A Southwest airlines plane landed at LaGuardia airport yesterday without the landing gear locked in place. 12 people suffered minor injuries when the nose gear collapsed on landing.
That’s a lot worse than soggy luggage! I’m glad the injuries were minor!
One of the things that fell by the wayside as I made adjustments to my new life in Real Estate was my photography. I was so caught up in studying for my test and getting trained in my new duties that I stopped going out to shoot. After I passed my test I realized I hadn’t even had the camera in hand for a month! The last time was while I was in Seattle the beginning of June. That is unheard of for me! Since I bought the camera I have tried to take a least a few pictures every day.
I had a photo shoot scheduled to take senior pictures in Brewster Gardens in Plymouth July 8 so I dusted off the camera and lenses and headed to the Gristmill Pond in Plymouth to shake off the rust before the shoot.
When I got there it was sunny and the sky was blue, a beautiful day. The breeze off the ocean was keeping the temperatures down so I was expecting great light by the time of the appointment at 6 pm.
I pulled into the pond to see Mr & Mrs Majestic (your remember them, the swan couple) escorting one juvenile swan. I don’t know if they are still cygnets if they have their white feathers, but they were putting on a parade up and down the pond…a perfect photo op.
I hopped out of the air conditioned car, pulled out the camera and started taking pictures. It felt great to have the camera back in hand. I noticed the lenses kept fogging up. I expected that when I first stepped out of the car but after awhile the temps should have equalized. That’s when I noticed the blue sky was gone and the fog was rolling in off the ocean.
I wandered back to the car to remove the UV filter and of course the swans came swimming back again the minute I walked away.
I slammed the trunk of the car and ran back for more pictures when it hit me…where were my car keys?….I’d just had them. I used them to open the trunk.
I looked under the car. I checked my pockets. I looked in the car windows…nothing. Then it hit me. I must have dropped them in the trunk while I was rummaging in the camera bag!
Oh boy, I’m really stuck. I have AAA but my cell phone is also locked in the car. Where’s a thief when you need one. I started asking anyone in the area who had a truck if they had any wire or anything I could use to unlock the car. No luck or maybe no one was willing to admit they could break in.
Meanwhile the clock was ticking down to my appointment.
Finally I walked to the Old Grist Mill and begged a phone call. AAA agreed to send someone but gave an ETA of 6:30. I couldn’t even call my appointment to tell them I’d be late because the phone # was on my cell phone which was locked in the car!
I know I was looking like a crazy woman. I was sweating and red faced because of the humidity. If it’s one thing that makes me crazy , it’s being late!
Well as they saying goes, all is well that ends well. AAA arrived early and had me into the car and trunk in minutes. They were awesome. I made it to Brewster Gardens 10 minutes early and the photo shoot went off without a hitch.
This is an example of the beautiful results. 🙂
The soft light from the clouds and fog that rolled in gave me wonderful exposures and my client and I had a great laugh over my panic.
My traveling days are behind me for awhile I’m afraid. Even though my new job gives me 3 weeks vacation it will take awhile to “earn” the time. Plus all this running around from Alaska to Seattle and back again has taken a bite out of my travel reserve. It needs to be replenished.
The new company did reimburse me for my travel expenses when I went out for the company introduction but they don’t cover Pet Sitting costs any more than they would cover child sitting.
As you probably know the Northeast has been in the grip of a heat wave.
It is actually the 2nd heat wave of the summer. I was doing my practical training when the first one hit and driving home on RT 128 the AC in the car died. Of course it gave up the ghost when I was stopped in a 6 mile traffic jam in 90+ degrees and the sun beating down and not a whisper of a breeze. Needless to say the car went into the shop the next day and came out 3 days later with my wallet $700 lighter.
But, I could keep penguins happy in the car now and believe me, I was very thankful this past week when we had 6 days of 90+ weather and high, high humidity.
I told my Florida friends that we were experiencing the South Florida weather they get in August!
During all this I was studying harder than I’ve ever studied in my life. My new job requires that I have a real estate license. They hired me in good faith counting on me to get the license ASAP. I was hearing horror stories from everyone about the test and most people that had taken the “New, Revised and Tougher” Massachusetts exam had failed the first time. I would just die if I failed! OMG that was the stuff of nightmares for me so in a panic I spent every spare moment studying and taking practice exams.
On July 3rd I sat for the exam and to my great relief, Passed! So I am now a licensed real estate sales person in Massachusetts. YAY ME!
My whole mind and body gave a sigh of relief and I felt like I could look around and take stock of where I was for the first time since we’d left for Alaska in May.
My new duties let me work from home. Nice! I can save on gas and wear and tear on my old jalopy. I am also finding that I have a lot more time since I’m not spending hours commuting each day.
Although I am a “Night and Weekend” worker I am now working 8 hour shifts instead of 10 so I only have 2 days off in a row instead of 3, so mini vacations like I took last year are probably not an option, at least not right now.
So the bottom line is that I’m not sure what topics I’ll be covering until my next vacation. I hope little local jaunts and observations won’t be boring for anyone. As for my next vacation…well it’s just a germ of an idea …but I’m looking into Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.
At this point it’s just an idea. I need to work out cost and logistics to see if it’s feasible. I’m still looking for a vacation that will let me get that icon bear or elk photo. So far the best vacation for wildlife has been the South Dakota vacation we took. I’m sure there will be more. I just have to find them. 🙂
Dear Southwest Airlines
I’ve heard so many good things about you. You have fun cabin attendants, open seating, Early Bird Check-In, Priority boarding and BAGS FLY FREE!
Recently I had the opportunity to fly across the country with you round trip. Yup all the way from Providence, Rhode Island aka T.F. Green to Seattle and back again. Everyone was very pleasant, smiling and nice.
I changed planes in Baltimore on the way to Seattle. While I was waiting for boarding I happened to look out and it was pouring. Torrential rains were coming down. I commented to one of my fellow passengers “Wow, look at the rain!” We stood at the window watching the uncovered baggage carts wheel out onto the tarmac and bags get loaded into the plane. Neither of us thought anything of it at the time but when we arrived at Seattle we were greeted by our luggage that was so wet that each bag left a puddle on the baggage carousel. I heard a lot of grumbling.
When the cabby loaded my bag into his trunk he gave me a look and pulled out a newspaper to line the trunk before he put the bag in. I was very embarrassed.
All of my clothing was soaked and had to be dried at my hotel! Maybe the rain surprised your baggage handlers as much as it had surprised us but here’s the thing, on my return trip I had a change of planes in Baltimore again.
You won’t believe what happened…another torrential rain storm swept through.
I wasn’t concerned. I was sure the soaked bags from the outbound trip was just a fluke. I fly often and have never had a problem like this before in spite of rain or snow storms.
Nope. When I arrived at T.F. Green once again the bags, and not just mine, were soaked to the point of having water drip and run out onto the baggage carousel. As if that wasn’t bad enough my bag had the bottom stabilizer broken off so you could no longer stand the bag upright and there were 2 holes were the stabilizer had been anchored. The holes did a fine job of draining the water.
I can only say I am not sure I saved any baggage fees by flying Southwest. I may not have paid the $25- $35 baggage fee of the other airlines but it cost me $89.00 to replace the damaged suitcase as well as the aggravation of drying my clothing in the room and having to wash even clean, but soaked, clothes when I got home.
Clearly bags fly free on Southwest but in the words of Rodney Dangerfield they “Don’t Get No Respect”.
Regards
A Dissatisfied Customer
(Photos courtesy of the internet)
It was the last day of “Boot Camp” (the company’s term for this week of training.) We covered things like benefits, expense accounts and had our pictures taken for the company web site. We also had our “Graduation Celebration”.
I carried my camera to work this time. I wanted one last chance to document this little corner of Seattle.
I wanted to see the “Great Wheel”, a gigantic Ferris wheel on the Waterfront and visit the Public Market aka Pike Place Market known for it’s “flying fish” but didn’t get there.
All this walking had brought on a good case of blisters again and it was a different pair of shoes this time. No idea why I am suddenly plagued with blisters. The best I could manage was a hobble to the drug store for first aid supplies. But the building that housed the drug store was eye catching with decorative trim around the top.
If I’d had more time here’s some of the things I would have liked to do.
Maybe I need to add Seattle to my list of places to my vacation bucket list.
A view of the Space Needle from under the mono rail track.
Seattle from my hotel room window.
And one final view of the Space Needle