Fun and Games Dept

So Earl and I invested in the upgrade to first class for our trip to Hawaii. It’s like a drug; once you fly First Class, you’re addicted to First Class. Now when I fly for work or pleasure and unable to get into First Class I can be a little cranky. Premium Economy offers some consolation, but even then there’s always that horrible feeling of possibly ending up in double-digit row.

I clench my jaw and play a snob with the best of them.

This is our first time flying in the “Version 4” configuration of United’s First Class offering on the Boeing 777. The seating arrangement is odd. We are in row 3. The seating arrangement is 2-4-2. Seats 3A-B and 3K-L are facing the rear of the aircraft. Seats 3D-G are facing the front of the aircraft. The row is staggered so that the outer seats are parallel to the entertainment “wall” separating the inner seats from the previous row, which is facing the back of the aircraft. Our entertainment screens are back to back, and likewise for the outer rows. Because of this arrangement I can easily look the passengers in 3A-B, 3K-L directly in the eye. Not awful but unusual for an airline flight. Luckily, Jamie and Chris are closest to our sight line.

This direct flight from Chicago O’Hare to Honolulu is approximately nine hours long. We left the gate on time at 10:10 with wheels up at 10:40 Central. Wheels down will be around 15:15 Hawaii, which is four hours behind Central. For assistance with the mathematics, wheels down is 19:15 Central. In American civilian terms, that’s 7:15 PM. The entertainment offerings are robust enough to keep everyone entertained for such a journey. The system is easy to navigate with the seat mounted remote control.

Speaking of the seats, they are quite comfortable and perfectly capable of lying completely flat. Again, it’s easy for the outer seats to see what the inner seats are doing, and vice-versa, so there’s that small element of a lack of privacy, but the provided amenities are quite nice. The pillow is fluffy and the Saks Fifth Avenue blanket is impressively heavy.

Lunch was served around 11:15 Central, which is 7:15 Hawaii time. We were not presented with a menu but addressed by the crew by name, who then gave us a verbal list of choices. My husband had beef tips and I had a fish dish with lobster sauce. A salad with Sesame Ginger dressing was included, as well as a dinner roll but I didn’t get a roll for some reason. I didn’t bother to ask for one. Maybe it’s under my seat. For dessert a coconut flavored ice cream sundae was on tap and though the ice cream was very frozen and hard, it was delicious.

Overall I was hoping our First Class experience would include the “pods” we experienced flying LAX to ORD in 2019, but I feel like we are getting our investment’s worth with what we are experiencing today. There are much better offerings for First Class experiences out there, especially when flying internationally, but the airplane feels “fresh”, the crew has been top-notch and I’m pleased with the experience thus far. It makes logical sense that flying ORD to HNL is a Domestic Flight, but with half of the flight over the ocean and the entire flight longer than some international offerings from United, I would think this experience would be more in line with the Polaris International experience. However, I am without complaint. With four hours left to go on this flight I’m confident my satisfaction level will continue this pace and I recommend flying in the manner as your budget or points allow.

Blue skies!

I’m writing this from over the Grand Canyon. I can’t show a photo as I’m not in a window seat on this trip, so I’ll show you where we are.

I downloaded a bunch of television shows and movies to watch on my iPad Pro for this flight but I’m passing the time by playing on the Internet and listening to the live feed of Air Traffic Control from the cockpit.

Listening to ATC is making me yearn to be flying this airplane.

I’m excited about our vacation. This will be our second time to Hawaii and we are focusing on relaxing at the resort and living a carefree lifestyle for the next week. Getting away from the cold, even though it’s been a very mild winter thus far in Chicago, will be a nice change of pace. Seeing the sun will also be awesome; we’ve had clouds for the past two weeks.

I haven’t flown nearly enough this winter.

Mentally this vacation has been a “hump” in my timeline. I’ve been coasting through life a bit since the holidays, with the intent go get all focused again after a week on Oahu.

UA 219 is onboard a Boeing 777. The flight is nonstop ORD to HNL. This is the longest flight I’ve been on thus far. The crew is friendly and efficient, the experience is pleasant.

A wonderful start to this time away.

The greatest television show theme song of all time.

Shortly before his passing, when talking about his role as Major Roger Healey on “I Dream of Jeannie”, Bill Daily mentioned that Barbara Eden was one of the most even tempered person he had ever worked with, or for that matter, ever met. On the set of IDOJ she never got angry. Ever. Even when Larry Hagman was carrying on with his shenanigans all over the set (drinking champagne for breakfast, under the influence of drugs while filming, having hissy fits about the script, etc.), Barbara was the rock. Always steady. Always focused. Never angry.

I admire this about her.

I’ve been watching interviews featuring Barbara and she always has that pleasant demeanor and mischievous laugh she had way back in the 1960s. I had the opportunity to shake her hand once and she was very pleasant as she said hello, making her way down a line of fans during a “Nick At Night” roadshow in either 1989 or 1990.

I’m curious how she achieved this temperament. Was she just wired to be even keeled? Does she meditate? Do yoga? Chant? Float? What’s her secret?

I could use a few doses of this Edenism. I get way too passionately irritated about trivial things, especially things I can not change. “Set a good example for the world”, this is something I always say. I need to focus on that more.

But sometimes it can be so tiring.

No segue.

Back in 2000, Sony/Columbia Pictures had the black and white episodes of both “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” remastered and colorized. Like many colorization projects, some of the color selections for various shots are not accurate. On “Bewitched”, Endora’s robes are colored green and purple, which were absolutely accurate for the originally color later episodes of the series. But during the black and white years, Endora’s witchy robes were actually all shades of lavender.

Along similar lines, Barbara Eden’s Jeannie on “I Dream of Jeannie” actually wore a couple of different harem costumes that first year. In the colorized episodes they’re all shades of pink, but in actuality, one of the costumes was actually green, as shown in the picture above. There’s an early color episode from the second season where Jeannie wears the green outfit so we know it to be true, but the colorized first season episodes show that costume in pink. Next time you watched a colorized episode look for tassels hanging off her headpiece. The tassels were on the green costume, not the pink one.

She later wore the same costume when playing her dark-haired sister Jeannie.

When my husband and I decided to explore the “Fashion Outlets of Chicago” over the weekend we did what all men our age do, we headed straight for the food court so we could use the washroom. If you’re a middle aged guy, you’ll know that it’s important to know where the washrooms are in relatively short order upon coming in from the cold.

The grass in the photo above does not represent the washroom.

But the other thing you see in the photo above is a row of beer taps, and that’s because the “Fashion Outlets of Chicago” has a “pour ‘n go” beer and wine arrangement in the middle of the food court. That’s right, for X number of dollars you get a ‘pub card’ and you can pour yourself a beer and take it with you all over the mall. Looking for a way to deal with the crowds? Take the edge off with a good porter.

Not to discriminate, this location also offers wine along the same arrangement, so those with a wine bent can enjoy the same state of inebriation while spending money in the wide assortment of outlet stores throughout the location.

I was a little surprised by this but I happy to see the service was quite popular on a Saturday evening. Looking back, I’m surprised I didn’t have a beer while walking the mall but I was keenly aware of my calorie consumption of the day and wanted to save anything I had banked for later in the evening.

I don’t know that I’ve been to a mall that had beer and wine available in this fashion, most of the places I’ve been to have bars where you can enjoy a drink in between stores but you have to keep it in the confines of the bar itself, you can’t go walking about the mall with it. I like this concept though and I actually might go back to “Fashion Outlets of Chicago” to give this a try.

Cheers!

While here in North Carolina I haven’t done much on Twitter. This is neither good nor bad, it just is. When spending time with friends, even those who are very tech savvy (though they have an awful Internet connection through their only choice for Broadband), it doesn’t make sense to spent time online when you can interact with others in real time so I opted for that.

I did some walking through the woods in a nearby park, putting in about five miles both yesterday and today on the various hiking trails available. I was delighted to see markers like this along the trail, as I would do similar things along trails I forged through the woods behind the house during my childhood. Whatever agency is responsible for the park has done a fantastic job of marking the trails with reference markers, making it easy to navigate from one trail to another and from one entrance to another.

A quick search revealed this website for the park, Little River Regional Park and Natural Area.

It was good to walk through the woods for a while this weekend. The whispering of the wind through the pines and the relative stillness of the surroundings is a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the big city.

I could tell a GA airplane was practicing stalls in the area; the unmistakeable sounds of the engine gave it away but I wasn’t able to spot the airplane through the tress.

A good relaxing weekend.

I’m a little bit country, I’m a little bit rock ‘n roll.

So I’m aboard United flight 1863 from O’Hare to Raleigh-Durham. I’ve been on this airplane since 5:55 PM; I am writing this at 8:49 PM. We just leveled off at cruising altitude. There’s been a lot of snow blowing through Chicago this evening. It took my husband two hours to get home from O’Hare; even on the busiest days of traffic it will take an hour. He said the expressways and streets were a mess getting home.

O’Hare was closed for departures right after we boarded; they needed to plow the runways. It took some time to do that and then we spent quite a while being de-iced. I am always grateful for de-icing. I know what ice can do to an airplane, big or small.

Conditions at the field were at Low IFR at departure, the lowest I’ve ever experienced as a pilot or a passenger. I was fascinated by the whole procedure. I wish I was sitting up front aboard this Boeing 737-800. I would love to fly at least once up front on a commercial flight. Of course, I would love to be an airline pilot but if I’m going to do that I need to get more lift under my wings, the bank account in better order, and most important, my ass at full throttle.

It’s doable. I can do anything.

I always enjoy this trip to visit friends in Durham. It’s a romping good time for all involved and a great opportunity to break away from the snow and cold we Yankees endure this time of year. I’m not sure I could live in what is traditionally called “the South” but it’s fine to visit once in a while.

A few of the pilots in the flying club have moved up to twin engine or turbo engine airplanes, a couple have moved up to business jets. I find this inspiring. I’m not in the cockpit nearly enough in the winter, so I’m going to have to make up for that this spring and summer.

In the meanwhile I’ll enjoy this flight to RDU. Any seat on an airplane is an awesome seat. And, just for the record, I’m in the premium steerage cabin this trip.

I couldn’t bring myself to explore the double digited rows.

I’m sitting at O’Hare awaiting my flight to Raleigh-Durham. I’m visiting friends during this long weekend. It’s an annual event. We always have a great time.

I’m curious to see if my flight actually gets out of here. It’s snowing quite hard with the promise of sleet and the like and the boards are showing many canceled flights.

So far, so good. ORD is showing IFR with one mile visibility.

I’m not in the front seat on this flight but any flight is an awesome flight.