Everett Station celebrates its first ten years.

As the Everett Station is celebrating its first ten years I felt compelled to write the following letter to the building manager and Sound transit regarding some observations that a concerned passenger has made.

As the Everett Station celebrates its first ten years it is becoming increasingly evident that looks was and still is more important than practicality to the designers of this very essential transportation hub. It appears very little thought was given to making it convenient for passengers to be just dropped off for busses or commuter trains, only the Amtrak area has a substandard drop off area. I say substandard as there is no way to return to the same entry point for the person dropping off the passenger to continue on their route as would be seen at most air terminals. Parking is another poorly designed item and at best seems an afterthought. The South most parking lot has the best parking spaces reserved for BNSF employees, something that any business who values its customers would not do. The ticket machines for the sounder are so inconveniently placed that now a homemade sign, reminiscent of elementary education posters for kindergartners, has been devised to direct people to it. Then there is the placement of the ORCA card readers mostly north of the Sounder train where the least number of people would be walking from and no card readers south of the train where the majority of parking exists. Any commuter who uses the south or east parking area must walk past the south end of the train to the first ORCA card reader. Anyone coming from the west parking area must look behind the pillars supporting the ineffective decorative roof structure that graces the platform. The designer of this structure should have to spend some time on a typical rainy day trying to stay dry while waiting for the Sounder train. The fact that it does not even extend anywhere near the train is another matter that defies logic or explanation as to the intended purpose of this structure other than possibly an art installation intended to give an impressionist representation of shelter. I am a huge believer in public transportation and expect it to be a major part of any solution to the current and future energy crisis, but convenience will be the best way to hasten its adoption.

I congratulate the City of Everett for taking such a bold step in planning for the future and for making it prior to the current economic crisis that will make public transportation even more attractive. It is just that mere looks should not be the primary driving force in the design for the future. More attention to making it convenient to the passengers will encourage more ridership, and at the same time improve efficiency as the usage increases. The easiest and quickest return on investment move that could be made is to move one or two of the ORCA card readers that are currently located north of the Sounder train to the south end and to place a ticket machine back at the wheelchair ramp where one originally was. Future plans should include a replacement of the overhead roof structure on the sounder platform that extends closer to the train and does not have large gaps between sections that provide no shelter from the elements.

Thank you for listening,

Wine Traveler’s Travels vol. 20 (from the archives)

Originally published 07 January 2002

Well it was a holiday to remember, the boys all got new bicycles for Christmas and I got the Kitchenaid mixer I had been dropping hints about since Gail and I were dating.  I got Gail the Swiss Army watch she had been asking for and a pair of hooped earrings with diamonds, so we all made out very well.  Thanks to the great sales to boost the economy it was one of the least expensive Christmases in a long time.  Well just before New Years my father called to inform me that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer.  One of the really scary parts of this was that on our last meeting in Winter Haven, we had been comparing notes on our treatment for sinus troubles which was causing both of us to have chronic coughs.  It seems he had been on many different medications, over the past year, that would help for a bit then his cough would return, it wasn’t until he was unable to move his tongue in one direction that they took a more serious look.  He will start Chemo and Radiation therapy in the near future and has a very positive outlook on his prospects.  I haven’t told my boys yet, but I have made plans to go to Florida during spring break in April with the family to visit.

Now I would like to share with you a good word about American Airlines, I was looking online to use my airline points to make this trip, and I could not find any flights that had seats on the dates I needed so I was looking into purchasing them and still had trouble finding 5 seats.  I called the Aadvantage reservation desk and explained my situation and she booked us through to Fort Meyers, I was a few miles short of all five tickets but knew I’d have it soon, she reserved the fifth ticket and told me as soon as I had the miles it would be booked, she even went so far as to put us into the same row on all legs of our flights.  This is what I call service.   This will also prompt a letter to Mr. Carty, as it would not be ethical or effective if I only wrote him to complain.  I have spoken to my father almost daily since receiving the news and he is being a real trooper, worrying about me spending too much on the frequent calls, but my cell phone plan covers it. 

This trip was planned at the last minute on Friday the 4^th so it was a full fare ticket outbound from Seattle, which awarded me an automatic upgrade to first class because of the agreement the travel agency has.  This was a pleasant surprise.  Today I am headed to New Orleans but because someone else was originally scheduled to go I will not be able to book my usual guest house room and will be staying at a Holiday Inn Express.  The rate is $74.00 per night.  This trip is to help with an upgrade of the software for Pendleton Hospital in East New Orleans. 

Leaving Seattle the first class didn’t seem to benefit from the new “more room” enhancements they made in coach, in fact because of the greater pitch of the seats it seems more crowded here than in coach, but then everything seems crowded on these dreaded MD-80s.  There should be a law against using them for flights over two hours; no onboard entertainment, no room, and that incessant wind noise that is inherent to the narrow bodied aircraft like the MD-80 and the Boeing 717.  The choice of breakfast was total cereal and a fruit plate or French toast.  The French toast was the wrong choice, it was that tasteless frozen stuff that had been left in the convection oven too long and was dried out.  The small plate of fresh fruit that came with it had a few slices of Kiwi, Strawberry, Orange and Grapefruit, it all tasted like the Grapefruit. But the staff was pleasant and attentive. The flight from Dallas to New Orleans was another story all together, after boarding first, we in first class sat there and listened to the flight attendants talk about one of their mothers who had had her eyebrows tattooed, and about some of the “stupid” things they’ve heard passengers say.  All the while we were wondering where our customary preflight beverage was.  There was no food on this flight, even in first class, and you had to ask for everything, I’ve had better service in coach. 

I finally made it to New Orleans and had brought a bag of Seattle Mountain coffee from Costco, we find it better than Starbucks or Seattle’s Best and they roast it right there in the store, for my friends at the guest house.  I stopped by and surprised them with it; we made plans to get together later that week for dinner. 

Tuesday morning I went into the hospital and worked with Tom Taylor to upgrade the system we finished around 5 pm.  I then went to the French Quarter to find another great meal.  I went to a place called the Alpine and the meal started with fresh French bread and butter then a nice fresh greens salad, then a cup of Gumbo that the server handed me the hot sauce saying three drops makes it good, five perfects it; I did a healthy five and it was awesome.  My entrée was a shrimp and crawfish fettuccini.  There is never room for desert in this town.

Wednesday Tom and I finished early, went to the French Market, and ate at the Voo Carre Café.  I had a Shrimp Po Boy, and Tom had the “Taste of New Orleans”, which was a bowl of gumbo, one of red beans and rice and one of shrimp Creole, there was also a live jazz band.  Then we walked around the market and bought some pralines, for the folks at home, from a candy shop there that has the best tasting pralines anywhere.  This is the same candy shop I went to when Betty met me here last summer.  Then we returned to the hospital to check on the software and how the nurses were doing with it.  That night I went to dinner another of my favorite places called the Gumbo Shop.  I had a smoked duck and oyster Gumbo that was out of this world.  I really enjoyed walking through the Quarter at night and watching all the tourists making fools of their selves, there was some large convention in town and the bead stores were doing a brisk business.  I walked along Bourbon St. and stopped in to listen to some of the live bands, everything from Jazz to Blues, to Rock and Roll.  I must say that New Orleans is by far my favorite city to visit. 

Thursday night I met up with my friends from the guesthouse and we went to Jack Dempsey’s, you may recall this is the place where they have the awesome seafood platter for two.  The three of us shared this with an extra order of the side dishes; no one wanted to miss the baked macaroni and cheese.  The macaroni is actually like ziti noodles and I’d swear they use cream cheese along with cheddar.  It also came with a bowl of gumbo and a salad.  The platter had heaping helpings of fried shrimp, red fish, catfish, oysters, stuffed crabs, and crawfish pies (kind of like a fried ravioli).  And as always there was plenty left over.  The dinner for two is $21.95 and it was only a little more for the extra sides to make it for three the actual platter was the same.  I think I could feed my whole family from this dinner for two. 

Alas it is Friday and I must go home, I wish I could find a job that would relocate us here.  But I know Gail would not like the summers as it is very similar to Florida and she hated the heat there.  But like Florida visiting there is probably much better than actually living there.  Well the flight home is in coach and it also is on an MD-80.  I am even more convinced now that there is more room in coach on other planes than in first class on these atrocious planes.  The flight from New Orleans to Dallas had no food, since it was the same plane I would take to Seattle I did not get off, the meal from Dallas to Seattle was one of those bag lunches (hey guys it’s dinner time) it was a turkey and cheese sandwich on a whole grain miniature hoagie roll, which I am sure tasted much better last week when it was fresh, the only reason I knew it was turkey was because the label on the outside said so, it was such a small amount of turkey all I could taste was the dry bread.  There was an 8 oz. Bottle of water, a small bag of lays potato chips and a pack of Oreos with two cookies.  Looking at Mr. Carty in the in-flight magazine it is easy to understand why he would think this is adequate, he could be the anorexia nervosa poster child.  He makes Ally McBeal look like Mama Cass. 

Wine Traveler’s Travels Vol. 19 (From the archives)

Originally posted 17 December 2001

            This weekend was much too short, Tyler’s birthday party was held at the Claim Jumper Restaurant.  Right after I got there I received a page that turned out to be a fax machine.  Anyway the meal was great and they even brought Tyler a piece of cake with a candle in it at no charge.  We are still waiting for the Bird to come from the breeder, The only other store we found with a Cockatiel wants $50.00 more for them, so we are waiting.  When we were on our way home Tyler was getting a little depressed he didn’t have his bird and he also hadn’t gotten the Harry Potter cake he wanted.  Well Gail and I looked at each other knowing that was soon to change because we had already picked up a cake at Albertson’s which was decorated with Harry Potter and was a marble cake just like he wanted.  We sent him to get something from his room while I searched for the birthday candles I knew I had.  It took some searching but I finally rounded up 12 candles from about four different styles of birthday candles.  We then called him into the dinning room you should have seen him light up.  About this time I realized I had left my pager and cell phone on the table at the restaurant, I called and they had it but were closing in the next few minutes and the place was in Redmond over 30 minutes away.  They told me someone would be there at 6 AM; my flight was at 6:20.  So I went there at 6 AM and got a later flight by luck.

            This week’s flight is on United, and my destination is St. Petersburg, FL.  I spoke with Dad and found that Sister Gregory will be in Florida this week and we will try to get together.  I was able to get booked on the 11:15 flight through Denver; security at this time of day was much better than I am used to.  But once I got to the gate area the monitor indicated that my flight was going to be 40 minutes late and that I might miss my connecting flight.  So I went standby on the oversold flight at 9:15.  I was able to get a good seat on this flight and am now sitting in the Denver airport waiting for my connecting flight.

            The next leg of my journey was aboard an airbus 320.  This was about the size of a 757 but the seats were so jammed in that my knees touched the seat in front of me.  As I have seen on most other flights there was not an empty seat anywhere.  I really think the airlines used the 9-11 incident as an excuse to lessen the number of flights so more of them would be full, without the excuse of 9-11 the flying community would have balked at the inconvenience.  If there are fewer people flying these days I think it is more likely because there aren’t any seats for them.  We were served a snack box with a small sandwich a bag of chips with about 5 or 6 chips in it and a small cookie.  I liked the idea of having a snack box as opposed to the bag you get on American because it gave you something more convenient to eat from.  I got to my hotel at about 9:30 pm and as I drove up to the entrance of the St. Pete Hilton the valet met me took my keys and arranged for the bellhop to take my bags, this was not at all what I am used to.  The room was very nice with a nice king size bed and solid wood furniture.  There was bottled water next to the ice bucket and the usual coffee maker with a rather good tasting coffee called City Blend.  The rate was only $85, which I have paid at places that didn’t come close to the service I received here.  This is the way Tyler thinks all my hotel stays are, he is always telling me that I shouldn’t hassle them about cleaning up the house, that I am just used to all the service at the hotels I stay in. 

Tuesday morning I got up early and went to the hospital to get their system ready for the upcoming upgrade.  Dennis showed up a little later and we were able to get the upgrade finished by 5 pm.  I spoke with my manager on how well the upgrade was going and he said “Great, because I need you to go to Carson City, NV tomorrow night.  I called my Dad to let him know we would not be able to meet on Thursday as we had planned.  Dennis and I went looking for someplace to eat dinner and found a place called Fred Flemmings Famous Bar-B-Que.  We both had hankering for ribs, well we were in luck; as we were trying to decide from the menu the waitress informed us that tonight’s special was and all you can eat ribs and catfish, we both said that’s what we want before she could finish. The ribs were meaty, tender, and just the right amount of smoked goodness, the catfish was lightly battered and seasoned to perfection, and served hot and succulent with a tartar sauce.  The side dishes were fries and coleslaw that tasted like something my maternal grandmother made.  This is a place that I highly recommend to anyone visiting the Tampa/St. Pete area.  We realized during our meal that we didn’t even let her tell us how much this fine meal cost.  We were shocked to see the bill was only $8.99.  We put away a lot of ribs and catfish. 

Things went very well at the hospital and I finished early.  My first arrangements for my change to go to Reno were for an America West 8:30 pm flight that would get me into Reno at 1 AM.  None of the car rentals would be open so I would have had to stay at a hotel close by and get a car in the morning.  As it turned out I was able to get done by Noon on Wednesday so I got an earlier flight on American.  As much as I have complained about the regular American attendants and their attitudes; the ones on my Tampa to Dallas flight were exceptional.  They had great attitudes and were very attentive.  Maybe things are looking up for American.  After a short wait at DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) airport I was on my way to Reno for another three-hour flight with no food, and the usual stoic American attitudes.  I arrived in Reno and the rental car here was a Toyota Camry, nice drive for a foreign car.  I checked into the Best Western Pinon Plaza Resort where I usually stay when in Carson City.  It was after the regular restaurants had closed so I went to the Margarita Saloon in the resort and ordered from their late night menu.  I had Chicken quesedias, which really hit the spot since I had not eaten since much earlier in the day.  The upgrade, Thursday morning, went very well here also and I was asked to come in on night shift to visit with the night nurses.  I went back to the hotel and slept till about 8 then went to the restaurant and had their Thursday night special, a 1 lb Rib eye steak with baked potato and salad/soup bar.  This steak was wonderfully prepared and the salad bar had a nice selection, the soup was a baked potato soup.  All this was nicely priced at $7.99. 

Friday after checking the software and working with the nurses I went back to Reno to catch my flight home I stopped at the Costco to gas up and pick up one of their $1.50 hot dog and soda specials.  Then it was off to the airport and home on Alaska airlines, as usual I was randomly chosen to be frisked and have my bags manually searched.  It seems every time I fly Alaska I get “randomly” chosen.  The advantage this time though, was that I knew from check in that I had been chosen so I was able to get frisked first and get on the plane right after first class.  The short two hour flight was a bit bumpy but otherwise uneventful.  Always glad to be home, and this time it would be for two weeks as the company closes for the holidays and we there is a planned meeting the first week of the year so I won’t be traveling till the 7^th of January. 

Wine Traveler’s Travels Vol. 18 (From the Archives)

Originally posted 12/11/01

It has been a while since I have had the time to write about my travels, I apologize to those who have missed them and to those who wish I had not started again.  I had a bout with the flu last week after returning from a trip late Wednesday night.  I woke at 4 am with the runs; by 6:30 that morning I had the chills to go with the frequent trips to the pot.  My temp was up to 102.5 so I called in to work, Gail and the boys went off to work and school, leaving me home alone with a pitcher of water and a bowl if things should start moving in the other direction.  I was aching all over and by 11 am was afraid to close my eyes incase it would be the last time.  I called Gail at work and had her come home to help get me dressed and to the doctor.  After fluids and lots of Aspirin my temp was still 102.5 when we got to the walk-in clinic.  I was seen rather quickly and given the usual directions lots of fluids and rest.  Well I did recover by Monday morning, and went into work only to get sent out on Tuesday on this trip.

After booking the trip I called the Aviators (TWA’s frequent flyer program) number to see about getting my usual upgrade to first class.  It seems that Mr. Carty (President of American Airlines) has chosen to give us all a Christmas present and diverted my call to the American Airlines program where I was asked if I had any stickers for an upgrade.  My response was, “what kind of stickers do you want?”  It seems that they do not treat their frequent flyers with the same respect and dignity that TWA did.  It was explained that for every 10,000 qualifying miles I fly, I would receive four complimentary stickers.  Each sticker can be used to upgrade 500 miles of my trip, and if my flight is 501 miles it will take two stickers.  And even though I had over 70,000 miles in my account I had no stickers yet.  He told me I could purchase stickers and I responded, “No thanks this is far to complicated and not worth the trouble.”  I guess I’ll have to shop around for a new airline to frequent. 

Tuesday morning I got up at 2 AM so I could get to the airport by 4 AM for my 6 AM flight.  I’ve been flying since the September 11^th event and since just before Thanksgiving the lines at SeaTac have been atrocious.  I forgot that I usually fly on Mondays like every other business traveler and that this being Tuesday there might not be such a line, well there wasn’t.  I was through all the high security and even a random search and got to my gate before 4:30 AM.  The Admirals Club didn’t open till 5 AM and even then, because the Latte machine is behind the bar, which obviously wouldn’t be open this early, I couldn’t get a Latte.  It’s obvious that Mr. Carty still hasn’t learned anything yet about customer service from the good people of TWA.  I also noticed that none of the TWA staff was present anymore.  I had heard that they were not given any credit for their years of service, so people who had given a lifetime of service to their job now had to start over as a new employee, I find this not only unethical but also inhumane and goes a long way to explain the arrogant and condescending attitude that American employees exhibited even before this merger.  There should be a law to protect employees in mergers from such abuses.  I think this calls for a letter to my congressperson and representatives, I won’t bother any republicans since they only support things that effect the immediate bottom line and not the long-term health or reputation of a company.  But here I go getting on my soapbox again; I can just see my dad shaking his head, wondering where he went wrong. 

Back to the trip, the boarding process went well American now boards in groups, which I am sure is based on seat assignment and frequent flyer status but sure reminds me of Southwest airlines the only difference it seems now between AA and Southwest is assigned seats.  The breakfast “meal” in coach was a cold (we’re talking near frozen) banana muffin, half the size of a standard muffin, a four-ounce cup of applesauce and a four-ounce carton of orange juice, which wasn’t as cold as the muffin.  There was a half of a napkin and a plastic spoon in the bag that the “meal” was served in.  The dilemma, do I use the half napkin to eat on or to place in my lap?  I chose to place the napkin in my lap and use the bag to eat on. The movie was “The Grinch.” now that I’m riding in the back of the bus it would cost me $5.00 to access the entertainment system.  I just can’t bring myself to spend that on a movie that I can rent for $3.00 and not have to watch a cut up version of it.  When this was TWA the movies were unreleased, which made them a bit more worth it.  The one redeeming factor of this flight was that it was on a 757, the flight itself was very comfortable and while I did not recognize any of the flight crew I was sure most of them must have been former TWA employees because they were smiling and courteous something that is rare in a long term American employee, there was one with the perma-frown that made me wonder if she was Dallas based.  This is the first leg of my trip to Indiana; I will be visiting a hospital in Franklin, which is not far from Indianapolis where my brother Jody and his family live.  I hope to get time to visit as I really miss having them out in Washington.  

After a brief stop in the Ambassador’s, now switching over to Admiral’s, club I returned to the same gate I got off at and the same plane just a different seat.  I did notice that they had changed all the signage at St. Louis International Airport to American and the airport looks really drab because everything is silver and gray now.  The old TWA red and gold signage was much more appealing.  They have also started scraping the paint off the planes so they too are very unappealing to look at.  The flight to Indianapolis was uneventful and a short 36 minutes.  We were served beverages and pretzels; I asked for club soda with lime and got lemon, not at all the same thing.  My guess is this is another one of Mr. Carty’s, money saving at the expense of good customer service items.

Upon landing I called Misti and made arrangements to meet for dinner.  I drove down to Franklin and checked into the hotel, they did not have a non smoking room at the regular rate, the only nonsmoking room was a suite with an in room Jacuzzi, they gave me a special rate of $85 for my inconvenience so I took it.  The room was great I had a king size bed in the bedroom then the living area had two areas one with the Jacuzzi and a fridge, microwave, coffee maker and sink.  The other area had a couch, TV and Desk.  Then I drove about 40 minutes north to Misti’s house for homemade spaghetti.  I really enjoyed seeing the kids Jessica is turning into a little lady and Jacob has really grown.  The twins were just as cute as buttons and so smart.  I left as Misti was putting them to bed, hoping to meet up again later in the week.  As it was our schedules did not coincide, I stayed busy with work and she had other commitments. 

My return through Indianapolis was quick and the security was so much more efficient than at Seattle.  The flight I was on would stop at St. Louis then continue on to Seattle so I didn’t have to get off.  Both legs were completely full, so those reports about people not flying are all hype by the airlines trying to sell tickets or something.  I spoke with some of the flight attendants about the merger and it seems that even though they were originally promised they would get to keep their seniority; Mr. Carty is trying to use recent events to take advantage of them.  I will be writing to my congressperson to see what can be done as I work for a company that is ripe for takeover or merger and I would not want to lose the seniority I have earned so far. 

Speaking of my company, I just received an email that the president of our company has announced his retirement.  There has been much discussion over the last year that this would be a positive move for our company as he has been cited as stifling the creativity and productivity of the employees.  I have yet to check our stock price but I would guess it would have risen on this announcement.  We recently sold our corporate buildings and property to Microsoft who surrounds our property, realizing a considerable profit; with this and the increase in sales we’ve been having this should be a good year.  

Christmas is coming fast and last weekend Gail and I went shopping and found three new bicycles for the boys, the sales were great on some really awesome bikes.  And we got new helmets to go with them.  Tyler’s birthday was this week and I called him on Thursday to wish him a happy Birthday but we had already arranged to celebrate it on Sunday.  We are waiting for a cockatiel to arrive that we are getting him, he has wanted a bird for quite some time and has even gone so far as to read books and search the internet for information about them and got a great looking cage, he only lacks the bird.  Tommy turned 16 on Thanksgiving and we celebrated his birthday on Sunday also so he did not have to share the limelight with the holiday.  He got a neat PDA (like a palm pilot), and phone cards for his cell phone that he got last Christmas, it’s one of those pre-paid ones that way he is responsible for the bill, the first time he did so well the card expired before he had used all the minutes (it’s the AT&T free to go plan).  Trevor has gotten a weekend job at a friend of mine where he cleans out stalls and does yard work; so far he has saved over $300.  He wants to buy an XBOX, the new game machine from Microsoft. 

Gail has started an online college course to get her Master’s degree in Nursing.  She has a Master’s in Healthcare Administration, but this other degree will let her go into teaching if she wishes.  She got interested in it when her company started a tuition reimbursement program, which would have paid for part of the tuition.  While signing up for the course she filled out paper work for financial aid and she got a grant that should cover all of the tuition plus some for a new computer.  She has had to learn more about the computer and hates it when Tyler can show her what to do.  But she is losing her fear of them.  You can email her at QueenGail@hotmail.com she would love to get something beside Spam. 

Wine Traveler’s Travels 17 (From the Archives)

Originally posted 12Mar01

After a few changes I am on my way to Arkansas again, the hospital is to open today.  I am on TWA again enjoying the pleasures of some of the best first class service in the industry.  I chose the 6:10 am flight because it is a Boeing 757 it means I will have about a 1.5-hour layover in St. Louis, but I still have my complimentary 6-month membership to the Ambassador’s Club.  The breakfast this morning is a choice of Cinnamon Apple pancakes or cereal and fruit, as I am in a diet competition with my wife I chose the cereal and fruit.  The unnamed bran cereal was nice and crunchy; the fresh fruit was a slice of cantaloupe, two slices of tasty pineapple, a sectioned Kiwi, and half of a large sweet strawberry.  The breakfast was completed with a cup of peach yogurt and a banana nut muffin.  I did not watch the movie, as it was a period piece about basketball in rural America during the First World War; titled “The Basket.”  The Flight landed on time in St. Louis and I went to the Ambassadors club to work till my connecting flight.  I checked in at the flight counter so they would notify me when my flight was ready to leave.  I plugged in my laptop and got a cup of hot tea.  Well after checking and responding to many emails I looked at my watch and it was time for my flight to leave.  By the time I got to the gate I had missed my flight the gate agent was most accommodating and quickly booked me on the next flight.   This time Hertz again did not have my Gold reservation ready even though I had called from St. Louis to tell them of my flight changes.  I guess this calls for a letter to Hertz Corporate office. 

I arrived at the hospital about 5:30 pm and stayed working with Lee Long and Bob Gifford till almost midnight.  There was a problem with one of our networks and we could not locate it.  Since I had not had dinner and Lee was staying over he road back to the hotel with me, we got him a room then found a Subway store that was still open.  I had one of the 6gms of fat or less subs and a coke.  I know it’s about like having a donut and a diet coke, but nutrisweet gives me a headache. 

Tuesday morning I arrived at the hospital in the morning and by noon Lee had found the short in the network and repaired it.  The nurses were doing great with the software it was all the other aspects of opening a new hospital that had them overwhelmed.  They had opened for business at 8 pm last Friday and had 10 births by Tuesday morning.  For lunch Lee, Bob and Vicki (the nurse who teaches the staff about our monitoring equipment) and I went to lunch at a nearby restaurant called James at the Mill.  This is attached to a Bed and Breakfast that is a converted Grist Mill.  It is one of those upscale places that have cloth napkins in the restroom.  This was definitely not going to fit into my diet plans.  I had the special which was a large open flame grilled Burger on a homemade Kaiser roll with pepper jack cheese and served with thinner than shoe string fries.  It was very tasty and well presented.  We returned to work at the hospital and I worked with the nurses. Vicki and I made friends with another nurse who was there training software used in another part of the hospital the three of us went back to the Thai restaurant I visited on my last trip.  I was still full from dinner so I just had a bowl of soup called Tom Kah it was a coconut soup with shrimp, mushrooms, and lemon grass.  It was such a large bowl I had them bring me two more cups so I could share it with Vicki and Nancy.  They each had a noodle dish that looked scrumptious. Then we all had a cup of the homemade coconut ice cream I had been craving since my last visit.  Vicki and Nancy both said it was the best part of the meal. 

Wednesday was a much smoother day for the nurses as they were starting to develop some familiar routines.  I was able to point out a few areas they needed to pay closer attention to in regards to charting with our software.  Bill Greene the sales rep arrived today about 1 PM and since I had not stopped for Lunch he and I went for a cup of coffee at the Coffee Shop/Deli/restaurant that caters the patient food for this upscale hospital.  While there Bill ordered a half sheet cake for the hospital staff congratulating them on the “birth” of their new hospital.  I returned to the hospital and worked more with the staff.  That night for dinner Bill and I went to Mary Miestri’s the Italian restaurant that he introduced me to on my first visit here. After the salad with the house dressing I had the Trio special it had crab, scallops and shrimp with homemade angel hair pasta, fresh tomatoes and mushrooms with a very light white wine sauce, and we shared a bottle of Chianti.  Neither of us could finish our generous portions. 

Thursday was another busy day for the staff as they were having babies right and left.  The cake arrived and it was really something to behold it was one of those soaked cakes though it did not seem to be soaked with a strong alcohol with a very light icing and a raspberry jam filling. The staff was elated and really seemed to enjoy it.  A floral arrangement accompanied it and was placed at the front desk of L&D after the cake was served.  Bill and I went to James at the Mill for Lunch since it was just down the street this time I had the Andoulli Corndog this was a sumptuous sausage on a stick with a coating of cornbread stuck in a serving of roasted mashed potatoes garnished with a unique sauce and a corn relish.  The sauce was like a steak sauce mixed with hot Chinese mustard.  The waitress tempted Bill and I with desert; we had the chocolate pyramid; this was a three-inch pyramid of dark chocolate filled with a hazelnut mouse and there was this swirly thing made of caramelized sugar that decorated the plate.  It was almost too pretty to eat, almost!  The hospital management requested that I come in and work with the night shift, so I left a little early to go back to the hotel and take a nap.  Skipping dinner, I came back in a little before Midnight and stayed till almost two, the staff really impressed me with their understanding of the software.  Bill was supposed to have brought in some cookies for the nightshift when they asked about their cake like dayshift had I told them that they were supposed to get cookies but we couldn’t find any. 

Friday I came in around eleven as I had spent some time checking email and phone mail before checking out of the hotel.  I finalized the validation of the system with the network administrator and then went to lunch with Bill; he took me to a restaurant that from the outside didn’t look like they were in business.  The paint had almost completely peeled off the boards on the outside and there was no sign to tell you it was a business.  The inside though was very rustic varnished wood.  We had the barbecued ribs, which came with a homemade coleslaw and Texas toast.  I’m always up for good barbecue and this was good.  The name of this place is Herman’s and Herman still owns the land and the building but has sold the business as we learned from the waitress.  Bill used to live in this area and this was one of the local favorites.  Bill now lives in Little Rock, AR.  I returned to the Hospital and finished up my duties then said good-bye to all my new friends.  As I was driving to the airport I realized I did not call TWA to get my upgrade, the agent at the counter informed me that there were no first class seats available.  I called to get on the waiting list, this was futile as there had been some delays earlier and this flight was now overbooked.  My only consolation is that it is a 757.  My flights were all on time and I am going to miss the excellent service of TWA.  I can only hope that the merger will enhance American Airlines.

Wine Traveler’s Travels 9 (From the archives #8 was lost)

13Nov00

I’m off to Albert Lea, Minnesota this week, a small friendly town I have visited before.  I will be flying into Minneapolis and even though this is a major hub for Northwest Airlines (an airline I will avoid at all cost) I had the travel agent check TWA and it was much cheaper.  NW would have been nonstop but on TWA I could get first class and save money for the customer.  So I’m off at 6:10 AM again and on a 757 so you know I am happy.  The breakfast was a wonderful mushroom omelet with home fries, while I’m not fond of their coffee (I’ve been spoiled by the wonderful coffees available in Seattle) I really enjoyed the meal.  My favorite coffee is Seattle’s Best; my second favorite is Tully’s.   I find Starbucks to be too bitter and acidic, the others I have mentioned are smoother while still being rich and full bodied.  Alaska Airlines serves Seattle’s Best.  I caught my connection, which was one of Boeing’s new 717’s.  To my disappointment this is just a renamed DC9, like a small version of the dreaded MD-80; the same cramped seating and awful wind noise once it reaches cruising speed.  I did get to Minneapolis on time and Hertz had a Monte Carlo waiting for me with a remote, rarely do they give you the remote.  I asked for an ice scraper and they told me that there was no snow predicted this week.  I explained that I had been to Albert Lea before and was sure I would use it.  My last trip to Albert Lea (Jan 1999) I had to drive past 12-foot snowdrifts so I wanted to be prepared. By the time I got to Albert Lea the snow was falling but was not sticking.  On the way there all I could think about was the Café in the mall there that had one of the best steaks I had ever eaten.  My hotel, a Holiday Inn Express, was just off the interstate and just a block from the Mall where Café Don’l was located.  After checking in I went to the Mall for dinner, I ordered the “Millionaire’s Steak.”  This is an 8-ounce cut of Sirloin with a spicy sauce and crumbled Blue Cheese on top.  I know what you may be thinking Sirloin is not exactly the best cut of beef, but the sauce and the cheese just make this the best tasting steak ever.  The meal started with a salad and a homemade Blue cheese dressing and home baked herb bread.  The herb bread was rosemary spiced whole wheat bread, served with real butter.  The steak came with a baked potato.  This wonderful meal was on special tonight for the whopping price of $9.99.  I had a glass of Black Opal Merlot from Australia, which was also on special for $2.99/glass.  The restaurant was well decorated and the service was excellent.  The only fault I found was the paper placemat and napkin.  But then cloth napkins and such would have made the price twice what it was. 

            Tuesday morning I got up and had ice on the windows of the car, so I used my ice scrapper the first day.  Work was enjoyable, as the staff is very nice and friendly.  Tuesday Night I returned to Café Don’L, This time I thought I would try the Italian style steak, which was described as an 8-ounce cut of sirloin with mushrooms and topping buttered pasta.  I chose the soup this time that was the best part of this meal, cream of chicken with wild rice.  The Steak, while well prepared it lacked the spice of the “Millionaire’s Steak” I think a bit of garlic would have really made this steak great.  The price of this meal was a whopping $8.99.  Well worth it and again the service was top notch.  The Snow was falling pretty heavy tonight but melting as soon as it touched ground.

            Wednesday morning, the car did not start and I had to get a jump.  The nurses were very understanding when I showed up late.  That night I returned to Café Don’L for another “Millionaire’s Steak” this one was even better than Monday’s.  The soup today was called Hillbilly Stew, a ground sirloin based vegetable soup, I went with the salad.  I would really like to know the secret to this sauce. 

            Thursday morning the car was covered in snow and I got out there half an hour earlier than before incase the car wouldn’t start, of course it started fine today.  I took the remote off the key ring and locked the car while it was running to melt the snow and went back inside for the continental breakfast offered at the Holiday Inn.  Work again was enjoyable, it snowed off and on all day and I left at 3:15 pm to get back to Minneapolis, some 80+ miles away to catch my 6 PM flight.  I made it plenty of time; the flight from Minneapolis to St. Louis was on an MD-80 in coach, torture of all tortures, fortunately only an hour and a half.  Then it was first class in a 757 to Seattle.  The snack was a half sandwich, smoked turkey on toasted whole wheat with tomato and cucumber, a German potato salad and Pepperidge Farms cookies.  The chardonnay on this flight was a Riverfort de France, a very mild yet fragrant white wine.  The service was, as always, top notch.

Break from School work

It has been fun posting these old stories of my pre- 9/11 travels, when airlines actually delivered service and cared what the customer's thought. Looking back it is sad that the consolidation of Airlines has lead to the total lack of customer service we experience today. There were reasons they made anti-Trust laws to prevent just such a degradation of service due to lack of competition. It is also interesting that the highlight of most of my airflight was the meal which is a rare perk even in first class anymore.  I hope you are enjoying these blasts from the past as much as I am.

School is going great, the University of Phoenix is an awesome online experience but it does keep me busy. I am on my third class now and have a 4.0 GPA, I hope I can keep it up. It is interesting being in school with people younger than my children and reading their posts and lack of experience. But it is also good to note that I always find something new to learn from them.

Wine Traveler’s Travel Vol. 6 (From the archives)

Wine Traveler’s Travel Vol. 6

02-SEP-2000

            The weather is getting cooler as I head out early Monday morning for my next trip.  With my new bag packed I take the interstate to Sea-Tac airport.  I’m always amazed at the amount of traffic in the Seattle area; even at 4:30 in the morning the interstate is crowded.  Today’s flight is a welcome change as it is on TWA and First Class on a 757, I couldn’t be happier.  The lady that sat next to me was very social and we spoke quite a bit about our jobs and travel.  She shared with me, as I spoke of my disdain for the MD-80, that she too scheduled her flights to avoid them whenever possible.  She mentioned that she was not having the best of days; her suitcase zipper ripped on the way to the airport and when the porter was helping her by taping it together a lady behind her in line started complaining about holding up the line.  She said to the lady “I was just in this same line do I not deserve the service you hope to receive when it is your turn?” 

            This week I am returning to Wheeling, West Virginia to complete the training I started a while back, this week’s schedule is quite full and I’m not sure I will have a chance to visit my family.  So to those of you on my mailing list I apologize in advance but if I do get to visit, you will most likely read about it here.  Please feel free to forward these stories to anyone and if there are family members that would like to be added or removed from my mailing list please let me know. 

            Well I got off the plane in Pittsburgh and waited for my new bag to come it was about the fifth bag but the attached backpack was missing I waited till all the other bags were delivered and did not see my backpack piece.  I then went to the baggage counter and filled out the now familiar paperwork for a lost bag what will make this one difficult is that I did not separately tag the backpack since it was completely attached with a zipper.  Then I went to Hertz to get my car they did not have one ready, so they called for one and it was a white 626.  Now I avoid white cars because they always look like something a Grandfather would drive, but I remembered my 1982 626 and it was a sporty little two door car so I figured it would be OK.  Well up came this four-door 626 looking not at all sporty.  I went up to the counter and asked the lady if she had anything else, that it was just too Grandpa-ish.  She laughed and said sure and procured me a silver Chevy Monte Carlo, while this wasn’t very sporty looking it was better than the 626.  The ride was nice but my Chrysler Town and Country has a better turning radius. 

            I got into Wheeling at about 6:30 PM and checked into the same Hampton Inn as last time.  When I opened my bag to hang-up my clothes, I found the backpack inside my bag.  Relieved, I called the airline to apologize and stop them looking for my bag.  I went to check out the Restaurants near the Mall and chose one called Longhorn.  I ordered the Pork Chop dinner; this consisted of two thick, well-seasoned and juicy pork chops; seasoned fries; and brandied apples.  They also served a very good multi-grain bread with whipped butter.  Then back to the hotel to get some sleep for the next day at work.  Lunch on Tuesday was at the hospital lunchroom; it was a homemade Salisbury steak with mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, and macaroni and cheese, Vicki had the carved roast beef and mashed potatoes.  We worked till about 6:30 PM because the software was not performing as it should, class proceeded very slowly.  We tried to troubleshoot what was wrong but ended up getting Brent to come back on Wednesday.  Tuesday night Vicki and I went to the River City alehouse again, this time I had the barbecued pork wrap, Vicki had the grilled Chicken fajita wrap, we were given a choice of soup, fries or, salad.  We both chose the French Onion Soup and were well pleased with this traditionally prepared soup complete with bubbling cheese on top and served in a crock type bowl.  The wrap had shredded barbecue pork, coleslaw, and cheese wrapped in a pepper tortilla.  I have yet to eat anything at this alehouse that wasn’t well prepared.  I also had the Oatmeal Stout again that they brew in-house.  My brother would call it skank beer but I don’t like the pale tasteless commercial beers, for me the darker and heartier the better.

            Wednesday we worked with the nurses while Brent worked on the system to get it working right.  This site is working with a Beta version of our software and is very patient and understanding with the problems we were having.  Because the software misbehaving interrupted our training I offered to order out for Pizza; Dominoes did a good job as usual.  That night we ended up staying late again so we went to the alehouse again since it was close to the hospital.  This round I had the Grilled Portabello sandwich and French onion soup.  Vicki had a salad and onion soup. Brent had the Chicken wrap that I had on my last visit to Wheeling, again we were not disappointed.  By the way the sandwich soup and beer was under $10. 

Thursday, Brent only worked till noon then got called away to another site he will return here next week to reload all the software again.  This day for lunch the nurses suggested a diner nearby called Saseen’s.  I tried the hot sausage sandwich with “Teezers” and Vicki had the hot roast beef sandwich and mashed potatoes.  The sausage was patty style and very tasty the “Teezers” turned out to be like long tater tots with jalapeno cheddar cheese in the center.  Vicki’s sandwich was good but the potatoes were Instant.  Vicki left for home as she was only here to observe me training, I had to stay to complete some training on Friday.  My last night in Wheeling the nurses suggested I try the Wilson Lodge at Oglebay Park.  This was definitely high-class place; you know one with more silverware than you know what to do with.  I had a glass of house Chardonnay I was brought a basket with warm sourdough bread and butter.  The salad was wild greens with an obviously homemade Blue Cheese dressing.  My appetizer was a grilled portabello mushroom that had been marinated in balsamic vinegar; my entree was black pepper Fettuccini Alfredo.  All were prepared to perfection, the atmosphere was very elegant, the view was down a slope into a 400+ acre park which houses four golf courses, a zoo, and museum. 

Friday for lunch I accompanied two of the Information Services staff to a Lebanese bakery that they knew.  I had the broccoli cheese roll and French onion soup.  The soup was not as good as the one at the alehouse but was not bad either.  The bread used to make the roll was not like the Lebanese bread I am used to but was tasty; my real find here though, was some Zataar seasoning.  Zataar, also called Thyme seasoning, is used to make mannish which is pita bread with a light coating of olive oil then sprinkled with this Zataar and baked.  It is a favorite of ours, which we usually get shipped from Massachusetts.  Now we will be able to make it at home from store bought pita bread.  I didn’t get to finish early enough to visit any of my family this time so I waved from the air. 

I did find a real good deal on Beanie babies at the Pittsburgh airport they were $5.99 each or three for $14.99.  When the Beanie Baby craze started I thought I was safe having three boys, but Trevor was given one as a prize from a teacher and they found out it was a retired one and then they all had to have them.  So I try to watch for good deals on them.  I was relieved when they said they were stopping at the end of 1999, but then they started with the 2000 series.  Oh well they are relatively inexpensive and they could have worse hobbies.  They each have over 30 of these stuffed toys and display them proudly in their rooms.  I pick up the bears for Gail.

 I even have a few for myself; I have a Pink Flamingo in my cube at work. This started when I bought a picture of white herons at the Seattle Home Show my first few months in Seattle and hung it in my cube and a wax figure of flamingos from the zoo in Tampa to remind me of Florida.  Later I put up a set of prints of Pink Flamingos that just didn’t look as good in our house here as they did in Florida.  Then last year one of my coworkers bought me a set of plastic yard flamingos for my birthday as a gag, so I put them on top of the shelf in my cube so they could be seen from all over.  I told them that my wife wouldn’t let me put them anywhere at home.  So my cube has become the landmark people use to give directions on the first floor, such as “two cubes down from the flamingos.”  I also have some plants hanging from the ceiling, my beanie flamingo is on one of the hangers, and this does make me feel like I am back in Florida.  It’s especially cheerful in the winter when we go months without direct sunlight. 

The plans are that I will be in the office next week.  So I may skip a week in my stories unless something of interest happens.  It becomes a bit boring to hear about the hour and half commute to go twenty miles to work and back each day.

Wine Traveler’s Travels 5 (From the archives)

Sunday 23-Sep-2000

Well this was a very short weekend as I spent most of Saturday doing my laundry and everyone else’s too. Gail works extra shifts on the weekends so I do the housework, with some help from my boys.  The hardest part is getting them to hang up the clean clothes, so often I find folded clothes and clothes on hangers in their laundry baskets.  But they try real hard.  This week’s trip is out to Madison Wisconsin to one of our subsidiaries Burdick to take a weeklong class on their products and software.  I arrived at the airport in plenty of time with all the items I should have (Gail was home when I left so she runs me through a checklist).  This week it is on American Airlines and as I approach the gate at the time it was to start boarding I notice that it doesn’t look like they are ready.  Only a few minutes later though they start announcing the boarding process and this very unfriendly sounding lady announces that due to a short turnover there will not be the customary advanced boarding for frequent flyer’s (here goes another letter to American).  I should have known that it was a portent of things to come as I finally get my seat 10F, we sit, and we sit, and we sit.  Finally the pilot comes on the speaker saying that they found a dent the size of a dime on the outside of the aircraft and there is paper work that must be filled out.  Well after about 45 minutes he comes back on to say that the mechanics are arguing with the home office on how to repair the hole, yes the dent has now become a hole.  And that they are trying to measure how sharp the point is on the hole.  Well we end up getting delayed about 2 hours they announce that anyone with connecting flights will miss them and American will put us up in a hotel and get us to our destinations on the first flight in the AM. 

They refused to take anyone’s baggage off the plane so we couldn’t even try to get another airline to our destinations.  If you recall from my earlier travel that I have not been much impressed with the level of customer service on American well this isn’t helping much.  The Flight attendants were all in good moods despite the level of frustrations that could be felt among the passengers.  I tried using the airphone to cancel my hotel reservation but it would not work.  So off we went to Chicago, the meal was a very small portion of Chicken Strips (picture one regular chicken strip sliced into three pieces) two tablespoons of macaroni and Cheese and about ten pieces of green beans.  While they were well prepared and actually tasty, the portions would have had my youngest son begging for more.  The best part though was a cinnamon Oat bar from Love and Quiches deserts.  They also gave us a complimentary glass of wine.  They next round though they had no wine on the cart so it was just a small cup (4-oz) of club soda. 

The nightmare was only beginning, as we deplaned at Chicago it was obvious that we were late there was no one else in the terminal and only two agents to handle the arrangements for the whole plane full of passengers. The fellow ahead of me received his paper for the room at a Clarion Hotel he asked why aren’t we at the Hilton here on the airport property?  The response was “they don’t give us a discount.”  As I was given my paper for the room I asked about meal vouchers, “This is all they gave us” was the response I received.  I complained about the lack of food on the plane but it fell on deaf ears.  Then we were directed to the Baggage Claim area.  After waiting quite some time and the belt finished only about half of us had our luggage.  So off we went to another line.  It seems our luggage was taken to the area for our connecting flights, They seemed surprised that we would want our luggage.  One passenger had noticed his bag was in the American Eagle area and had asked the lady there for it she replied to him that “Can’t you see we are closed?”  Another lady from the American Airlines section, after hearing out plight, got our claim tickets and descriptions of all our bags and went in the back and brought out our bags. 

Then the long trek to the place where you get to catch the Hotel shuttles I’m talking a good half to three quarters of a mile through tunnels.  When I arrived there some of the passengers were trying to get the shuttle for another hotel to take them to the one we were to stay at.  It seems that when they called our hotel they were told there were no shuttles were available this time of the night it was 1 am now.  Just then another man came up and said that after explaining that there were quite a few of us they agreed to send a shuttle.  We got to the hotel to find they did not have the usual continental breakfast and that the shuttle would start running at 5 am to take us back to the airport.  So I got about two hours sleep before I had to get up and get dressed for the class I would now be late for. 

The flight was only 30 minutes airtime but took over an hour from gate to gate with no food or drinks served.  So now it has been since early last night since I have had anything to eat, good for the diet I guess.  I arrived at my destination ready to drop from lack of sleep, the rest of the group was well rested and we stayed working with the computers till 7pm that night.  The group members in this class were Tom Taylor who is one of the technical trainers from Redmond, Dave Crossly and Adrian who are CSR’s (customer service Reps) from the UK, and Erik Lam a CSR Manager from Hong Kong.  For lunch they brought in was great it was from a local sandwich shop made great subs.

Checking into the Hotel in Madison that night they removed the no show charges from the night before after I recounted my experience.  I went straight to bed without dinner.  The next morning this hotel, a Comfort Inn, had a great breakfast and I was much more attentive in class.  Lunch on Tuesday was Chinese take-out and left a lot to be desired. 

Madison is the state capitol for Wisconsin and has a beautiful domed capitol building at the center of town, and also boasts some wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright buildings namely the Manona Terrace, which is a civic center that is on the shore of Lake Manona.  It is also the home office for Oscar Mayer Corp.  The wiener mobile is seen quite regularly here. 

Tuesday night I found a wonderful Italian restaurant named Bellini’s it was inside what had once been a church with the cathedral ceilings and stained glass windows intact.  I had the Brochette as an appetizer and the special, which was a tomato-basil fettuccini with a clam and garlic cream sauce.  The food and the atmosphere were really satisfying. 

Wednesday, was another long day at class starting at 8 am and ending at 6 p.m.  We had been invited to the house of one of the staff from tech support, Melissa Owens.  Melissa used to work in the Redmond office but had relocated to Spacelabs/Burdick after becoming pregnant to move closer to her family.  She and her husband had just built a new house so four of us that were in the class came over for barbecued chicken and salad.  She had also made a wonderful apple salad that had whipped topping and caramel in it.  Chris, Melissa’s husband, used to work for Spacelabs Medical in technical training with Tom Taylor, but now does web designing for another company.  Chris had wired their house for the future he had cable in every room and at least two Ethernet outlets in each room.  Chris had also just built a table for their kitchen, which was quite unique, it was like an island work area with a breakfast bar attached to one side and wrapping around the far end.  The Bar section was built up about four inches above the work area. The top was laminated with a marble like Formica to complement the kitchen counters.  The food and the company were great. 

Thursday was another long day of class in which I learned much and found very enriching, we ordered from the sandwich shop again. 

This was our last night in town so the instructor took us all out to dinner at a Japanese Steak House I had Chicken and Shrimp.  This was one of those places where you are seated around a large grill and they prepare the food in front of you.   The Shrimp was prepared with Kogane sauce this is a combination of egg yolk, lemon juice and spices then it is place on top of the butterflied shrimp and covered on the grill till done.  It was really a taste sensation I want to experience again.  The Chicken was grilled with teriyaki sauce and the veggies were onion, Zucchini, and bean sprouts.  While preparing the veggies the chef took a thick slice of onion separating the rings and stacking them atop each other to make a cone. He then placed some form of alcohol inside and lit it moving this to a hot area of the grill it shot a flame way up and he announced “Japanese Volcano.”  After the flame went out it continued to spew steam and really was impressive.  Of course the usual fancy knife work and the juggling of the large salt and peppershakers were all part of the show.  It was a real dining experience.  

Our last day of class everyone was in overload but the presentations were so well done we continued to learn more.  I’m real excited about taking on these new products. 

The flight home was another adventure in American Airlines, we were first greeted with a slight delay but they would do their best to catch up the ten minutes it was behind. Well when the plane arrived they couldn’t get the Jetway to work so they brought up the portable stairs and announce that we would be boarding the plane from down stairs so we all went downstairs.  As we watched them off load the Regional Jet we were to fly back to Chicago we stood in disbelief as they moved the stairs away and attempted again to get the Jetway to connect.  They then announced that we would now be boarding upstairs so we all moved upstairs again.  As we watched out the window they continued to struggle with the Jetway, we were sure we would be told to go back downstairs again.  Then finally they started boarding from the Jetway.  As we were taxiing out to the runway we stopped and you could hear the engines slowdown…The Pilot announced ”I’m sorry there are problems at the Chicago Airport and we are to wait twenty minutes.”    We finally took off and had an uneventful short flight, as I got off the plane at G-19 (the very end of the G concourse) and was checking the monitors for gate information. I heard my name over the intercom stating that this was the final boarding call.  Off I ran two concourses over; they were actually holding the plane for me.  This is more like the customer service I would expect; I thanked the crew extensively and heard one of the flight attendants say to another “let the captain know, he is the one who was waiting for this passenger.”  I stuck my head in the cockpit and thanked him personally.  Well the short wait for me (only five minutes) was nothing compared to the wait in the taxi line as it seems that we were about fifteenth in line to take off.  It was another MD-80 and I won’t bore you with my dislike of this very inadequate plane.  The meal again was good but so small one of those $.79 frozen dinners would be a feast in comparison.  This time it was barbecued chicken, green beans, seasoned potatoes and a salad.  The highlight was the triple chocolate brownie for desert again made by love and quiches.  I noticed a web site on their package, which I will be checking out http://www.loveandquiches.com/.  Again they only gave the small cup of soda, not the whole can like TWA and Delta do.  But the fact that they waited till I could run from the end of one concourse over to the middle of another really goes a long way in making up for these other complaints.  I don’t want to sound unreasonable it’s just that when other airlines have had similar occurrences I have been given meal vouchers and phone cards to alleviate my inconvenience.  You get used to a certain level of customer service and expect it from others.   As we approached Seattle the Pilot announced that we were entering a holding pattern as the traffic at SeaTac was backed up.  As I am heading home this does not bother me, but I feel for those who have connections. 

I won’t make it in time to see Gail before she goes to work so I’ll have to wait till tomorrow.  I don’t know how she puts up with me when I’m home or when I’m away. 

I should have known better than to think this nightmare was over.  As I watched the bags move along the carousel I thought “ya know I bet my bag didn’t make the tight connection in Chicago” and sure enough it didn’t show up.  So I walked over to the baggage department for American Airlines and explained my predicament, they gave me a print out with all the pertinent information and the 1 800 number to call to check on my baggage.  I left with a sure feeling that my Bag would be on the next flight from Chicago and that I would get a call in the morning that my bag was to be delivered.   Well all day I stayed home (cleaning house and doing laundry, Oh yeah!) and the phone never rang.  The paper I was given said I would be called once every 24 hours with an update, so I waited.  Ten PM and no call, I called and spoke with a very nice young man who checked all my information and verified that my bag has not yet been found.  

On Sunday at 10 AM I called again with no luck so off I went to buy a new bag.  I found one at Target it is a rolling duffel with a small backpack on one end, which can be detached.  The best part was the price; it regularly sold for $29.00 but had a sale tag for $19.99.  When I got to the counter it scanned $9.94, finally something was going my way.