Too many hats

10 years, one car...

2011-12-31T16:13:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago I took delivery of my Ford Escape

It’s been a pretty good car.

It has just under 220,000 miles on the clock… through 10 states… Yesterday I drove just under 600 miles… San Mateo to Eureka and back, on a quest to view old rusty railroad junk (I was successful… I saw rusty railroad junk… I returned safely… No hiccups… about 26 miles to the gallon…

It has some nicks from shopping carts flying rocks and parking lot bumps… I currently has a cracked windshield (its third courtesy of another flying rock or two) The seats are starting to fail…Its been rear-ended a couple of times...

It is a bit unusual… I special ordered it with a 5 speed manual transmission, which only came with a 2 liter engine (smaller that the currently popular, very green Escape Hybrid) and 4 wheel drive…I don’t drive off road overland un-necessarily… but I have made good use of the 4 wheel drive… So far, in trips to Yosemite to cross county ski, on trips over Hwy 88 headed for Carson City in a blizzard and other snow experiences I haven’t had to chain up… (I carry chains… chains for all 4 corners… but so far haven’t needed to use them)

It has been out into the salt flats of the Don Edwards preserve (with permission, escorted by Cargil Salt employees) It has traversed numerous dirt roads… It has been across the top of the Great Salt Lake on the original 1869 railroad right of way… 50 miles of dirt… It has forded the creek on the west side of Comb ridge when the water was running… We have explored Cedar Mesa together... I only got is stuck had once… on the east side of the Owens Valley in quick sand…

It has taken me to Yosemite National Park… 20 or so times… also to Death Valley, Zion, Bryce, Natural Bridges, Arches, Crater Lake, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Redwood National park (several times, including yesterday) Yellowstone and Grand Tetons as well as Navajo and Golden Spike National Monuments…and others, less memorable…

Today, it got a smog inspection (such is required when registering cars… and as this is its birthday, it’s registration is due…) Being 10 years old, we had to take it to a “test only station” short story, it passed... It was allowed 100ppm Hydrocarbons at idle… 170 at 2500 rpm… average for tested vehicles is 17 and 13 respectively… it tested 0 to both… CO2 was based on a % of exhaust… it measured 0 at idle, .01% at 2500 rpm…

A week ago I posted about choosing to light a wood fire on a no burn day on Christmas Eve… I chose to burn a fire… because the fire was more important than the emissions… but I believe in reducing emissions, trash, our collective foot print… and so celebrate the Escape’s close to perfect score on its smog test.

Today’s paper carried an article about how well Ford Motor Company was doing… how many cars it had sold… If my Escape is any indication their success is warranted.

In the next year or so, I will probably be looking for a new car… likely a new Escape… with a manual transmission and 4 wheel drive…

Post Christmas at the Zoo

2011-12-26T19:51:00.001-08:00

With Ludwig the penguin...

December 26^th… the day after Christmas… a day off for the Lovely T and I as well as the lovely daughter…

We need an activity… a trip… (With apologies to Simon and Garfunkel)

Someone told me It's all happening at the zoo.
I do believe it… I do believe it's true. Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Whoooa. Mmmmm.

(So… Paul Simon (with Art Garfunkel) claims it’s… )

It's a light and tumble journey, From the East Side to the park; Just a fine and fancy ramble
To the zoo.

For us it’s a short ride on the freeway, with lots of folks not used to the freeway… not used to driving apparently… uncrowned slow traffic… the worst kind… but the zoo… the zoo… an oasis… I took a camera… We had a wonderful time…

Back to Paul and Art…

But you can take a crosstown bus, If it's raining or it's cold, And the animals will love it
If you do., If you do, now.

We have already established we didn’t take the bus… not that we are against public transportation… but today, with three of us, a car was a better idea… It wasn’t raining, It wasn’t really cold… mid 50’s or so… But I think the animals appreciated us coming for a visit anyway… Especially Ludwig the penguin… Steph and Ludwig have an ongoing relationship.

We are members of the Zoo… Steph is both a member and a volunteer (hence the relationship with Ludwig…). We get in free… we had a coupon for free parking… we had tickets for the carousel…

Something tells me, It's all happening at the zoo…. I do believe it, o believe it's true. Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Whoooa. Mmmmm.

(Paul, Art, you are repeating yourself…)

The monkeys stand for honesty, Giraffes are insincere, And the elephants are kindly but
They're dumb. Orangutans are skeptical Of changes in their cages, And the zookeeper is very fond of rum.

Based on my observations, monkeys stand for nothing… Giraffes seem sincere, at least in my experience… Sadly our zoo doesn’t have Elephants, so no judgment can be made, We didn’t visit the orangutans and I have met several zookeepers, and I can say with conviction none were drunk

Paul and Art continue discussing Zebras, Antelopes, Pigeons, Hamsters and such… We continued. visiting lions, tigers and bears… seals and anteaters… koalas and kangaroos and reindeer…

We visited the children’s zoo… We rode the carousel…

We left, had a late lunch at the Half Moon Bay Brewery in Princeton… It was a good day…

I have posted a set of 12 photos, taken at the Zoo… the challenge… no animal pictures… (Animal pictures were taken… just not posted to the album… except for the photo of Ludwig, above, Steph's favorite...) the album at https://picasaweb.google.com/108652524348276372534/SFZoo12Photos#

By the way... it was about 34 years ago that the Lovely Tina and I had our first date... visiting the San Francisco Zoo...

Randy

A Christmas Letter...

2011-12-25T17:18:00.000-08:00

There is a tradition of including a letter... more like a newsletter in a Christmas card... I have resisted it. Generally I have resisted Christmas cards in general...

This year I have purchased several boxes of Christmas cards... I have written a Christmas letter...

Now, on Christmas, (the frenzy of Christmas slowing) I am starting to address envelopes to hold Christmas cards, containing our Christmas letter...

It has been a tough year.

Some of you will receive a "dead trees" copy of this included with a lovely card...

For all of you, this, in two pages is our year, on this, the occasion of a seasonal change, rebirth, and time of reflection....

Hello friends,

We (Tina and I) have never “done” a Christmas letter… but this year seems to need one. It’s been a tough year.

We lost both of my parents. Mom died suddenly in March. She had been failing for some time, but it was still a surprise. Dad began having pains in May, which was diagnosed as a very aggressive lymphoma. Dan and Penni, and Tina and I spent much of May, June, and a bit of July with Dad… first in the hospital, on to the hospice, then for the last month caring for him at home, and selling pigeons. I believe for Dan and I it was a gift to spend so much time with him… even if it had a sad ending.

The last month was special, at home in a house filled with friends and pigeons. There were visitors from California and Nebraska… there would have been more visitors if the end had not come so quickly.

Since then, Dan and Penni have moved from Alaska to Florida, and now live in Mom and Dad’s house on Dansville Drive.

From the perspective of December and Christmas, the rest of the year seems like a blur…

I continue to run a Historic House Museum… Tina continues at Google… Stephanie is in College... Brian has completed his Navy enlistment, and has embarked on life…

The year started in January (as it customarily does) with a trip to Hawaii. I spent 10 days working in Honolulu consulting on restoration and care of two wooden railroad cars. It is a bit weird staying in a vacation paradise and going to work each day.

Stephanie and I went to Washington DC in late February to visit with nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews and, oh, to visit libraries and museums… While there, there were conversations with Dad about Mom… I already had reservations to be in Florida for a visit in mid March. It seemed to be a good thing. Unfortunately, the timing was off, and Mom died the morning after I returned from DC… 3 days later I would have been in Florida with her. Tina flew down with me… We had a wonderful time with Dad. Dan came down a week after I left to spend two weeks with Dad. We all thought there would be many, many more visits.

Tina and I flew to New Orleans in May for the Rotary International Convention. Meanwile Dad checked himself into the hospital. He said everything was fine. We arrived early to work on a volunteer project creating a library in a local shelter. We spent three days in New Orleans before we decided that Dad was in trouble, and maybe it wasn’t a simple infection that they could fix.…

Tina and I arrived in Florida on Sunday. We got the initial diagnosis on Monday, his birthday… We started Chemo before we got the final diagnosis that Friday, and moved him to the hospice. They were able to control his pain and stabilize him. 10 days later we moved Dad home.

The month of June was spectacular… With Dad in his own bedroom, friends visited… they brought pigeons. We auctioned pigeons… We had cocktail hour every afternoon. His friends helped Dan and me. They made the last month special. We can’t thank them enough.

With Dad’s death, the rules changed… We were dealing with all the things that had to be done… Dan returned to Alaska and his fishing boat. Penni sold the Kodiak house, and moved to Florida with their dogs. Penni is from Tampa so this was a homecoming. I returned to work, the Patterson House, with summer camps and such.

Back home the day to day world continued.

Brian’s enlistment in the Navy ended in February, but he extended and stayed with his ship as the rescue swimmer until it returned from The Gulf in May. He was at home for the summer before entering a program in Jacksonville, Florida, as a deep water hard hat diver and underwater welder.

Steph is attending San Francisco State University studying zoology, and volunteering at the San Francisco Zoo’s hospital and as a penguin volunteer.

Tina and I escaped from life in November and spent a week in Hawaii, island hopping, visiting Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island… Of course we had to return to real life all too soon.

Thanksgiving was spent with family (including Brian and his girlfriend Lauren) in Yosemite with the extended Hees family… 44 strong. It is a family reunion going back to the 1960’s, maybe to the 1940’s… Dad’s sister Lois was there… it was a great time to catch up with everyone and recover a little.

We had a wonderful time with Tina’s family in Tucson just a week ago, as her older sister Karin got married and the family gathered to celebrate. Welcome, Don.

As I write this, Christmas at Patterson House is winding down… We will start taking Christmas down on Monday the 19^th… a week too early. Tina is handing out Google’s Christmas present (whatever it may be).

We are looking forward to hosting Christmas Eve at home with the traditional Roast Beast and Yorkshire pudding and family… Christmas will be with Lauren and her family.

Bye, and Merry Christmas, Randy, Tina, Steph, Brian, along with Emma the wonder dog, Daisy, Lilly, Atakapa, Annie, Sophie, Chloe, and Phoebe.

PS… I just received this from a friend… it seems appropriate…

Dear Santa,

I don't want much for Christmas; I just want the person reading this to be happy .

Friends are the fruit cake of life- some nutty, some soaked in alcohol, some sweet, but mix them together and they're my friends.

Special thanks to all our friends who helped and held hands while Mom and Dad died… We don’t know how to thank you enough.

It is the night before Christmas Eve…

2011-12-23T22:25:00.000-08:00

We are at home… the Christmas lights are on outside… inside a single string of light illuminates our small, 4’ tall tree… (we have kittens in the house, three kittens… running, playing… a recipe for disaster for a conventional decorated tree…) There is a fire in the hearth… a traditional wood fire…

According to the Bay Area Air Resources Board, tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, a traditional wood fire is unwelcome, even illegal.

This bothers me…

There are many reasons to celebrate in late December… There is Hanukkah (or Chanukah) the Jewish Festival of lights… There is the Birth of Christ, which according to many Biblical scholars likely did not take place in December, more likely in September after harvest or in April...

The December date is an homage to the winter solstice… the shortest day of the year… typically December 20^th or 21^st… A significant day in several “pagan societies” abet several days before the adopted Christian day…

The traditional European pagan (German, English, Scandinavian) celebration celebrated the turn… the day when days stopped getting shorter, and began to again grow longer…

They, the early Europeans, celebrated with a feast, with an evergreen tree brought indoors, with a fire in the hearth and maybe a bonfire outside.

Our Christmas celebration was assigned the late December date to the celebration of the birth of Christ by the Romans as they attempted to subdue the Goths and as an olive branch, continue an “acceptable appropriate” celebration to a date significant to their culture… Later in the 19^th century, we, collectively added references to the German tree and Santa Claus (previously St Nickolas or Father Christmas) to the celebration… Since retailers and the media have made it into a frenzy of shopping and consumerism.

My background is English and German… My wife is Scandinavian… We are nominally, but not actively practicing Christians. We are not pagans, but have pagans as ancestors.

Fires are banned because in winter, fires affect air quality… Air quality impacted as too many of us try to live in the west…

Edward Abbey ranted against the industrialization of tourism in the arid west… about improved roads bringing casual tourists… in The Monkey Wrench Gang. Seldom Seen Smith says, .."Any road I wasn't consulted about that I don't like, I litter. It's my religion." "Right," Hayduke said. "Litter the shit out of them."

Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, I will have a fire on the hearth… part of my religion… part of my Mid Winter celebration…

Stumbling towards Christmas…

2011-12-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas at least as defined as the calendar is 3 days away… fast approaching…

At work, Christmas at work is nearly over… We are fast packing it away into the attic to wait until next November… Bags of garland… bags of cotton masquerading as snow… boxes with Christmas trees inside… boxes of ornaments, carefully sorted by color and theme… Carol Pike’ mice and rabbits are gone… home…to a place still Christmas…. As are the Father Christmas dolls, consigned to the attic…

Half the house (Patterson House) is bare… devoid of Christmas and its trappings… The remainder Is still Christmas… sadly isolated by spaced no longer Christmas.

I am done… I will spend the next 4 days at home… preparing and celebrating.. not at work…

Today, I was Father Christmas… for the 4^th time… for the Pizza with Santa Tiny Tot programs… for the day care programs… for children… We talked of presents expected… of how Reindeer can fly… about how I can get down chimneys, and how I don’t get dirty, and how I can get in when you don’t have a fire place (I enter via the dryer vent, part of the same magic that allows reindeer to fly, me to shrink to allow a passage through a chimney, without getting dirty) Apparently Google maps is a big aid in navigation, and in a new tech theme I am keeping the naughty and nice list on an Ipad….

I haven’t been Santa or Father Christmas prior to this year… but this year I have been him 4 days… It is a role growing on me…it may happen again. I had thought Christmas was over… I was wrong… I got to be Santa, rather Father Christmas, for a new generation…

Later, after work, I went shopping… for a roast beast… for wine… for asparagus, and butter and the stuff which will become Christmas Eve dinner in a couple of days.

Steph and I went shopping… for stuff to make cookies…(there is a threat that flamingos may be involved…) for stuff to make Christmas Eve dinner…

I am feeling Christmasy

Twitter scoops the New York Times… and Flamingos

2011-12-18T19:50:00.005-08:00

Apparently Kim Jong Il, the leader (dictator, insert your favorite diatribe here…) of North Korea has died this evening… (probably yesterday in Korea, or maybe tomorrow... after all it is across the Dateline…)

This in itself is not the issue… the issue is that we (Tina (aka the wife) Steph (aka the daughter) and myself) found out via Steph’s twitter feed…

We are “connected” at least electronically… There are 4 laptop computers and a couple of Ipads and three smart phones (my phone is smarter than your border collie) in the household for three of us… two of the laptops are on… We have TV too… and a radio… don’t forget or under estimate the reach of old fashion radio. Radio continues to be the media of choice in our cars as we commute to work and school.

I subscribe to the NY Times updates… I pay for it (not much so far, but will continue to pay as the costs rise…) They email me updates and news headlines several times a day… I read their digital edition each am… increasingly the NY Times on line is my primary news source. My “Dead Trees” subscription to the San Francisco Chronicle is losing out. (it doesn’t help that the Sunday Chronicle isn’t delivered until near 8:00 am… long after I have lost interest… 20 years ago it was outside about 5:00 am…)

North Korea was a tightly controlled dictatorship… their citizens didn’t have access to twitter or the New York Times or just the internet… not allowed… I can assure your that few if any North Koreans found out about Kim Jong II's death via the internet or God forbid twitter...

Yet, here in the “West”… in a land that values freedoms, we are finding out about great change a world away, via the very technology banned by Kim Jong II in his country… probably before any of North Korea’s citizens… (this was originally 7:50 pm (Pacific time) the NY Times sent out their update 13 minutes later)

It’s a “Brave New World”

And... a Nash Dr. flamingo update... the flamingo fairies have been busy... more have appeared... nearly every house on our street now has one... There are more than two dozen houses with their very own lawn flamingo... at least a couple of houses have several... all in celebration of Christ's birth and community spirit.

The Flamingos of Nash Dr.

2011-12-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

We live on Nash Dr… There are Flamingos here...

Not the living kind... the cheap plastic kind, even better with lights...

A neighbor has had a plastic flamingo on her front yard… She is the second wife… the first wife has accused her of being “trailer trash” (she is not!)… in response she placed a tacky pink flamingo on her front lawn (in reality in a planting bed)

I have decorated said flamingo on several occasions… Red white and blue beads for July 4^th… Mardi gras beads for that holiday… The flamingo’s family has decorated her (him) since…

Several nights ago a cheap plastic flamingo appeared in our front yard…

Cheap plastic flamingos have appeared in many front yards in our neighborhood…There is a rumor that a cheap plastic flamingo might appear atop the porta potty across the street...

I think this may be a sign of a community… a true community… not just living nearby… I like it.

Randy

Headed cross the Colorado

2011-12-11T23:56:00.000-08:00

6:15 am, Saturday Morning, SFO... Too damn early We are boarding in about 5 minutes... But folks are in line... When you check in Southwest gives you a boarding number... Getting in line early does not change the boarding order... But line up as early as you can just in case... Out side there is a near total lunar eclipse... But no one seems to be paying attention... They are in airport mode... They need to find their next line... I am off to Tuscon... T's big sister is getting married... T and Stephan are already there... I had to work last night so am a day behind... Work has been busy... Christmas weekend (3 weeks before the day) followed by a couple of day of Tiny tots... 3 year old's and their parents... Then two days of tours and our Christmas evening event last night... (2 weeks before the day)... We are down to 6 more days of tour over the next ten days, before we can say it over and put away the trees... The too many trees and too much Christmas in a big old historic house... Then Christmas will be over... A week before it occurs... Dawn breaks as we take off... It is a spectacular hazy soft dawn... Pastel reds and oranges to the east... Soft blues and grays... There are benefits to getting up early... Too soon the sun rises, and the mood changes... The magic fades... To get to Tucson you must first go somewhere else... A classic case of you can't get there from here... I am headed for San Diego where I have a bit over an hour to find something to eat, and with luck a wifi signal... It wasn't working at SFO this a.m. About an hour and a half latter, on the ground in San Diego... I have just about an hour before The Tucson flight boards... I was thinking about breakfast, but the options near the Southwest gates were limited to a bar (doing a lively business at 8:20 am) pizza or Qusnos... I ended up with a Starbucks coffee... Mean tine I am fantasizing about Mexican food in Tucson... It is surprising cold in San Diego, the pilot reported it was in the low 40's as we landed, (not that I have to deal with it inside the hermetically sealed building). It seems to be cold everywhere right now... Brian, in school in Florida had us send down his cold weather gear... Now headed back to our hotel... for now home... The sister in law is wededd... We have met and welcomed the new in-laws... We have eaten and drunk... Both the required champagne toast and bottles of wine while sitting about talking. Steph, I, and two nephews end up in the hot tub... The next morning we gathered for breakfast. It was good family time... I hung out with the niece from DC (my eastern headquarters) and a nephew, recently escaped from the Army... Iraq, Germany, and Afghanistan (at Texas too...) We (T and Steph and I went to the Desert Museum, a cross between a botanical garden and zoo, finding the new in-laws there... We toured and saw animals... We all watched their Harris Hawks as they soared and played and hunted small game. Then lunch and more socializing before heading for the airport and home... We are flying Southwest again... Home via LAX... Both legs have not really been late, but both were not quite on time... This seems to be a function of SWA's quick turn policy... Great for aircraft utilization, and as a result profits... But creating a sense of urgency, and a feeling of rushing to line up, rushing to board, rushing to put away our too large carry-ons into too small over head bins... On the way in to LA the cabin crew announced we were preparing for final approach 200 miles out, just past the Colorado River... And locked down the plane... Seat backs in the full upright and locked position... Tray tables up, electronics off.... On this flight they started beverage at 200 miles out... The pilot just announced we are beginning our decent, at 100 or so miles out... Apparently it is raining in "SF" (at least he didn't call it "Frisco") Outside the clouds are hiding all... No lights... No land marks. We will be on the ground in 20 minutes or so... And home in 40 or so... To too many cats.. And work... And for Steph it is finals week... Oh to be young again Bye for now, Randy

Headed home (a delayed posting…)

2011-11-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

It has been several weeks since we got home… We got busy… back to work… back to life… fixing cars (we arrived home to two possibly disabled cars… one a tire, one a failed battery… Neither serious… both quickly fixed… then back to the rush of life…)

But several weeks ago, sitting in an airport on Hawaii I wrote…

We are at the airport in Kona Hawaii... Homeward bound...

We have spent the last 3 days on Hawaii, the "Big Island". Mostly in Volcano Village... A small community at the edge of Volcano National Park... On the side of the volcano, but a bit above the current active crater.

The village is high... 3,500 ' or so... It is rainy... Very rainy... A rain forest… a temorate rainforest in on a tropical island… I spotted redwood trees, California Redwood trees growjng… there are at least 7 by my count… not what is expected in the tropics… but travel is about the unexpected…

The visit to the Big Island was different... we were not just visiting a place, but visiting a friend and his wife... The visit was good... Boone is a friend... a close friend who happens to be distant. He is closely tied to the place he lives... Volcano Village... Having a friend in a place changes how you see the place, and what you do... in wonderful ways...

While we toured, more important were the interactions... the conversations... Railroads, Black powder and the French and Indian war... Frank Loyd Wright windows... Two dogs... How do you encourage Hawaiian dialect when teaching in a modern school... We eat at a couple of local restaurants... one in a building Boone restored...

We visit Volcano National park... together... later with Boone and Tamera, mostly visiting the Art Center... later alone... to the crater at night... the next day down to the ocean and the Petrogglyphs... back that evening without Tina to watch the crater glow... back to walk through the lava tube caves...

Now, the visit with Boone and Tamera is done... We say goodbye.. We drive down to Hilo... around the island... across the island to the airport.

Now at the airport....

They are starting to board, or not... The PA system is terrible... No one knows who at is being said, so most are crowding the gate, worried that their boarding group might have been called... People have lots of carry- ons... Fins, boogie boards, and cases of Mac nuts... Along with lots of wheelie bags... Bins space may be scarce...

They call boarding... Lower number rows via the fronts stairs... Higher via the rear stairs... Yes stairs... No jetway... I like it... It makes it real to walk up to the plane then climb the stairs to board… bin space is a non issue... we find our seats...

The flight is a anti climax… board… takeoff… nap, listen to music, nap… have a sprite… nap… land in San Francisco, recover luggage, find daughter (with dog) and home…

Honolulu

2011-10-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday...

We are siting at departure gate 52... Waiting for our flight to Hawaii to board... Head for Kona... From there to Volcano... The last of the three islands we are visiting...

Oahu has been fun... We arrived two days ago... Drove across to the north shore... Found a shrimp truck... (finding a truck was easy... Deciding which was a challenge). We looked at the ocean. At old buildings... Avoided Pineapple World, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and a ranch, with cowboys and a rodeo... All created tourist sites... Elsewhere they have helicopter rides, catamaran rides, outrigger canoe rides...

Heading back we drove through downtown Honolulu, past the Iolani Palice, and the statue of King Komeamea... We stopped and took a picture of Tina with the statue...

We ended up at our Hotel... On Waikiki Beach... a tourist district of the highest order... Apparently, while on vacation, In a tropical paradise many find it necessary to shop for Coach Bags, Apple products, and Ferraris... We thought we were three for the sun and the beach... Hotels (and there are many hotels on Waikiki Beach) all have tiki torches, which they light ever evening... the effect surreal, particularly when driving...

The streets are abuzz with activity...People in beach wear... Others on the most stylish of resort wear... And Japanese tourist in the most bizarre cutting edge fashions... I believe the place is all about the beach, but a surprising number of visitors are here for something other than sand and surf... It is corporate organized (maybe also disorganized) Dizneyfied, Las Vegas style tourism...

Our hotel (The Outrigger) was home to Duke's, a local restaurant... we ate dinner on the deck... Overlooking the beach and the sunset... All was good.

Wednesday morning we visited the Hawaiian railroad Society museum at Ewa... There are trains there... I am writing a preservation report about two of their cars... I stopped by to check on things... Tina checked out the museum cats...

Back to Waikiki that afternoon... Tina read on the beach... I first swam, then rented a stand up paddle board... When signing the release form, the asked my age... I noted that I was the oldest listed by nearly 20 years... I climbed aboard (laying down initially) and paddled out... I stood up on the board... I wouldn't use the term "steady" but I stood up, took a few strokes with the paddle, and fell in... Regained the board, stood up again... This time remaining upright for a reasonable amount of time... Eventually, I found that I could stand up... Paddle about calm water, negotiate waves when heading out... But surfing in was beyond my skill set... Eventually I tried surfing in on my knees... With limited success...

All in all the stand up paddle board was a blast... I would try it again... Without a doubt I would fall down again... But it would be fun... And just maybe I would learn how to surf in... More likely I would find new, more spectacular ways to fall down. Later... A short nap. (it's vacation...) followed by dinner at sunset, outside... A mob descended to take pictures... We had a wonderful dinner... Later that evening, well after dark, I walked on the beach... one couple was sitting on the sand side by side, one with a laptop, the other with an Ipad... 200 feet away, a Hawaiian dancer, part of a hotel luau was dancing at the surf line... Further down street people were camping for the night... locals were playing chess at covered picnic tables...

This morning we took our time getting up, checked out and headed towards the airport for our flight to Hawaii... Our third and for now final island...

Aloha Kauai

2011-10-18T00:04:00.001-07:00

Aloha Kauai

It’s our third evening on the garden island… the end of our third day…

We are finally beginning to relax… starting to wind down to vacation mode…

Not all vacations are relaxing… sometimes the goal is to travel and see. This vacation is about escape… seeing, but not seeing to the exclusion of relaxing… There is a tendency when on vacation to need to do all that the destination offers… This can be exhausting… I am guilty of this in some cases… but not this time.

We arrived well before noon Saturday… the time changes working in our favor… The flight arrived at the very small Lihue airport about 10:00… We had our luggage and rental car well before 11:00…

Our first stop was Hamura Saimin… a well known local noodle house… I had found it on a previous trip… with the help of a friend of a friend… That time I was the only Haole in the joint… but welcomed by the locals… this time T and I were the first of the folks to make it over from the airport… Some of the other had been here before, others drawn by reviews on Trip Advisor and various printed guide books… Some expected more than a local noodle house… Based on on line reviews, those who expect a local noodle house are very happy… those who don’t understand that it is a noodle house catering to the local population are less pleased…

We had a wonderful quick lunch…

Then off to the north shore… We had all day, so we took our time… Along the way we found the Kauai version of “Occupy Wall Street”… we found and successfully ignored tee-shirt stores and such… we bought a couple of bottles of wine… And eventually we found our B&B well before check in time, (across the double silver bridge, find the 7 mile marker after a short hill, then two 10ths of a mile, turn left, it’s the 2^nd house on the left… it was much easier to find than the directions suggested) so continued to the end of the road at Haena Beach Park and its wet and dry caves…

Having seen the caves, we retreated back down the road to our B&B, the Hale Ho’o Maha Bread & Breakfast… a building high on stilts, tree house like, with 4 rooms (plus the owner’s (Toby and Kirby) suite… Downstairs we found 4 cats and a beautiful parrot with a bad reputation… There were also chickens… and rosters… and baby chickens… In truth, some of the cats get to come inside, to share the owner’s suite… they are just not allowed to mingle with the guests…The chickens stay out side…

Kauai is the island of the chicken… at least since hurricane Iniki in 1992… now they are everywhere… they are the unofficial mascot of the island… this is an island in search of a good chicken recipe… We would see more chickens… and more chickens… but this is a travel blog and not a seminar on poultry…

There was a note at the bottom of the stairs welcoming us… we gathered our bags and made our way upstairs… We noted that the cats were excluded… the area upstairs was pleasantly devoid of chickens but did feature a collection of stuffed dragons... we were confused…

We found the information about local restaurants and started making plans for dinner…

The closest place, The Mediterranean Gourmet, was within walking distance, and had a good reputation, and an ocean view… We later found it was a favorite of Pierce Brosnan, but unfortunately he was no where to be seen… Dinner was nice… we walked on the beach… we started to slip into vacation mode…

We were in bed early… I was up early before dawn, walking on the beach and taking pictures… Tina slept in… We had breakfast with the other guests… then climbed into the car and headed south along the coast… no destination planned… We turned inland in search of water falls… We found water falls…We stopped and Hilo Hattie’s, a well known island souvenir stand with ample bus parking… nothing called our names… We continued southward ending up at Waimea Canyon… On the climb up we found a bazaar red dirt landscape…truly Disney-esk… (but had nothing to do with Disney) We reached the canyon overlook… we overlooked… we (I) took pictures… we retreated down the hill in search of lunch… I found an abandoned sugar mill and took photos…

This was Sunday, and apparently, much of Kauai still celebrates the Sabbath… many restaurants and shops were closed… we found a former brew pub, which does not brew beer (any more) but did have chickens wandering among the outdoor tables… We had a wonderful lunch, then headed back north…

We tried to be tourists, stopping at a couple of tacky shops but our hearts were just not in it… We walked the beach at Hanalei, but at least found somewhere to eat that evening…

Back to the B&B… Tina napped… then after a appropriate interval, back to Hanelei to Bar acuda… a tapas bar… The wait staff thought that they needed to explain the concept of tapas… small plates… apparently some of the guests who visit, from all over the world… who are in that increasingly smaller percentage of people who believe they can afford to travel… who hopefully are traveling in search of new experiences, who when on the islands chose a tapas bar instead of McDonalds, complain that a restaurant with a “small plates” theme serves small portions…

I ended dinner with the caramel balsamic vinegar ice cream… It was one of the most wonderful, unexpected things I have ever eaten… more of a Mexican dulce de leche than an American burnt sugar caramel, with lots of balsamic flavor…

We returned to the B&B, shared wine with our fellow guests, and went to bed…

Up too early this morning… we had breakfast, said our good byes to our B&B, proprietors and fellow guests and headed back south to our one planned activity… visiting a house museum, the Grove Farm, in Lihue… We were due at 10:00, and while only 40 some miles away, the trip was likely to take more than an hour… It took a full hour and a half… including a couple of stops to find the lovely Tina a early morning Latte…

We found Grove Farm, toured (this is a great house museum… you can feel the presence of the family… but also see the others who lived and worked here… they include the Japanese laundry women’s house… the chickens the gardens and a really nice mid 1960’s Buick Skylark…

Having toured, we went in search of lunch, this time at Poipu beach… then back to Lahie where we found our motel, fueled the rental car, then walked across to a bar overlooking the public beach, had a couple of beers (T had wine) and watched people surf and the sun set (well, not the sunset, as it set somewhere out of site, but instead watched it get dark…)

On the public beach the locals were drinking beer around a couple of pick-ups with an Hawaiian flag flying… a quarter mile away at the Marriott resort tiki torches were lit... With enough beer at least one of the locals got restless and turned over a picnic table… nearby at the resort people were blissfully unaware… The scene is probably more closely related to Occupy Wall Street than many would like to admit.

Oh, about the great variety of stuffed dragons… Tina figured it out… the B&B is located in Hanelei… so…

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,

So, all makes sense…

Tomorrow we take an early flight to Oahu… to stay for a couple of nights on Waikiki and play tourist…

Too many bags....

2011-10-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Oakland airport, 7:20...

We are headed for Hawaii... We arrive with tickets, but without boarding passes... We check a couple of bags... Still no boarding passes... Those will be issued at the gate...

Security was easy and pretty quick...

We check in at the gate... They take our tickets and tell us they will call us... We wait... They are boarding the air plane... Asking people to gate check their carry ons... But we still don't have boarding passes... They call VIP boarding.. They board those who have voluntarily gate checked their bags... They are calling the first general boarding... Starting with the rear of the plane... We still don't have boarding passes...

The lovely Tina cheeks with the gate staff again... Our boarding passes are ready, but they have not called us (yet?)

We have seats together, 29 a & b... Last row... In the first general boarding group... Which had long since started to board... We line up for boarding, but things are going slowly... The line is confused... Everybody is ling up, but they are only boarding the last ten rows... (& 1st class of course, and "million mile club members", & anyone else with special status) but not those seated in rows 9 through 19... But many of those seated in rows 9 through 19 have lined up with those of us in the higher numbered rows... Or worse yet are just crowding the gate, waiting to jump into line once their row is called... We make it to the head of the line where a very pleasant gate attendant was inviting passengers to place their "lovely bag" into her "very lovely bag size check thingie..." Many, most would not fit... Some passengers were repacking, in hope that it might fit... Some argued... Others just surrendered their luggage.. T and I had checked bags, and were only carrying smaller, acceptable bags, and made for the jetway, and our seats...

The strict interpetation of the carry-on rules worked, and once on board, there was little of the too common ritual stuffing of too large bags into the over head bins. Alaska tried something I hadn't seen before... If you surrendered a bag for gate check you got on ahead of the other passengers...of course they didn't have over size carry-ons to hog space in the overheads, didn't block the aisles as the boarded, (not having to stuff over size, over weight bags into the overhead)... As a result, boarding went pretty well.

We took our seats, which being very last row, didn't recline... But the seats ahead of us did... I figure we had a space of about 22" x 26" at at our shoulders...

Now above 10,000'... IPad back on... Music on (Counting Crows)... We settle in... Tina is napping... I work on the blog... We are finally off to Hawaii.

Now 12:32 Pacific Time... The pilot has just announced that he has spoken to Honolulu tower and the found us a short cut, and we will start our decent at 12:47... Not 12:45... Not 12:48... 12:47... Wonder if there will be a count down...

Now 12:47... There are islands visible 20 miles or so to the south... We begin or descent... We are getting close... It is becoming real...

PS... I am blogging from our B&B in Hanale, we have had a great day... went to my favorite Sammi house... visited a light house and saw spinner porpoises... explored a couple of caves... now at the B&B... we have reservations for dinner within walking distance... We are officially on vacation

A short escape… A tropical vacation…

2011-10-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

The lovely Tina and I are leaving tomorrow morning “for the islands”, Hawaii, actually Kauai, Oahu, and Hawaii, aka the Big Island…

Beyond where we will be, we have virtually no plans… This is not to say we have not done research… We have the AAA book, maps… a three year old lonely planet guide to Oahu… stuff we have downloaded off the internet… (our mutual favorite being entitled “An Exhaustive Review of our Exhausting Hawaiian Adventure” a 22 page discussion of their 9 day Hawaiian cruise, including a comparison of what they planned vs what they actually did, down to details of which pull off to pull of on certain scenic drives… This will not be our trip…)

We are at least informed if without plans.

At work, I have been working to get all the loose ends neatly tied… I am about there… I have a coverage plan… payroll, due next week is mostly done… I have people to watch the fire sprinkler repairs and the soil test people…

With the trip less than 24 hours away I should consider packing… or not… Its not that big a deal… the larger problem being what technology to take… along with cords and memory cards and cameras… Is the Ipad sufficient or do I want my laptop? .The debate goes on…

I have been taking a quick look on the web… the volcanoes seem to be behaving… not fun at all… I was hoping for an interruption… we are likely a bit early for whales… they ran the steam train on Kauai yesterday, so not next week while we are there…

A friend had a house warming party this evening… in part the un-veiling of a mural of people from the Niles Essenay Studios… in her back yard… a spectacular mural… I want to photograph the figures in the mural, print them out life size, mount them on poster board and deposit them about town…moving them as the spirit moves us…

At least I am mostly packed…mostly ready… probably ready enough…

Let the vacation begin…

Catching up and filling in…

2011-10-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

I realize that I Haven’t talked about dad’s death. This is probably my issue…

A fiend, a close friend, called a few days ago… he asked about Dad… he knew but I hadn’t said anything… My issue… I told him…

Dad died July 6^th

Since, I have been distracted, in a different place…

It was a good death… he died at home, surrounded by family and friends… the best way to die… dying is never good but inevitable… the Best you can do is to die well… Dad did. Tina and I each held a hand… Dan held his feet… he went gently, without a death rattle or other marker…He simply faded away.

He had Lymphoma… a cancer of the lymphatic system.. He had Burkett’s Lymphoma, the most aggressive kind… from symptoms to death it was about 8 weeks…He checked himself into the hospital on May 16^th… Tina and I arrived on May 23^rd…He was diagnosed on May 24^th..

We moved him to the Hospice care facility on May 28^th… We moved him home in June, for the last month of his life.

He was home with friends and family… and his birds.

We had pool parties… we took they doors off his bedroom… we sold birds… he talked to friends… friends visited.. We had cocktail hour…daily… He had a Dr.’s order for a vodka & tonic.

He was aggravated the last night… we called the hospice for help… the next morning he was confused but aware… He slipped into unconciseness about noon… He slipped away about 10:00 on July 6^th 2011…

We miss him.

Since I have been catching up… too busy by an order of magnitude… frustrated and hiding… there is a bunch of estate stuff… I now have a lawyer, an accountant… I have had my signature notarized… and notarized… and notarized again… I have read and filled out insurance forms… I am numb from paper work…

I am starting to emerge from my funk… Work is calling… it keeps calling… It never lets up… at least it is reliable…

Work is interesting at least… we are interviewing architects… architects who will develop a project to fix the house foundation, the electrical system, and install a heating system. Interviewing architects is a bit above my pay grade… but within my skill set… We have what I think is a good choice… a decision made well…

We are also getting ready for night tours… fixing the sprinkler system… planning Christmas, both this year and next…

Last weekend I escaped over the mountains… next Saturday T and I head for a tropical vacation in Hawaii… Life is looking good…

Aloha

Back on the road and the blog again...

2011-10-08T07:04:00.001-07:00

It's been a long depressing spring and summer... Too many bad things followed by too much catching up... And too little blogging.

I am trying to break the funk with a little little trip and the return to the blog...

I am in Carson City Nevada... Here for Virginia &Truckee Historical Society Conference... (yes, I am spending two days listening to speaker discuss such compelling topics as "25 Years of Ore Car Research" but most of the people who know me know I am crazy and love me anyway)

I drove up last night after work... Through the tail end of the first winter storm of the season... Over the Sierras and through the snow... In the dark...
It was a non-event. I drive a 4 wheel drive... It has fresh snow tires... I carry chains for all 4 wheels... I was ready...

My biggest problem with Sierra winter driving is the traffic... Many if not most of the others don't know how to handle snow, don't know how to put chains on (if they even have them) and are generally a menace to them selves and anyone within their tegectery...

My personal solution is to avoid the commonly traced routes; highways 80 over Donner Pass, or 50 over Carson Pass... 80 is clogged with trucks, some of which invariably spin on the ice, snarling traffic for hours... Equally bad are the chain up areas, at there worse a confused mass of folk who have never chained up, using brand new chains that have never been out of the case before, and probably don't fit fighting with each other as to how best untangle them, and fighting with each other as to how to install them, fast getting wet as they kneel in the snow... Their fingers freezing and getting numb... The smart ones surrendering and paying one of the chain monkeys what seems like too much money to install them, the dumb ones installing them badly... Well enough to get by the CHP officer on watch... But are in fact too loose, and eventually, somewhere a few miles up the road break loose, beating the side of the car, leaving a distinctive, embarrassing, and costly scar. Eventually, the Highway Patrol surrenders and closes the road entirely.

My solution is to take an alternate, secondary route... I like highway 88... It's less known... A bit curvy, which to the unknowing is scary... And currently being upgraded... So The Caltrans web site warns of delays of up to TWO HOURS (if they are BLASTING between 13:00 and 14:00)... The curves, the possible delays, the threat of BLASTING, and ignorance keep the unwashed masses away... Last night it worked and I had the road to myself.

It doesn't hurt that the route is 25 miles shorter, and avoids much of the East Bay traffic...

The drive was fine... There was lots of snow (at least for this early in the season). There was more fog than I like, slowing me a little... But I still made good time.

Now I am here... Enjoying breakfast, and about to head for the conference room....

A Quick check in…

2011-07-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

I am in Florida… Dad is dying… (this is OK.. really)

I have been writing blog posts, but not posting them… I am a bit distracted, a bit confused…

(after all, Dad is dying… this is OK…)

Since the last post, I have flown to Florida on Delta… I have flown on US Air… I have written posts… but not edited them, not posted them…

I get distracted (Dad is dying…)

I plan on posting them in order… not in a timely fashion, but in order….

Thanks for your attention… back to Dad (he is dying… I may have mentioned it before)

Randy

2011-06-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

Back at the airport... Back at SFO eastbound... Back to Florida and Dad...

I spent three days at work... Hectic busy days, mostly productive... I did two bank deposits... Then discovered two more to do... Staff and fellow employees had the camps under control... I placed print orders… I tried to order pop tents… With a bit of luck I was successful.

Now, I am headed back... Back again... Back to Florida.

This time I am flying Delta... Delta is doing well... They have stationed an employee at the head of the line to greet passengers and direct you to the correct line... There was a two minute wait to check bags... At "bag drop"... Not the “Express Bag Drop” maybe the name does not tell all… maybe “Express” means “give up all hope” in a little known dead South American dialect… (or was it a Southwest dialect?)

TSA was quick... They have started to ask you your last name... I noticed last flight... The TSA agent said it goes back to last year. Her fellow agent said “there are two lines "chose well" a wonderful Star Wars reference…... I believe I chose well... Unlike Tampa, they did not appear to have a chair of shame... After all, San Francisco is a shameless place. I have signed on for my 45 minutes of free WiFi... Connected again... I am sitting at the bar... with an Anchor Steam… blogging and checking email... All is good… after a always hectic arrival, the 30 or so minutes before lining up for a flight can be strangely calming…

10:18pm... On board... Seat 25A... Just ahead of the exit row... (traveler’s hint…the seats ahead of the exit row don’t recline… be aware) Computer in the overhead... Settled in... Blanket on the seat (red, bright red)... I am not hearing hectic announcements about bags or finding seats... (but ground crew were trying to gate check over size carry-on’s... In the jet way... Politely… Thank you delta... Oversize bags don’t belong in the cabin…

I fell asleep… before takeoff… I stirred once or twice for a moment, but didn’t awake until we started our decent into Atlanta…

On the ground, I gathered my stuff, then made for the door… and the gate for my second flight… to Tampa… Again, boarding was easy… again, I slept, this time waking as the tires hit the tarmac…

My bag was the third off… I was out the door and recovered the truck in minutes… and home to Dad in less than an hour…

Side note… This is my 200^th blog post at Too Many Hats… I guess it’s a bit of a milestone…

Random Travel Thoughts…

2011-06-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

On traveling… and complaining…

I find that too many of my travel posts, particularly when flying, are complaints… this begs the question… am I a whiner… I don’t think so… I fly… a lot… I find many airlines don’t provide the service they think they do… I fly enough to see it… Most of the time I find the experience humorous… I expect issues when traveling… I expect stupid human tricks from my fellow passengers…. Mostly I laugh and find something to blog about…

I was recently surprised when Southwest didn’t do well… I didn’t expect it… I wrote a letter to Southwest complaining… I got a personalized response, not a “Dear (fill in name here) We are sorry and here is a free pound of coffee” (The lovely Tina sent these out many years ago during a summer job for a San Francisco Coffee company… the same letter for any complaint…) No, instead the writer of the letter I got from SWA (someone, a human, not a computer) addressed each of my complaints… They heard my complaints… a good response… They didn’t say they would address any of them… (that might have been over-promising) but at least I was heard. My next (SWA) flight wasn’t great either… Is SWA losing it? I suspect not, but they are getting old (they turned 40 years old on Saturday…) and may be having a crisis of middle age… we all do… we mostly don’t admit it…

I will fly Southwest again… not next time… next time… 48 hours or so from now, I am flying on Delta….

I was not surprised about recent news reports of a United Airlines computer melt down and resulting chaos… Their computer system melted down… passengers were deleted… they couldn’t calculate load and balance… It was a big problem for about 2 hours… Their customer service was not up to the task… It made the news… people were angry…

I expect poor service and chaos on United… They have been known to break guitars… there is a song about it… no, three songs… As stated earlier, I will pay more NOT to fly United…

While writing this blog post I did a Google search (The lovely Tina works for Google) on “United meltdown”… I found some surprising results… my favorite was a blog… a tech blog… a professional blog on ZD.net by Paul Greenberg… complaining about United, complimenting Marriott… well thought out…

Travel tip of the day… Many airports provide free internet… some limit the amount of time on line… At SFO they give you 45 minutes… If you use up your minutes, log out… close your browser… you may want to clear out any cookies… then log in again… you get another 45 free minutes of internet bliss…

Finally… A fun story… from the SF Chronicle here via SF Gate… an article… an article on the front page of the Sunday travel section… on Traveling with toys… An “only in San Francisco” story… about flying with sex toys…”If you pack a vibrator, don't get shaken by TSA”

You can read it for yourself… It may be better that way… generally the lovely Tina and I leave the hand cuffs at home… it is better that way.

Good night…

2011-06-19T08:01:00.001-07:00

8:30 am Tampa International Airport... Once again sitting on a big jet airplane... Headed back to San Mateo for a few days...

Dad is still alive, surprisingly so for a dead man... I expect him be there when I return in a few days... He tells visitors that his Dr told him he was dead, but his body didn't know it yet... I think I was there, and that isn't what the Dr. said, but in many ways it is an accurate description of his condition. In the mean time, he is at home in his own room... Watching his pigeons, greeting visitors, some of whom bring pigeons to show him, for him to handle...

Dan is taking care of dad... Giving him his meds, keeping him clean... Dan is has taken responsibility of one of the lofts, now his loft... He is thinking he might like to try racing pigeons... Dan would like to buy the house and live there.

Meanwhile we are working at selling some of the birds... This requires pedigrees, photos, and a history of races and awards won, and any notable offspring... and there records as well.

There is a pretty good computerized family tree... Racing records, since 1994 or so are mostly on line... And we have paper records, race reports, copies of racing pigeon Digests... It's a research project. I am a historian, a trained researcher this I understand... So I research and write the record of awards and progeny, track the other documents and send them off to IPigeon.com. A friend has set up a photo studio in the garage... Dan herds photos and runs the pedigrees. Friends bring birds from the loft... Then off to the garage to be photographed. Dad tells us which bird to do next...

There technology involved... There are three computers... Mom's old desk top... My lap top, Dan's laptop... A wireless network... Two IPads... We have the loft management database on the cloud... I set up a dropbox... We have a Gmail address for the project... We are connected. I believe that I can continue to write up histories while away...

Beyond the process it is a shared activity... Something to do when you are dead and waiting for your body to figure it out... We needed a project to pass the time... It is not simple to die... There is no instruction manual for the soon to be dead...

Back to the journey...

Southwest did a bit better today... But there was still a 19 minute wait for the now dreaded "express baggage check"... They have 4 "express baggage check" stations, but only 2 were turned on... until My turn came... Only then did they turn the third and fourth machine on...

On to security which was more crowded than usual... I was awarded the dubIous pleaser of the full body scan.... I wonder when TSA will start billing our medical insurance providers for the scan...

Leaving security, I found an "IT".... a lone chair... A very institutional lone chair... Lone chair surrender by 4 stations and 4 sections of that wonderful blue venal clad rope used to direct crowds in places like airports and such... There in the middle of the small square area sat said chair... All by itself... With permission of a TSA agent (after all this was still "Security" and photos are prohibited in the security area) a picture of the lone chair was taken... From said agent I learned that it was known as the "penalty box" and I can only assume you really didn't want to be given a chance to use it... I prefer to think of it as the “chair of shame”…

I found a "Departure Board" found my gate number, found my gate, or did I?... The sign at the gate desk said "Austin" while I was headed for San Diego, there to change planes for SFO and home. While I am quite sure Austin is a wonder place it was not where I was planning to go on thus fine day... A quick check of the flight number on my boarding pass (to San Diego) and that associated with the Austin flight showed them to be one and the same... I guess I am visiting The Republic of Texas on this fine June day. I confirmed I had found my flight, then found a seat, took out the computer, and checked my email... Eventually, they announced my flight to Austin would begin boarding (not "Flight 3495 for Austin, continuing to San Diego"... Just simply "Austin")... I lined up with my new best friends in the "A 40-45" group, surrendered my boarding pass and made my way down the jet-way to the airplane...

I found a window seat on the right (north side, west bound) and settled in... Book, IPad and neck pillow close at hand...

Once aboard, we took off southward, over Tampa bay, slowly turning westward, over Clearwater, over the Gulf of Mexico... Headed for Texas.. (and if I am lucky, on to San Diego)

Open note to anyone from Southwest Airlines who might read this... You really need to list both (all) of the cities that any given flight is visiting... It is confusing when I am holding a boarding pass that says San Diego, and the sign says Austin... I fly (too) often, and know to check my boarding pass… but many others don’t and are confused…

Now over the mouth of the Mississippi... Brown water meeting blue... The river is clearly high... Much of the land below is covered with water... New Orleans lies out of sight to the north... On the IPad, Shawn Mullins is singing "House of the Rising Sun" ... He recorded it 5 years ago in a studio in the 9th ward just before Katrina... Today when visiting New Orleans you can take a Katrina tour, to the 9th ward, and see the house, still derelict, and the vacant lots where houses used to sit...

Today much of Cajun country below is covered with muddy brown water... From 30,000' it is hard to say what is swamp, what is dry land, and what should be dry land, now inundated. Our flight path is taking us along the gulf coast... Where the muddy brown waters are mixing with the blue of the gulf in grey green swirls...

About the time we cross the coast near Lake Charles I take a nap, awaking over the Texas Hill country, on approach to Austin... We land, people get off, we, those who thought this was a San Diego flight are counted... Then more passenger join us... Passengers who presumably thought (presumably correctly) that this is a San Diego flight...

It turns out that today, June 18th is Southwest's 40th birthday.. This might explain the balloons I saw at Tampa while waiting in the "Express Baggage check" line. Happy Birthday SWA.

Back in the air, above 10,000'... IPad back on... Outside, below, the landscape is fast changing... We are headed fast into the arid west... Across West Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona... The land below is fast changing from green brown...

People are looking intently out the windows... Looking for smoke from the Arizona forest fire... It's been burning for more than a week and is still not controlled.. There is haze, getting heavier as we fly west... We are likely over New Mexico by now... Is it smoke, or just clouds? The now dirty yellow haze is making the desert landscape look even more dry and bleak... Now broken by a river valley and irrigated fields... Most likely the Rio Grande...

I nap awaking as we pass the Salton Sea... 15 minutes later we are on the ground... 10 minutes later I find myself in line for the connection to SFO... I make those quick phone calls, then power the phone down for the flight... We are now just off the coast, northward bound... Catalina island of 26 miles across the sea fame below...

I will arrive home in early afternoon... Giving me a bit of time to acclimate to home before work tomorrow... I will get in three days of work or so... then, again, back aboard a big jet airplane and head back, back east to Florida...

Southwest screwed the pooch

2011-06-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

Now at the gate... At the gate, the flight status still is shown as "delayed"... Even as the web site, and the electronic flight status boards display 1:20… Our status remains “delayed”... No time promised, at least at the gate... On line we are leaving at 1:20... But at the gate we are simply "delayed"

Now, 1:04, on board... Fellow passengers are grumpy... The boarding was rushed... Gate staff and the cabin crew are defensive, agitated... "Please board as quickly as possible.... (We are late (maybe their problem?)) We don't what to lose out takeoff slot".... The employee's stress is transferring to the passengers... "we are already late... Take a seat as quickly as Possible" People continue to stream on... There is nothing glamorous or exciting about this big jet air plane... "Please grab a seat quickly folks"

1:17 they are closing the door. They are closing the overhead bins... We are getting ready to depart. Time to turn the IPad off... At least we are finally on the way...

1:48... Now above 10,000 feet, Ipad back on... Stanford and the linear accelerator below... Leaving SFO all traffic was limited to the two north south runways... So maybe Southwest wasn't lying about the reason for the delay... Still they didn't handle it well, or communicate well... We were into the fog, before we cleared the end of the runway... We had broken through into sun light while still over the airport...

I am reading "Lost in My Own Backyard" by Tom Cahill... About "A walk in Yellowstone National Park"... I recommend it... I am listening to Houston Jones on the IPad... All is good... Now below... I-5 and traffic southbound of LA and beyond... A different way to move about... I see a road trip coming on... Yellowstone or Utah's canyon lands... Somewhere remote, where I can camp... Fire blazing, away from where ever "here" is.

Now 2:04... Strangely, while traveling, time is linear once again... I am settled in, a sprite on my tray table... Houston Jones singing "Three Crow Town and a good book... Below the San Joaquin Valley is fading into the Sierra foothills... We are headed east...

There is still lots of snow in the Sierras... Rivers are running high, easily seen from 25,000 feet or so... This will be a good year to fish the Kern River...

We plan to scatter Mom's & Dad's (and Cleo's (the dog)) ashes along the Kern River. Merle Haggard has a song about the Kern River... Dad, and his dad, George homesteaded land and built a cabin near Lake Isabella, on the Kern River... We spent a lot of time there as kids...

Now 2:15...Below, a glimpse of the Owens Valley, the Alabama Hills... Before they disappear under clouds...

2:22... peanuts arrive... I like peanuts... Now desert below... Death Valley... Hot & dry.

We land about 3:00 in Las Vegas...

I have an our plus layover... I find a bar, and order a beer... Having consumed said beer, I find a restroom... I find the gate and after a short wait board... I am B-2... Not a bad boarding number... I get a window behind the wing... I like to look outside when flying... It is now 4:03... People continue to board... To look for seats and precious overhead bin space... I establish my camp... The IPad, a book, and my snacks... Time to shut the I pad down...

Now 5:43... More likely 6:43... By now we have likely crossed the border and are over west Texas, and Mountain Time... we have come less than half way... Half way from Nevada to Florida...

6:27... This flight is more subdued... We are flying towards darkness... Into night below us darkness is falling... Below it is 7:30, possibly 8:30... Below is world of green fields... Streams meandering.. Occasional lights... Likely east Texas... Here at 35,000 feet it is still light, the plane's wing glowing pink in the alpenglow.

By 7:05 (locally likely 9:05, maybe 10:05) all is dark save for the lights of the cities and towns below. We have an hour and a half or so to go...

At 7:49, hear the engines throttle back a bit and feel the plane pitch downward... We are nearing Tampa... We should be on the ground in 40 minutes or so... They should be making the "turn off all electronic devices" announcement soon.

Now Sunday morning… sometime after 9:00 am… The plane landed… I recovered my luggage which was so hard to check… I found the truck, drove home to Brooksville and went to bed…

This AM, Dad is doing well, stuck in bed, sick, but in good spirits… talking to people, looking forward to visitors…

One final thought... While I am not happy with Southwest and their communication, no employee was ever rude or lashed out... they were stressed... they had lost their sense of humor... but they were never rude...

Flying again… (or not)

2011-06-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 11^th, 11:30 am… I am sitting at SFO in a bar… having a beer and a sandwich… I am supposed to be in the air… to Las Vegas, then on to Tampa…

I got to SFO at 9:50 for a 11:05 flight… I got in line to check my bags at about 9:55… (This is the “Express Baggage Check”) I finally checked reached the counter at 10:53… and finished about 10:55… In theory I was too late to check a bag… as was almost everyone else in line (one girl was crying)… While in line I had called Southwest Airlines customer service desk… the good news was my flight was delayed! Customer service asked if anyone had come down the line to expedite those who’s flights were drawing near…. (they hadn’t, they didn’t.) They suggested I just wait in the line and they would get me to my destination (apparently they will)… They said that there were no reported delays at SFO (evidence suggest there were)… the call was a waste of time… but others in line wanted to know what number to call… I gave them the number… I took photos… A line mate made a joke about posting one on Twitter… instead I posted one to Facebook… Instead of the “you check in on the computer, then we put the luggage tag on” system that they usually use, they were taking your boarding pass and entering the information for you. There were 3, then 4, then 3 agents… They didn’t have the staff to do things manually… yet they were doing it manually… They were rewriting many tickets (in the “Express Baggage Check” line)… taking more time… Once to the counter, my check-in process was mercifully quick… Staff was polite, not particularly concerned, and didn’t seem to share their passenger’s sense of urgency. (Someone walking down the line saying “we are running behind, but everything is under control” would have been nice… but it didn’t happen) Now, free of my bag, I ran for the gate, I bluffed my way through the First Class and Employee security line, and made the gate before the 11:05 flight time… for a flight that is now leaving about 1:20… 2 hours and 15 minutes late.

Luckily, I had a long layover in Las Vegas for the Tampa flight… now a short layover… eventually I will get to Tampa…

Of course, Southwest sent me an email at 9:51 telling me my flight was delayed… Kind of useless if you are supposed to be at the airport an hour or two before the flight…

SFO provides 45 minutes of free internet access… of course, I am trapped here for the next 2 ½ hours… I have eaten… I have burned my 45 minutes of free internet… I have another hour plus to burn… At least I got the email saying my flight was delayed…

I suspect much of my time here may be consumed complaining about Southwest Airlines… they are providing me with ample ammunition… This is a surprise… Southwest is generally a pretty good airline… Not exciting, not always cheapest… but generally pretty good… which makes today all the more surprising… I expect this (insert your favorite word for manure here) from United… (I will pay more not to fly United… I really dislike United) I wouldn’t be surprised on Northwest… There are jokes about how bad US Air is… but not on Southwest, they are usually competent.

I don’t like Southwest’s seating and boarding system… In the last year I have seen to incidents as fellow passengers fought over seats (including one where Grandma got taken off by the police.) On the other hand, I like their bag’s fly free policy… Generally their staff is pretty good, frequently humorous… I happen to like peanuts… They hand out peanuts… I like overnight flights… generally they don’t do red-eyes. I find myself flying Southwest about 1/3 of the time… I always check Southwest before buying a ticket.

It appears that the flight delay, and maybe the check in issues may be a result of weather, and resulting limits on landings and take-offs… If so, it may not be Southwest’s fault… but they didn’t handle it well today…

Now 12:37… still no big jet airplane… for Vegas or other destinations… the folks around me are getting frustrated… some think that Southwest is lying… they are hearing different stories from different employees…

I love to travel… Until next time… bye…