Cell Phones And Rude Behavior
Aug 13, 2005 Uncategorized
There is an article out that discusses how people are not happy with inconsiderate cell phone users. I have posted about this a number of times in the past and I think everyone knows how I feel about the rude people who permeate our society. Latest numbers show that about 66% of people have a cell phone so it is not hard to figure that they are everywhere.
The problem is that when you get more people with phones you get more people who can display their lack of manners. You will have people who discuss things on the phone in such a loud voice that everyone can hear them. They will keep the phone on during movies, plays, concerts, weddings, and yes, even funerals. I personally think that no one is so important that a call can not wait but there are still people who will walk out of their office building and then call back on their cell phone. I guess they figure the entie corporate structure changed while they were walking outside.
And how about people talking on them while driving? These have got to be the most inattentive and dangerous people in the world. I do not know how many times I have been driving and someone has encroached into my lane or has been driving slow and holding up traffic and when I finally passed them they were yacking on a cell phone. I was driving to Birmingham Alabama and all the traffic in the right lane began to slow and move into the left lane. I figured that there must have been an accident. When I got closer it was because a car was driving about 30 mph. When I passed him the guy had his hands over the steering wheel typing a message into a Blackberry. Someone should have run him off the road. Recently there was a man severley injured when a driver was distracted because of her cell phone. I think if they can put breathalizers in cars for people who have had a DUI (the kind that will not let the car start until the driver blows into it and there is no alcohol) they should be able to put a cell phone signal jammer in the car of any person who causes an accident or gets tickets for impeding traffic while using a cell phone. The cops are big into putting tracking chips in car license plates (an invasion of privacy as far as I’m concerned) but this would be one place I think it would serve a useful purpose. People with cell phone infractions could get a restriction on their license and a chip with the restriction imbedded in the license plate. Then when a cop sees them yacking on the phone he could hit a button to check for a restriction chip. If it is there do not pass go do not collect $200.
And now to my favorite part, air travel. Cell phone companies are lobbying the FAA to allow cell phone use on planes. This is a disaster in the making. People already use cell phones prior to and after landing. This is the time when we find out people do not realize cell phones work even if you do not shout into them. It is a time when people are trying to get settled in and you always have several jackasses who talk and block the aisle. It is already bad enough you are squished into a plane but if I had to spend 3 or 4 hours next to some jerk talking on a cell phone I would probably beat him senseless (Or just keep talking to him while he is on the phone). If the airlines thinks they have problems now with air rage because of all the security measures wait until they let people use cell phones while in flight. They already have those in flight phones but no one uses them because they cost about $10.00 a minute. Maybe they can install some thing that only lets you talk on a cell phone if you pay $10.00 a minute. That should keep the plane quiet.
People are supposed to have manners. Unfortunately, we have developed into a society where signs need to be put up to tell people how to behave. If a person needs a sign to inform him of appropriate behavior then maybe he should not be allowed out in public without supervision.
Read it here.
Tags: Rants
Surfside’s Political Peeves
Jun 8, 2005 Uncategorized
Being in a particularly cynical mood today, let me share some pet peeves that have lately stuck in my craw. Think of it as Surfside’s Top 20 list of political annoyances. It was going to be 10, but they just kept coming.
20. If we make Election Day a holiday, doesn’t that mean we have to pay all federal workers to sit at home without getting work done; and, all those working the election triple pay? Now, that ought to help the budget. For more than 225 years, people have managed to get themselves to their polling places. All of a sudden, it’s an impossible task? Why?
19. It should be illegal to raise funds in a state other than the one where you are running for senate/congressional seat. If not, who is really your constituency: your donors, or those who actually elected you? Isn’t it a conflict of interest?
18. Jesse Jackson needs to retire. The Neverland Ranch search was nothing like the Branch Davidian compound debacle. Give me a break!
17. John Kerry is not smarter than George Bush. We now have proof.
16. The filibuster is not mentioned in the Constitution.
15. God was specifically mentioned by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence.
14. Our laws were written based on Judeo-Christian values. The Ten Commandments are actually engraved on the oak courtroom doors in the Supreme Court building.
13. The Right deserves to be represented on the bench just as much as the Left does.
12. We treat our prisoners better than virtually any other country in the world, and certainly significantly better than the terrorists treat theirs.
11. Bush is not responsible for the current loss of life in Iraq — the terrorists are.
10. Hillary’s trying to move to the center. Stop denying it.
9. Pork Barrel spending runs across party lines. Stop spending our money like it’s water and allocate it properly.
8. Vermont should be booted from the United States of America. It clearly wants to be part of Canada, anyway. How can we trust a populace which elects/supports the likes of Jim Jeffords, Howard Dean and the new socialist candidate for the Senate, Bernie Sanders?
7. Nuclear energy is not clean. Ask the citizens near Yucca Mountain, Nevada and Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. It’s clearly a NIMBY situation.
6. Pro-choice is Pro-Abortion. Call a spade a spade.
5. It’s hard to justify taking a criminal’s life when you are purported to be Pro-Life.
4. It’s impossible to justify taking the life of an innocent baby, yet argue a condemned serial killer should live.
3. Stop blaming Jeb Bush for Florida’s presidential election problems in 2000 and 2004. Since 1845, 33 out of a total of 43 Florida governors have been Democrats. No one complained about voting procedures and disenfranchisement during their tenure.
2. The 2000 and 2004 elections are long over. The Dems lost; and, the Republicans won. Get over it and move on.
1. Stop the personal attacks on Republicans — and conservatives in general. Howard Dean, this means you! (Can someone please muzzle the guy?)
All you cynics, please join in by adding your pet peeves in the comment section. Who knows? Maybe you’ll give me some good post ideas. (Note ; Big Dog and I disagree on some of these issues.)
Tags: Rants
Delta, Messed Up Like A Soup Sandwich
May 14, 2005 Uncategorized
Here we go with another Delta story. As a commenter to this site pointed out, Delta stands for Doesn’t Ever Leave The Airport. I keep saying I am going with another carrier but one of the problems with corporate travel is you have fewer choices.
I was in Oregon last week to evaluate an exercise. My wife was also there to evaluate a local hospital. We finished early and she called Delta to change our flights. The person on the phone told her we would leave from Pasco, go to Salt Lake City then to Cincinnati and finally to Baltimore. When we arrived at the airport the boarding passes said we were going through Atlanta and that we were on the last flight to Baltimore. In addition, my passes would not print. The agent told me that the seats for the flight were on hold and I “should” have one when I get there. We had this big discussion about having a seat request card and a boarding pass for Atlanta but she would hear none of it. The gentleman at the boarding gate was helpful but could not get me any papers saying I was supposed to be on either plane.
I flew into Salt Lake City and the first thing they asked me was “where is your seat request card?” I told them that the other agents said I did not need one. They wanted to know why and I told them I did not work for Delta so I could not answer the question but that I flew enough to know I should have had one. I eventually got a seat on the plane. They were unsure but I told them if I did not get on I expected a full refund of the fee I paid to change flights. I informed them that if they sold me a seat that did not exist they were obligated to refund my money. I got a seat. We taxied out and came to a stop. After sitting for a while we were informed that the automatic wing deicers were not working an d that they needed to turn around and have maintenance look at it. I guess we would have a problem up high where it is colder. The ground temperature was about 60 degrees F.
After quite a while (nearly 50 minutes) we were told that the problem was fixed and as soon as we topped off with fuel we would be on our way. So far so good. I am all for safety and if they thought we might need wind deicers then great, we got it fixed. Of course I would have been on the plane for Cincinnati if they had booked it right. The pilot told us that he knew there would be connection issues and that the folks in Atlanta were on it. They are making arrangements and as soon as we are airborne we will try to pick it up a bit to make up time. When we know what time we will arrive we will have connection information for you. Right (he says in his best Austin Powers voice).
Our flight was to leave Atlanta at 2315. We arrived (and they knew we would be there at this time) at 2304 and were at the gate at 2310. We got inside and were told our plane was getting ready to fly out and that we had a hotel room for the night and a $7.00 meal ticket. Now there were many people in line at the hotel. There must have been 50 rooms issued that Delta paid for. It seems to me that if they delayed the plane leaving for Baltimore by 30 minutes they could have saved a lot of money. This was the last flight of the night or we could have caught the next one. No, they spent a lot on hotels and meals and ticked off a lot of people.
The flight crew never gave us the update they promised. I asked about it and was given a run around evasive answer. Then they made an announcement that said nothing except we were entitled to a hotel room. Here are a few of my favorite words that were uttered by Delta employees:
“I don’t make the decisions.”
“Oh, it is no problem. Delta gets the rooms at a special price.” So this means it is OK to screw people because we don’t pay much to do it?
“We appreciate your patience.” As if a group of people on an airplane have any thing else they can be but patient. Where are you going?
“Ladies and Gentlemen we are now prepared for an on time departure.”
The absolute kicker is what is written on the jacket that holds your boarding pass (if you get one).
“How one airline is changing everything:
Yeah, like departure and arrival times.
The insult to injury is that our luggage was not on our plane. They sent it on the flight after ours because it is a bigger plane. They could have told me that. I might have slept in and taken the later flight. I almost made them ship it to me but I waited the half hour for it to get in. Delta is in trouble.
Tags: Rants
Charles De Gaulle Airport
Apr 17, 2005 Uncategorized
The French have an airport in Paris that is named Charles De Gaulle. They should take bulldozers and level this place and then start over with a design that was developed before anyone gets to the wine table. I flew into This maze on Saturday the 9th as part of my trip to Scotland. There was an hour between the time I landed and the time the next flight was supposed to leave. In every airport I’ve ever flown through this is sufficient time to make the connection. The French had different ideas.
When we landed our plane unloaded into a big bus that elevated to the door. Then, when the bus was full, it went to a terminal and raised up so we could unload into some kind of tube that looks like part of a Habitrail. Then, we had to go through airport security despite the fact we had not been out of their control. We got through and beat feet to the gate with 15 minutes to spare, but one minute s’il vous plait. The gate was only a place to catch another bus to go to the plane. Some French lady was there chatting on the phone and ignored us. Finally my Co-worker asked where the plane was and she said you missed it. He informed her that we had 15 minutes left and she said that we had to be here before that to catch the bus. Perhaps when the jackasses sold us the $3000 plane tickets they could have built in a little time to actually do that. It is pretty hard to catch a plane when you have to taxi across France to get to the bus and then go through security again to catch another bus. If I wanted to take a bus I would have called Greyhound!
Well, we had to go out of the terminal area and re-book the flight to a later one which was 9 hours away! So now we get to stay in the CDG airport for 9 more hours after the pleasure of going back through security. We stayed in the Air France lounge and ate their food and drank their coffee for free so that made it better economically, but for some reason the French have not heard about the second hand smoke issue. Though I am skeptical about all the damage second hand smoke is supposed to cause, I know it is not wise to have an unvented building full of smoke to suck down all day long. Everywhere we went there was smoke. I thought the airport was on fire (which would have nixed the bulldozer requirement). When we finally got to board, you guessed it, another bus to go to the plane the lady stopped us and said we did not have the correct boarding documents. She said they did not do it right at the ticket counter. I looked at my co-worker and said there would probably be an international incident if she did not let us on the plane. She printed the correct documents and we went to board the bus.
The rest was uneventful and I have to say the flight attendants are very pleasant. They even serve a meal on the short flights. Delta is going bankrupt serving peanuts and Air France is serving food on short flights. On the way back we had another problem but this time two very nice French women helped us out. We had an hour and a half to make the connecting flight and figured we could do it. Besides, our travel folks did not seem too interested in trying to change the flight using the logic that there was another flight 2 hours later if we missed the scheduled one. Great plan unless that one is full and we end up in CDG for 9 more hours.
We traveled British Airways from Edinburgh to Paris. The BA lady said she could not check our bags through so we had to claim and re-check them in Paris. Trouble in the making! We arrive in Paris and taxi for about half a mile before we get on the bus. We then ride across France to get to the terminal. We waited 30 minutes to get bags and ran to check in. They told us the flight was closed and that we needed to re-book. We still had 45 minutes before it departed. When we went to the ticket agent she went into super French mode and said that she would fix things. I heard her on the phone and even though I speak little French I understood her saying the flight was delayed. She ran us to a check in person (the other person in France who was actually working) and she got our bags down the chute and the first lady ran us to the head of the security line and down to the gate where there were at least 20 people still waiting to get in. We made the flight and as amazing as it might seem our bags made it too.
The French have a 35 hour work week designed to create more jobs. You still need the amount of work done but they have fewer hours in which to do it so more people need to be hired. For every 7 employees a company has they would need one more to make up the lost hours. This, by the way does not work. France has a double digit unemployment rate. My point is, it seems the airport was designed with the “give everyone a job” mentality. There is a bus to and a bus from so you need two bus drivers. There are security checkpoints where you do not need them so there are more security people. There are people in the ticket re-book booth and the way this place operates you need a few people there (where the two hardest working people in France saved us). The design does not lend to efficiency and I have decided that I will not travel through there again. I would rather have a lay over in Baghdad than fly through Paris.
There is a movie I believe entitled Terminal. It is about a man who lives in the CDG airport because he does not have a passport and no one will claim him. Don’t believe it. This guy has been trying to get his luggage and catch a flight for all these many years. If you ever see him tell him to go to the counter and ask for Bentrice (sp). She will get him out of there!
Tags: Rants
Delta Strikes Again
Apr 17, 2005 Uncategorized
I had the opportunity to stay in San Antonio Texas the week of the 4th for a conference. The area is absolutley beautiful and the weather very nice. We had many chances to go out and enjoy the local sites and cuisine. The week was very good but as with all travel, when it is time to go home, you want to leave.
Enter Delta Airlines. My wife and I attended this conference together so we had the same flights. When we arrived at the airport and tried to check-in using the kiosk a message indicated we should see a customer service agent. We were directed to use the customer service (a misnomer) phone. I called and the gentleman who answered told me the flight had been cancelled. I asked him what we were booked on and told him that there had better be a good reason that the flight was cancelled. He said that it had to do with crew rest. There is an FAA requirement that crews get a certain amount of rest before they fly again. I appreciate this but I have heard that Delta uses crew rest as a reason to cancel flights that are not full.
Anyway, my wife and I were originally in first class (as the result of an upgrade) but only one was placed there this time. On the connecting flight the same was true. Both of us were upgraded for one of the flights. We would have known all this if Delta followed its policy of contacting travelers when there is a flight problem. This was not a real big deal because the next flight was only a half hour later than the original. We flew in to Atlanta and that is where Delta earned its new name “Delay”. Our flight was supposed to leave a bit after 1100. When we arrived it was delayed until 1145. Then 1200, then 1215. Finally we boarded and arrived in Baltimore much later than originally scheduled.
Travis, JB, and I have all had problems with Delta. It is getting worse and letters to them receive canned text responses about “knowing we have to do better to keep your business” blah, blah, blah.
They will be bankrupt before long if they do not straighten up and fly right, so to speak.
Tags: Rants