UA 1174.

We are aboard United flight 1174 to O’Hare after a wonderful weekend in New Orleans. According to Captain Catherine we are cruising at FL380 and the air is smooth.

We will be served dinner shortly. I think the flight attendant said something about chicken. She was speaking softly. I’m thinking it may be one of her first flights in the front cabin as she seems to be struggling a bit in the galley and the hot towel was actually sopping wet to the point where my pants are currently quite wet. I don’t mind, everyone has to learn and most of us learn on the job.

We spent quite a bit of time at the brand new KMSY New Orleans International Airport terminal today. From what I read on Wikipedia, the new terminal opened just last month. It has that “so fresh” feel to it. I remember the old terminal being a bit rundown; they were probably due a refresh.

We are currently flying about the clouds so there’s no much to look at out the window. However, courtesy of ForeFlight, here’s our route.

I’m amused by the fact the heating ovens in the galley making whirring noises like a jet engine spooling down. However, we are not losing altitude so all is well.

8 December 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

New Orleans.

They say, “What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas”. Las Vegas has nothing on The Big Easy. My husband and I have been in all 50 states. The most debauchery we’ve ever encountered is in New Orleans. People let loose in New Orleans and there’s nothing wrong with that. Anyone and everyone, no matter the color, no matter the gender, shape, size, whatever, needs to do that from time to time. We are at our best when we are honest and allow ourselves to be who we are. New Orleans is an amazing city. There’s music in the air, drinks flowing everywhere, and all sorts of other things that would make a mother blush. But in addition to all of this, the city generates a lot of garbage. All over the streets. People try but there’s no room in the garbage cans. It’ll be cleaned up by tomorrow morning, and we thank the city of New Orleans for that. In the meanwhile, we take a photo next to a hitching post. And eat pizza. And everyone in earshot knows I’m a pilot because, well, I fly airplanes (but not for at least eight hours from this moment).

7 December 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

We Bring Good Things To Living.

I spotted this sign down the street from our hotel here in New Orleans. There’s something comforting to me about seeing the unchanged, pretty much constant GE “ball” logo. It’s a shame their appliances don’t live up to their legacy (and are made by Haier).

Anyway, I know GE does a lot in medical and aerodynamics and nuclear plants but I didn’t know what “GE Digital” was. It turns out it’s a computing company that does a whole bunch of things, including Internet of Things things.

I’m intrigued. I’ll have to do more research on the company and see what that’s all about. After all, things connected together are nifty in my book, and I’ve always been fascinated by GE.

6 December 2019 by Geek 0

War.

We went to the National WWII Museum today. The campus is impressive with several buildings connected by pedestrian bridges.

Since today was the day before National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, the museum was very busy. There were a few bus loads of folks coming in; the vast majority of them were in their later years. There were also several members of the military in uniform making their way through the exhibits.

The exhibits are very thorough and very immersive. Some areas of the museum have Disney-like experiences in that there’s a lot of lighting and sound and other creative effects to give an impression of what it was like for soldiers during the various battles around the world. The museum also has a “dog tag” that you scan as you enter the self-guided tour. The software then assigns you a member of the armed forces from WWII and you learn about their specific experience as you make your way through the various exhibits. The educational use of technology was very impressive. The soldier I learned about didn’t talk about his experience for 60 years after he returned home, but finally made his story known and contributed to the video and audio experience narrated by the interactive software.

In my school days we always tackled history chronologically and it always seemed like there was rarely time to discuss World War II and more recent wars. I learned a lot today and the WWII Museum should be a must-see for any American that is able to stop by the campus.

Highly recommended.

6 December 2019 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Pizza.

Pizza with potato chips. I say “has anyone told you you’re awesome”? She blew me a kiss. I did the same. Last time I had pizza here was 2012. I had a full beard and it ended up my breakfast. I don’t understand it either.

6 December 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Progress.

We are making progress on our Amtrak ride to New Orleans. According to Apple Maps we have about 185 miles to go.

We both had a decent night’s sleep and feel pretty good. Sharlene in the dining car has been very nice and we enjoyed a very good breakfast sandwich this morning. I also had “coffee, black”.

As we were in Memphis at sunrise and now we’re keeping it low key as we make our way down through Mississippi. I’ve never been the length of Mississippi before, the scenery and small towns are giving me a better perspective of the state. I’m happy for the experience.

4 December 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Ride.

View out our Amtrak Roomette.

Earl and I are on our way to New Orleans for an extended weekend. About an hour ago our Amtrak train, appropriately named “City of New Orleans” left Union Station Chicago. We are in an upper level Roomette on a sleeper car. We just enjoyed dinner in the Dining Car.

The dining car was quiet.

The roomette is quite quaint. It’s like having two first class seats on a B777 facing each other with the option of popping up a table between the seats or dropping a bed from the ceiling. I’ll be sleeping on the top bunk tonight.

The train ride in just shy of 20 hours long. I’m enjoying watching the scenery go by at 70-80 MPH, even if it’s currently 9:00 PM at night. I’m comfortable and content.

This Amtrak ride is a test to see if we’ll enjoy riding across 2/3 of the country in a similar configuration, either to or from Los Angeles from or to Chicago. I look forward to that trek across the desert.

This will be our third trip to New Orleans in 23 years; and my fourth time total. It should be a fun little vacation.

3 December 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

The Horror’s.

Screen cap taken Mon 02 Dec 19 2125 CT.

You don’t know how much it pained me to abuse the apostrophe in the title of this blog post. If you’re unaware of what I’m talking about, this blog post is for you.

First of all, in common parlance the title should read “the horror”. Because I was trying to make a point, I pluralized “horror” to “horror’s” which should have been “horrors”. The horror doesn’t own anything. In this instance the apostrophe is trying to show possession. The horror doesn’t possess anything.

Apostrophes are used to show what the word has (possessive use) or what the word is missing (a contraction). Apostrophes are _never_ used to denote plural. Ever.

I recently read something at work where a distant co-worker basically referred to “The Jone’s”. Luckily, I work remotely, hundreds of miles from my closest co-worker, but there’s a chance they could still hear my screams.

First of all, we never use an apostrophe for the plural. Secondly, the last name in question was not “Jone”, it was “Jones”. If a house belonged to the Jones, it would be “the Jones’ house”, or possibly, “the Jones’s house” (though that makes me cringe a bit). If we are talking about the folks in the family, we’d be talking about the Joneses. Because when we want to use the plural form of a word ending in “s”, we add an “es”. Not an apostrophe, and we certainly don’t change the spelling of a name to something it’s not just to wedge an apostrophe into inappropriate places.

While I’m on a rant, use the loops of your pants to keep your trousers up because you’re losing weight and subsequently your pants have a looser fit. That’s because you didn’t eat two desserts in the desert after you deserted the rest of the group. And honestly, I couldN’T care less how much weight you’ve gained or lost. If I could care less I probably would.

Please take notes.

I mention all of this because today I read a story about “The Apostrophe Protection Society” closing up shop, basically because the efforts of the society have become a lost cause. The founder of “The Apostrophe Protection Society”, John Richards, age 96, has decided to abandon the effort, citing society has become too stupid and lazy to use apostrophes properly.

I feel his pain.

2 December 2019 by Everyone's A Critic. 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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