I had never had a hotel call to tell me they were willing to pay if I wanted to switch my reservation to a competitor. It happened about four months ago. A lady named Melissa called and said that, due to a major booking, they were offering to find new rooms at nearby hotels for people who had already booked a room on our weekend. “There’s a Hyatt just a mile away that we can book for you on these dates, sir.” That was sur...

The highway rest-stop looked like a polar refugee-camp. The plows had their hands full with I-95 and hadn’t been through here in several hours. There had to be fifty or more cars left haphazardly in the parking area, some partially blocking the road, many completely blanketed in snow. On the other side, the truck-parking area was also a snarl of trucks, most idling. We were on our way down to Florida for some January r-an...

We were on our way to see a band my wife loves. I didn't know much about this band, but she was excited and I was desperate for a night out. What with work and the kids dropping in for the odd weekend at home and all the other things that consume our weekends, Julia and I hadn’t had a date night in several months. So I jumped when she suggested we go into the city to see if we could score last-minute tickets to see The Dr...