to what lengths would you go?

to what lengths would you go?

My favorite brother has a LIVE, IN PERSON speech this week in Texas. He’s currently in the car driving to LA to catch a flight because the Vegas airport is filled with stranded travelers. Commercial flights are being cancelled and delayed like crazy.

For example, Southwest cancelled 2000 flights over the weekend, 355 more today, and another 581 flights delayed as of this morning. The initial blame was placed on weather and air traffic control. Others are suggesting other factors are to blame — opposition to the COVID-19 mandate, labor shortages, and problems finding hotel rooms, transportation and meals upon reaching their destinations because of the delta variant.

But it’s not just Southwest. Last week, my sister-in-law had delays that caused a night’s stay on her return trip to Vegas from Indiana on American Airlines, and my brother experienced a cancelled Delta flight with the alternate flight delayed three times before he made it home a day later.

If you’ve never been stranded in an airport, take my word for it — it’s MISERABLE — not to mention luggage challenges. Everyone you encounter is in the same situation as you are and are intent on getting ahead of you at any potential opportunity. And you’ll be lucky to meet one solitary person that isn’t grumpy.

Of course, my favorite brother must go to ANY LENGTHS to travel — even if it means driving to an alternate airport — because of his commitment to clients…

Onstage event

But is it worth it to fly for pleasure right now? Some say no way — evidenced by reports of a decline in bookings and rise in cancellations.

To what lengths would you go for air travel to get to your destination? Would you risk significant delays and inconveniences, or would you simply plan a road trip instead? (We’re planning to drive 1000 miles in January if significant improvements aren’t made before then.)

TIL (Today I Learned): Alpacas are being used as bodyguards in some turkey farms, since they instinctively accept the birds into their herd and scare off foxes.

thinking about travel? it’s no longer easy peasy

thinking about travel? it’s no longer easy peasy

I have a friend who does extensive work in Bangkok. He was explaining the Asia travel experience as challenging. Upon debark, travelers are met by an “army of health care professionals” to make certain all passengers were healthy and compliant pre-flight. Their COVID-19 rules require quarantine for 14-days upon arrival — in a hotel. Meals are delivered 3 times per day with staff leaving the food on a table outside after ringing a bell.

I found it interesting that if — even out of quarantine — he should visit family/friends, their kids would not be able to attend school for the duration of the visit plus 14-days.

The WSJ, in an article this morning, explained the new testing rules for travel to the US on any international flight. Everyone — including US citizens — must show proof of a negative test (taken no more than 3-days before travel) before boarding their flight home. All other US travel bans are still in place.

So as another friend, Julie, tests it up to GET to St. Marten for her vacation, she’ll also have to test to get back home. Fear of not getting an approved test in time to get back to the US has her contemplating cancelling her trip. Jason, who lives in Australia, believes the borders there should be open to travel within the country. His reasoning: If we can have laws that reduce/remove government benefits based on vaccination we can do this. Not to mention as a property owner in QLD – the Qld government is very happy to continue to collect taxes from me but they won’t let me travel there.

And then there’s me! I just want to go to Disney World at some point this year. It’s not been quite a year since our last trip there, but feels like forever.

Check out that dude’s hair on the left side of the photo. It’s sort of like Perry’ style in reverse. 😉

TIL (Today I Learned): There is still someone in the US living in an iron lung. Seriously… if you’re afraid of a vaccine, read about Paul Alexander.

what’s trending on this happy Sunday morning

what’s trending on this happy Sunday morning

Typically, I like to check out what’s trending on Twitter as one of the first things I do when I’m having my morning coffee. A popular hashtag this morning was #fakemelania.

Too hard to resist that one, I had to know more. And, because one of my favorite celebrities is part of the tending topic, I couldn’t help but share #fakemelania with y’all.

fake melania

Nothing fake about the peskies, that’s for sure. They visited yesterday for a short time Rona style (they stay in the car, Ben stands outside the car with a mask, and I keep distance except for a good-bye elbow bump).

the peskies

Not warm enough here in southern Indiana — and because neither of them can sit still for 5-minutes — the wheels on the motorhome are probably already turning on this crisp Sunday morning.

Mom is more worried about falling again than she is about getting COVID. Priorities and all that. Her bruises are fading, but the memory of the fall is still pretty clear.

Mom's bruises are fading.

If either would have been born wealthy, they would likely be nomadic gypsies… traveling the world… barely stopping long enough to take a photo to send by text message. Five times. (Because photos don’t arrive quickly enough, they send them over and over until the first one makes it through and pings my phone.) 🙄

TIL (Today I Learned): Once a president’s term is over, they can never drive a car on an open road again. Read more about restrictions former presidents must adhere to…

How severe the pandemic is in the places where people I care about are located…
Daily new COVID-19 cases (7 day moving average):
Indiana-30.2 (up); Jackson Co – 43.3 (down but still ugly); Florida 15.6 (up); Nevada – 22.8 (up)

How severe is the pandemic where you live?

a short trip as told by iPhone

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. It’s doubtful the following 3 photos put together would total over 100, but they do accurately depict last weekend’s short trip without the need of any additional narration:

trip photo 1

trip photo 2

trip photo 3

Malaysia 370 – a viewpoint that makes sense

I remember not so long ago talking to Scott via FaceTime — me in southern Indiana and him in Kuala Lumpur. He was excitedly telling me about the city and turned his laptop around so I could see the view from his hotel window. I grabbed the following screenshot:

kualalumpur-scott

Because my favorite brother travels internationally, the fact that Malaysia 370 is simply GONE is terrifying and interesting to me at the same time. Ben, Perry and I discussed our thoughts and I asked Scott (that referenced favorite brother), for his opinion. Scott offered up an email that included a link to a point of view that makes more sense than any I’ve heard to date.

You pretty much have to read the entire thread — the original contributor, Chris Goodfellow, has answered questions and provided information as late as this morning. Although he’s merely working from data obtained just like the rest of us — he certainly has more expertise in analyzing ‘real possibilities’ than the bajillion journalists reporting on the subject. Here’s the link.

So what do you think?