Scout’s Tips~ Passenger’s Bill of Rights

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Scout

With all of the things that have been going on in Dusty’s life from sick cats to photo contests and overtime at her work on top of that, Scout thought it would be a good time for one of his columns to give Dusty a tiny break.

The nice thing is that travel has been in the news lately. I don’t mean the travel alert to watch out for terrorists or the Aruba murders. I’m referring to the Airline traveler’s Bill of Rights.

This little bit of regulation came to be because of the severe abuses that airlines have reaped on their customers over the past 10 plus years or so. It all seemed to start back in 1999 when Northwest Airlines stranded a plane full of passengers on the tarmac for 8 horrible hours without food , water or working toilets.  It’s like being trapped in a cramped tin can. If we treated animals that way the ASPCA or maybe even PETA would be knocking down doors to bring charges of animal cruelty.

The worst part was that this wasn’t an isolated incident. It happened again in December 2006 but it was American Airlines this time.  Not to be out done Jet Blue held up 10 flights in February of 2007.

Still the worst situation involved a diabetic passenger who ran into significant blood sugar issues while trapped on a stranded plane with no food. When the flight attendants finally realized that the passenger was in extreme danger they relented and supplied a “snack” tray but charged the passenger $4.00.

At some point a group of passengers sued the airlines for false imprisonment and a media storm ensued. The Airlines set up their own “voluntary  bill of rights” but with no enforcement teeth, things soon returned to business as usual for the airlines. Escalating fees and ticket prices added to the general arrogance of the airline industry pushed the traveling public to revolt. Finally the government stepped in.

The result: A series of pro-passenger Department of Transportation airline regulations with real enforcement tools. The goal is to decrease the number and length of tarmac delays, clearly explain/define tickets costs and extra fees and decrease the number of fliers being bumped for overbooked flights.

Under these new regulations if a boarded commercial plane sits on the tarmac for more than 4 hours, the airline will be charged up to $27,500 per passenger. ( Currently this only applies to international flights.)

Airlines will now have to display or post in a prominent position all bag, meal, cancellation and any other formerly hidden fees on their websites. They will have to compensate bumped passengers at least double the price of their ticket (provided the ticket is less than $650.00)

In January passengers will be allowed to change their reservations within 24 hours  of booking without having to pay a penalty fee.

And of course, baggage fees. With the new rules airlines will have to refund the baggage fees if they lose your luggage. Duh! Isn’t that just common sense? One caveat… if the luggage is only delayed this does not apply but if truly lost  at least you will not have paid the airlines  for the privilege of having them lose your luggage.

These rights are not due to law but are Department of Transportation regulations. Still for an industry that is notorious for poor customer service it is a step in the right direction. . It’s too bad doing the right thing doesn’t come naturally when it come to flying the not so friendly skys.

Don’t forget to Vote.This is your last chance to help out with the NH dream vacation!

http://www.nhdreamvacation.com/browse-and-vote/default.aspx?page=9

Remember the Cog Railway Photo Contest?

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I am so excited!

If you recall I sent in the #1 photo from my little poll. When I didn’t get any acknowledgement I called to see if they had received the picture. In my conversation I found out that I could submit more than one picture. So of course I had to send in some more. I decided to send in 3 to test the waters and if I didn’t have any luck try the next 3.

I kept checking the web site and they never posted anything new from anyone, not just me. The same pictures from when I first looked into this contest were the only ones on the web page.

Anyway, I got busy and forgot to check for a couple of weeks. Tonight I was just killing some time and I thought , gee I haven’t been to the Cog railway web site lately and to my surprise and absolute delight there were my pictures! Not just one, but all 3!

Here’s the link. Please check it out! www.thecog.com

That takes you to the home page. On the right side of the page under Cog Events is the link to the photo contest. Click on that link and it takes you to the rules and on the right side is a photo of the Mount Washington Hotel. Under that photo is the link to the 2011 entries.

I tried to post a direct link but it didn’t work. So you’ll have to follow the steps to get there.

I read the rules again and all it says it that the winner will be chosen at the end of the season. I’m not sure but it sounds like the contest goes to the end of the year. In any case I guess we wait again. But I am thrilled that they even posted the pictures. I hope that means that I am in the running.

I wonder if I should send the rest? I’ll have to think about that. 🙂

Smokey Update

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Editor in Chief

Editor-in-Chief  Rocky here with  an update on Smokey. We got the blood tests back and there were some elevated enzyme levels. Basically Smokey is showing signs of possible kidney issues. He is not in renal failure but there is cause for concern. More tests are underway but the Vet is hopeful that the progression can be delayed with a change of diet. That means a “prescription” diet, no more off the shelf cat food.

If the condition is confirmed then there is no cure. It is just the natural progression of old age in male cats and all we can hope to do is delay the inevitable. At this point we don’t know if he has one year or 10 years but at least we have identified the problem early.

Smokey

As the results of the additional tests come in (probably next week) we will update you here. Even though Smokey doesn’t hold any “position” like Rocky does, he is still an important part of the Dusty Roads Family and we will continue to share developments.

Irene, The Aftermath

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Taunton MA had it easy. A few down trees and some short-lived power outages. My lights, cable, phone, and internet were all up and running most of Sunday even during the height of the storm. No food spoiling in the fridge or defrosting in the freezer.

My gas and hot and cold running water were uninterrupted. I am very, very lucky.

Parts of Massachusetts are still without electricity 3 days after the storm. Some people are even being told that service won’t be restored until possibly the weekend. None of the other utility  services (cable, internet and VOIP phones)  can come back online until the electricity is back on. National Grid says they have crews helping from as far away as Colorado. Funny thing, nobody has seen them. I saw 1 National grid truck today ( Wednesday) and I drove from Taunton to Plymouth then explored the Plymouth waterfront before driving to Hingham. That drive took me through multiple communities.

But I’m sure all the football fans will be relieved that Foxboro Stadium, Home of The New England Patriots has their power back so the game can go on, even if you can’t watch it because your power is off so your TV won’t work.

I drove around a little on Monday too just to see what I could  see. I traveled through Easton, Brockton and Raynham., areas that I know were hard hit and without power.  No National Grid trucks in sight on Monday.

Work was testament to the areas hit hardest. Over and over the technicians went to calls of down wires and out of service customers only to find live electrical lines lying on the ground. There was nothing they could do. We have to wait for the electric company.

Remember the old TV show “Car 54 where are you?”  I think the title of this show is “National Grid , Where are you?” I can’t help wondering what it would be like if the storm had blown in with the power that was originally predicted.

There’s still a few more days for voting in the NH dream Vacation Photo Contest. Remember you can vote once per day. Thank you! 🙂 http://www.nhdreamvacation.com/browse-and-vote/