Ponderings and Musings

Once upon there was a place in Oriskany, New York called Trinkaus Manor. I never went there but I drove by at Christmastime every year that Trinkaus Manor was around. They called the display “Winter Wonderland.” It was awesome and so intense that it increased their monthly electric bill by $6000. Follow the link in this paragraph for a bunch of photos or just live with this little tease (I recommend the link).

Image courtesy of trinkausmanor.com

When Trinkaus Manor burned down, many thought it was the end of the Winter Wonderland display. Luckily the decorations survived and were donated to the City of Rome, where they live on year after year. Earl and I just drove by the big “Merry Christmas” sign. It’s installed on the side of the parking garage facing Fort Stanwix. Down the street are a bunch of the other decorations that used to make up the Winter Wonderland.

Here’s a little tease.

Seeing this display year after year always help me get into the festive spirit. I’m “feeling it” now.

So I was going to write a blog entry about the fast food workers that were striking in cities across the United States today. I wrapped the blog entry around an anecdote about a Burger King in Acton, Mass. that was self-serve was back in 1989 but the whole thing wasn’t going where I wanted it to so I just bagged the entry.

So what was I trying to say? I don’t know. Work hard. Fight for what you believe in. But always keep in mind that you can always be replaced by automation. Small chunks. Grow in a steady, upward motion.

See? I got nothing.

So this is Gal Gadot, the actress selected to play Wonder Woman in the untitled movie coming out in 2015. Said movie also features Henry Cavill returning as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman.

I’m sorry, but I don’t see how Ms. Gadot can fill what many have affectionally called the “bullet tits”. Ok, maybe I’m the only one that’s called Wonder Woman’s costume that.

Here’s the thing, a lot of people remember Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman from the 1970s television show. That’s what the general public knows as Wonder Woman. Yes, she’s done a whole lot more in her comics, but when Joe Blow thinks of Wonder Woman, he thinks of Lynda Carter.

Someone needs to give Ms. Gadot directions to the closest Krispy-Kreme. Stat. Personally I don’t think this is a good choice but what do I know? I know that I would rather see Jennifer Lawrence or Lucy Lawless in the role, but again, what do I know?

I’ll probably wait until the end of 2015 when the movie comes out on iTunes.

So today is Thanksgiving in the United States. Today is the day when we take a moment to gather ourselves with those that we call family, enjoy a delicious meal in some manner and give pause to remember what we are thankful for. At least, that is my understanding of the holiday. Judging by some of the behavior observed through various media outlets, today is the day where one sits in the cold and waits for the closest big box store to open up many hours before Friday so customers can maul and punch one another in an effort to get the cheapest laptop on the block.

I am thankful that I am a Mac boy and I am thankful that I have the means to be a Mac boy.

Earl just prepared us a fantastic dinner that the three of enjoyed immensely. I helped with the preparations and I think I might have shocked the others in the house when I went ahead and washed the dishes by hand. Up until now I have always subscribed to one of the many things my mother taught me: “why wash the dishes by hand when you can run another load?”

In the photo shown above you might notice a beautiful centerpiece at the end of the table (because we’re cockeyed like that). The centerpiece is a lovely gift from our neighbor Bradley, who has a certain flair for that sort of thing. 

I am thankful for good hearted people in the world.

While Earl and I were shopping at Hannafords last weekend, picking up our Thanksgiving groceries and the like, we ran into our friend Dana and two of her daughters. Dana has always made me smile because she has such a zest for life. It’s been over a decade since we worked in the same place together and our career paths have taken us both in different directions, but Dana still makes me smile. Her positive nature is contagious.

I am thankful for positive people in the world.

I spoke to my Mom and my sister this morning before the dinner preparations were solidly underway. It was very good to talk to them, even if it was a brief conversation. Because of the whirlwind paced life we have been living lately, we haven’t seen them as much as we usually do.

I am thankful for family, both that which we’re born into and that which we choose.

For the first time in a few years I am off from work tomorrow. Work is “BAU”, or Business As Usual tomorrow, but I took a PTO day so that I could enjoy a long weekend for Thanksgiving this year. I’ve seen a couple of Facebook updates from co-workers and it looks like they are enjoying their Thanksgiving holiday.

I am thankful for co-workers that I feel comfortable enough to add as Facebook friends. While I’m at it, I’m thankful for my job as well. It’s a good gig.

All in all I think I’ve found the sweet spot in life. And it is my intention to stay in this sweet spot. After all, I am thankful for recognizing that life is what you make of it.

So the FCC is considering lifting the ban on cell phone conversations and texting during flights on your favorite airline. When I saw this story on the news this morning it made my heart rate jump up by 10 points (I was working out at the time).

Honestly, I only need one word as a response to this asshattery: “NO”.

I tweeted earlier that I would seek out the airline that does not allow cell phone calls during a flight. Texting wouldn’t really bother me, because that’s something that can be done in relative silence, but the phone calls? Absolutely not.

Let’s think about this for a moment. We have all been in that situation where a person is screaming some really inappropriate things into their phone whilst standing in the middle of the mall/grocery store/museum/restaurant/etc. Do we really want to be essentially trapped in a inhumane 17-inch wide space next to a person carrying on in such a manner for four hours? Really? People can’t even be bothered to take off their damn pajamas for a cross-country flight nowadays and we think that they’re going to be courteous on their telephones?

No.

This is such a bad idea. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am willing to pay extra to fly the airline that doesn’t allow cell phone conversations on their flights. I don’t care about mileage points, MQMs, MQDs or anything like that, if you can guarantee me a relatively peaceful flight without having to listen to someone yak on and on on their phone, I’ll pony up the extra dough to do so.

Ideally, this same airline would institute some sort of dress code, barring passengers in flip flops, sweat pants and clothing otherwise reserved for the bedroom. Am I snob? You bet your sweet beverage cart I am. If I wanted a MegaBus experience I’d take my chances and ride a MegaBus. If you want to yak on your phone, by all means get on a MegaBus. Ride it down the Onondaga Lake Parkway for all I care, but do not talk on your cell phone after the main cabin door has been closed on any flight I’m on. Oh hell no.

There’s a part of me that wonders if the cell phone carriers are pushing for this, because they’d have to charge more for these calls what with upgrading plane communication systems and the like.

Whatever the reason, the fact of the matter is this is a bad idea. It compromises safety (talking passenger doesn’t hear in flight safety information) and it compromises passenger comfort.

Do you want to talk on your phone during a flight? Feel free to do so, whilst sitting on the wing.

22 Nov 13 1317 ET Update:
Delta Air Lines has emphatically stated that they will not allow the use of cell phones for voice calls even if the FCC changes its policy. Congratulations, Delta, you officially get all of my airline travel budget.

Ultimately, it’s not the FCC’s job to control etiquette matters and I get it if they say the science is sound that a cell phone conversation isn’t going to crash an airliner. It’s ultimately up to the traveling public as to whether they want this sort of behavior on a flight and the airlines to provide a safe and relatively stress free atmosphere. I commend Delta for taking a stance on this.

So yesterday I wrote that I felt blue when I woke up in the morning and that I had put together a bucket list whilst sitting on the side of the road. As I was driving home from work last night, dodging horse-drawn buggies in the darkety-dark-dark (who’s idea was this commuting thing, anyway?), I got to thinking, “how much of a bummer is it that I was feeling blue this morning?” I started pondering about why I felt sort of glum and in doing so, pulled over to the side of the road again, whipped out my iPad and proceeded to sear my retinas with the blinding light in the darkety-dark-dark.

I was out of Amish range when I did this.

While I reviewed the bucket list I had made earlier in the day, a completely random thought crossed my mind: I hadn’t been working out regularly like I do during cycling season. Last year at this time I was going to the gym on a pretty regular basis, but I hadn’t really embraced the whole gym thing this year. I had too many excuses: I’m tired, I hate the gym and “beer!”. Well, excuses are just that, excuses, so before I merged back into buggy traffic (the clomping noise was heard off in the distance), I added one more thing to my bucket list: “Go to the gym!”. Now, that’s not really bucket list material, in my opinion, but it’s the thought that counts.

I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. last night and set the alarm for 5:30. Instead of screaming obscenities at Siri when she interrupted my dream about taking the Walton children out to supper in Plattsburgh (I know, what the hell?), I jumped out of bed, stretched a bit, had two cold glasses of water, donned my workout clothes and headed to the gym.

An hour later I had worked off a good chunk of calories, I felt motivated and I was ready to take on the day.

Because of my flirtation with the gym this morning I went into work with a clearer head. And because of this clearer head I was able to solve a programming issue that’s been bugging me for the majority of this week. And to make this whole thing even better, it’s lunch time and in no way do I feel tired!

The challenge will be to repeat the cycle tomorrow, but I’m feeling geared up and ready to do it all again.

And, as a bonus feature, I’ve already started setting the stage for one of my bucket list items.

Life happens. And it’s good.

Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) is coming to the end of a $60 million dollar renovation project. For the past several years, enhancements and upgrades have been made to this aging facility in efforts to beef up security, improve the traveler experience and to make the airport more attractive to airlines so that there will be more flights in and out of Central New York.

Among the improvements to the airport was the relocation of the security screening area. Formerly located in separate entrances of the two terminals (Terminals A and B, color coded orange and blue in honor of the Syracuse University Orange), the security screening area was moved to the center of the terminal building with a very impressive window looking out into the taxi- and runway areas. Further enhancements included spruced up bathrooms and the addition of Adirondack style rocking chairs in the common waiting area.

Since the combination of the two security screening areas negated the need for the two second-level “bridges” that led to the terminals, passenger traffic was reconfigured to use these former areas as terminal exits. Theoretically, it would have been more efficient for all involved to just abandon the bridge idea, put a set of stairs/escalator/elevators where the bridges used to be, since now passengers have to exit on the second floor, retrieve their luggage on the first floor and then most likely return to the second floor to take the bridge to the parking garage and lots. This would have effectively killed the food vendor that sits near the former terminal entrances on the second floor and probably created a lot of wasted space, and when you have as much extra space as Syracuse Airport does, you want to make things look vivacious.

I’m digressing.

One of the reasons for combining the security screening area into a common location was so that the TSA didn’t have to maintain two crews. With everything centralized they could concentrate on serving all of the passengers as efficiently as possible. However, since the old terminal entrances were repurposed as the new terminal exits, there was still a security concern, since you have to monitor the exit to make sure no one is sneaking in.

Enter, the exit portals.

These nifty looking contraptions have been installed at the terminal exit for both Terminal A and Terminal B. Notice that there is no human presence at these portals monitoring for unscrupulous activity. One of the things that I have always noticed about Syracuse Airport is that when you’re off the plane, no one cares about you. The signs leading you to your ground destination are nebulous at best, there’s no peppy music, the food offerings are crappy at best and now, there isn’t even a security guard at the exit to smile at. Instead, you’re greeted with a glass chamber showing an LED-lit green arrow.

You enter the portal. Notice the camera in the upper left hand corner. Up to six people are encouraged to enter the portal at the same time but that rarely happens, instead, people queue up like sheep and go through the portal one at a time.

Once you’re in the portal, a very robotic female voice will warble something about the door shutting behind you. The door shuts and you’re in the glass tube. Now, you would think that the door in front of you would immediately open, but it doesn’t. From my experience with these stupid things thus far, the time between being sealed in the canister and then being released is variable. I’ve counted the seconds. Sometimes it’s one, sometimes it’s three. I have a suspicion that it has something to do with the camera, because when I stuck my tongue out at the camera it took four seconds.

The pod or container has a distinct feeling of confinement. It’s too small for my comfort, despite the fact that it’s made of bulletproof glass. I doubt that six Americans could honestly fit in the thing, but the Powers That Be at SYR insist that’s what you’re suppose to do.

The robotic voice warbles something about the other door opening and it slides open, allow you to exit into normal society. Officials tell us that we haven’t been X-rayed or decontaminated in anyway, but I still think there’s something going on with that camera. Experience has shown that no money flies around and that there’s nothing removing bad gas that remains from the passenger that used the portal ahead of you.

Feel free to leave your calling card.

Because it takes several seconds to basically achieve the same action as walking through a doorway in the rest of the world, lines form at these exit pods. So, after several hours of sitting on a plane that was most likely running late, you get to wait in line again to be allowed to leave the airport.

Am I the only one that finds this insane?

My dear friend Arnie sent me a link to a story on NBC News about these new fangled exit doors at SYR. According to the airport commissioner, Christina Callahan, they are TSA approved and everything!

Christina Callahan, photo courtesy of Syracuse.com.

Quick aside, I don’t know Ms. Callahan in any way, nor do I know her background or qualifications or anything, but I don’t think that photo is very flattering. People say horrible things about her online, but I don’t know if they’re accurate or not.

Back to the NBC News Story. The thing about these doors being TSA approved is that the TSA has decided that monitoring terminal exits is not under their jurisdiction. Monitoring the exit doors is up to the airport, so I guess Ms. Callahan is free to do whatever the airport wants to do with its terminal exit doors, but I had a few concerns:

1. Since there’s no one around, how long will it take for the person watching the cameras to figure out that someone is stuck in the portal and then send help to retrieve this person.

2. If the power goes out at Syracuse Airport, does that mean we can’t leave?

3. If there is a fire, what do we do? I didn’t notice any alternate means of escape and these doors aren’t like a hotel lobby revolving door. There’s no pushing. No pulling. You are at the mercy of the robotic woman with the warbling voice.

Apparently these new portals are going to save the airport boatloads of money because they don’t have to pay a rent-a-cop $10-15 an hour. Unfortunately I haven’t found any information as to how much these exit contraptions cost, nor could I find manufacturer information on them. As a quick note, the other night it was observed that SYR is also saving money by releasing the Jetway operators for the night BEFORE the last flights have arrived. It’s easier just to have the passengers deplane via stairs and through the wind and rain anyway, why bother with the Jetway.

My whole take thing about these doors is this: they’re stupid. They’re a waste of money. They belong in prisons, not in airports. If you’re trying to make the airport seem like a warm, inviting place by putting in rocking chairs and the like, don’t make your passengers enter the land of the Salt City by putting them through a glorified decontamination chamber. It’s rude. It’s cold.

Sometimes it takes a little cash and little human interaction to make an airport seem like a friendly, inviting place.

So I’m sitting at a Starbucks in “Block e” in Downtown Minneapolis. It isn’t really that much different than any other Starbucks other than it’s the only one I could find in the immediate area that was actually open on a Sunday morning. Block e is framed by Hennepin Avenue, 1st Avenue North and 6th and 7th Streets. Looking out the front of this Starbucks I see the Target Center across the street.

My flight home isn’t until early this evening, so I’ll be heading to Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport around 15:30 or so. I’m thinking the flight scheduling could be dicey with the severe weather that is passing between here and home this afternoon. Who knows, I might be staying another night.

I am reviewing the relatively low key events of my long weekend and have decided that this vacation has been most satisfactory. I was able to slow my head down enough to actually think about a few extraneous things that had been niggling at my well-being over the past several weeks. I was able to enjoy sights, sounds and smells and be in the moment. While I loved being alone the entire weekend, there were some moments of loneliness and it was at these times that I was thankful for technology. FaceTime (and Skype and all those services) is a beautiful thing.

My feet are killing me. My left Achilles tendon is sore. I have a huge blister on the bottom of my right foot. But none of these things are debilitating, rather they’re just reminders of my adventures this weekend. Well, they also remind me that I’m 45 years old. Contrary to popular belief, I find it easier to ride my bike 80 miles than walk 15 miles a day. Maybe I’m just better built for cycling. But I’ll get over it and bet the better for it, and that’s what’s important.

* The observant reader will notice in the photograph above that I no longer have a mustache. During one of my light-rail train adventures yesterday a crazy man asked me if I was a rapist. Concerned that my small mustache may have led to this extra dose of crazy from this crazy person, I decided to shave off my mustache to see if another crazy person asks me the same thing. This is a completely random set of occurrences that actually have nothing to do with one another, but there’s a bit of comedic value in there and I thought I’d embrace it.

So in Minneapolis they have a light rail transit system. It’s like a subway but above ground for the most part. Similar systems are found in St. Louis and Phoenix. They are actively expanding the system with a line to St. Paul opening early next year.

The rules of the rails are simple: $1.75 per ticket unless it’s rush hour, then it’s $2.25. You buy a ticket at a station and then just get on the train, there’s no turnstiles, no gates. Trains randomly have security folks asking to see tickets and the like. Tickets expire a few hours later, so theoretically you can get multiple rides out of one ticket. The ride from the Mall of America to downtown Minneapolis, basically the length of the blue line, is about 35 minutes.

I just rode the train to MOA and I followed the rules, like most everyone else on the train did. Two security guards came through and wanted to see my ticket. Fair enough. Across the aisle were two folks that didn’t have tickets. They would be fined. To write up the ticket, the officer asked for their IDs. They didn’t have any identification on them. He asked their names. The woman had recently changed her name. It was three words. When asked how to spell her name, she couldn’t. She didn’t know how to spell her name. The officer accused her of using a fake name and she said that she wasn’t, she just couldn’t spell anything. She didn’t know how to read. She did know her birthdate, though.

The guy with her gave his name and birthdate and unfortunately, couldn’t spell his name either. He didn’t how to spell.

Since the blue line passes through MSP Airport, the officers decided that the two folks in question would exit the train at one of the airport stations, since this would make it difficult for them to run. The first officer warned, “if you’re using fake names, I’m throwing the book at you.” She calmly replied that she wasn’t using a fake name, she just couldn’t spell.

The officer had one hand on his taser as he escorted the two passengers off the train at the first airport station. They were being seated on a bench as the train pulled away.

While I don’t feel bad for the fare violators, it’s sad when an honor system is abused, I do feel bad for them in that’s they apparently didn’t have the means of being able to spell their name, which meant that they couldn’t read. The given birthdates indicated that they were both in their early 30s. Something in their early life failed them, whether it be the education system, their family or whatever else contributed to their need to violate the fare requirements today.

Observing this opened my eyes just a little bit. I hope they find a more solid path.