orbtiz, sidestep and kayak, oh my!

I'm trying...really trying...to be bff with these travel websites. I KNOW it's not their fault that their algorithm magically tells them when someone ELSE has purchased a round trip fare to LA and therefore when I logged in 30 minutes ago and the price was $517 and now I log in and the price if $589 my eyes pop out of my head and my heart breaks a little.
Ok, it IS their fault. Math and econ dorks!

I've already purchased two round trip flights to Europe and back, a round trip fight to Chicago and back for Fall Wedding '09, and now I'm trying to plan out my next 2 weeks of travel, all for the purposes of "deep deep relaxation" (please pronounce that phrase a la Katinka Ingabogovinanana from Zoolander), but right now my blood pressure is just rising with these insane summer flight prices!

IF the planets magically align, I will be spending 2 days in NYC, 2 days upstate, 4 days on the Cape, 4 days in LA, and flying back to an airport that is close enough by car to get to Newark airport at 10am in the morning the day AFTER my LA arrival to pick up a very special 'package' who will be visiting for 2 weeks!

Oh yea, and then pack up my life again to move for 2 months- but that's at the END of August!

It's SO nice to know that for the next (ok, I can only officially say 2...) productions someone ELSE will have to deal with my travel arrangements! All I have to do is tell them whether I prefer window or aisle. And of course, that depends.
I take into account:

Time of flight (early morning, I want to sleep against the window)

Day of flight (if it's the same day as the first meeting, aisle as far front as possible so I can get out of the airplane as fast as possible, get to the hotel, get ready, etc..I know, it makes ALMOST no difference..but in my head it does!)

Likelihood of a full flight (little midwestern airlines have more recently been a bit more empty, so I'll take window and hope no one sits next to me..big companies like Delta and Continental--almost always Aisle since some poor bloke will be stuck in the middle and probably leaning his corpulent self too close to me...gotta have the aisle spillover possibility in full effect)

And under NO circumstances do I ever book my ticket so late, or get to the airport so late that I'm stuck in the MIDDLE seat!

Oh, wait, did you think all prima donnas travel first class? Haha..yea...no.
A. not a prima donna
B. have never traveled first class--although where it would REALLY make a difference is in overseas flights...yes..11 hours of personal service and space to relax.
C. guess it's never really made a difference because even as the seats get smaller, leg room gets squashed, and aisle space gets narrower, I'm still the same small size that can be comfortable balling myself up into one seat and falling asleep ...in my own little corner in my own little chair....

Now if that chair just didn't cost $589 dollars...I'd be realllly excited to sit in it.