Leaving Las Vegas $3 ahead

I like airports. I always have. There is something about all of the flying, and people coming and going that I get a kick out of. I find it fascinating to walk down the concourse and look at all of the places that planes are leaving for and think of the places I would love to go to, and of the places I hope to never be forced to go to again, ever! For those who must know the places I hope to never see again include Fayetteville, North Carolina, Detroit (damn, someone has bribed me into going there next week,) Bismarck, North Dakota (once was enough), and JFK (the worst major airport in North America.) Even in the worst airport, it is fun to watch the people and the planes and the slot machines.

Like there are not enough games of chance in an airport today! Will the plane arrive on time? Will it leave on time? Will it back into another airplane? Will the flight crew expire before takeoff? Will the airline go bankrupt again before we land? And now slot Machines, just what airports need another sucker bet in the world of modern air transport.

Slot machines sing the sirens’ song for me. There is something magical about the bells and clinks and clanks of the wondrous games of chance. Now I know my limits, and I am a cheap little bird so about $20 is my limit. But I do like playing. So two weeks ago when I was passing through Vegas I had my chance. Real live slot machines in the center of a nice 1970’s vintage round terminal end surrounded by gates (JFK needs to go see what can be done with these classic terminals besides letting pigeons fly around in them.) Now the machines have changed over the years. You can no longer saunter up and drop a coin in and pull the handle, you now slide a bill in and push the buttons. I slipped in a fiver and in about 2 minutes it was gone. I slid in a $10 and in about 5 minutes I was about $10 ahead. I stayed long enough to cash out with $18 leaving me $3 ahead. And yes I cashed out while I was ahead. Then my flight was delayed, and delayed, and the bells kept calling me back and I resisted. I left Las Vegas $3 ahead.

TR

How can it only be Wednesday?

It has been a long hot week. It is bringing out the crazies. Today DG had a nice conversation with an old client who is currently recouperating in a rubber room, and three or four more cleints that need to visit the nice person in the rubber room. A few more days like this and DG will be ready to go visit the nice person in the nice secure hospital (ah, but they are letting her out in a couple of days.)

Detroit early next week (only because someone is paying us to go) and two weeks till we fly off to see Bert and Someone. TR

Bears

A well fed bear, is a happy bear. And a happy bear won't eat you!

TR

Visiting the Bears

While I was in Anchorage I dropped in to see a few bears. They are so warm and fuzzy and fun to be around. They like to play with their visitors. You never know who you are going to run into, Woodchuck is that you? I bet you told Mrs Chuck you were out demontrating horizontal stabilizing dampers to some camping dealer in Utah, or scouting for a new nest site. Oh well, I'll never tell.

TR

Great view out the front of the plane as we flew up the gorge of the Ruth Glacier. I was able to sit in the front. I hadn't been in a single engine airplane in years (more then I care to admit.) It was great fun, especially sitting up front in the co-pilot seat with the incredible view. Yes we did turn on time.

We landed on a lake on the back side of the Ruth Glacier. The pilot said that this is one of very few times that he has ever landed on this lake. The weather was perfect and the water level was up several feet in the past week giving the pilot confidence that there were not an submerged bolders to hit. The landing was incredibly smoth, I had to look down to tell that we were on the water. We spent a few mintes wandering around, taking pictures, picking up rocks and stretching our wings. Then it was back in to the air and back to Anchorage. I want to go bear viewing the next trip.

TR

Don't Forget to Turn

Several times I had to restrain myself from reminding the pilot to turn. The first time was just after take off. Without turning we would have flown right across the main runway of the Anchorage International airport not a mile away. The flight pattern was filled with huge 747 cargo planes, I think we could have flown right into the engine of one of them. Fortuneately the pilot turned without prompting. Later on in the shadow of the valley of the Ruth glacier (how close can I get) I was hoping that he would remember to turn before we left an oil stain on the towering granite canyon walls. He turned.
TR

Early Morning on Lake Hood

You know it is a good thing that I didn't hear the statistic that 5 bush planes a year crash in Danali National park until after we returned home. Time was tight on our recent trip, and the way to see the most in the least amount of time was to take a flightseeing tour departing from Lake Hood in Anchorage. http://www.flyrusts.com/index.html

So here I am early in the morning try to remember how the old saying goes, there are old pilots and bold pilots but there are very few old bold pilots. I was wondering what our pilot would be like.
TR

When Penguins Fly

The fun began changing planes in Vegas at about midnight on Friday night. Just before the door to the plane closed Ma Mullet went wailing down the aisle “we’re going to have to leave Bobby-Dale behind in Sin-City, they won’t let him on the plane." There were about a dozen members of the Mullet clan on board returning home from one of them renewing their wedding vows before the King (Elvis) in Las Vegas. It never was entirely clear why Bobby-Dale was being denied boarding, something about a fee that had to be paid for him to fly at that time on that flight (with the rest of the clan) and no one in the Mullet clan having a credit card to pay it (and the airline refusing to take cash at the boarding gate.) Members of the clan ran down the aisle to comfort Ma, who wailed even more about how terrible the airline was. The door was closed, she wailed some more and the Senior flight attendant stormed up the aisle, ordered the jet-way back and the door reopened. She talked with the Mullet family, with airline staff and even had Bobby-Dale brought to the door to say (with a grin on his face) “it’s ok, I’ll fly home tomorrow.” Finally after about 20 minutes they gave Bobby-Dale the keys to one of the pick-up-trucks parked at the airport and it was agreed that the rest of the family would fly peacefully without him (they offered to let any or all of them off if they couldn’t fly away and leave him behind in Sin-City.) The result of all of this commotion is that we were about 45 minutes late leaving Las Vegas making my 45 minute connection in Charlotte terribly tight.

Now airline schedules are as well padded as a thin starlet's bust, so when we landed I had 17 minutes to change concourses in Charlotte to catch my connecting flight. I don’t think we knocked anyone over as we flew through the airport, arrived at the gate about 11 minutes before departure (they close the little commuter flights 10 minutes before flight time so we were barely on time) only to be told that the flight had been delayed and in fact just that moment cancelled. I asked the nice lady what she could do and she said nothing and sent me to stand in line at customer service (I grumped at her, but it did no good.) The line at the service desk was not long, but everyone ahead of me was furious. When I got to the desk I looked at the nice young man and said, “I know if you could fix the weather, the plane, the crew or what ever is wrong you would have, but you can’t, what are my options for getting home to day I have been traveling since yesterday afternoon?” After suggesting a 7:45 PM flight (at 7:45 AM after I had been flying since 4:00 PM the day before) he said that they would fly into another city 90 miles from home and provide ground transportation to my home airport. I said that sounds ok, let’s give it a try. He said it would be faster if I went back to the gate and had them fix the ticket (back to the lady who 10 minutes before said she couldn’t help me, but he called her and now she could help me.) There were two flights leaving in the next couple of hours, I was placed as a standby on the first flight and confirmed on the second flight.

There were enough no shows that all of the standbys boarded the first flight. Then we all got off the plane, because the co-pilot was stuck in traffic on his way to the airport (lucky him.) About 45 minutes later a co-pilot was pulled from another flight, we re-boarded and the door was closed.

Believe it or not, this is then things get weird, and funny. The plane started to push back and there was this clatter and bit of a bump, I turned to the guy next to me and quipped “I hope the dog we just backed over will be ok.” The plane was pulled forward, stopped and started back again and this time it was more of a scraping and crunching sound. The plane came to a stop, the door to the cockpit flew open and the captain shouted at the flight attendant open the door and stormed off the plane. He went to inspect the carnage. We had backed into another plane, pulled forward and backed into it again. Parts were hanging loose from the splintered wing tips. He made a slashing gesture across his throat (never a good sign!) My best guess is that it will take six months for them to finish up the paperwork with the FAA. After about 10 minutes the co-pilot (undoubtedly wishing he was stuck in traffic or still on the plane he had been pulled off of) announced that we had experienced a little problem on the push back and we would need to deplane while they figured out what to do.

Suits and real workers descended on the scene. Accusations ensued including the literal pointing of fingers. After about 30 minutes the ground crew started unloading the baggage (not a good sign.) A few minutes later it was announced that they had cancelled someone else’s flight and that we would take their plane while they all went to stand in line at customer service. While we milled around the co-pilot started to walk away and I told him “you can’t leave us,” he said “I’ve just been transferred to another flight” (with a relieved look on his face.) Half an hour later another co-pilot was suited up and ready to go. I was back on my way to another city to eventually take a bus to my home airport. Oh yes, my luggage arrived about 30 minutes after the bus (on a different plane that I was never scheduled on.)

Four more airline flights this year, I wonder what will happen the next time the little penguin tries to fly.

Back Home Again

I am barely able to stay awake and have many exciting things to report. The long and arduous journey home was made even more so by certain little incidents at least one of which will result a reams of FAA paperwork (I promise a full report soon.) Off to nest and rest for now.

TR

And Great Food Too

We were in Louisville for a few days late last week for a Bar convention, no not that kind of bar, a gathering of lawyers from across the state. The lawyers were so thick you couldn't slip and fall without landing on one. What would a Bar convention be without a visit to a bar or two. Marker's Mark has their own with an incredible selection of really good things to drink and really great food. You may go in for the Bourbon, but you will stay for the food.

We are off to Alaska on Tuesday, returning over the weekend with new pictures. (I am going to start a waiting list of people who want to be me, but believe me it is not all fun and glamour!)

TR

Good News!

Bert said...
I’ve finished! I’m back in the Blog world (at least until September and my first job….)

Penguin Dreams

This is what happens when you fall asleep and dream about penguins in the night, they come to check on you.

TR

Old Goats

Goats, who would have ever looked at a goat and said, "there is a fine dairy animal." It must take a herd of hundreds of goats to produce enough milk to make a tiny quantity of stinky cheese. I think the first farmer to think of goats as a good farm animal must have been producing the illegal kind of hay. Now if only he had fed that hay to the goats, the milk might be popular and sold for even more than the stinky little cheeses. Somehow I doubt that I have a real future as an agricultural futureist.

TR

Why Chickens?

Why are chickens so popular? Have you ever seen one try to fly? Let me put it this way, it would be more graceful for them to take diving lessons. There are alot of other worthy flighted and semi-flighted birds in the world and yet Chickens seem to get all the staring roles. Why don't we have Kentucky Fried Duck restaurants? Have you ever found goose eggs in your local market? Either chickens have a very good PR agent, or they have very bad luck, but either way they are obviously the most popular bird in the USA (and most of Europe.) Personally I think it is a good thing that the fetish is for flighted and semi-flighted birds, we flightless fowl are very happy with this situation. TR

Visiting the Past

We spent a few hours wandering around Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill last weekend. The village contains classic stone and brick buildings. historic farming, and traditional animals. Turkeys, but no penguins, the Shakers were not that progressive.

TR

Not A Turkey

Travel Goes to Class

In honor of Uncle Bert's suffering I decided to try a few hours in the classroom. I really enjoyed literacy and numeracy. Neat old classroom.

TR

Day Out In the Country

We decided to take a day out in the country. This was taken in "Shaker Village" near Harodsburg, Kentucky. It was a wonderful afternoon. More pictures will follow over the next few days.

TR

New Store in Town

New and exciting options!

TR

Recapping my travels year to date

During this little lull in the action I stopped to look back over the highlights of my travels so far this year. I have been to a dozen states. We started with a quick trip to South Carolina, flying into North Carolina and driving from there in January; DG worked with some really wonderful people in South Carolina. In February we were in wild and wonderful West Virginia. In March we flew through Chicago to Denver for a few days in a very fluffy hotel. In April we changed planes in Atlanta coming and going to an intense training in Daytona Beach, Florida (were we had a room with a view of Walgreens.) In May we went to Montana changing planes in Salt Lake City (first visit to Utah.) And later in the month we went to Indianapolis.

Before the end of the year we will visit at least 6 more states, the District of Columbia, and four foreign countries. I better rest it is going to be a wild summer.

TR

Just hanging out

Not much happening for the next 2-3 weeks. I'll be close to home, resting my wings, watching DG go out of his mind trying to do the work of two people at once, while getting ready for our next couple of adventures.

TR

At least you can find thier ears

Have you ever tried to find an penguins ears? Where are they hidden?

TR

On Safari

We decided to spend a day exploring Indianapolis beyond the speedway and discovered that there is a city there. Visiting the Speedway and saying you have been to Indianapolis is like going to Walt Disney World (note my using the proper name, you can tell someone who lived there, whose brother has worked there for nearly 30 years) and saying you have been to Orlando. There is a real city, that real ordinary people live in attached to many of the atractions and worlds. Indianapolis has a nice historic downtown surrounded by depressed inner city neighborhoods. Just west of downtown and just across the White River is the Indianaoplis Zoo. Decent zoo, newer, well designed, well kept, nice collection. Unfortunately we didn't call ahead, my cousins were out of town while their house is being remodeled (the sea pavilion that houses the penguin exhibit is closed for updates.)

TR

Sponsor's Tent at Indianapolis

What else to do during the rain delay?

TR

Oh Nuts

I've been squirreled!

What next?

TR

White River Botanical Gardens in Indianapolis

Legends

Hang around in pit lane on qualifying day and the legends past, present and future of Indy car racing will pass by. AJ is at Indy for the 50th year. Little Al is trying for a comeback and qualified for the field just minutes after this picture was taken. Soon the classic words will be heard, “ladies and gentlemen start your engines!”

TR

Mercedes

By special request:

Pure speed, highly engineered, precision construction, designed for one and only one purpose, to go fast.

TR

Down in the Pits

The pits are a very exciting area, lots action and activity. Next Saturday it will be really wild. Zoom-zoom!

TR

Paying Homage to the Past

Where else can you get into a museum for $3 (no charge for pocket penguins?) The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a nice museum with a few dozen former race cars, selected antiques and a collection of racing trophies and memorabilia.

TR

Daddy needs to win the lottery!

One of the official 2007 Indianapolis 500 pace cars. I want one.

TR

Borg Warrner Trophy

The faces of the winners of the Indianapolis 500 are sculpted in silver and attached to the trophy. These are the faces of skilled, brave and fast drivers who have endured and tasted victory.

TR

Day 3 of Qualifying at Indianapolis

It's just over three hours drive to Speedway Indiana, home of the Indianapolis 500, parking is $5 and admission for qualifying is $5, why not go? DG has long been facinated by Indy cars, they are highly engineered to do just one thing, go fast. Within minutes of the Noon opener cars were zooming past in excess of 220 miles her hour. That is amazingly fast. How fast, it takes practice to take pictures without the car disapearing from the frame. you listen for the aproaching car, sqeeze the shutter and by the time the camera clicks you hope the car is still in the frame. Amazing! And a great source of another week of postings.

TR

Zoom - Zoom

We are off for the weekend to watch the final day of qualfiying at Indianapolis. I should be back to posting by Monday.

TR

All Aboard!

I wonder what tales these benches inside a very old Amtrak station have to tell. I can only imagine the tales of love and hate, triumph and tragedy that have passed through these seats over the decades. Someday I am going to take the train across the country and visit as many of these stations as I can.

TR

Little School on the Prarie

I could not resist a quick picture of this little one room school house. We ran across it while waiting to pick up the rest of the trainers from the airport (this is 1/2 a mile from the International Airport in Kalispell MT.)

TR

Running for another plane

Travel agents and airlines have this concept that they call a “legal connection.” I have asked and no one can point me to the statute that makes this legal. A legal connection is one that the airlines dreams that you can make . . . yeah, if you can fly through the airport like Peter Pan and never have to stop to urinate. I have seen legal connections as short as 28 or 29 minutes. Making this connection assumes that the incoming plane arrives on time (yeah right) and that you are not in the back row of the plane (4 out our 6 most recent flights) so that you can actually get off the plane within 10 minutes of the time the door opens. Getting off in a timely manner would be more likely to happen if so many people didn’t stuff steamer trunks and car parts in the overhead bins. We have to wait while they pry Aunt Gertrude’s Nash out of the overhead bin so that they can get off the plane. With this the time to change planes is down to about 20 minutes; about the time they start calling all aboard who are coming aboard on some flights. Running through the airport we have to try not to run over the people who stop dead in their tracks in the middle of the corridor to read War and Peace; or because they spotted a bathroom from 50 feet away and want to stop and think if they need to stop. Inevitably a short bathroom break is needed, yet another opportunity for slow people to delay those of us who are about to misconnect. (Am I the only one who is grossed out by businessmen talking on conference calls on their cell phones while seated in an airport bathroom? It makes me want to go into the adjoining stall and repeatedly hit the flush button.) There are two real risks on a barely legal connection, 1) that the connecting flight is on time (or heaven forbid ahead of schedule, I nearly p-missed one of these one night in Cincinnati when I stopped to answer natures call) 2) that even if you make the flight, will your checked baggage. If it is all I can do to make it from gate C-76 to Gate A-1, how in the world will my baggage. Oh yes, traveling for business can be mighty fun.

TR

Wild Goose Isle in St. Mary's Lake

On our free day we drove north from East Glacier to St. Mary's and west into Glacier National Park in the Going to the Sun Road. The road was only open about 15 miles into the Park, but the drive was spectacular. For most of the drive the road hugs the edge of this jewel of a lake. The snow capped mountains soar on the other side of the lake. Here I am on a nice little perch, taking a few moments to stop and smell the fresh mountain air. Sends shivers up my tail just to think about it.

TR

Sunset on Flathead Lake

Flathead Lake is the largest freshwater lake west of the Rocky Mountains. It is about 10 miles across and about 50 miles long, really quite amazing. Here I am relaxing on a table supplied by one of the local watering holes, now where are the cold ones?

TR

Splish Splash

The snow was melting in Glacier National Park transforming the babbling brooks into raging rivers. The water was just about the right temperature, just above freezing. How refreshing, much nicer then the tepid tropical breaches that I swelter on a couple of times a year.

TR

Two Medicine Lake – Glacier National Park

Over the river, past the moose and the wild horses way out at the end of Two Medicine Road is Two Medicine Lake. The 9th of May was still early spring; the winter snow was still melting. The campground and store were still closed for the season. It was wonderfully quiet, not a person around for miles. The squirrels were frolicking (making little squirrels) and the birds are looking for nesting sites. Our colleague saw a bear and cub coming out of the campground the day before (lucky her.) In a month the place will be full of the sounds, sites and smells of people, but on the 9th of May it was just nature, miles and miles of nature.

TR

Glacier National Park

Many of the business trips I get to tag along on are to not so thrilling places like Fayetteville, North Carolina and Montgomery, Alabama. Not that there is anything wrong with those places, but shall we say they are not places that are on the must see list of a lot of tourists. This business trip, and yes there was work to be done, was to one of the most breathtaking landscapes this side of Antarctica (actually parts of it reminded me of home.) We just returned from Glacier National Park in northern Montana. The park is out there a way, well slightly beyond out there a way. Work took DG and his colleagues around to the far east side of the park. We stayed in a tiny mom & pop motel across the street from the East Glacier Park Amtrak station (trains every couple of hours all night long, how soothing.) The views were just spectacular. The mountains still had considerable snow on top and with a couple of warm days while we were there the snow melt led for roaring streams and water falls. We saw a moose and a herd of elk. More pictures will follow in the next few days. I hear the northern sun calling me again.

TR

Sunrise over O'Hare

The recent flurry of postings (one a day for the past few days) will be interupted while we go back on the road again. This time to places so remote that internet access is unlikely (the Circle R Motel in the middle of no-where.) But the opportunity for pictures should be good, and no tropical beaches that will cause certain viewers to become emotional are involved. It may be a bit on the cool side, but that is inkeeping with my native temperment. I will return in about a week.

Travel

On The Beach Again

Just hanging out on the beach, a nice warm spring day, a nice isolated strech of sand.

TR

Blackpoint

There is something in the chemestry of a southern marsh that can cause the water to be transparent yet appear black as coal. This magical southern water is home to turtles, strange birds and alegators. This picture was taken at the lookout about half way around the Blackpoint Wildlife Drive in the Merit Island National Wildlife Refuge.

TR

In Search of the real Florida

Long before the "Worldization" of Florida, the real Florida existed in coastlines, rivers, marshes, pine trees and palmetto scrub. In the real Florida fake music doesn't play through fake rocks. In the real Flroida you can still hear the sound of bull alegators on a warm spring afternoon. Late spring is a great time to go exploring, especially if there is a stiff breeze to blow the bugs out over the water. Here we are headed into the Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge, just north of the Kennedy Space Center, in search of the real world before the Mouse took over.

TR