Clear Skies Ahead

Posted on January 21, 2014January 21, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I’ll be heading to San Diego soon. It’s just a quick business trip. I haven’t said much about it here because there wasn’t any planning. The company told me when to fly out, where I would stay, what meetings to attend and when to come back. I would have loved to extend my time there for some sight-seeing but I’m still squaring away my new budget and felt the added expense would be more stressful than the time away would be worth.

I will be flying Southwest Airlines out of Providence. Most of my colleagues are flying JetBlue out of Logan in Boston. I wasn’t expecting the reaction from my co-workers when I attended a recent meeting at my office. My boss made an announcement cautioning all to be prepared for anything from delays to getting snowbound but some of my friends chipped in with “Or going to the wrong airport”.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/13/travel/southwest-plane-wrong-airport/index.html

Maybe you heard about it. On Sunday, Jan 12 a Southwest Airlines Jet carrying 124 passengers landed at a little Missouri airport about 7 miles from their destination of Branson. The landing was without mishap even though the little regional airport isn’t set up for larger jets and the runway is only 3,738 ft. compared to the runway at Branson which is 7,140.

The pilots recognized the shortness of the runway and managed to brake in time to prevent disaster but to add insult to injury the flight attendant announced “Welcome to Branson.” Then, after a few moments, the pilot came on and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry to tell you we landed at the wrong airport.'”

Whew…if I were that pilot my face would be so red!

To their credit, Southwest didn’t just apologize for the inconvenience, they put their money where their mouth is. Southwest issued this written statement: “We have since reached out to each customer directly to apologize, refund their tickets and provide future travel credit as a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience.”

I’d take a landing at the wrong airport when no one is hurt in exchange for free tickets and credits any day. I’d consider it an “adventure.” 🙂 Maybe I’m a little nuts?

Anyway, the pilot and co-pilot, both very experienced officers are currently suspended while the incident is investigated. Airline insiders say these things do happen but very rarely so I guess my odds of getting a free ticket for a landing at the wrong airport just took a nose dive.

Housework , if you do it right, will kill you

Posted on January 13, 2014January 13, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Housework , if you do it right, will kill you. This is a quote from Erma Bombeck. Do you remember her? She was a very funny writer. February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996. She would take a look around her and see the humor in everyday lives. In the course of her career she wrote over 4000 newspaper columns about the life of a midwestern suburban housewife. Her columns appeared twice weekly and were read by 30 MILLION readers in 900 newspapers! She was also the author of 15 bestselling books, most collections of short stories about life in the suburbs.

What made me think about Mrs. Bombeck? Quite frankly, envy. I loved her writings. They always made me laugh. I remember one titled “The Grass is always greener over the Septic Tank”. You know, that’s true. We had a regular jungle of healthy green plants growing over ours behind our house. If only the lawn had looked half as lush.

Her stories were short, humorous and contained a kernel of truth. I never would have given that green grass a thought if she hadn’t pointed it out.

And what about those big holiday meals? For years I’ve been saying I cook all day and the meal is over in 30 minutes! Well Erma beat me to it. Her quote was :Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.

So here I am staring at the blank computer screen with a major case of writers block. I haven’t been anywhere lately, the weather has been horrible, (it’s raining cats and dogs and pitch black as I write this) and I just couldn’t think of a thing to say. In desperation I thought I could gain inspiration like another blogger friend did from the alphabet.

She wrote a blog post for each letter of the alphabet. Author Sue Grafton is wring a whole series of fictional crime novels known as the Alphabet Series (A is for Alibi, etc. ) so it seemed like a good idea but the only thing that I could think of that started with “A” was Arthritis. Unless you’re a doctor I would think that would be a very painful subject.

That’s when I thought of Erma Bombeck. How did she do it? How could she look around and see something not only worth writing about her everyday surroundings but write it with such humor. She could take everyday events and routines and have wonderful observations. Another example: My theory on housework is, if the item doesn’t multiply, smell, catch fire, or block the refrigerator door, let it be. No one else cares. Why should you?

My hat’s off to you Erma Bombeck. If I can be only half as original and funny as you in my feeble writing attempts I will consider myself a success!

Let’s Keep It On Ice

Posted on January 7, 2014January 7, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I’m sure I’ve been telling you how much I hate the cold. Now I learn that by hating the cold I’m not “socially acceptable”.

The “In” place to be these days is the Minus5 Ice Bar in New York. From what I’ve read the entire facility is carved from ice! Every bit including the walls, bar, glasses and even the seats. I guess you don’t have to worry about being on the “hot seat” if you hang at Minus5. I remember sitting in a walk-in freezer to drink a “yard” glass of beer once. I didn’t want the beer to get warm before I finished. Guess that’s not a problem here!

Now I’ve just heard that you don’t have to go all the way to New York if you live in Massachusetts. Not to be out done Boston has opened the Frost Ice Bar in Faneuil Hall. The Frost Bar keeps the temps at a brisk 21 degrees and for the low, low price of $18.99 per person you can enjoy the frosty ambiance. Drinks not included but they will give you a cape. 🙂

As if that wasn’t enough to keep Jack Frost happy there are several Ice Hotels. The closest one to the US is in located in our friendly neighbor to the north, Canada. The Hotel de Glace in Quebec City, Quebec is made of 500 tons of ice and 15,000 tons of snow and unlike Minus5 and the Frost Bar, this icy structure only lasts until it warms up. Once the temps start to rise the building melts away.

But before it turns into a puddle it could be an interesting place to stay. The hotel has about 3 dozen rooms, a Nordic area with tubs and sauna, an ice bar and a grand ice slide. Room temperatures range from 23 degrees to a balmy 27. But don’t worry about staying warm. Each guest is provided with a sleeping bag. The hotel is open from January to Mid-March depending, of course, upon the weather.

More ice hotels can be found in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Romania. I think I see a trend here.

Git ‘er Done!

Posted on January 1, 2014January 1, 2014 by Dusty Roads

It’s 2014! Just another day, but it’s not. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again many more times. The symbolic page turn of the calendar is a clean slate, a new beginning. I can’t help but feel filled with optimism and curiosity about how this year will unfold. The only thing I know for sure is that how I handle what 2014 brings will be up to me.

So as Larry the cable guy says…Let’s Git ‘er done! 🙂

Happy New Year!

Out with the Old

Posted on December 31, 2013December 31, 2013 by Dusty Roads

What changes do you plan to make in 2014?

I have to be careful when it comes to the “Out with the Old” adage as I could be included in the “Old” category and I have no intention of going out yet!

But I’ve been giving 2014 quite a lot of thought. 2013 turned out to be a year of changes and in some ways I haven’t fully adapted to all of them so I think 2014 will be a year in which to get my routines established again. That would include everything from work to finances to personal challenges.

Have you noticed …I haven’t said the dreaded “R” word yet? That’s because it is my humble opinion that calling challenges set on New Years “RESOLUTIONS” is asking for failure. A resolution is a pledge of sort..I resolve to do this and this. So what happens when you screw it up, like we all seem to do. Most of the time that’s it. Done! Made a resolution and broke it , end of story.

But what if I/we think of them as goals or challenges. A goal is something that you work toward until it’s achieved. You expect there might be a few set backs but that’s where the challenge comes in.

Sports examples come to mind. The New England Patriots start the season with the ultimate goal to win the Superbowl but each week the goal is to just win that game. Sometimes they fall short but the next week they are right out there again trying to “kick butt” for that Superbowl spot…one game at a time.

They didn’t “resolve” to win the Superbowl and then give up as soon as they lost a game. That’s why whatever I/we want to accomplish in 2014 should be a goal and a challenge not a resolution. And if I don’t meet that goal, well I’ll be a better person for trying.

An example….weight loss (ugh). Lets say I resolve to lose 50 lbs in 2014. The first time I “pig out” at the local Pizza Joint I’ll just give up. I blew it. Look at that, resolution broken. But if I say I have a goal to lose 50 lbs, that’s only 1 lb. per week. That’s like the 1 game a week for the Pats. Suddenly it’s not so overwhelming. And if I only lose 30 lbs? Well, I may not have hit the goal but I’m still 30 lbs thinner than when I started.

So that’s my approach to resolutions. Goals and Challenges. Tomorrow I’ll share some specifics. Maybe we can encourage one another to meet the goals we set for a fresh new year.