Sunday, March 4, 2012
Lost Cool, Charisma, and Charm
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Mask's Off!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Are You Secure?
Flying into the Sacramento airport the other day, it dawned on me. I can just look at the screen for my name, drive off in a car, and GET STOPPED. There is always a security guard or you gather your keys at the check out counter. The rental car agencies have done a pretty good job at securing their prize investments. The vehicles are well protected and the policy seems streamlined and simple. Get stopped by a security gate or go retrieve your keys by flashing your drivers license. Simple right? Wrong.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Valentine's Day Love
Today I received a link on Facebook and it read, "Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite." This was posted by the most amazing Sheila Page-Bottorff, my wife, my Valentine, my everything. As this post signifies the last personal post under my Travel Blog, I wanted to make it special for the special person in my life.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Brush off The Dust
Friday, March 26, 2010
Windshield to Debris Field
on the Camry that Sheila used to drive. The car goes to Courtney in a
couple of weeks. As I sit here and ponder the thought that Courtney,
my oldest daughter is beginning to drive, what could be going through
the mind of a teenager in this era of super technology. Facebook,
Myspace, Blogging, Texting...whatever it is; are kids doing this while
driving? I have researched many publicized events in which teenagers
texting while driving causes much grief for family and friends. If
Nancy Grace ever gets a hold of it, never mind the family grief, but
drag the entire continent through the grief as well. The likes of
Oprah, local TV, 60 Minutes and many other outlets have explored the
texting and driving phenomenon. The reason I sat down to write this
blog was not driven politically, out of frustration with rules, or any
other reason other than just simple love for my girls. Don't get me
wrong, the texting and driving laws should be an effective way to
deduce the likelihood of a catastrophe, but is texting all that kids
do? What about rushing to school? What about eating breakfast? What
about friends in a car? What about a bad day at school which pro-
generates homeward bound frustration? What about the iPod connection
failing? What about the assignment they missed and all they could
think about was just finishing it and not the red light they just ran?
What about the billboard marketing a new Disney movie that they just
had to go and see? What about the wind that blows so hard it jostled
the car? What about the accident they just got in because......?
There are many questions that any normal parent would think the moment
their own child takes the keys to the car. You can only hope that you
don't get a call from authorities asking you to come and identify your
child's body in a debris field caused by an accident that occured with
them in it.
Some simple steps to help avoid a mishap can simply start with wide
open communication. Know what your child does. Know what their intent
is when they go somewhere. Know what their destination will be. Know
who their friends are and who they hang out with. Know their frame of
mind prior to them leaving. Triggering on Rushing is a trademark item
that I teach as a result of Safestart, but do kids do it? Are they
under tremendous amount of pressure? Yes! Have frequent discussions
with your child to better understand their frame of mind. You can
only hope that it won't be your last conversation.
In exactly two weeks Courtney takes the keys to the old family Camry.
She will be 16....where did the time go? With all my will, I have to
restrain fear and hope that Sheila and I have done a good enough job
for Courtney to think on her own. I think a tall tale sign is when
she constantly points out my distractions while I drive myself. It
sounds funny. But seriously, I get a bit defensive, but I know she is
absolutely right! So I just (mostly) bow my head and say alright,
alright. But she has been able to communicate like this because we do
it with her, but it is only fair that we behave as we want our kids to
behave, because the last thing we want is to have our kids peer
through the windshield and the last thing they see is a debris field.
I love you Courtney! Please take the wheel to your car and know that
your mom, sister and I love you and always want you to return home
safely just as you left it.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Three Awe Shits
no big deal. They couldn't find an authorized gate agent to operate
the jet way. Who was the person that shut the door on the outside.
They are authorized to shut an aircraft door but not authorized to
operate a jetway? How unproductive is that. Maybe that's why they
filed bankruptcy..... Hmmm???
Okay the second time was in Columbus, Oh. This is the lowest form of
wierdness I have seen US Airways pull. There was an odd flight
attendant with an incredible Napolean Syndrome, except she wasn't
short. She wanted everyone to know that she had authority. I mean,
gosh! Let me give you an example. I flew first class on the way to
Columbus and that flight was very comfortable and the service was
impecable! But, as the old addage goes, one awe shit takes away alot
of atta' boys. I digress, the return trip is the second awe shit in
this series of awe shits. The flight attendant I started explaining
about was stopping in every aisle forcing everyone to push their bags
in "or else!!". Now this is where it goes crazy! She cannot manage to
get the dinger sound to work to get the other flight attendant's
attention. She is in the rear of the aircraft and she was trying to
hail the front of the aircraft. The dinger didn't work. She came all
the way to the front of the aircraft and banged on the cockpit door,
they unlatched the lock to the cockpit and she literally screamed to
the pilot that the overhead dinger didn't work. It all sounds so
silly, but I was there! I was in my assigned seat, 5F (no upgrade
this time). The pilot calmed her down and told us we would be delayed
until they can get the dinger to work. 30 minutes later they still
can't get the dinger to work. But the pilot came on the sound system
and said very sarcastically, "we have other means of communication
within the aircraft!". Almost to say to the flight attendant, SHUT
UP! But of course he was politically correct with his calm submissive
self towards the antichrist of type A personalities.
So the third Awe Shit happened today on my way to Ohare, my second
least favorite airport; Denver International is my least favorite.
The aircraft secondary electrical system didn't work. I know that 72
degrees isn't stifiling, but put 143 people into an Airbus 320 and it
becomes a sauna. The AC didn't work without the secondary electrical
system. Well, guess what else doesn't work without that SES? The
engines won't rotate to start, so they have to roll the cart that
blows air into the engine to get it started. This really didn't annoy
me, because it has happened on several occasions. What really did
annoy me is a passenger in my row who didn't get upgraded to First
Class. I didn't either, but I don't let the whole world know I am
pissed because I didn't recieve an upgrade. She had the "whole world
owes me" attitude. I don't know what causes that kind of attitude but
I promise all of my readers to never act that way! If I do please let
me know!
So no matter what happens, if you are just glistening for doing
something so great and awesome, it can be overshadowed by just one awe
shit. You can have many great accolades, but one awe shit will delete
them forever. Why? It really doesn't matter why, but just remember,
people have a tendency to remember the bad things you have done
regardless of all the good. Don't leave this world with a bad taste
in everyone's mouth. US Airways has so much to give and learn, but I
see the same problems over and over again. I don't know if they can
recover from so much shit. No pun intended.
Sent from Tim's iPhone