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SEA - 9/20/10
Didn't really want to take
this trip as I know it doesn't pay well. But there are a number of units going
so if I can figure out how to make money on them it's on going. Problem is the
pickup and delivery times, IF it looks like money can be made, we'd need to get
the pickup location to change their pickup time.
Did get a late start in the
AM, then had to drop off a couple of drivers enroute. A few minutes here, a few
minutes there but it does mean I'm not going to be able to base future trips on
the 'best case cenerio.'
Right off there are changes, the customer has
switched units so dispatch will need to get all new permits. I forget about the
permits until we are at the pickup location so I end up having to wait. I get
the ND, MT and ID but not the WA permit so I'll need to have that faxed later.
No issues at pickup, unit is ready so just the time it takes to find the right
person and do the paperwork. BUT my route has a detour (and a scale) that I
want to avoid, so take the four lane route that adds a few miles and more
minutes. Still about 20 miles of 2 lane intersate on I-29 between Grand Forks
and Fargo due to road construction. Saw 3-4 Greyhounds and a couple of
Jeffersons on I-29. Just checked the Greyhound schedule and it shows that
Jefferson runs that route once a day and not at the time I was meeting them.
Does Greyhound do charter? Also noticed a couple of Trailways buses on this
trip, only noticed them because someone had commented on the ride to the pickup
that they thought they were out of business (they're not).
Other than
it's harvest time, not much new across ND, no open scales, speed limit is still
75. Plan was to make it to Steel for fuel and break but due to my out of route
I came up short. Customer requests a ½ hour shut down every 4 hours and
that put me at the only rest area in ND that does not have wireless. Didn't
make a lot of difference, I spent the whole time on the phone with family. One
guy came over and looked over the bus pretty well, but I don't talk to him or
give him a tour. Was wondering how this guy and his wife could have licence
plates that were exactly the same ???
Ended up having to make a 2nd
half hour stop for fuel. I do still have my 'truck stop guide' book but haven't
looked at it yet. I was pretty sure that there was a station just past …
Jamestown? … nope, Dickenson/Mandan. It's still there, still has a Subway
and deli and you don't need to go inside before fueling. First time (ever?)
that I got a free drink because I spent more than $200 in fuel. I had hoped to
make it to Glendive the first night but between running late and my detour I'm
going to come up short. And I hadn't looked to see how for past Beach Glendive
was, 35 miles, so should have 45 minutes plus an extra 15 if the Wiboux scale
flags you in. Do-able.
I decided I'd try to eat better this trip and not
5 minutes before I go to bed. So tonight I got a Subway, 6 inch cold cut. Not
sure if that counts as eating healthy but I'm sure someone will let me know.
Oh, and I had a Hardees' bacon, cheese croissant and a breakfast bar for a
snack plus two bottles of juice. Not sure that's the 8-10 glasses of liquid I'm
supposed to be getting.
Not much choice in Beach, ND for a motel so the
Buckboard Inn it is. I tried the other place a few years ago, don't remember
exactly what happened. But someone in Beach said the place has been closed for
20 years, just haven't take the sign down yet. Didn't' like the first price the
Buckboard quoted, but with a CDL it came to just under $50, no cutting corners
on this trip. 13-1/2 hours, a few minutes of wireless and
crash
9/21/10
Spent too much time on the computer this AM, trying
to find my next two nights motels. I was hoping to do my inspection and fueling
in 15 minutes but 30 today. Next door at the Flying J the pumps walk you
through all the questions and then say "See Cashier." Grrrrrrr. If I can't use
my card at the pump, why make me answer all the questions before telling me? I
get inside and after she swipes my card she tells me she needs to keep my card.
Now I'm stuck, she's turned on the pump, either for me or the next guy so I'd
better fuel. And she puts my points on my old card, (the gal at the next
station will say that was a no-no). I don't plan on stopping here again unless
they change their 'keeping my credit card' policy. But they don't seem to be
hurting for business so I doubt they'll change policy just for me. There is a
station across they street, I know I've stopped there before, this may be the
reason. Plan would be to fuel where-ever I spend the night, so Beach isn't
likley again.
Didn't get flagged in at the Wiboux scale, he already had
three trucks out back so a few minutes saved there. Would like to be able to
make it to Miles City the first night but that's still another hour past
Glendive so odds are against that on this run. Time wise it's a catch 22, if I
stay in Beach I only have to stop once for a break, if I go to Glendive I need
to stop for two breaks. But if I stay in Beach I'm jjjjjjjust over my four
hours when I get to Billings so should really be stopping short. There is a
rest area that has worked in the past and then not stop at Billings. Would have
been a good choice this time as I got a second / unwanted break just past
Billings.
I fueled again at the Flying J in Billings, Billings was where
I knew I could fuel and only have to fuel twice today. After trying to pay at
the pump I had to go inside again, but this gal was more helpful, just swiped
my card and handed it back to me. And she gave me a new Pilot perks card and
threw away my old Flying J one (that the gal at Beach had put the points on
this AM), the points must drop if you don't' use them. The only points on the
card were the ones from Beach and I've used that card for seven years now. I
stretch my stop to a half hour and I'm on my way.
Billings scale, they
always stop us and they are always open (except maybe Christmas, I used to
know). Yep, I get flagged in, he asks for my overweight permit and then …
"Go to inspection door 1." I should have asked if this was random or ??? but
didn't. The inspector gave me a #1, vehicle and paperwork. The first thing I
had to do was drive this 60 foot unit through a 120 foot shed with a trench
down the middle, he only had to direct me once.
The inspector gave me
time to get my stuff together licence, DOT card, log pages. As I'm putting the
log pages together I notice that one of the hour totals that wasn't filled in
so I took care of that. Then as he's bringing up my DOT info on his computer I
see where I forgot to fill in starting miles this AM so I filled in that. But
he still found one I missed, one I didn't know, and one I had just made. I
missed filling in the line from my shut down to the 24th hour, I didn't know
that I had to fill in city/state info for non-driving hours and when I just
pulled out of the Flying J I had logged local time instead of home time so I
was off by an hour. I mentioned the Flying J time too him and he said "Oh, I
thought you made that trip from Beach in pretty good time." 3 hours instead of
4, then he said I'd have time to "change those later." (Is that after I get the
ticket?) but we never got back to the logs.
This guy did a compete
inspection, went through my bus and checked to see if any of the seats or poles
or anything else was loose. Had me open three of the 'emergency escapes,'
before starting on the routine lights, breaks and safety equipment. I had never
run one of these units before so I didn't know if it had the triangles or not,
I took a chance and didn't bring mine, not having decided if I'd buy or run if
it didn't' have them. Forgot to check when I picked up the unit, but did think
of it on one of my breaks the day before and found one. And it does help to
know where stuff is when the guy asks you, don't start looking in a half dozen
likely places.
The first issue we had was the break lights wouldn't go
off so that he could check them. Took a second for me to remember, on these
units the parking brake puts the break lights on, so to check the break lights
you have to have the parking break off and the unit in gear, that worked.
(Parking breaks and backup lights are two things easier checked with night
pickups.) The second issue was if the unit is not in gear with the break on and
the parking break is not set an alarm goes off, so the inspector had to go find
his ear protection before climbing under the unit. (Later I realised that I
could have shut the battery power off to kill the alarm). Part way though the
alarm going off, someone comes out of the office, they think the sound is their
carbon monoxide detector going off from units ideling too long indoors. The
only thing he couldn't inspect was the front breaks, neither from underneith or
by my turning the tires, he would have had to have taken the tires off. So he
just marked them as un-inspected on his report. Then I got my clean bill of
health and was free to go, the whole thing took about an hour from the time I
arrived until I left, so I ended up with an hour and a half break in Billings
and still needed to take one more break before I shut down for the
night.
Plan was to grab something to eat in Butte during my second
break, but then I saw those billboard for the 4B's resturant at the exit I was
planning on staying tonight. OK, back to eating right before I go to sleep,
it'll be worth it. I'm sure I saw something in MT the next four hours, but
writing this two days later I don't remember anything. I pull in to Butte and
at the scale I get flagged in. That was part of my reason for wanting to stop
past the scale, I can use that time as part of my 30 minute brake. The guy asks
to see my permit and then … to take a tour of my bus :. So he came out
side with me as the next few trucks got the green light. You're welcome
everyone. Leaving the scale I pull into the Pilot, Flying J across the highway
is where I usually stop, but Pilot has a McD's that I may be able to get
wireless from. The last couple of Pilots out here are across from Flying J's
but that must not have been part of the 'anti-trust' issue where Pilot had to
sell some locations to Loves. Maybe because these Pilots are 'Town
Pumps?'
When I pull to the bottom of the ramp there is a guy wanting to go
west. He yells at me "Where are you going?"
"West, but not taking
passengers."
He says something back to me but by then I'm down the street.
On the other side of the underpass is someone else holding a sign saying
something like "Broke down, with kids." Not sure what happened but a few
minutes later the car and family was gone. Maybe it was a miricle?
I
spent this break trying to find a cheap motel in Missoula. I couldn't get McD's
wireless, if they even had one, and couldn't find anything cheap in the coupon
book, nor with CLC. So I looked at my mapping software that shows services
(from five years ago) and started calling motels … $60-$70, ouch. But I
couldn't find the Days Inn I had stayed at before, must have changed names. I
even called the Days Inn corp number. Relized down the road that I was looking
at the wrong Missoula exit. Missoula is my stop because I haven't found
anything cheap or with truck parking in the 150 miles between there and Post
Falls, ID.
For some reason the motels at the exit I wanted don't show up
on my software?? And the motel I was looking for wasn't shown on the same sign
as the 4B's, but the gas station was. Maybe there isn't / never was a motel
there, I'd never been there, maybe it's an office building. My extra hour in
Billings put me in the dark and at the end of my 14 hours when I get to
Missoula, yep, wrong exit. By the time I'm on the ramp I'm realising that there
is no 4B's sign anywhere, I still go to the truck stop where it was. Yes there
is a motel there, , but before I go in, I call back Days Inn so I know what I'm
up against. $54 for Days Inn … and corp does not like giving out the local
numbers. $45 here at the lodge, and no, he doesn't know anything about the
4B's, he's only been there since July. With all the checking I'd done I was
surprised to see something under my $50 goal.
It's now the
'24-Resturant,' but they still still have the 4B's world famous tomato soup and
pictures of the 4B's family on the walls. It changed names about three years
ago, but still a lot of the same staff and basically the same menu. I went for
the French Dip and a cup (big cup) of tomato soup. $8.99, no tax?? I'll be
back. This travel plaza has everything, fuel, motel, resturant, liqour store,
dancers, casino.
http://www.garnetghosttown.net
The local paper here
had an article on the fact that Grant just got listed by the ? National
historical Society?' Ghost towns seem to be a big thing. I know it's
interesting to me as I drive to see all the old houses, cars, farms, railroads
along the interstate. Love to be able to get on a four-wheeler and go look at
those things that only another million people have already found. As I was
driving today I remembered, there should be a couple of old cars coming up on
the right, next to an old house with the wood rubbed bear from the horses. I
was wrong, there is only one car.
9/23/10
Opps, forgot to get my
WA permit faxed so now I'll need to stop at the Flying J in Post Falls. I email
dispatch in the AM and the permit is there when I get there.
The lodge
has breakfast, I walk through and check out but not really hungry at this time
of the AM, especially after a late supper. The truck that was in front of me
last night/this AM is gone by the time I've checked out so that saves me
backing. I fuel right here, another location that does not require you to come
in prior to pumping, I'll be back. It's still dark.
It does get light,
and foggy. An oversized truck with flashers on pulls on the highway in front of
me in Missoula and I follow him for an hour plus … when visability drops
to ¼ mile it helps to have flashers ahead of you. He finally pulls off
at the last MT rest area but that was past the worst of the fog. The last MT
rest area is where they have their marker posts 8 foot high so the snow plows
know where the road is. I'm given a pass at the ID/MT scale that's another rare
event.
This unit has some type of Alison transmission that only has
F/N/R. And you never feel it shift, it drops down to 25 going up the hills, big
hills, but the thing I liked about it is that it holds going down the hills.
Never had to use the breaks. If I wanted to go 35 mph down the hill, it would
hold 35 for the whole six miles without using the breaks. With most automatics
they seem to want to run away, no real downshifting to do.
Flying J,
Post Falls ID - Trying to get into the lot and into a completely empty lane, I
get my only 'jack-knife' warning. This unit splits 40-20 and won't let you turn
short enough to hurt anything. Another fuel pump, key all the info into the
pump then get told to go inside. Gal inside is nice about it, gives me my fax
for free but does keep my card. At this J they are working on remodeling, the
others I've seen this trip show no signs of changing to Denny's or anything
else. One of the outside helps comes to look at what I'm driving and starts
asking questions, like how much do I make.
"$90 a day on this trip" I
tell him. He says that sounds good, more than he makes now. But once I tell him
that the $90 is after expences, he doesn't think it's such a good deal. We talk
a little more but to him $90 is not the same as $90 after expences. ??? I pull
ahead away from the pumps to finish my ½ break and I notice the guy next
to me looking at my rig, finally he knocks on the door and asks if he can look
around and asks if he can take pictures. He's from Hamilton, MT about 50 miles
south of Missoula, 3,000 people. A good sized town for MT but they don't have
buses like this. He's broke down, waiting for dispatch to OK his repairs. He's
never seen the inside of a bus.
I'm making sure that I have all my
permits signed and paperwork in order. The WA scale seems to like to look at
those things and bring in a little extra money. But not today, they send me on
my way, not too often I've gotten the green at this scale. At the next scale I
get the red light and the guy walks out and asks to see my overweight permit.
I hand him my clipboard, "This is your trip permit." He says.
"Yes, the
overweight permit is page 2" and I'm on my way, the other scales were either
closed or gave me the green light.
Before I get to the snoqualmie pass,
I see three pickups rushing down one of the ramps … I back off and let
them get ahead of me. Opps, 'Do Not Pass' signs on the backs of them. So for
the next few miles I get to follow them at a speed of 25 mph. Instead of
stopping traffic, they slow it down enough to give the blasting crews time to
blast. They use one pickup in each of the two lanes and the 3rd one follows the
last car out so they know the coast is clear. This is between where there is a
tunnel for the westbound traffic and the pass it's self. Looks like they are
moving the road a little and putting in bridges that are higher/more room under
them than what was there.
Thought I was going to stop at a rest area
somewhere in the pass area, but the one I was looking for must be down by Reno
: So once down the other side I stop at the TA exit to quick look at my maps
and give my drop a call. I get voice mail but tell the drop I'll be on their
door step at 8a tomorrow, and that I'm only 30 miles out of town. I step out to
take a picture of the bus with the mountains in the background and relize that
I'm only a few feet from someones squatting site so I take a quick picture and
get out of there.
Five miles from where I had stopped, I get off of the
four lane and onto a two lane ??, WA 18, it has signs, no stopping/parking for
the next 28 miles. About 5 miles down this two lane it turns into four lanes
and it's then that I notice something leaking out my back end. Mmmmmmmmm. Not
supposed to stop … but someone forgot to tell my bus that. It stopped, the
check engine light came on and I coasted to the side of the road. A two foot
wide spray of diesel fuel for as far as I can see.
3:15 local time. I'm
20 miles from my fuel stop, motel, drop. Didn't make it. I'm parked right
across from the WSDOT camera 414 but no one including me has been able to find
it on their website. Lots of little wildlife on the shoulder of the road, bugs,
snakes and other slithery things sunning themselves on the rocks. One thing
that surprised me is that NO ONE seemed to be moving over even if there wasn't
any other traffic. Three feet from me they are going by at 70 mph.
Two
hours later the tow shows up, '10 years retired,' grey pony tailed with a
couple of earings and lots of stories. I asked if he'd ever towed a bus before.
"I've towed anything with wheels," but he seemd to be at a loss on this one. He
was missing some of the correct attachments, hooks and all his tools. Seems
another driver moved everything in to a different truck … and dispatch
hadn't told him that this was a 60 foot bus. Once the driver got there, it was
another five hours before we were at the shop 25 miles away. He did do a good
job of backing, was able to get the front and rear tires about four inches from
the curb and the center tire about two inches.
After the initial
breakdown call, the rest is all happening after hours for both dispatch and the
shop. When he gets hooked and ready to go we realise that he's not towing it
where dispatch wanted it to go. Dispatch is the one that calls the shops, the
shop calls the tow. But the company that we called was not the one who called
the tow. Finally the tow driver and I decicded we needed to get moving before
it got any darker, both locations where the same direction. Finally I am able
to reach the person who called the tow. Seems the place dispatch called
wouldn't have time for a few days and was betting that it wasn't a warrenty
issue so they called a third party to do the work. Suddenly after an hour of
trying to reach people, everyone made contact within a couple of minutes and we
knew where to drop.
Small 'burb,' one motel three blocks from the shop.
Did it make a difference what the price was? At first I thought they said $109,
but then I realised they thought I asked the room number. (English was not
their first language). But it did come to $84 after tax, but that SHOULD BE
covered as part of the break down. By now I've been up for over 18 hours and
haven't had anything to eat or drink all day. I forgot, it happens. I saw a
Burger King a block away but I was hoping for a sitdown, the motel suggested
the Stir about a block away. Tipical Oriental resturant, almost no customers. I
wasn't up to trying anything new so I got Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried
Rice, no, I did not want any soup or anything in place of the soup. And when I
got the food I should have asked them to split it in two and given ½
back to them. The chicken and rice each came on a 12 x 12 plate piled high and
wide. Usually I'd only each ¼ to a 1/3 of a meal that size but between
not being able to take it with me and not eating all day I did finish ¾
of the chicken, but only ¼ of the rice. And it was good. Stir, in
Renton, WA.
I should have left a message with dispatch the night before,
but I forgot so six hours after I get to bed I wake up to remind dispatch to
call the customer to let them know that I've been delayed. (As if they wouldn't
have remembered themselves? Sometimes I forget that's not my job …
anymore.) I try to sleep for about 10 hours but finally get up and get ready
for the day. Seven hours down time last night and four more this AM. It is
dispatches policy that during a breakdown we are to not go to the shop until
our unit is ready. (They seem to think if we are at the shop that it becomes
'On Duty, Not Driving' time.) Finally at 12:30 local the motel said they needed
to clean and I had to check out. I wasn't worreid about my HOS-hours of service
so I walked to the shop, in the rain. Imagine, rain in Seattle. : At this point
the shop said it was fixed, but the local mfg rep wanted to look at it before
it was moved so we were waiting on him.
I had told dispatch when I
called last night that it was a diesel leak, but they didn't want me to restart
it to see where it was coming from so I didn't. Today when I get to the shop
the mfg rep and mechanic are both out looking at the bus and say they've fixed
the coolant leak but the bus won't run. "No" I told them, "It won't, because it
wasn't a coolant issue, it's a fuel issue." So with all the engine doors open
and two extra sets of eyes they try to start it again. Yep, it's blowing fuel
out from by the fuel filter. The o-ring/gasket was set in wrong, they reset it
and all was good. So in this case it could have been a one hour road service
call instead of a $$$ tow bill plus shop time and my down time.
This
customer wants delivery before 2pm so they can do a complete inspection. To do
that I had told dispatch I needed to be on the road by 11am. It is now 12:30,
by the time I've done my inspection and tried to contact everyone it is closing
in on 1pm. We can't get ahold of the customer but decide to go for it and keep
trying. I had hoped that the shop would put in 10 gallons of fuel but the bus
is running so I'm told to 'go for it.' I've been running up to 350 miles
between fueling stops plus what went on the ground I could easily be running on
'E.' No, there is not any fuel guages in this things. I do make it to the
Love's 25 miles away and of course pick the wrong lane to wait in, as soon as I
try to back up someone else pulls right into to that open pump. I don't
remember if they had to keep my card here or not ???
I can only get in
<> 50 gallons, it should be <> 70 even without the leak. Not sure
what happened there, it couldn't have been all down hill from the last stop. Oh
yeh, the company rep that had to look at this thing before we could move it
also told me we needed to be re-filling the DEF. Never done it before, don't
know who carries it. Had heard about it on the message board so I wasn't
completely clueless. Couldn't find it in Love's so I had to ask. The guy who
found it said "It was so close it could have bit you." But I didn't know what I
was looking for, this stuff is in a box, the actual plastic container is clear
without any markings. The bus does have a DEF guage that had dropped to 50% (I
wasn't going to worry about it unless it got down to 25%). And it was clearly
marked 10 gallons useable, so I bought two 2-1/2 gallon boxes. Next was how to
get it in. Lucky for me the fueling islands were now empty and I could back up
against one of the concrete pump protecters and climb and stand on top. This
station is a former Flying J and they have a concrete post that is about five
feet high and four foot across protecting each end of their fuel island. Once
on top of the post I was able to get the liquid in. No way I would have been
able hold those jugs over my head for as long as it took, even if my arms were
that long.
I'm looking at my map when I remember that I need to scale
here. Now that I know the routine it doesn't take as long as the first time. I
pull ahead and park in a no parking zone, there had been trucks there the whole
time I was fueling but as soon as I park the fuel truck pulls in and motions
for me to move. So once more around the block and I pull through an open lane.
Sure, in the hour since I've fueled there has been open lanes, but not when I
was waiting. This places uses a different form for their scale tickets but I
hope it's good enough. Dispatch had us set up at another location but it looked
to me from the map to be a pain to get in and out of, so I found a different
location. I try again to reach the customer, no luck. I don't want to wash the
bus until right before I deliver so if I deliver tomorrow I want to wash
tomorrow. And this exit has a bunch of motels with truck parking. This is where
I'd planned on staying last night if I hadn't broken down.
Delivery is
supposed to be by 2pm, it is now 2:20pm when I get ahold of someone who says
the customer says it is OK to delivery. Good enough for me. My map shows
bussiness names of places needed for travel like motels, so I know that the
wash is just past the Vega Bond motel. I know the sign so I look for it …
Opps, once I start looking at street numbers I realise that I've missed it.
Motel is gone and I went right past, wasn't looking for the wash so didn't see
it. The map does show that I can go around a large block and come past it
again, what it doesn't say is that at one of the corners there is a 'No Left
Turn' sign, just a sign, but it can still be done, no median, etc to stop
you.
The guys at the wash had seen me go past, but I didn't loose any
time, it was still 'taco time' for them so I had to wait. It's now after 3pm,
once they start washing I ask one of the guys a question and the other one says
"I'm the one washing it, ask me any questions." OK then … $120 for a wash,
I've paid as little as $10, one guy works on it for about 20 minutes with a
second guy spending about 10 minutes.
I've made it, the guy is standing
in the lot by the time I get around the back of the building, I don't see him
waving me over until I'm past so have to cut back and try to line up. I've done
better, but I was between the lines. I also saw worse in their lot. Inspect he
did. Almost an hour. One of the belts was making a noise and he wanted to know
for how long? I didn't know. Wasn't there when I picked it up, fuel or washed.
We shut the bus off and restarted and it was gone, whatever works. Only notes
on the BL was rock chips to the windshield and to the paint.
FINALLY. A
four block ride to the transit station and then a one hour ride directly into
the airport, $3. The bus route does take us past the other scale, glad I didn't
try to get in and out of there. Reason I started looking was my mapping
software did not show it as a fuel stop and I wanted to cut down on my
stops.
Not sure where I was going to stay, had stayed at a motel
directly behind the Holiday Inn a few years ago. Rember eating on the top floor
of the Holiday Inn where the resturant goes around in a circle and you can
watch the planes coming in. The terminal is only about a block from the closest
motels and there is now a skyway to get there that wasn't there a last time I
was here. I see a couple of signs for $40-$50 motels. The motel I had stayed at
is the Rodeway Inn, not sure if it was then or not. I get to the airport and
find the phones for airports with shuttles, one shows $39. Then I find the
coupon book at the info counter and the same motel has a coupon for $39 so I
call them. "Go to the waiting / pickup area and call us back." When I got there
there is a much longer list of motel with code numbers, 1st I can't remember
who I called then I decide to call the Rodeway Inn, $54. I don't remember it
being that much, I call the Sea Tec Inn back and then wait the hour for them to
get there. One of the shuttles for another motel had people crowded around the
back of their van, not sure why. They were only leaving enough room for cars to
go by at 10mph. What is so important that you can't form a line on the sidewalk
instead of risk getting hit?
You get what you pay for, the step for the
van is weak, the windshield is busted. This trip the driver picks up three of
us, the final is a young single gal. That is the only one the driver has said
anything to. She's from HI and is on here way to KY for a horse show. At the
motel I'm behind this gal when she checks in, she want's a 10pm ride back to
the airport, it's now about 5pm. They question her, did they hear her
correctly? Yes, she has a seven hour layover and didn't want to spend it at the
airport. I thought maybe she'd crash for a those hours but a few minutes later
I see her at Denny's reading a book and ordering a meal. I was some where on my
bus ride too the airport when I was thinking of where I might stay, I
remembered that last time we ate at the top of the Holiday Inn, food was good
and the price not too bad. That's when I remembered that I had not eaten or
dranken anything all day. Tonight it's cranberry juice and eggs, patatoes,
bacon, I don't eat any of the sausage. I would have told them to keep it but
didn't notice it listed. I had ordered wheat toast, (trying to be healthy) but
got white. Boy that first piece of toast tasted good, maybe I was just a little
bit hungry. A half hour later that last piece of toast was more like cardboard
… mmm.
Leaving Denny's a soft spoken guy walks behind me as I'm
looking at the travel info in the entry. When I turn to leave I see that he's
one of these with his pants legs only down to his knee's and something I hadn't
seen before. Instead of leaving his pants at his ankles, he has them rolled up
half way to his knees. A new look? I minute later I pass him and now he's
behind me. Gets me thinking, am I in danger? I'm only going next door on the
sidewalk of a very busy street. I don't turn around until I'm up the stairs at
the motel, he's walking across the parking lot looking up at me. I locked the
door, like I always do.
Didn't look at what I signed when I checked in
at the SeaTec Inn, they charged me $44 … oh well, they are giving me two
rides, I'm not going to argue about it, plus wi-fi. OK place, sign out front
says $44 a night, $9 a day to park-n-ride.
9/24/10
I was
surprised when I got up in the AM and went into the bathroom, I could hear the
planes taking off. In bed I hadn't heard a thing even though I didn't think I
slept that well. 3:30am local, Bllllllllah. By 4am I'm at the front desk to get
my ride, by 4:05 I'm at the airport. I didn't tip the driver last night but
decided to this AM, but not planning ahead all I had was a $5, so a five dollar
tip on a five minute ride, hope his day was off to a good start. I was the only
one in the shuttle this AM. Last time from the Rodeway Inn they had a van full
and I think they might have even made the people with the latest flight wait
for the shuttle to get back for a 2nd trip. Self service at the check-in, once
I realised there was one. I remembered from last week so it didn't take as
long. Then about 50 people ahead of me at security and one lane open, finally
when there is only two people ahead of me they open a second lane. :) I'm sure
the people at the end appreciated it more than I. Trip two, no issues. A big
change from seven years ago when I was getting flagged and searched every
trip.
By the time I get to the gate and find power for my laptop, check
my emails, they are starting to load. When I walked up I saw a guy laying
spread eagel on the floor in our loading area, when they started loading, a
lady in her 50-60's tried to wake him up and gave up. A few minutes later I saw
a gal closer to his age pulling his headphones off and asking him where he was
going, then trying to lift him up. Thought maybe she was with him, but she too
soon gave up and walked away. As I was about to board I noticed that he was now
sitting up in a chair, and watched him try to lay down, then move to a seat
where he could lay down and he was out again.
No good direct flights so
It's 5:15am and I'm on my way to PHX where I 'layover' for 45 minutes then on
my way home. 1st flight looks full but I do have an isle seat. Most everyone is
sleeping when the beverage crew comes by. My original ticket was for yesterday
at 2pm and dispatch suggested a few times that I try to go standby for the
midnight flight.
1 - I don't want to fly the red-eye anymore.
2 - I
checked, the flight has been sold out for a while.
I had no interest in
staying up past midnight then being back up at 3am. Between the flights being
full and the prices they now charge for rebooking, layovers, bags, they should
be making money. My new flight was $225, down from $240 I paid from the
original flight.
Leg one is uneventful, we land, I'm near in the front
of the plane so one of the first off. I have 45 minutes between flights, I head
off to my next gate. I'm walking faster than the people walking on the moving
walk-way, and still by the time I'm get to my gate they are already calling
rows. I ask if I can get an isle seat, "Nope, I have one middle seat left.
That's it." And later I see the one person on standby get that ticket. Quiet
flight, I don't say much to either of my much younger seat mates.
We are
loaded and left the gate on time. But as we were taxiing we stopped and then we
heard that there would be a short delay due to debrie on the runway, then it
was going to be a long delay because they were re-routing all planes onto one
runway. It sounds like they try to use one for takeoff and one for landing. We
were delayed <> 45 minutes and when we lifted off someone counted 34
planes in line behind us. (Here's the
story)
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/24/20100924sky-harbor-runway-closed-engine-problem-abrk.html
During
our flight I find an article in the plane magazine about the big horse show in
KY, billed as the biggest ever.
http://www.alltechfeigames.com/
We were
not in the air long when the pilot told us we'd only be arriving 10 minutes
late, but a couple hours later after being told that we were decending they
came back on and said we were in a holding paterern due to high winds at MSP.
That's when I finally started talking to my seat mate, she grew up in the same
town as my brother lives, had moved to Phoenix to go to medical school and is
now a cardiatric doctor. Maybe we could have found something to talk
about??
We couldn't have been held long because we were on the ground
<> a half hour later than we should have been. One more leg, now I catch
the bus back to my car. I did remember now that I would need exact change so I
stopped and bought a pack of gum in the airport just for the change. Then my
mind short circuited and I forgot about the cents and paid $.25 more for my
ride than I needed too. I'd never taken this route before so I had to ask which
bus, no one seemed to know for sure but one driver gave me a map and so I knew
my options. About a 20 minute layover in downtown St Paul and back on the bus.
Always an interesting bunch. |
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