Well, I'm having one rotten week, the sort of week that if you plan a party to give yourself something to look forward to, you get a nasty email from a friend saying you deliberately planned it on a day HE was giving a party... sigh...

However, I am alive, not starving and I don't live in Afghanistan or NYC or work in the travel biz, so in the spirit of doing something this week that shows my gratitude I decided to start a Thanksgiving thread.

[Edited to add: I mean "I am grateful I didn't lose loved ones on Sept 11 - NOT that I don't like NYC"... sigh... it really is that kind of week - I tried to delete this whole post, because I'm not making myself clear, but it won't let me - I also have NOTHING against anyone in the travel biz - my point is that I thought I should stop whining about my own troubles when a lot of people have a lot bigger ones... death, starvation, layoffs etc... and I wanted to put something positive back into the universe]

Below are MY FT'ers to be thankful for - add yours, please (but please keep all disagreements to some flamewar in OMNI, okay??? I want ONE thread with only positive karma)

renila's FT'ers to be thankful for:
(in no particular order)


Fewmiles - because "see Fewmiles' excellent site" is the most often used phrase in the AA forum

Paul Palmer - for being so thoughtful, polite and remembering to follow up on things he has promised to look into... Paul, I've never met you but you come across in print as being a genuinely kind and caring man

Taipei - for being such a generous and gracious host in, of course, Taipei (although he lives near SNA :-)

peteropny - for bring us all "out" in the open

doc - for not prescribing himself anti-obsessive/compulsive posting disorder medication and for spending SO much time giving us news hot off the presses

Shareholder - I don't always agree with him, but I always find his posts well reasoned and he is (gasp) willing to admit his mistakes on occasion - a commodity sometimes in short supply on FT

All my TPE run buddies for being such a great intro to mileage running (have caught the fever)

And of course, Randy Petersen, for enabling us to hang out here.

[This message has been edited by renila (edited 11-07-2001).]

Renila,

I'm thankful that I live in the New York area. And I'm proud of all the flyertalkers that live here.

Dan

It would be impossible to mention everyone, so I'll keep it to just one.

Catman.

When I was brand new to FT and the whole game, I sent him a private email asking a silly newbie question. He responded at length and emboldened with my new found knowledge and with his kindness . . . I jumped headfirst into the world of Flyertalk.

Thanks Catman for being one of the good guys!

What a great idea! Like most of you, I couldn't possibly list all the wonderful FT personalities that have enriched my life. But like eastwest, I distinctly remember both catman and premex as being very, very helpful and patient as I first began to get into the FF game. I went from not even knowing what that FF account I had was really for to top status on my airline in a year. I went from having no frequent guest account at all to top status at two hotel chains. And I went from zero to .5M membership reward points. ALL as a result of this community.

That's the tangible. But equally meaningful to me are the cyber-friends and the very real friendships that have transcended this cyperspace collection of aliases.

Oh - there are so many I'd like to name individually, but this would be a VERY long post and ultimately I'd forget someone important. But thanks for the opportunity to say thanks - and thanks to Randy for the place to do it!

Thank you all for the thank yous! (that's a real run on fractured sentence!) Special meowy thnaks to Eastwest and svpii

It's nice to get e-mails from people asking for advice or tips or talking about their cats. Happy to give it because we are a COMMUNITY And we are all in this crazy travel game together.

Advise to new members: don't be afraid to ask a question. You make make a friend in the process.

I can't single one person out to say thanks because it's unfair to others.

So I'm giving you all a massive group MEOWY THANKS!

And a group hug from the cats and me! (Don't worry their claws are clipped!)

Excellent post Renila.

My Dear Renila, I am red to the tips of my roots. I am so touched at your kindness. It takes a lot to make me short for words, but you have achieved it.

For my part,

BBinchi - you kept me here, and meeting you was joint favorite thing in 2001. You have entered roy and my heart and you will always be part of our lives.

RDURES1 - Ties for this honour. My heart is heavy at the thought of her illness. Although she may not read this for a while, she will soon , please God.

Art in New York whose handle I forget. You tie equally. Roy is dying to meet you and the family.

Pucci Galore - you came from out of the blue and you light up my days with your irreverence and wit. If I had you way with words. I do hope that our paths will cross one day.

BlairVanHorn - you sound an absolute scream, I do hope that we meet one day

They are not alone, but they impacted greatly on my life.

Suffice to say that not a day goes by without a prayer for all of you to make your journeys safe and your ways lit as you walk across this earth in these dark times

I have been enriched greatly by FlyerTalk, both in the information I have received, and in specific acts of generosity. Recently, my husband and I have had the good fortune to meet fellow FTers who have overnighted in San Diego, such as GG, LexPassenger, Guy Betsy and Standby4321. It is a pleasure to have our view of the world expanded from our normal every day corporate life.

Knowing I will miss some wonderful people, but still wanting to mention some:

Many Miles acts of extraordinary generosity, with knowledge, certificates, status, and serving as my RTW travel agent

Transpac, YogiBear, flyaow, World20, Indurain, and tkiang for helping me fly up front internationally

Renila for her tickets to the movies - what a treat, to see a movie and sip a Coke courtesy of a fellow FlyerTalker!

cigarman - showing my husband and me New Orleans, carefully considering OUR tastes rather than his in doing so

flyerwife - my Marriott guru and constant friend

BA forum for having become a place of great wit and erudition with Pucci Galore, Blairvanhorn, Merry, and Paul Palmer. It has become my favorite forum since Village Idiot abandoned his hot dog stand and InnPoints.

crankyusi for generously sending me UA tips to help me on my travels

psychonesque for teaching me how to use chat, PMs, and UBB codes

All my many chat friends

[This message has been edited by SanDiego1K (edited 11-08-2001).]

RDURES1, though Paul Palmer beat me to it.

Paul himself, of course, and Roy.

The many whose company I enjoyed at CatManDo III and in San Diego - too many to mention.

Those who post here, including those who give helpful information and those keep me on my toes when I post something I think is right - but I didn't check, and it isn't.

Let us not forget johna, who gave so much to so many while he was with us.

And finally renila, for starting this thread!

Thanks, renila... A great thread. Time to bump it back up to the top with (American) Thanksgiving coming up soon. But everyone knows Thanksgiving is actually in October, right?

Well, who to thank?

My fellow crazy canucks in the Canadian Corner forum.

All my LiveChat buddies.

Friends on the AA forum, especially RDURES1...

Everyone for making this a vibrant community.

Randy for being a gracious host.


FewMiles..

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