Oh the power of the internet. Once a global communication device for the military, a product of countless hours spent in the basement of Al Gore, it now has the power to reach out and communicate instantly to nearly everyone across the world. This week, we got a little insight into the power of the internet.
Like most bloggers, we use the blog to document our daily or sometimes weekly lives, small events we think are worth noting. We love reading our friend's blogs, mainly so we can come to the conclusion regularly that our blog is superior in many ways. The writing, the pictures, we know it's pretty awesome. We kid, we kid. But seriously, like most casual bloggers, we really love to see comments to our postings. In fact, it's one of the pitfalls of blogging. Posting your ideas and life online, only to have the deafening silence of the blogosphere echo back and crush your motivation, well, it can be a real drag.
So imagine to our surprise when we received an unexpected comment from a gentleman regarding the post about the Mesa Veteren's Day Parade. Heather referenced the "Two Men and a Truck" vehicle that was in the parade and this guy explained they were in the parade to support veterans all over but especially within their company. He also explained that the parade almost didn't happen, and they hope it will be better next year. As a child of a veteran, having good folks and local business support a parade for veterans, in my opinion, is a noble act. Coming out of that experience, we began to fully appreciate just how forward thinking Al Gore was when he cobbled together global servers and a web of fiber optic cables to communicate to the world. Thanks Al! We were now beginning to rethink just who might be reading our little blog.
So tonight, we got a call from the owner of Hot Air Balloon Expeditions! HOLY COW! How do these people run across our little blog? She was very nice and very concerned we didn't have the best experience with their company. She saw our blog post about our anniversary adventure. She explained that landings like that happen all the time, especially in parts of the world where the wind blows more often. Living in Phoenix, we are lucky, the wind is rarely noticed, but as we found out, it just takes a small breeze to get a huge balloon really moving. We had come to that conclusion long before her call; that our experience, at the time, seemed extraordinary, but in hindsight, is probably not unusual. In fact, we have been recommending the company to our friends, because overall, we had a great time. She also explained that they are looking at some of the things we didn't really enjoy, chiefly, being stranded in the desert for a while, and how to fix it. We really appreciate the outreach.
Could Hot Air Balloon Expeditions done a few things better, sure. But nothing is ever perfect. I mean, the floors are sticky at the movies, the grapes are bruised at the grocery store, but that doesn't mean it was a bad experience. In fact, we choose Hot Air Balloon Expeditions because of their reputation, especially compared to the local competition. And after all, they can't control how the balloon floats, at least not entirely, so what can you expect? I think it's safe to say, a landing that a newbie could call a "crash landing" might occur, though they are common and not unexpected to the experienced balloonist. Would we recommend the company to friends, absolutely, it was a great time.
So the lesson here for all you bloggers out there, be careful what you write, because it can be read by anyone out there, and often times there are real lives at stake. Or as I like to say, SHUT YER BIG YAPPER!