first day of Kindergarten.  What if no matter how hard I try they don't like me?

What if after years of writing and learning to write I never get anything published?  What if my main character is unsympathetic?  What if my critical plot twist doesn't convince the editor?  What if my voice simply isn't compelling?  What if my first novel isn't commercially viable?  What if my writing is derided at epic levels like EL James'?  What if my ending is predictable?

I don't know how to get over my fears of failing as a writer.  Sometimes I feel like I'm defeated before I have even started.  Like that second night with the Crazy 3x3 Cube.  Maybe I don't have that it factor. 

I'm inspired by people like Yuvi who persisted and journeyed on through over 600 rejections.  But he's special.  He has found his voice.  He has found success.  He is a writer.  He is an author now.

I'd love to open my 601st response letter and finally find success.  But I need to get over my fear of failure because the first 600 submission letters aren't going to mail themselves.

What about you?  How do you deal with fear and failure?

The Puzzling Mind Clip Show

 

Sometimes it's nice to reminisce and be reminded of funny, exciting, or profound moments from the past.
Television studios use clip shows to do this – although the practice has become rare.

Clip shows are not always a Best Of show.  They can also be a convenient way to bring audiences up to speed on things they may have missed in past episodes.

Sometimes history is worth repeating.

Today, I'm bringing you my blog clip show.  Here are 13 posts compiled from the archives.

Please don't be shy and feel free to leave a comment anywhere.  I love to hear from you.

10 Ways Writing is Like the Rubik's Cube
Are You Afraid of Process?
13 Reasons Why You're Not Published
Do You Need a Deadline?
Don't Do What You're Told!
It's the Journey, Not the Destination
Story Structure and the Rubik's Cube
Go Ahead, Quit! It's Not Taboo.
The Rubik's Cube and The Great Gatsby
Short Stories? Like, Gag Me With a Spoon!
The Trick to Writing – Revealed
Billions of Free Story Ideas – At Your Fingertips!
13 Popular Novels Gone Dirty

And if you haven't checked out my latest Rubik's Cube writing post you're in for a treat.  This one really does require audience participation:  The Rubik's Cube Writing Promptetition.  If you're a writer, then you should share something with the world.

Thank you for stopping by!

Thanks to Cyaniona on Flickr for the great photo!

The Rubik's Cube Writing Promptetition

Practice makes perfect.  Sometimes you just need help getting started.

Speedcubers perfect their ability to solve the Rubik's Cube by being flexible and adapting to different scrambled states for each solve.

In competition, participants are given a scrambled cube that has been turned at least 25 times.  This ensures that everyone is presented with a fair starting point.

Even if every competitor were presented with the exact same starting point, let's say:

L'  R  F2  D2  L'  D  F  B'  L  F'  U'  D2  F  R'  U'  L'  B2  D2  L'  D'  U2  F'  L  D2  L

you would get wildly different results.  For example, this particular scramble may produce the World Record solve of 5.66 seconds – or the embarrassing 39 seconds with my lethargic hands.

(Nerd alert: The code above simply defines the sequence of turns to perform on the cube to mix it up.  L for left face clockwise, R for right face clockwise, etc.)

In any case, there are websites that generate these random scrambles that give you a starting point for any particular solve attempt.  It's a nice way to get an apples-to-apples comparison for timed competitions.

Now when we write, we don't always have a convenient starting point.  So today, I am giving you a writing prompt.  It's always fun to see the variety of different things writers come up with when given the exact same prompt.

Your goal is to write a story, a scene, a description – anything really – based on the following prompt.  Post your results in the comments below.  Please try to keep it to approximately 100 words.

Prompt:

Start your piece with the following sentence:

With the marching band eager to storm the field, she fumbled with the Rubik's Cube trying to shield her nakedness from the stadium lights.

The Rubik's Cube Promptetition emphasizes challenging yourself rather than besting others.  Also, this is not a timed event – unless you want it to be.  And although this is not judged officially, you just might win praise from me or other participants.

 

Have fun and Go!

Thanks to Argonone on Flickr for the picture!