Welcome to Atlanta, now let me tell you a story…

I like to compare Belligerent Urban Miscreants (B.U.M.s) in different cities, as there is a distinct difference and local flavor in each municipality’s B.U.M. membership.

Atlanta B.U.M.s are not as absolutely direct as in Boston, ala “Welcome to Boston, care for some crack?”

In Atlanta apparently there is a law that you can not directly ask for anything (as in solicitation of money). So the B.U.M.s have gotten pretty crafty down here out of necessity. They’ve become the “helping tour guide.” They strike up the conversation and then ask you if you need directions and point out new bars and city hot spots. They’re pretty clever and engaging. Then they hit you up for a “contribution” for their services.

I never give money to any particular B.U.M. member, but I actually had to break down and do it here in Atlanta after I saw the same guy twice. Last night he gave me some “advice” on a local pub….and I’ll be damned if it actually wasn’t good advice and the pub was really cool. So I gave him a couple dollars when I saw him today; he was appreciative and I felt pretty OK too.

Today I’m touring Atlanta city including The Georgia Aquarium (apparently the largest in the World…who knew!) and CNN. Then just wandering around, seeing what’s up.

Fort Myers and a blast of children

Today I drove down to Fort Myers to see my good friends Scott & Paige, whom I’ve known since college, and their adorable kids Pierce (2) & Sloane (6 mo?). Most of you know I hate kids, so this may come as a surprise, but they really are cute. Pierce is talking up a storm and Sloane is the biggest, cutest smiley-girl you’ve ever seen — always a smile (Except when I took away the Tupperware of goldfish crackers from her after she started sucking on it — Ooooh, boy, did I hear protest about that!!)

The Paces are now putting the kids to bed, and I’m downstairs in the kitchen listening to the baby monitors down here — it’s really cute. I found myself singing along “abcdefg, hijklmnop, qrs, tuv, w, x, y and z…”

I’m down here thru Sunday and then I’m off to Atlanta!

Hopefully pictures to come — Pierce looks just like a little Scott!

At the beach…

I did dip my toe into the Gulf — it was cccccold. Like, freezing! At least I did it.

So writing this report outside from my balcony, sipping an ice-cold beer and observing interesting people. This part of the beach is devine.

So far…

Favorible impressions of Northwest Airlines
(soon to be Delta…sad to see NWA go…). So far — I haven’t flown NWA in decades, but each flight was spot on time and my bag came out only 10 minutes after arrival. First class was nice (when is it not?!) but actually I thought it was a wee bit better than American, my usual carrier. Food was actually good.

During the flight between MSP & TPA I was graced with a delightful traveling companion sitting next to me. She was from Minneapolis and ya, sure, you betcha — honest to goodness. Her mannerisms and accent were straight from Francis McDormand in the movie Fargo, but she looked EXACTLY like Ennis’s wife when she was blonde later-on from Brokeback Mountain (Was that Anne Hathaway?)! She was my age and travelling to a conference in Tampa — we had a great time talking about everything. It was a hoot.

Favorible impressions of Minneapolis Airport (MSP)
I actually haven’t transferred thru the main terminal at MSP before. It is quite large, and I had a hefty hike between gates, but it’s really nice. Massive mall will all shops you could imagine, incredible food choices. Makes me want to plan longer layovers here — with 2-3 hours you would not be bored in MSP. That said my 40 minute transfer was a bit tight, but worked perfectly — one of those magical layovers where just as you get to your next gate they pick up the mic and start announcing the boarding.

Favorible impressions of the Doubletree North Redington Beach, FL.
Slightly older building, sweetheart staff so far. I think I forget about the Doubletree when I travel — this is as nice as any Sheraton or Marriott I’ve been too, and it’s on the beach and was fairly inexpensive. And they asked, for $20, if I wanted a “welcome” package waiting for me in my room of assorted cheeses, crackers, fruit and beverages. I said yes, expecting a saucer of maybe 3 pieces of cheese and two small, green strawberries (but hey, I’m on vacation…) But then I found it and honestly — the thing is huge! All pretty and wrapped in a bow. I will never be able to eat all this cheese and fruit. It was awesome. Oh, and remember that Doubletree’s also give you a warm cookie upon checkin — yum!! Doubletree gets A+ from me so far…

So-so impressions of the beach.
It’s a nice beach for sure, and nice to look at and the Gulf view from my balcony is fantastic — love that! But, as I had thought, I can already tell that beach life is just not one of those things I’m attracted to. Laying in the sun and doing nothing. Just not my thing. And even off-season just before spring break hits there are still way, way too many people. I don’t like people as a rule. I DO like to lay around and do nothing, but not with people I don’t know and sweat dripping down my backside. Not comfortable! For me, relaxing on my balcony in the shade with a breeze reading my books OVERLOOKING the beach — well, that’s quite another thing. Lovin’ that. And the little lizards are cool.

William Shatner really does negotiate

Karate CHOP! All be damned if priceline.com still has it!

I’ve used priceline in the past when being uber cheap was the name of the game. These days I’ve become a little more, well, fussy, and require control of my travel plans — I’m an admitted “mileage whore” so I like to stick with my favorite airline and hotel programs.

So when planning my March vacation this year to FLORIDA, I got all my favorites lined-up in a row and they satisfied me with good, competitive rates….and more miles! I’m totally happy with that.

But then Florida left me with a somewhat new-ish dilemma; Usually I go to cities that have lots of public transportation and there is NO need for a car. Umm, yeah, not so Florida! Seems like you and us in Washington have something in common other than being “corner” states after all! Damn. Must. Rent. Car.

So I look up the rates — they are atrocious. Ridiculous, even. $60 per DAY is the best I can get on Expedia or Travelocity. I have no loyalty to rental car companies — I don’t care which one, as long as it’s major. There has to be something better. I muse to myself “Hey, what would William Shatner do?!?” So I go to priceline.com and put in an equally ridiculous low price for a car, per day.

$14…. [click]

…your offer has been accepted!

No way! Gaddam, that really was the best exciting thing to happen to me in a while. I got goosebumps. I could talk and go on and on about what a complete cahoots the car companies are in, but I was just glad to get a righteous price.

So cheers to the captain, and priceline really does still have it.

Virgin America LAS-SFO-SEA Oct 2008

From a trip report I posted to airliners.net.

The actual trip to Vegas was nice — very relaxed. I didn’t even bring my laptop!! Although I later was feeling quite detached from the world. Guess I have Internet addiction, but since I can claim that is my career hopefully I can avoid those nasty visits to the therapist LOL!

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Bottom lines at the top:

–Nice new airplanes, of course.

–Nice staff, not outlandishly cute, but happy & professional
–Exit row reservation of $15 is worth it
–Upgrade to first class $50 worth it…perhaps
–Red is cool, but needs some work. Holds promise
–Will definitely fly again; all-in-all superior to other competitors that I have flown

In brief…my first time on Virgin America as I was trying their product to see what the fuss was all about after a 3 day quickie in Vegas. I usually fly either Alaska (We’re nearly slaves to it in SEA for west coast stuff) or Southwest for short trips like this.

I forgot my camera — 20 lashes with a noodle, I know.

LAS-SFO VX909
Scheduled: 3:35P
Actual: 3:35P
Load: 85-ish%

Reserved an exit row window on this leg. Found the legroom more than some domestic first class cabins I’ve sat in. Definitely worth the $15 for me. Seats are comfy and did not feel “squashed” into them and I’m a pretty big guy. The side wall does start curving into your headroom if a window seat, though. Not enough to make me unhappy for 1.5 hours. Weather was gorgeous all along the coast, so spot on-time departure. Arrived 40-35 minutes early into SFO!

The Red in-flight entertainment is nice, but still seems buggy — slow screen redraws and artifacts. Google maps is slow. TV is good. Music good (obviously as a Virgin product…) Navigation of the screens was a little confusing, but I’m getting old and analog, so perhaps it’s just me. Once the kinks are worked-out and the final features added it will indeed be killer.

Now had a 4 hour layover in SFO, but that was planned — had dinner with some friends which was fabulous. Returned to the airport an hour before departure only to find a gate change to the other side of the SFO Int’l terminal to G83. Quite long walk — not something you want to do when you have no time.

SFO-SEA VX748
Scheduled: 8:45P
Actual: 8:45P
Load: poor (perhaps 33%?)

Got an upgrade to first class on this leg. After cheap Vegas hotel and no gambling I figured i could afford the $50 upgrade luxury to try it out — I AM an airplane lover after all, so it’s research, at least this is my excuse to myself… 🙂

First class is really akin to a good International business class. Unbelievable seat pitch — I could not reach-out and touch the seat in front of me without getting out of my seat. Seat comfy. Only annoying thing was there is no place to rest a single drink glass as the arm rests are padded and contain the tray table on one side and the Red screen on other.

We were served a BBQ chicken salad, which I poked thru as I was stuffed from dinner, but it was good and appropriate for the quite late hour. All-in-all for this short flight the $50 wasn’t particularly worth it when I knew from the first flight that $15 extra scores an outstanding seat totally sufficient for 1-3 hour coastal flights.

I later sat in a “normal” coach seat for a few minutes. It did feel more constricted, obviously, but I would not hesitate to sit in one of these either. As good or better than other airlines.

Oh, and we arrived 30 minutes early in SEA as well. Must have been the excellent weather, I’m sure. Vividly shows you, however, how much delay airlines pad into schedules some times (yet still are late…I know, a huge other topic! 😉

Summary:
IMHO this is a superior product compared to the normal airlines I endure when doing quick flights on the west coast. Perhaps not mind-blowingly so, but definitely a noticeable step above the rest. If Virgin America flies to a destination I want to go to I will choose them over anyone else from now on; let’s hope that network of theirs is expanded. I think they have the potential to really take-on a certain airlines if they can hang in there during the tough times and passengers take notice.
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http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/135267/

The best airline (any?) commercial ever

OK, I’m late to the party… (big surprise!)

This commercial that United aired during the Olympics is simply a masterpiece. It is an epic film in 60 seconds.

Normally I’m not a huge sappy guy, but this one softens even my hard edges. It is so nuanced and heartfelt — literally; the way the heart gets cut-out and slipped in a pocket. They way you see the light thru the empty heart during the presentation. They way the bird flies thru it and the score is outstanding. Plus just a hint of United’s famous use of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” at the end, which has to be one of the most effective, and really great, corporate identities out there.

Just too bad United is really going through some rough times, as obviously they have some incredible talent and feeling somewhere in that leviathan body. This is beautiful.

Anyways, here it is…

My new favorite blog

And no, it’s not mine! 🙂

http://www.bsideblog.com/travel/

This guy is hysterical — he writes about his travel experiences. He’s an awesome writer (apparently what he does for a living) and he says it like it is! The travel section of his blog is just a part of his other subjects. But it’s the one’s that I identify with the most.

He used the word “gauche” in a post. Always a plus in my book.

He’s also obviously a Child of the 80’s like me, For example, on JetBlue’s videos channel:

“Anyway, I’ve watched a good number of videos on the three-headed monster that is MTV-VH1-VH1 Classic. Highlights have included “No Air” by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown (my new guilty pleasure), “We Built This City” by Starship (my all time favorite guilty pleasure), “Foolish Beat” by Debbie Gibson (a guilty pleasure I didn’t even realize was a guilty pleasure until it came on), “Wishing Well” by Terrence Trent D’Arby (a smooth pleasure), “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles (a goddamn pleasure), and “Touch My Body” by Mariah Carey (a funny video pleasure). I should note that for whatever reason, I was oddly compelled to sing along to “We Built This City,” but I restrained myself out of respect for the passengers and/or any small animals that may be aboard. I should also note that while I’ve seen the video many, many times in my life, this was the first time that I carefully studied Grace Slick’s dance moves, and let me say that while rhythm might not be her strong suit, no one can touch her when it comes to teetering over on her side / clapping oddly.”

I especially loved the first few points of his “Top Ten Worst Baggage Claim Annoyances.”

Say it, man, say it!

Gone fishin’

My Dad was quite successful in his latest endeavor — gone fishin’. Here’s the results:

This was significantly larger than the 2″ minnow we caught at Cranberry Lake while camping decades ago! 🙂