Hefty Fines in the Wind

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Mother Nature battered the northeast a week ago and made travel a nightmare.

For passengers on 6 Jet Blue flights and  1 American Airlines plane, the travel nightmare was magnified when the planes they were on were diverted to Hartford, Connecticut.

Storm At Airport

The planes ran out of snacks and bottled water and the toilets backed up long before they were in a position to deplane the passengers. One the news a tape was played of a Jet Blue Pilot begging for help to get his passengers off the plane and into the terminal. It was approximately 7 hours before the nightmare on the planes came to a close but even then the passengers were still stranded in the terminal.

Under the so-called tarmac delay rules put in place last year, both airlines, could be slapped with a fine of $27,000 per passenger, MarketWatch reported, a whopping $18,900,000 for JetBlue alone.

As I watched the news story I was horrified for the passengers. They mentioned a diabetic passenger in distress and a wheel chair bound passenger along with passengers with babies and small children.

But once the dust settled and I tried to look at the situation objectively I think there are some mitigating factors. First and foremost was the severity of the storm, a record-breaking early season storm. This brutal weather forced the flights to be diverted to  Bradley International which was experiencing weather related issues of their own such as intermittent power outages which  caused delays in deplaning.

These planes were not the only planes diverted. In a report I saw over 17 planes were diverted to Bradley pushing it over its capacity to handle the additional traffic along with planes that were scheduled to land there anyway.

Although the Passenger Bill of Rights  will fine the airlines, it sounds to me as if some of the blame in this case falls on the airport and a large part on Mother Nature. The pilots managed to land their planes safely in adverse conditions but then they were at the mercy of the airport  and it sounds like the airport let them down, probably through no fault of their own after… all there was a blizzard going on.

Maybe better plans can be put in place to handle such circumstanes. After all, this is New England and storms do happen. We are not even into “winter’ yet so let’s hope this isn’t a taste of things to come.

http://www.ctnow.com/news/hc-jet-blue-transcripts-1101-20111031,0,7874559.story

Christmas decorations already?

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What happened to Thanksgiving? Wasn’t Halloween only last week? The candy is still on sale!

I drove by the Taunton Green and they are stringing the Christmas lights already.  Since Taunton is known as The Christmas City the display each year is quite elaborate so I’ll give them a little slack.

However I ran into Walmart to pick up a few things and there by the door was a fully decorated Christmas Tree! Inside the store you could shop to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock.

Maybe it was the early snow storm that swept through New England but I still think the Christmas trees and decorations should go up the day after Thanksgiving….one holiday at a time! 

Of course  if retailers must get ready for the season before Thanksgiving, could’t we have a week or two after Halloween to finish eating our candy before we start to think of cookies and milk for the Jolly Old Elf?

Merry Thanksmas everyone. Have a Bootiful day 🙂

A cat Named Autumn

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As you know from my post yesterday I’m being kept quite busy trying to wrap up the pet calendar. It seems that dog owners are more willing to have their pet photographed than cat owners but I do want to include some cats. To that end I had pictures of my 2 if no one stepped up.

I took  the last dog for the calendar on Halloween. Maddie is a beautiful chocolate color and a sweet, sweet dog.

Maddie

After  Maddie, I headed over to my friend with the cat. This cat is an indoor /outdoor cat and as anyone who is a cat owner can tell you, cats have a mind of their own. Miss Autumn was out “catting around” and wouldn’t come home. Who can blame her? It was beautiful day.

I waited until around 4pm when the light began to fade but still no cat. I agreed to come back the next day and try again. That morning I got a call. The cat was in the house and would not be let out until after the photo shoot. No getting away this time.

I thought my cats were great subjects. When the camera comes out they drop everything and look at it. But Miss Autumn was a real Diva. What a little ham. She even let me use “fill flash” without blinking something I can never get away with when I try taking my cat’s pictures.

Autumn

I’m trilled Autumn is going to be in the calendar. Now comes the really hard part…Picking the pictures to use.

I think I’m going to the dogs

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Last spring I was musing that I needed a photo project for the year (like a picture a day wasn’t enough of a project).

Chase

 I said maybe I should make a calendar…maybe a pet calender. Little did I know what was going to be involved. It’s a good thing my friend Mya is right there to keep me motivated.

Marvin

I bring this up now because it’s crunch time. I’m still taking pictures of pets for the calendar and it’s November 1st! I still have  to organize and edit the final pictures and get them to the processor.

Sophie

Then when I have the first copy I need to take the orders.

Daisey and Jane

It doesn’t sound like much but it seems to have bogged down a bit. I would prefer the pet owners pick their favorite pictures but only one person has been able to decide.

Tasha

In any event, it has been an adventure but I’m glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m not sure how much time the final stages will take but it’s possible that it could impact this space if I run short on time. Just a little “heads up”.

Tyler

If you want to check out some of the pet portraits they are on my photo website  www.dustyroadsphotos.com

Rocky

Still more pets to come and many, many more shots!

Ode to Halloween

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 Halloween’s a special time. It’s the time when the veil between our world and the afterlife is thinnest according to Celtic tradition.  We dress in costume to fool the ghosts and ghouls who walk the earth for one night each year.  So don your cloaks, get out your wands and keep you black cats close. 

 
 
　
LITANY FOR HALLOWEEN
 
From ghoulies and ghosties,
Long-leggety beasties,
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us.
-Anonymous
 

　

THE GHOST OF A FLOWER

“You’re what?” asked the common or garden spook
Of a stranger at midnight’s hour.
And the shade replied with a graceful glide,
“Why, I’m the ghost of a flower.”

“The ghost of a flower?” said old-time spook;

“that’s a brand-new one on me;

I never supposed a flower had a ghost,

Though I’ve seen the shade of a tree.”

-Anonymous