Category: Travels

Another Fine United Airlines Experience

Okay, yes, I know we swore we would never fly United again.

It’s rare that something goes correctly when traveling with United during the past several years. It’s usually a shuffle of planes, gates, and information that prompts us to wistfully comment, “Remember when flying used to be fun?”

But the prices and flight option mirages seduce us as it always does. United claims to have wonderful flights and prices. Their prices are several hundred dollars below the other airlines. So, wincing, we think…should we trust them?

It’s like being in a bad relationship. The other swears to change. You want to believe. You take them back, and they go out and do the same damn heart-breaking things as before.

You learn, again, you can’t trust them.

On this episode of United Horror, my wife was traveling alone. The travel east, from Medford, Oregon, to Charleston, WV, went almost perfectly. Everyone was so nice, she said. This was, of course, because United had encountered another P.R. moment when a woman was forced to hold her baby for the entire flight after she’d bought a ticket for the child.

Service and pleasantness declined a little in Chicago. “Maybe they didn’t get the memo,” she said, but it was nothing major.

Now we’re set up for the return. Her first leg on her way home, to Chicago, went fine. It fell to pieces in Chicago. In line to board, the passengers were told there was a delay. Mechanical problem. The delay was for several hours; it meant my wife would miss her next leg.

She headed to customer service. Nothing can be done, she was told.

What about flights on other airlines?

Nothing.

What about going to Portland instead, and then catching a flight to Medford?

They would get her to Portland, but she was on her own after that, and good luck.

Well, that would leave her almost three hundred miles from her destination.

Yep, true. Good luck with that.

Well, mechanic issues happen. Food vouchers were given. She bought a vegetarian sandwich in the airport. How was the sandwich? “Well, there were vegetables.”

She was scheduled to arrive in Medford by quarter to one in the morning. Instead, she arrived in San Francisco at two in the morning. “You’re booked on the same flight as before, but delayed twenty-four hours,” the customer service supervisor told her. Instead of arriving at Medford at a quarter to one Friday morning, she’d be arriving at quarter to one on Saturday morning. “We also have put you on stand-by for an earlier flight, but the flights are full. We’re going to put you up for two nights in a hotel. Wait right here, and we’ll take care of you.”

Then they left.

Almost an hour later, my wife wandered through the SFO terminal in search of United help. Customer service was full of sleeping passengers, but no workers. Have you ever been in these terminals at three in the morning? Cleaning crews circulate while stranded passengers sprawl out or desperately occupy themselves.

Finding a customer service hotline, she called for assistance. “Just go to customer service,” she was told.

“That’s where I was. There’s no one there except sleeping passengers.”

“Well then, I don’t know what you can do,” the helpful agent replied.

Bravely continuing on her quest, my wife circulated around the United gates and customer service areas until she spied United employee. Flagging her down, she explained what had happened. To her credit, this woman took care of her.

My wife arrived at her Comfort Suites room at four in the morning.

While my wife was enduring her flying fun, another woman was furious with United for keeping her baby in an overheated aircraft for two hours.

I offered to drive down to San Francisco and pick my wife up. It’s only a four and a half hour drive, in theory. Weekend traffic and construction would probably extend that travel time. She declined. She’ll be patient and wait, not because she trusts United, but because it’s all set in motion.

An eclipse is happening on August twenty-first. Oregon is considered prime viewing territory, so we’re bracing ourselves. Hotel prices have climbed. People are renting out houses, rooms, and their yards, with bathroom privileges. These sort of total eclipses don’t happen that often. People want to be part of the scene.

Hertz has already confirmed that they’ve overbooked, and have a problem, and have begun canceling reservations. United, of course, will overbook. That’s their motto: “We overbook.” There’s a damn good chance in my mind that if you’re flying via United, you’ll end up arriving a few hours after the eclipse.

Oh, the stories people will tell.

 

 

5

Whetting Desire

There was no warning of what was about to happen.

The other and I jumped into the car. Directing it onto the Interstate, we sped to another town for two days and a night of dining elsewhere, shopping, reading and relaxing. Our mini-vacation choice puzzled friends, but that’s life. Being out there, though, staying in a hotel, reading and eating at restaurants without any damn cares whet my desire for more of that life.

My wife felt it, too. “Wouldn’t it be great to just keep driving and go to another town, stay another night?”

Yep, it sure would.

Meanwhile —

I was writing yesterday, working on the novel in progress. It was a fabulous writing day. I jumped right into that writing and editing phase after some deep thinking and writing in my head that took place while driving and shopping the day before. Terribly rewarding, it whet my appetite to spend my hours doing nothing but writing and drinking coffee.

Suddenly — 

I read about Bertha, the TBM. Some quick pedantic explanation: a TBM is a tunnel boring machine. Bertha was the one used in Seattle in the tunnel construction to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct. The A.W.V. had been damaged in the six point eight magnitude earthquake in two thousand one. Bertha had just completed its part, breaking out of the earth and into its disassembly area.

The article whet my appetite for big endeavors like digging a tunnel. I wished I’d pursued an engineering degree. Then I might have been part of amazing projects like this.

I must admit, too, the child residing just under my skin said, “Bertha. Bertha Butt. One of the Butt Sisters.” Recognize it? It’s just how my infantile mind makes connections.

But then, without warning — 

I watched the first episode of American Gods again. Suddenly, I wanted to watch the next one, right now. Then I watched the Handmaid’s Tale. It whet my appetite for more, as did Red Rock when I watched its episodes.

It just seems to be one of those periods. I’m restless, excited and energetic. Life and its demands feels like a straitjacket. Time plods along, and impatience snaps a whip. Everything whets my appetite for more, now.

But, alas —

I know this period will shift. Maybe I just slept more, so I feel more rested and have more energy. My Fitbit claims I slept seven and a half hours, an hour more than my usual. Perhaps this energy and mood is the product of my dreams when I slept. They all seemed empowering…from what I remember….

Regardless —

Time to write like crazy, at least one more time.

I know exactly where to begin today.

2

Experience

He was seventy-five, and she, the younger, was just seventy-three. They met on a cruise to Alaska, an adventure to eat food and see things like glaciers. They knew they didn’t agree on politics but there was e l e c t r i c i t y between them, not sparks or embers, but record one hundred mile long billion volt lightning strokes. So they said, what the hell, let’s try this and see.

Adventurous people they were, they went ‘camping’ together, renting a small cabin to share (there were separate beds), fishing and hiking in the day, campfires and singing at night.

Ten days in, they knew it would not work. He was an ardent Trump supporter and she was advocating RESIST. She gave him three choices: “Take me to an airport and I’ll fly home. Drive me home. Drive me to somewhere where I can rent a car and I’ll drive myself home.”

He replied, “Number three sounds good.”

So that’s what they did, swearing never to see one another again, and unfriending one another on Facebook.

It was a thirty-day life experience.

0

Spiteful Stuff

Okay, everyone harmonize. This will be a self-pitying blues ballad. Sing along if you want.

Some days I feel like the universe hates me. It’s not really mean, just spiteful. Exhibit number one.

The week before leaving to take care of family business on the East Coast, we were shopping. The wind wrenched the door out of my hand, slamming it into the car beside me.

There weren’t witnesses. I could have driven away.

I could see a small ding on the crease line. The Hyundai Elantra wasn’t a new car but a recent year. From the tags, someone had recently purchased it.

My deductible is a grand. I knew this would be less than a grand. I wrote a note, apologizing and providing my contact information. As it happened, I came out as the other drive was leaving. She hadn’t noticed the ding or my note, so she drove off, saw the note, parked and got out to look. I hurried up to her and talked about it.

Now, back home, I’ve received the bill: seven hundred forty dollars for a parking lot ding. Ouch.

Exhibit number two.

I had four flights scheduled for my trip, covering the travel there and back. There were all with United Airlines. I took two of those four; the rest were canceled or missed because the flight before it was late. I ended up on six flights, total. I was re-booked on four flights that were cancelled.  None of the flights took off on schedule. None arrived to their destination on schedule. One hundred percent failure in both of those areas.

I spent one night in the SFO airport going, and a day there coming back. I was supposed to be in that airport for about two hours, instead of eighteen.

One flight that I took was a re-booked flight to cover one of the cancellations. Going through Chicago, they couldn’t provide me a seat number for the next flight. “See them at the gate when you get there.”

We did that. The first agent told us we didn’t need another boarding pass or seats. We would use the same ones, and the same seats.

He was wrong.

The next agent got us seats but we weren’t together. We couldn’t get seats together. That was another recurring theme in this flying fiasco. Originally booked side-by-side, it took a lot of cajoling, talking and visits to agents at the gates to make it happen, and it failed sixty percent of the time.

So, the universe and I aren’t getting along well right now. I don’t think it’s me, personally, that’s making the universe spiteful. I think it’s weary of the world’s bullshit as much as I am. It’s tired of trying to be reasonable in the face of insanity. I understand, in a way, but I don’t like it.

To the universe, please let me know what I need to make it up to you. I’d really like to return to being on better terms with you.

1

Air Future

Just imagine.

“This leg of your journey is sponsored by Progressive,” a soft voice states in your head as you stride along the beach. Progressive agents clad in their white and blue uniforms approach you with a smile and a tray of drinks.

“This is the life,” you say, accepting a glass of wine as a sea breeze and sunshine caresses your face.

You’d never believe you were flying thirty thousand plus feet above the earth, would you?

That’s the point.

Marketwatch posted a piece about air travel and passengers’ dissatisfaction with one another. As a result, most folks don’t like air travel. Instead of being a pleasurable method to go from one place to another, it’s become a gritty, exhausting experience.

So says me. My issues aren’t with the other passengers but the airlines. They cut services and space, increase ticket prices, improve their profit margins while customers like me and my wife suffer more and more. See, the older you become, the harder it is to wedge yourself into a tiny space.

Marketwatch did note that the airlines might be blamed for the rise of the irritating passengers.

“Why do planes seem to bring out the worst in people? “Planes are more crowded, seats are smaller, connecting times are shorter and amenities are growing more rare,” frequent traveler Nic Lesmeister told The Wall Street Journal in October, all of which stress passengers out and, experts say, may contribute to the bad behavior.

“He’s onto something. As MarketWatch reported in July: Airlines and plane manufacturers are reconfiguring planes to fit more people on them, shrinking (and in some cases eliminating) bathrooms, creating seats that don’t recline, and reducing the amount of legroom and the amount of padding in seats.”

Yeah, you think? IMO – you knew I’d have one – airlines need to do some quick fixes. Like what? Virtual reality, of course! Issue googles or glasses and plug us in as we enter. Create a different reality, something we’d like, to trick us into believing we were enjoying ourselves, rather than enduring a flying hell.

Yes, I know, costs, costs, costs! But with irritating passengers and air travel by volume on the rise, something needs done. Just think of the advertising potential. Flights, or segments of flights, and, or, aircraft could be sponsored by companies who would pay for the rights, like they do with sports stadiums. Companies could also bid for the naming rights for just the terminals, to help offset costs, and increase profits. Just imagine hearing them announce your six AM boarding call by saying, “Now boarding United Flight six seven three in the Home Depot terminal at the Red Lobster Gate. Flight six seven three is brought to you by Kellogg’s. Kellogg’s – the best to you each morning!”

Before and after your virtual interlude after seating yourself on the flight, your virtual reality sponsor can make an announcement. “This flight is made soothing by Verizon. Verizon, giving you the best world on the horizon.”

Come on, airlines, throw us a bone. Use some imagination and technology. Make it easier to for us to cope with one another and endure you.

0

Today’s Theme Music

We listened to a lot of music while I was stationed on Okinawa in the early 1980s. Drank a lot of beer, too. Smoked a lot of cigars, played a lot of Risk and worked a lot. We also went to college.

Anyway, back to the music thing. The Internet wasn’t around. CD players and Compact Discs were just emerging. For reference, the hot new computer was the TRS 80.

So we played a lot of vinyl, recording it onto more portable, user friendly formats. One album that came out then was Foreigner 4, by Foreigner. Several hits were on that album, including this song, ‘Juke Box Hero’. Later generations and listeners might be familiar with the song through its commercial use.

Stream it in your head as you’re walking around dreaming of heroes and villians.

0

Food Trip

Winter has worn me down. I feel it in my palate. Snow has dissipated, the ice has faded and the temperatures are rising. (We’ve seen over fifty degrees Fahrenheit two days in a row!)

A little town fever is settling in. Town fever is just like cabin fever. It’s a sensation that you just got to do something different. The walls are slowly collapsing. The ceiling is sinking and beginning to crush me. And yes, I know the town has no physical ceiling, but it’s this sense grabs you that, “OMG help me I’m gonna go nuts where can we go to get the hell away from our routines and tedium now now NOW?” 

freedom-mel-gibson

I began simply, thinking, Grants Pass is just forty-five minutes away by speedy auto. We can go there, do a little strolling about, eat somewhere – wasn’t there a new place recently opened?

But I’ve been to Grants Pass not long ago. It’s a nice city but not the balm for this itch. My move floated toward Eugene! 

Eugene, just about three hours away and three hours back, is doable. We’ve done it a few times every year, just a little escape to shop, walk around, and…you know…eat somewhere different than our usual Ashland haunts. Mind you, Ashland has good food, and we can escape to Talent, Phoenix, Medford and even Jacksonville to find some relief.

But this is a mad, mad itch. Corvallis would be even better than Eugene. Or Bend! 

Oh, Bend. Now we’re talking. Bend is a more difficult day trip. Though the snow has diminished here in the valley, getting to Bend will probably require us to traverse some snow and ice. But there are so many great places in Bend, places like Next Level Burger.

nlb

Hmmm…burger. Cheeseburger, with a beer and fries. Deschutes Brewery is located in Bend.

mirrorpond_new

Oh, yes.

That would scratch my winter itch.

1

Sunshine Blogger Award

I love winning something out of the blue, especially when it comes from someone admiring or appreciating what you’re putting out there. Thank you, Mel Hopkins! I enjoy her blog, and the attitude she exhibits through her words. Please check her out.

This sort of thing takes me out of my comfort zone, so it’s taken me a few days to respond. I prefer not to have attention. I know, it’s odd for someone who writes and posts things on the net to also like privacy and anonymity. It’s all as clear as mud mixed with sand and oil to me. Disclaimer aside, here we.

Here are the rules:

·         Post the award on your blog

·         Thank the person who nominated you

·         Answer the 11 questions they sent you

·         Pick another 11 bloggers (and let them know they are nominated!)

·         Give them 11 questions

I have to admit, when dealing with eleven questions, I kept flashing back to ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ and the Bridge of Death.

 

Mel presented us with eleven questions about travel. Here are the questions she posed, and my answers.

  1. How many countries have you visited in this lifetime?

Twenty-two.

  1. What is your favorite country? Why?

I can’t choose a favorite country any more than I can select a favorite book, food or piece of music. My desire for each and appreciation for them shift with my moods. I’d need to visit each a few more times to gather more information. If I had to say today, I would say, Wales, because I’ve never been there.

  1. What is your favorite travel haunt?

Such a difficult question. I lived in Half Moon Bay and remain partial to it, with the amazing food opportunities, its delightful downtown and great ocean scenes, so I will declare Kelly Beach in Half Moon Bay, with a good book, a San Benito House deli sandwich, and cookies from HMB bakery.

  1. In your travels, what is the oddest tourist attraction you’ve seen?

Well…that would be the Dick Bar.

Yes, we were crass but we were military and this was around 1989. This was a bar high on a mountain in Sicily. It was a gorgeous location, with views of Roman amphitheater and fort ruins, Mount Etna, and the tip of Italy’s boot.

We called it the Dick Bar because phallic systems were everywhere – walls, as décor on tables, for sale in glass cases…did I mention the walls? The phallic symbols were made of stone, granite, wood, marzipan. Walking up the steps was a challenge because an erect phallic symbol stuck out from the wall on each step. The steps, with a high riser and narrow tread, would’ve been a sufficient challenge without worrying about getting a pecker in the ear.

It was a great place. We sat out on the roof drinking Italian red vino for several hours, until the owner cut us off for fear of one of us falling down the steps.

  1. How many states, (or provinces, territories) have you visited in your home country?

Thirty-three, that I can remember. To be fair, I traveled by car often, so some of these were merely rest stops or visits to scenic overlooks.

  1. What was your favorite travel destination in 2016?

The ocean, whatever ocean I can find, wherever I find it.

  1. Where will you travel to in 2017?

Plans are on hold due to personal issues. We want to take a train from Vancouver, BC, to Quebec City. Our fingers are crossed that we’ll be able to pursue this, or take one of the tours offered by Roads Scholars.

  1. What’s your favorite transportation mode of travel?  Planes, trains, automobiles, bikes, motor home, cruise ships?

Car. Traveling by car has a romance and freedom I experienced when driving with my parents across the country.

  1. Do you prefer physical adventure travel such as hiking, camping, mountain climbing or relaxing by the pool or beach?

I like reading by the beach, preferably with a glass of wine or a pint of beer.

  1. Hot or cold weather travels?

Give me warm weather, please.

  1. How far have you traveled from your home base?

Well, my home base shifted around the United States and the world throughout my life. The longest travel done in one day was from southern West Virginia to St Louis, MO, and on to Okinawa, Japan, by way of Alaska, via car and aircraft.

Now, I must nominate eleven bloggers and notify them. 

Hmmmm…. This is the toughest part of the entire exercise. So many deserving bloggers out there. I also tried eliminating previous winners.

Thomas Weaver at North of Andover

JR Handley

Elizabeth Rose

Ed Lehming at Ed Lehming Photography

Marcus at Survivor Road

Daniel Kay at This is Youth

Gigi at Rethinking Life

Kecia at Muninn’s Memories

Kent Wayne at Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha

Jenn Moss at Rough and Ready Fiction

And now…their questions:

  1. If there is one food you can eat every day, what would it be?
  1. What’s your favorite libation?
  1. What’s your secret favorite all-time movie, that you could watch over and over?
  1. Is there a song that makes you cry?
  1. What is the best book you think you ever read?
  1. Is there a year that you considered the most wonderful year of your life? Why?
  1. Where would you like to spend more time in 2017?
  1. What actor/actress in any forum, medium or era do you think is greatly unappreciated?
  1. Please name us one fictional location you’d like to visit, and tell us why.
  1. Skittles, Milk Duds, M&Ms or Junior Mints?
  1. If you could be a professional athlete, what sport would you choose?

If you’ve already received this award, congratulations! Carry on, regardless.

1

The Trivago Myth

I was watching ‘Wild Boys’ on Hulu last night. I don’t pay the extra for commercial-free viewing. Since I don’t have cable and watch little OTA, I’m curious about what’s being presented via commercials. I like seeing how the styles change, and enjoy mocking their messages.

Trivago was a big advertiser. Do you know of them? Trivago.com is another travel booking site. They begin by noting that the average American views seven travel sites before making their reservations. This is, they claim, because prices vary so greatly.

That is advertising bullshit.

After seeing the commercial five or six times, I decided to prove it this morning.

I’m not doing anything scientific or deeply insightful. I simply used Trivago, Travelocity, Expedia, Coast Hotels and Priceline to compare prices. My dates would be January 17th-19th, one room, no children, two adults. I would check one of my preferred hotels when staying in Portland, Oregon, the Benson Hotel. The Benson Hotel is a Coast Hotel, and that’s why it was included.

Did the prices vary widely, as Trivago claimed?

Hell, no. All of them quoted $152 per night.

Hotels.com: $152.

Hotwire.com: $152.

That’s what I expected. I’ve traveled for years. I’ve listened to the spiels through the years and I’ve tried every travel site. I’ve risked the auctions of Hotwire and Priceline. What I’ve learned is that there are not great deals; the prices are all the same. If anything, I think I could make a case that the travel site industry is colluding to price fix. I might be able to sue them for fraud for their claims.

While checking Travelzoo.com’s pricing, I saw their hot deal for the Mark Spencer: $134 a night on my travel dates. Hurry! they said. This sells out fast.

So I went to Hotels.com. Their special deal is the Mark Spencer: $134 a night on my travel dates. Eleven hours was left on this ‘Daily Deal’, which was twenty-five percent off.

Well, let’s look at the Mark Spencer on Priceline: $149.

Damn. That throws my theory out the window.

I went to the Mark Spencer Hotel site and discovered they would charge me $140. Then I circled back around to the Trivago.com site, to see what they presented me for the Mark Spencer.

Their deals, from Expedia.com, CheapTickets.com, and Hotels.com, showed $140. Booking.com offered a room for $149 through Trivago. Odd, then, that Trivago didn’t manage to find and offer the great deal that Hotels.com and Travelzoo offered.

What I’m curious about is whether I’m an exception, and whether others have noticed these things. Because, frankly, I’m tired of the Trivago ad selling their myth.

All of this demonstrates to me that once more, buyers beware.

4

A Momentary Lapse of Reason

You’re hungry and you’re in the middle of nowhere. The morning walk took you to places that you didn’t expect. But that was the plan: you wanted to surprise yourself.

Well, you have. Look east, south, north, west – baking hard cinnamon and sand toned ground. Far away to the north are low purple and blue mountains. Turning west, you see the sparkling Bay Dome, so you think yourself there, specifying, downtown Palo Alto. Your bioworks connect with your wetworks and even out here, five bars are experienced. Your thoughts are translated into digits, which become transmitted commands, and the Earth Teleport System takes you to the bay area. In effortless seconds, you’ve gone from one place to another.

It’s a beautiful day under the dome in Palo Alto, blue and sunny, a little chilly in the shadows with hints of burned off fog. Electric cars hum along University Avenue but most people are strolling. Designated as a California Historic City, it’s unchanged since the early twenty-first century. Finding a Peet’s, you think, I’ll have a latte and croissant. The order has been placed before you enter the cafe and the systems direct you to the table along the window where your beverage and pastry await. A cup of tea and a shot of espresso appear on the table’s round surface. As you realize friends are arriving, they’re asking via your friendnet, “Can we join you?” Laughing, you answer, “Your drinks are already here.”

They port in. Hugs are exchanged. Books and art are discussed. “There’s a new art gallery opening in Mars New York,” Silvie says. “Want to go?”

Yes, of course. You’ve never been to Mars so this will be a special treat. Enjoy the gallery, have a meal, maybe do some dancing. Should others be invited? They are via the friendnet.

Soon, you have a platoon of friends, destination, Mars. You all port to the Interplanetary Teleport System in Utah. Signs direct you to the various space station and planet plazas where you can port yourself off of Earth to these other places. There are also teleport stations for bigger domes – Paris, London, Moscow, Sao Paolo – where stricter controls are required to visit these city states. But you’ve been to all of them, and the Moon. You’ve never been to Mars. You’ve always had a fear of flying, and as you aged, you thought, I’ll never see Mars.

But, wow, technology is amazing. So here you are, one hundred years old and retired, the prime of your life, really, off to Mars for the first time, at last.

All for just twenty-five dollars.

4

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