Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse: You know those long-suffering Carnival cruise passengers who just finally, finally, FINALLY made it back to shore after days of being lost at sea on a sewage-filled ship of horrors? Those cruise passengers who were so relieved that their terrible ordeal was over they literally kissed the Alabama ground? Well, turns out their ordeal wasn't over at all.

Apparently the "caravan" of buses chartered by Carnival to transport the miserable travelers from Mobile to New Orleans has run into some technical difficulties ... "at least one of the buses" has become stranded. Oh my god. OH MY GOD. Being stranded on a charter bus would be a nightmare under the best of circumstances, but AFTER days of drifting on one big poop deck?!

Have you ever left something behind at a hotel? Oh, come on, you can admit it. Everybody loses something on vacation at some point or another. What with all the packing and the unpacking and the early check-out times and the fact that you're probably jet-lagged and/or hungover and/or whatever else, it's tough to stay organized when you're traveling.

Then, by the time you realize you left your phone charger or your hair dryer or your favorite necklace in your room, it's too late to go back -- and don't even bother calling the hotel, because if whatever you forgot was valuable, well, you'll never see whatever it was again. Unless, of course, whatever you left behind was valuable AND of a highly personal nature. I mean highly, highly personal. Not like diamond engagement ring valuable/personal or even family heirloom valuable/personal ... more like ... breast implants valuable/personal.

In the past 30 years, many accepted practices have changed. What people considered normal and safe back then -- transporting your newborn in the front-seat, having a latchkey kid at age 6, and letting them explore the woods with no parental guidance -- is pretty much grounds for arrest these days. But, in that simpler time they call the '80s, there were some great ideas that I'm thinkin' we should totally revive -- the way Disney Channel stars have brought back overly-sequined attire, off-the-shoulder shirts, and leopard print day-glow leggings!

Thanks, Shake It Up, I can barely look at my daughter without retinal strain!

Let's be clear: some of these suggestions could possibly get you arrested (by Joan Rivers and the fashion police), but I think they're worth bringing back, or are they? You decide ...

Holiday travel just got a whole lot scarier. Thieves have been using a device that helps them crack hotel room locks. It basically acts as a master key to anyone who has one.

It's a frightening thought for every single person who stays at a hotel, whether for business travel or a family vacation. Even scarier, however, is just how easy it is to get your hands on one of these tools.

I recently flew an airline with "open seating." Which basically means you get an assigned boarding number (like at a deli counter) and you must fend for yourself and your family from there.

As I walked the aisle, I quickly assessed my potential row-mates. Had they recently showered? Would they take initiative in an emergency? Are they so young that they're in diapers? Are they so old that I may need to resuscitate them during the flight?

When I finally picked my seat, the look on my new neighbor's face was one of total disdain. What I wanted to say was, "Look at me lady, it could be worse -- the woman behind me has a colicky infant and the guy behind her has something that sounds like the plague!"

As a nervous flier, I'm easily annoyed about things that happen on planes (clearly). So I thought I'd "air" some of my grievances about flying.

The sharks are enjoying their last hurrah of summer this week, just like the rest of us. It actually feels like it's been the Season of the Shark, especially up here in New England and especially around Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which has had at least a dozen shark sightings this year. One man was even attacked by a shark, but thankfully his chomp below the knees was minor enough that he was able to give an interview on a morning talk show the next day. Everything seemed to culminate this past week with some amazing videos of sharks caught on tape -- one by a family on a boat and another of a great white shark that washed ashore. Both totally look like something straight from Jaws. Get out of the water now! and take a look ...

This has officially been the worst summer ever. Shootings, Rob & Kristen, hurricanes, more shootings. And more shootings. Can things get any more depressing? Yes they can. A mouse-poop virus is killing visitors of Yosemite National Park. I know. It sounds totally fake or like a Will Smith movie but it's not. It's called the hantavirus and I didn't know you could catch a virus from mouse droppings either, but apparently you can and this is nothing to joke about.

A 31-year-old man is making a huge public fuss over the fact that a flight attendant on a major airline asked him to move his seat away from an unaccompanied 10-year-old girl. He's saying the airplane embarrassed him and made people think he was a pedophile. How childish of him. This is not the first time someone (usually a man) has pulled the discrimination card on these airline policies. But really, they should just shut up about it. As a parent, I think this policy is an excellent one for protecting kids. As a passenger, this is an even excellenter policy, because who wants to sit next to a kid on a plane when you absolutely don't have to.