Steele Street

Financial Bloggers of Denver Unite

2012-01-22T16:48:00.001-07:00

My freelance writing career has two areas of focus that overlap. One is travel, which is a real passion of mine. The other is personal finance, which is more of a skill and an obsession. In 2011, the first FinCon, personal finance bloggers conference was held in Chicago. I was unable to attend, and it felt like I missed a big party that all of my friends were going to.

In 2012, I am very proud to say that Denver will be hosting the 2d annual FinCon convention. Hoping to make up for lost networking opportunities, I volunteered to organize a series of local meetups for others here in Denver who write about personal finance.

We just finished our first Denver FinCon Local Meetup. In attendance was Eric Rosenberg of Narrow Bridge Finance, Anna Newell Jones of And Then She Saved, and Lauren L. Burke from NEFE. What the four of us lacked in numbers, we made up for in enthusiasm and excitement for being the host city for the National FinCon in 2012.

We are all looking forward to expanding our numbers for our next meetup.

Back From Africa

2012-01-20T13:30:00.001-07:00

My father and I just returned from an amazing adventure in Kenya and Uganda. Most of the experiences by themselves would have been worth the trip over there, but together they constitute more than just a journey, but an epic adventure. While aspects of this trip will soon be the subject of several articles in print and online, I would like to give you a brief overview of what happened there that was so special.

Governor's Camp Il Moran, Masi Mara National Park, Kenya

Our first few nights in Kenya were at a luxury tent safari camp in the Masi Mara region of eastern Africa. As you can see from the pictures below, this was an incredible experience by itself.

Pandinga Village, Uganda

From Kenya, we proceed to Uganda, where the real adventure began. In Kampala, we met with several drilling companies, in the hopes of bringing water to the native village of our driver Milton. After a hellacious 10 hour drive through dust clogged, potholed dirt roads, we reached our lodge along the banks of Nile.It was our experiences the next day that have left us stunned. On January 6, we arrived at Pandinga village, not far from the famed Murcheson falls area of western Uganda. Hundreds of people from Pandinga and its neighboring village turned out to greet us. We were told that we were the first westerners to ever visit the village. An elaborate ceremony had been planned in our honor. Speeches were made, dances were performed, and we were shown a dramatization of the problems the village faces as a result of poor water. Later, we received gifts of grains, eggs, peanuts, and three live chickens (our driver was able to find them a good home). Finally, we went to see how they were currently gathering their water from a shallow, muddy trench. It was an amazing day for everyone involved, and we promised to help bring fresh water to their village.

Buhoma, Uganda and Bwindi Impenetrable Park

Next, we traveled south to the town of Buhoma. This was a three day journey over the same savage roads. Buhoma rests at the foothills to the volcanic Virunga mountain range, adjacent to the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. There, our mission was twofold. We were going trekking to the see the rare Eastern Mountain Gorilla, of which there are less than 1,000 remaining. We were also there to donate bicycles to some of the villages.

During two separate treks, we saw about 20 different animals ranging from infants to full sized, adult Silverback Males.

Finally, we had a chance to give away the bicycles that had been donated. Let's just say the bikes needed a little setup before delivery, and as a bicycle mechanic, I was happy to pitch in.

Giraffe Manor Hotel, Nairobi

Our last experience before departing Africa was a visit to the Giraffe Manor Hotel in Nairobi. Here, 13 Rothschild Giraffe roam the gardens of this ultra-luxury 1932 hotel with only 10 rooms.

This was a fantastic trip, and one with a purpose. If you would like to find out more about The Clean Water Foundation, Inc, also known as Wheels and Wells for Africa. Our website is thecleanwaterfoundation.com.

Welcome SATW Friends

2011-12-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

I have just applied to join the Society of American Travel writers. I look at this organization as the gold standard within this field, and I am excited to be meeting so many others that are writing about travel. If you are new to this site, feel free to look over the column on the right titled "Read My Articles At:" These links will take you to a list of the articles I wrote at the sites I am currently contributing to.

I look forward to getting to know you all better, and thank you for visiting my site.

-Jason

Travel Hackers On Nightline

2011-11-22T09:45:00.001-07:00

Last month, my wife and I attended a fantastic seminar on reward travel. The focus was on the best ways to earn and spend frequent flier miles, hotel points, and anything that allows you to travel for free. It was held in Chicago and it was extremely interesting and a ton of fun.

During the event, a crew from ABC's Nightline was filming for a piece that airs tonight. I am not featured in it, but you might catch a glimpse of me here or there. Nevertheless, this might open your eyes to this world of extreme travel rewards enthusiasts that most people don't know exist.

The segment aired November 22, 2011, here is the link.

Steele On The Radio

2011-11-20T16:50:00.004-07:00

On Saturday, November 26, I was a guest on the Consumer Talk program hosted by Michael Finney, which airs on News Talk 810 in San Francisco.

I am scheduled to be on a segment that begins at approximately 5:00 PM Pacific time, 6 PM Mountain, and 8 PM on the east coast.

You can listen live or download the podcast.

I will be discussing an article I wrote recently for Money Talks News, 5 Reasons Not to Apply for a Department Store Credit Card.

This should be fun!

Steele On Television

2011-11-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

Another great thing about working for Stacy Johnson is the opportunity to appear on his television reports that are syndicated and broadcast on local news reports around the country on all the stations seen on the map above. In this clip, I am giving advice on how to travel for free over the holidays using frequent flier miles.

Give me an Emmy!

Steele On Business Insider

2011-11-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about writing for some amazing sites, such as Money Talks News, is that my work is constantly being picked up by other outstanding sites, such as Business Insider. In fact, they seemed to have picked up five of my articles in the last two weeks alone.

Steele Is Now A Full Time Freelancer

2011-11-03T05:36:00.000-06:00

Free: Not obligated to work for any one company. No longer needing to show up and put in "face time" in a cubicle during set hours for no reason.

Lance: If the pen is mightier than the sword, the blog beats them both.

This marks the first week of my full time career as a freelance writer. I have lined up my clients, figured out my benefits, and even rented out some space in a real office building. My writing career is indeed taking off as I focus on travel, credit cards, and other aspects of personal finance.

On a personal note, this is really the fulfillment of a life long dream. I come from a family of people who generally own their own business or practice of some sort. Working for others has never been a great fit for me, and being my own boss gives me limitless possibilities for travel, recreation, and unscheduled slacking off. Or so it would seem as find myself working at 5 AM this morning.

Read Steele On Wise Bread!

2011-11-02T14:10:00.000-06:00

I am excited to announce that I am now writing for Wise Bread, one of the top consumer finance sites. You can now read my first post there, 6 Ways My Family Scores Free Travel With Credit Cards, complete with some lovely pictures from our recent trip to Israel and Italy.

I will be writing weekly for them on travel and credit cards. Be sure to check out my latest work at Wise Bread by clicking on the link from my home page under "Read My Articles At:",

Hello To My New Friends From Chicago

2011-10-30T18:30:00.000-06:00

I am just wrapping up a fantastic weekend at the Chicago DO seminar, a conference for frequent fliers and award travel aficionados. I don't even know where to begin describing all the great travel tricks that I just learned, and all the amazing people I just met.

To my new acquaintances who are dropping by my blog for the first time, please check out the links on the right to the blogs I write for. Each one takes you to just the posts I created, even though the blogs have many other contributors. As usual, be sure to drop me an email to say hello.

-Jason

Steele On Lifed

2011-08-12T14:05:00.000-06:00

I am proud to announce my association with yet another outlet. Lifed is a new web site that just launched promising "all the life hacks, health, finance and productivity tips you can handle."

Steele Hits The Big Leagues: MSN Money!

2011-07-21T08:28:00.001-06:00

I am excited to announce my first article featured at MSN, "7 Worst Reward Credit Cards". Many thanks to Stacy Johnson and Michael Koretzky at Money Talks News for helping me with my writing and giving me this opportunity.

Read My Work At Money Talks News

2011-07-20T08:06:00.000-06:00

I am very excited to be writing for veteran journalist Stacy Johnson and his team at Money Talks News. This is an important opportunity, as stories featured at this site are often picked up by major outlets such as MSN and Yahoo. My first post, The 7 Worst Reward Credit Cards – and What You Can Learn From Them, just went live today!

Another Blog Post Of Mine Hits The Consumerist!

2011-04-25T20:50:00.000-06:00

For the second time in a month, the Consumerist, the highest ranked personal finance site on the Internet, is linking to an article I wrote over at Money Crashers.

This is the article where I disclose all of my best tricks to avoid luggage fees. Some commenters feel this is unethical, but obviously I am more than happy to beat the airlines at their own game.

Whohoo!

Steele On The Consumerist

2011-04-09T10:19:00.001-06:00

For a blogger, there are few things as cool as surfing the net and finding a link to an article you wrote. That happened to me for the first time this morning when I was browsing The Consumerist, the highest ranked personal finance site on the Internet!

Check out their story about my original article I wrote for Money Crashers, Should I Buy a New Car? 6 Reasons to Buy a New Car over a Used Car.

You can browse all of the articles I have written for Money Crashers here.

Steele Quoted In Business Traveler Magazine

2011-04-05T08:47:00.001-06:00

Recently, I was interviewed by reporter Mark Chesnut for Business Traveler magazine. He was interested in trends relating to hotel credit cards. As a reward card blogger for AskMrCreditCard, I was able to provide him with my perspective on the subject.

You can read his entire article here, Changes In The Cards.

What's New on Steele Street

2011-03-28T16:33:00.000-06:00

Always Consider Alternate Forms of Transportation- Ask Mr. Credit Card

News Vs. Used Car- Money Crashers

I Am Writing For Yet Another Blog

2011-03-24T15:18:00.001-06:00

Expanding on my writing in the field of personal finance, I will now be writing a weekly column for the blog How To Retire Rich. You can read my first article there, Student Loans Versus Retirement Savings.

You Can Now Follow Steele Street On Twitter!

2011-02-09T10:35:00.002-07:00

In my never ending quest to stay on top of the latest social media, Web 2.0, and (insert buzzword here) scene, I will now be Tweeting regularly about all my writings. I also plan to bitch and moan about various companies in an effort to compel them to provide decent service.

Follow my Twitter Feed here @SteeleStreet

My New Blogging Gig At Money Crashers

2011-02-08T17:47:00.001-07:00

I am very excited to announce that I am now one of the featured writers over at the personal finance site Money Crashers. This is a great opportunity to expand my writing beyond travel and credit cards to other consumer interest areas such as technology and parenting.

Check out my first article there about how to save money on 6 Simple Ways to Save Money With Your High-Speed Internet Service Provider. In the future, you can read all of my articles there by going to this link.

I am really enjoying my burgeoning writing career. I will still be contributing daily to the Blog at AskMrCreditCard on the subject of credit cards and travel. I also write a series of how-to articles on travel every month for Blend.com. As the bicycling season kicks up again, I will write more frequently at the Go Tubeless blog I started. Finally, I will try to update my blog here a little bit more often.

Steele And Cranky On Blog Radio

2011-01-14T14:47:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, I was privileged to conduct a 90 minute Blog Radio interview with the esteemed aviation blogger Brett Snyder aka, The Cranky Flier.    I conducted the interview in conjunction with Mr. Credit Card, as part of my column over at the blog at Ask Mr Credit Card.

I have been reading Cranky's blog almost from the beginning, and even wrote a guest post for him a couple of years ago. As an aviation geek myself, I have a lot in common with Brett, a self described Airline Dork.   While I was lucky to spend a lot of my youth at airports, by way of the fact that my father was a private pilot, Brett seems equally obsessed with all things airlines. I will admit to having a secret stash of airline timetables as a child as well.    Later, my bike rides seemed always to converge at the edge of an airfield somewhere.   My late night study sessions in college always happened to end up in periodicals, somewhere near a stack of Aviation Week magazines.   I later became a commercial pilot and flight instructor, although I turned down an offer to fly with a scheduled airline.

In our 90 minute interview, we covered all sorts of subjects from airline fees to electronic ticket distribution to the 3 hour (tarmac delay) rule.   If you like all things airline and aviation related, and you have some time on your hands, I recommend you take some time to listen in.

At the very least, you will learn how Brett got the name, The Cranky Flier.

A Frontier Airlines Debacle

2010-12-20T10:35:00.005-07:00

I used to like good old Frontier.   They were the only sane alternative to United here in Denver.

Lately, however, Frontier has been having some real problems as far as my family and I are concerned.

My last two encounters with F9 staff at ATL have been two of the worst encounters with any airline ever. I wish it was merely a 45 minute wait before an uneventful check in.

Encounter 1 was traveling with my family and, after having requested and received seats together (after they re-instated free assigned seats), F9 said we were actually booked on different flights on different days. Turns out the original booking was flawed (my bad), but then why did they later confirm us seating together? Either way, terminal staff was utterly useless in resolving problem and my family was split up before they could be bothered to help. My wife basically had to cause a scene to get them to do anything to resolve it. I had already left by then, but it sounded like a mess. We received some vouchers for the experience and decided to use them to book a trip for my niece to visit us her in Denver.

Fast forward to last week, when my sister attempts to check in my 13 year old niece flying out to visit us as an unaccompanied minor, and F9 at the terminal has no clue. Two agents spend 1/2 hour playing with their computers and speaking to the help desk before sending her and my sister to the gate with no boarding pass, just a gate pass to get through security!

No booking errors this time, we did everything right, but they had some unspecified computer problem that made it impossible for them to do anything, so they just dumped the problem on the gate staff.    Apparently their reservations systems are about as modern as the aircraft pictured above, and/or their staff has no idea how to use them!

Gate agents did everything they could not to help. They started boarding, ignored my sister, and even had her bag removed from the flight. My sister calls me from the gate beside herself that they won't help her and are about to deny her daughter boarding.

Although less of a scene was made my sister was rightfully pissed at this mess. They ultimately boarded her last, without a boarding pass, sitting a 13 year old girl on the back of the plane in a middle seat between two older men. By design, her bag didn't make it either.   We had to take time from her vacation to return to the airport.   We declined hanging around the house for them to deliver the bag in a 5 hour window.

Imagine a 13 year old girl, on her first flight as an unaccompanied minor, watching her mother fight with the airline staff for an hour just to get a seat.   Then, they board her at the last second without barely a chance to say goodbye. What an outrage!

The pattern is clear, F9 staff in ATL are useless, incompetent, or worse. When a problem comes up, they just try to make you go away without solving it. I have traveled a lot, and I write about travel every day, but I have never encountered such customer disservice anywhere else by any airline.

Worse, my sister calls in to customer service to complain, they offer her a $50 voucher and then drop her call.

What an insult!

Frontier Airlines has some major problems. The worst part is we have no reason to believe the experience will be any better in two days when she returns to Atlanta. I will keep you posted if and when they decide to actually address these problems.

What's Going On With Steele Street

2010-12-07T09:59:00.002-07:00

It has been a very busy few months for me, and I apologize to both my regular readers for not keeping up with this blog. I have been writing extensively on both travel and finance daily over at the AskMrCreditCard blog. I have also been submitting travel expert columns monthly for Blend.com.

Finally, I have just started a new blog about another of my passions, bicycling. The Go Tubeless blog will educate readers on the emerging technology of tubeless bicycle tires, just in case you hate getting flats when you ride.

Nevertheless, I promise to update this blog more often.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Jason

Edinburgh

2010-09-21T09:16:00.001-06:00

Edinburgh, Scotland is one of the more fascinating cities in Europe. The history of the city dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and much of it is now preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the seat of the Scottish Parliament, and home to such famous people as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sean Connery, J.K. Rowling and even Tony Blair.

It is easy to pass up a chance to visit Edinburgh, as most tourists flock to nearby tourist destinations such as London and Ireland. While London is great, hotels in the city center are extremely expensive, as is the city in general. By comparison, there are many great deals available for hotels in Edinburgh city centre. Staying in the city center allow visitors to experience it's many museums, castles, and festivals. Such an experience is just not possible in today's hectic London.

Delta once had a non-stop flight from Atlanta and New York to Edinburgh, but it didn't last. Today, the only non-stop to Edinburgh from the United States is on Continental via Newark.

Everything That Is Wrong With The Airline Industry

2010-09-13T11:55:00.005-06:00

I am a big fan of Brett Snyder over at the Cranky Flier. Two years ago, I was even privileged to contribute a guest post on The Future Of Airline Loyalty Programs. Last week, Brett was on vacation and had an anonymous guest write a post for his blog for his Headwinds blog at BNet.

You should read the post in it's entirety here.

In it, an anonymous airline insider says that his company just doesn't have the basic technology necessary to disseminate accurate information in the event of a delay, yet even;

...if we had “perfect” information to give, should the airlines invest in better technology or more bodies to communicate in a more timely manner? For that matter, should the airlines invest in technology that would help cultivate that perfect knowledge? Quite honestly, I don’t think so.

I simply don’t see the return on investment. In fact, I don’t see how giving passengers better information actually saves (or generates) the airline any money at all. How would it? The tickets are paid for, and most of them are non-refundable. “Everybody knows” the airlines provide lousy information, so it’s not as if customers will flee to the competition for that sole reason.

There you go. Customer service provides no return on it's investment according to this guy because you already paid for your ticket. I have no reason to believe his views are unusual in the airline industry.

Now personally, I enjoy flying on Southwest airlines, as they seem to be the most operationally efficient airline out there. This guy's airline flies for United, a carrier that I have been avoiding like the plague for some time.

As I wrote in the comments of the post, I give Brett tremendous credit for allowing this guy to share is views, which I am sure he does not agree with. As long as there are people in the airline industry who feel the way this guy does, passengers will suffer and airlines will continue to lose money.

My Consumer Advocacy Win

2010-08-31T14:38:00.003-06:00

Update: Penny Parker at The Denver Post has written about this issue, crediting me with the shopping center's new disclosure of this fee.

I love to write.

I write about credit cards in my daily column for the blog at AskMrCreditCard.com. I write about travel over at Blend.com, and I write about politics, travel, aviation, and consumer issues here at Steele Street. The common thread here is that I am a consumer advocate. The only think I hate more than getting ripped off, is seeing it happen to others.

So last week, I went out to for lunch to the Belmar Shopping Center in Lakewood Colorado. I stopped in a restaurant that advertised a $8.99 sushi lunch.    When I received the bill, I was charged $9.21 plus tax.    On the bill was a 22 cent charge labeled "PIF".   I asked the waitress what "PIF" was, and she produced a leaflet indicating that the shopping center was requiring merchants to add 2.5% to every bill for it's Public Improvement Fund.   The leaflet also said that the fee was not a tax. I double checked, and there was no disclosure of the fee anywhere in the restaurant or on the menu.

Now, 22 cents is not worth fighting over in a restaurant, and I did not. They can call it anything they want, but the money that a merchant pays it's landlord is called rent.   22 cents isn't a lot, but the principal is important.   If the practice of adding an undisclosed surcharge to your restaurant bill becomes widespread, soon, every retailer will start advertising prices that don't include rent.   We have already seen businesses such as rental car companies and hotels adding surcharges for things like electricity, labor, and compliance with the law.   Do we really want every store to start adding an undisclosed surcharge to every purchase you make? What's to stop them from adding a surcharge that better reflects their rent, such as 20% or 30%?

My response was to write the restaurant, the shopping center, the city of Lakewood, the Denver Post, and the Colorado Attorney General's office.     Before you wonder how much time I wasted on this, keep in mind that we are talking about two emails addressed to multiple recipients, and like I said, I love to write.

Today, I received a reply from the city, which approved a tax break for the shopping center as well as their PIF scheme.   In response to my efforts, they will now be requiring every merchant in the shopping center to prominently disclose this surcharge to all customers before their purchase.

You may consider this a small win for consumers, but if no one makes the effort, how long would it be until every retailer feels free to add whatever surcharge they feel like, and not tell you about it unless you question your receipt?

Ireland

2010-08-26T10:34:00.000-06:00

Earlier this month, my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Salvador Brazil. We were going to be in Atlanta, so going even further south was not too inconvenient.

We actually considered visiting Ireland instead, and we would still like to. One of the things that appeals to me about Ireland is it's incredible scenery and culture. The fact that they speak English there is a bonus as well. While the place has a reputation for being cold and rainy, it can be quite sunny and mild in the summer when places like Rome and Paris are just a bit too hot for my tastes.

When we looked at going to Ireland, the Euro was still pretty high, and things looked pretty expensive there. Even a pint of Guinness was going for something like eight dollars! Now, prices have come down a bit, and I was even able to find some great deals on Hotels in Dublin, with many under 100 Euros.

Here's to the Euro staying reasonably low, and my chances for visiting Dublin soon.

Miami

2010-08-19T10:31:00.000-06:00

Most of the time I spend in Florida has been in the Ft. Lauderday and West Palm Beach areas, primarily because that is where my family has been. Lately, I have had a couple opportunities to fly through Miami, and I forgot how interesting of a place it can be. Think if it like a Latin version of New York, as there are so many communities of people from places like Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Haiti and other exotic places. Beyond Latin America there are large populations of Russians, Israelis, Vietnamese, and other Asian nations. With the people, comes their food, music, and culture.

Even at the airport, we were able to take in some great Cuban food, not to mention some interesting people watching as passengers arrived and departed to every corner of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. In the past, I have taken Holidays to Miami along with my family visits to check out the Coral Castles, Little Havana, and even some decent Israeli food on Miami Beach. Certainly, the weather is always better there than in New York!

How To Find Cheap Airfare

2010-08-18T14:15:00.000-06:00

There has been much written about finding the cheapest airfares.    Some people actually believe that the least expensive airfares can be found on certain days of the week, but I have never seen any evidence to back that up. Others feel that there is a certain time of year when fares are the least expensive.

When I look for tickets, I first go to the websites of each of the airlines that fly the route non-stop.    Living in a city that major airline hub for three different airlines, I often have a wide selection of non-stop flights to most cities.

Things get trickier when I am trying to fly somewhere that requires a change of planes.   At that point, I am forced to look at other web sites that offer airfares or even packages.    For example, here is a site that offers great deals to America for European travelers.    Never forget that it is often cheaper to get a package that includes hotel and airfare than it is to try to buy each service separately.

Finding A Great Hotel

2010-08-18T13:20:00.000-06:00

I just returned from a trip to Brazil.   Naturally, I used frequent flier miles to get there, and we didn't need a car, so my biggest decision regarding the trip was finding a great hotel.    Fortunately, we came across the Pousada Redfish in the historic center of Salvador Brazil (Pousada is Pourtuguese for inn).

How did we find it?   Lots of Googling, especially sites such as TripAdvisor. It wasn't always that easy.   In 1998, a few years before the Internet was really what it is now, I went to London.   Naturally, I wanted to stay at one of the hotels in London city centre. Somehow, I came across a little hotel a block or so from one of the major train stations.   It was expensive, and the room was just barely larger than the bed, but it worked.    I think that today I would have a much easier time.

Here are the criteria I would use today to select a hotel.   First, location is the most important thing.   You can save money by staying further away, but it is rarely worth it.    You will have to pay for gas or other public transportation, eating into your savings, but more importantly, you will be loosing time, the most valuable commodity in most vacations.    You went somewhere to experience the place, so why bother staying far away.    It is tiring to go back and forth between an city center and your hotel.   It is surprising how nice it is to return to your room during the day for a couple hours to read, shower, or just catch up on sleep after a long flight.

After narrowing down the location, search TripAdvisor for the best rated hotels in the area.   Read through some reviews of the ones you like.   I tend to dismiss reviews that are extremely positive with no drawbacks.   I also have to take bad reviews into account depending on the context.   For example, a hotel might get a bad review based solely on someone not liking the pool.   If I am visiting in the winter and the pool will not even be open, what do I care?

Finally, try to find the best deals out there on the hotels you like.    You might find a great deal on one of the large travel sites like Expedia, but don't forget to check out specialty travel sites as well.   Between resources such as TripAdvisor and all of the great Internet sites offering hotel deals, it is fairly easy to find great hotels anywhere in the world.

The Amazing Story Of Life, Death, and Art At Denver International Airport

2010-08-03T09:26:00.000-06:00

Denver International Airport (known as DIA) was built in the early 1990's with a mandate to include a broad variety of public art displays.   From my non-artist's point of view, their effort has been somewhat of a success.   Attentive visitors can enjoy moving sculptures along the walls of the tunnels of the people mover system. Others might appreciate the murals in the terminal or the paper airplane sculptures hanging from the ceiling. In total, there are 26 art exhibits that include works from 39 different artists.

One exhibit is stands out in many ways. On the only access road to and from the airport, Pena Boulevard, about 1 mile from the terminal, stands a giant sculpture of blue horse.   It is meant to symbolize the spirit of the west, not to promote Denver's football team, the Broncos.   The horse is reared up on it's hind legs, it's muscles are well defined, and it has a pair of lights where it's eyes would be.

Some find it a bit scary.

This work of art is even more ominous when you consider how it got there. In 1992, Denver commissioned this work from famed Latino artist Luis Jimenez. When the airport opened in 1995, 16 months behind schedule, it's signature piece of art was still not ready. In fact, it's story had hardly begun. Over the next decade, the artist labored at his own pace to complete it, while successive city governments became annoyed, frustrated, and angry as each targeted completion date passed without the artist producing a finished work. The delay culminated with the tragic events of June 13th, 2006. On that day, a large piece of the sculpture broke free, landed on the artist, and killed him.

It would be impossible to imagine the story ending there. The city found an artist who was able to rebuild and complete the sculpture.    It was finally delivered to Denver earlier in 2008.    This piece represents the final work of Luis Jimenez.

As it stands now, it is actually illegal to pull over to admire the work. Sadly, one can only appreciate it by driving down Pena Boulevard at 55 miles per hour.   It took 16 years to complete and cost the artist his life, and now you have only a few seconds to view it.

The Tour de France

2010-07-23T11:07:00.000-06:00

My friend Shawn just arrived in Bordeaux, France and just sent me this video of the finish of Stage 18. That is his mom saying "Is that all?".

They will undoubtedly see more at the time trial tomorrow when the riders go by one by one, or at the finale in Paris where they make several circuits on the Champs-Élysées.

You may recall my role in planning their their trip. It turns out he was able to land a First Class seat on the way over.

Triple Bypass Bicycle Ride

2010-07-16T10:20:00.000-06:00

Yes, that is me completing the famed Triple Bypass bicycle ride here in the spectacular Colorado Rockies. Sure, my blog boasts "Politics, Consumer Information, Travel, Aviation, and Humor from a Mile High perspective", but in this picture I am actually over two miles high, at the top of the 10,662 ft. high Vail Pass. Vail is the third of the three grueling climbs that make up the Triple Bypass. In total, there is over 10,000 feet of climbing in a single day, spaced out among 120 miles.

I have been training for months for this event, which marked the fourth time I have ridden this ride. This year, my training paid off as I was able to complete the ride in 11 hours without serious difficulty. It was challenging, but I did not experience the sense of complete and utter exhaustion that I had in previous years.

3,500 riders participated in the event, which sold out in a matter of minutes. The riders were from all over the United States, and I even met several riders from other countries. It seems that bicycling is one of the reason people choose to take their Holidays in America.

Cruising In Europe

2010-07-15T10:23:00.000-06:00

I have never been a big cruise fan.   I like to visit many of the islands in Mexico and the Bahamas that get visited by the cruise ships, but I am always glad I am staying there, and not just docking for a few hours. It seems like many Caribbean cruisers don't stray too far from the boat, leaving them in clusters of tourist centers.

On the other hand, in Europe, Mediterranean Cruises are a different experience.   So many of the major sites in the Mediterranean are close to major ports.   In addition, hotel costs in Europe can be sky high.    Finally, getting around in Europe is typically done by trains, and it can be somewhat of a pain to carry your luggage around from train to train.    From what I have heard, a cruise there is actually a decent way to get around.   You avoid all of the hassles of checking in and out of various hotels, while having the time to see some great cities.

Just be sure to arrive a day or two early.    You want to get a head start on overcoming jet lag, while avoiding the risk of a delayed flight that would cause you to miss your boat.

Being An Amateur Travel Agent

2010-07-14T14:55:00.001-06:00

In the old days, if you wanted to go somewhere, you would call up your travel agent.   They would use their fancy computers to find you flights, hotels, and otherwise build your itinerary. The alternative was to make dozens of, then expensive, long distance calls yourself. I remember booking business trips like this in the mid nineties.

Although everyone can be a travel agent these days, the Internet has made booking travel to be quite a challenge in many other ways.   I have taken it upon myself to become as much of a travel expert as I can be, considering that I can hardly call myself a frequent traveler.

One of my tricks as been to volunteer to book travel for other people.   I was able to book some friends of mine a trip to see the Tour de France this year.    First I helped them book some super-cheap first class tickets.   Next, I helped them find a place to stay in Bordeaux, as well as some hotels in Paris city centre.   Finally, I have been offering these novice international travelers some tips on credit card usage in Europe, over at the blog I write for at AskMrCreditCard.com.

I like doing this for several reasons.   It feels good to use my knowledge to help my friends, and it is just plain fun to sort out travel itineraries.

So to paraphrase some pop culture, "If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find me, maybe you can hire... The J-Team."

Florida In 2010

2010-07-05T10:51:00.000-06:00

While our news continues to be dominated by the gulf oil spill, it is easy to loose sight of just what has been affected and what hasn't. Certainly the norther Gulf coast of Florida near Pensacola is being devastated by the spill. On the other hand, the rest of the Gulf coast, such as Tampa, and the entire Atlantic coast also remains unaffected. There may even be some great Florida holiday deals, especially to places like Orlando. What often happens when there is a major event like the oil spill, is that people avoid an entire region. While, that is unfortunate both for the local economy, savvy travelers will see this as an opportunity to travel at lower prices. For example, tourists avoid countries anytime there is unrest, even if it is localized to areas hundreds of miles away from where they would normally visit. Due to this phenomenon, I have stayed in empty hotels in Africa and the Middle East, and had a great time.

While I am not a huge Disney fan, Orlando is very convenient to the space coast. With a little luck, I am hoping to go out to see one of the few remaining SpaceShuttle launches latter this year or early next year. Of course, neither Disney nor NASA are affected by the oil spill.

Hot And Cold In Las Vegas

2010-07-05T10:34:00.001-06:00

It was three years ago, when we were expecting our first child, that we went to Las Vegas in the middle of the summer. We took one of those quick Las Vegas Holidays in order to give my very pregnant wife some needed relaxation. You might think that Vegas is the hottest place in the country this time of year, but in fact, in my memory, this was an extremely cold place to be.

At home in Denver, we rarely use our air conditioner, and are obviously very hot, yet in Vegas, our hotel was air conditioned so well, that it was like visiting a mountain top. Spending a few days in a dry, air conditioned climate was a much need break from the hot house we live in, despite it being in relatively cool Denver. A typical summer day in Denver may be "only" in the 90s, while a summer day in Vegas can easily reach 110!. We relished the chance to enjoy the pool and actually experience some of the incredibly hot temperatures. We didn't even need a towel, as the sun dried us off in seconds!

It is one of the ironies in life that Las Vegas in the summer can be one of the coldest places to visit.

Gulf Coast Oil Production

2010-06-16T09:39:00.003-06:00

This is a good time to link back to my post on Peak Oil. I have been listening to all sorts of people saying how we have to keep drilling so that we don't have pay more for oil. It is a great argument, other than the fact that it is not true.

Every time you hear the argument for drilling somehow linked to the price of oil, remember back a few months ago when I wrote the following: "We produce 7% of the world's oil, while consuming 24%. Simple economics say that we can have a lot more influence on price of oil by managing our demand rather than our production."

(Actually these stats show that we produce 5.8% of the world's oil, and consume 22.8%)

Oil prices are set on a global market, whether we drill in the gulf or not, it isn't going to affect the worldwide price of oil much. What we consume will tremendously affect the price of oil, and the Saudi's know it.

A better argument is that oil prices are currently too low. They don't price oil for externalities, such as national security, global climate change, and the risk of environmental disasters like the gulf oil spill. Including these costs in the price of oil would be a free market approach to reducing oil consumption.

New Blog

2010-06-11T11:57:00.000-06:00

A crazy Colorado town has banned cycling.

I decided to write a blog about it.

Read more here at Boycott Blackhawk.

Is Failure An Option?

2010-06-09T13:35:00.001-06:00

I once heard former NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz speak about the Apollo 13 mission, in which he repeated his famous quote, "Failure Is Not An Option". For the last month and a half, our nation has been puzzled as to how BP could have failed so miserably to prevent the tragedy in the gulf that is still unfolding.

The backups designed to prevent this exact problem failed, and it appears that additional backups were deemed too costly. The best analysis on this subject that I have read comes from Kenneth G. Brill over at Forbes Magazine.

As you read his analysis, keep in mind what Brill is famous for. According to Brill's page at the University Of Redlands, "Brill is the founder and former executive director of the Uptime Institute and the Site Uptime Network, an organization that provides many opportunities and resources for the data center industry and data center professionals."

Basically, he has devoted his professional life to studying the why machines and organizations fail and how to prevent it. Brill, who has a degree in electrical engineering from the Redlands College of Arts and Sciences says that very few business even need to have a "never failing" approach to their activities, as the cost of creating such a system are incredibly high. Unfortunately, companies are designed to accept the possibility of failure, so long as the risk is low enough and the cost of preventing it is high enough so that, on average, the cost of failure is less than the cost of preventive measures. Simply put, from the standpoint of a corporation, failure will always be an option.

ATC Intrigue At JFK

2010-05-06T11:38:00.005-06:00

One of the coolest parts about being a pilot is not only communicating with air traffic control (ATC), but listening in on and understand the other dramas unfolding.   Pilots, like people in many other professions, communicate with their own language of jargon.   Such jargon was a highlight of the film Pushing Tin.

As a flight instructor, I spend a lot of time with my students at relatively uncrowded airports with no commercial service.    Nevertheless, as licensed pilots they need to be prepared to communicate with ATC at any airfield. Therefore, I tell my students to spend some time listening to ATC at a major airfield, like JFK. Anyone can listen to the JFK tower over the internet through websites like LiveATC.net.

This week has been an especially exiting one at JFK in particular, and you can listen to the drama yourself.
First, there was the near departure of the Emirates flight with the suspected Times Square bomber on board. You can listen to the conversation between the Emirates pilot and the tower, a mere seconds before departure.

It sounds really dramatic, indeed the flight was turned around seconds before departure.   On the other hand, had the plane departed, it could have been sent back to JFK, or diverted to Bangor Maine before leaving US airspace.   It is also possible that the authorities in Dubai might have apprehended the suspect upon landing, but then again Dubai is known to harbor terrorists.

The next clip is one that received just a little media attention.   In this instance, the captain of an American Airlines 767 is forced to declare an emergency when he encounters a strong crosswind.   He then gets pissed at the controllers after they are slow to give him a better runway.   You can listen to the clip at this link.   You can read a full discussion about the incident over at Airliners.net.

I think the pilot and the controller could have handled the situation better, but I think the captain ultimately made the right call, unlike this one that I blogged about two years ago who tried to land on the wrong runway in a hideous crosswind.

On Air Travel And Exclusiveness

2010-05-03T13:42:00.002-06:00

On my last international flight, I sat in Delta's BusinessElite section on the 12 hour flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv and back.   As I made myself comfortable in my seat, the passengers heading back to economy gawked enviously.   Some asked me how I was lucky enough to get to sit in Business class, and I could only respond, "Collect frequent flier miles".

I have often wondered if economy passengers are deliberately paraded past the first and business class sections. It occurs to me that business class really isn't all that great, unless you compare it economy class.   Delta does have these wonderful lie flat sleeper seats on some aircraft, but they are very narrow and really aren't quite as comfortable as the bunk bed in your average summer camp.   The food was pretty good by airline standards, but if I had paid more than $10 for the very same dinner at a restaurant, I probably would not have returned.    Keep in mind that this is a meal on a flight that sells for $4,000.

Sometimes I read travel blogs in which the author gets to travel in International First Class (usually on miles), on some great airlines.   Take a look at this post from a First Class flight on Cathay Pacific, certainly valued at more than twice my Delta flight.   Here is the steak dinner.

The steak has nice grill marks and decent presentation, but now imagine what your opinion of this plate would be if it were being served on the ground. You would probably be disappointed had you spent $20 for this meal. Even at Outback Steakhouse, I would expect a larger cut of beef for $15.

An airline defender might say that there is only so much one can expect from food at 40,000 feet served by flight attendants. That would be a reasonable argument, but it can easily be tested by how the same airline treats it's customers on the ground. Take a look at some of the writers picture's of the First Class lounge from the same trip:

This is average for an airport business lounge. On the other hand, it is about what I would expect from the lobby of a $79 a night Courtyard Marriott in the suburb of any American City. If they are trying to impress someone who paid $10,000 for the experience, I think they are probably coming up short again.

My point is not to knock Cathay Pacific. It looks like their First Class Seat is truly remarkable:

My point is that most of the "elite" features of business and first class aren't really all that great, unless you compare them with economy class travel.   Certainly the meals and the business lounges are hardly worth spending thousands of extra dollars for. Recently, I have been traveling with my wife an daughter in coach, and found that their petite size allowed me to enjoy far more room in coach than I ever did while traveling solo amongst strangers of all sizes.   So long as the airline has decent legroom, like Southwest, I find coach to be more than adequate for domestic flights.

The other crazy part about business and first class travel is the entire notion of being elite that airlines are marketing.   On my last flight on Delta, boarding was divided between the "Sky Priority" line, and the regular line.    The only difference was one line passed to the left of turnstile, and the other line was on the right before entering the same jetway.    There was also a short, rubberized "red carpet" to add to the feeling of exclusivity that the exalted ones must feel when passing to the left or the right of the turnstile (I forget which side was which).    Such class distinctions sometimes result in shorter lines, but in this instance, it was truly comical.

I have often wondered how airlines continue to sell first and business class seats for several times the price of their coach product.    The answer is that most of the premium cabin is not sold.   It is filled with award seats, upgrades, and plenty of employees and their families. If you want a reasonable estimate for how an airline values their costs for premium seat compared with coach, consult their award redemption tables.   Here is the Star Alliance award redemption table from US Airways. Most business class awards are a mere 50% more than coach, with international first class sometimes just barely exceeding twice the coach price.

Yes, I want a reclining sleeper seat for an overnight flight, but we are getting to the point where exclusivity is being marketed as an end in of itself while people are spending good money to be considered Elite by some company.

That is not a game that I am willing to play with my money.

On A Lighter Note.....

2010-03-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

Today at Keystone.

DIA's Future: Dream or Nightmare?

2010-03-04T14:45:00.004-07:00

When Denver International Airport opened 15 years ago, years late and way over budget, it was derided as being too big, too costly, and too far away from the the city it served. Continental abandoned it's hub operations and discount carriers like Southwest declined to offer service due to the high cost of operating here.

Day's Plans For DIA

As DIA celebrates it's 15th anniversary, a new article in Denver's Westword weekly paper "DIA Dreams: Aviation director Kim Day plans to take DIA where no airport has gone before" examines some ideas for it's future, as proposed by DIA's Manager of Aviation, Kim Day. I would like to share my perspective on of her plans as a pilot, a Denver based traveler, and an aviation enthusiast.

First, let's look at where we agree:

Kim Day, DIA's manager of aviation, believes the airport is uniquely positioned to adapt to growing traffic, in part because of the remote location its detractors have always complained about. The airport sits on 53 square miles of sheer potential. It has room for half a dozen more runways, with few neighbors to complain about them, while other, hemmed-in airports are spending billions on protracted battles with adjacent communities over expansion issues.
"We have so many physical advantages," Day says. "JFK has limited land, LAX has limited land. Their gateways, in particular, are very constrained. They will cap out at some point in time, while we could well move up in market share."

This is to say that DIA's weakness, it's remote location, will be it's strength in the decades to come.   DIA has six runways and ample room for six more, while Atlanta, the busiest airport in the world, recently spent billions to add a fifth runway to it's constrained location.    It may take thirty years or more, but I can see Denver offering better service than Atlanta one day.

Light Rail And A Hotel Good, A New Terminal.....

Day is also wise to pursue light rail access to the airport, as well as an on site hotel.   Both of these projects will mitigate the weakness of DIA's remote location.

When it comes to some of her other grandiose plans for the airport, I have to strongly disagree with her thinking. Day's idea to create a whole new terminal to the south of the existing one seems predicated on some flawed beliefs. Alan Pendergast, the author of the Westword article states; "As passenger traffic increases in the next few years, the trains will be operating at capacity".    It is not clear if this Pendergast's view or Day's, but that statement just doesn't make sense.   DIA has virtually the same train system as Atlanta's Hartsfield airport, yet Hartsfield operates with 76% more passengers (85 million annually to DIA's 46 million).   While Atlanta continues to expand it's people mover system to serve a new international concourse, it's 7th, Day is hiring consultants to build new concourses and terminals away from it's existing three concourses because Denver's train is supposedly reaching capacity.     Sure, DIA's trains could be operated more efficiently, but they are a far cry from reaching their maximum capacity.

According to the article, "Alternative plans place the new concourses flanking the terminal on the east and west or even south of the hotel development, with a bus shuttling back and forth." Such distant concourses, accessed by bus, will ruin the most efficient aspects of the DIA and ATL designs, the linking of all gates with a single in line transportation system.

Day is also ignoring the fact that like DIA's runways, it's concourses were originally designed for tremendous growth. Unlike Atlanta, DIA's existing concourses can be substantially lengthened to accommodate far more aircraft gates than they currently do. According to Denver International Airport: Lessons Learned, by Paul Stephen Dempsey, DIA was designed to accommodate 110 million passengers a year at full buildout, more than any other airport that existed at the time.

In the most optimistic growth scenarios, it will be decades before DIA builds out it's concourses and necessitates the kind of expansion Day is planning for. Realistically, it is not hard to imagine that Denver residents might look back on the last few years as a Golden Age for DIA when we had United, Frontier, and Southwest, each competing with an extensive hub operation. Any one of these hubs would be the envy of many a medium sized city, and the list of airports in the world that have sustained three separate domestic hub operations is a very small list.

The Great Hall

I will join the chorus of jeers Day received when she proposed placing security outside of the Great Hall.   If one truly wanted to encourage the use of the Great Hall as a public space, there would be a simple way to accomplish that.    Before 9/11, parking was free at the terminal for 90 minutes, and people who felt like entering the terminal with arriving and departing passengers could do so for free, as long as they kept a close eye on the time.   Free parking disappeared for a few years after 9/11 due to "security reasons", only to reappear as paid short term parking.     Why not bring back free short term parking?    It would be easy to allow several hours of free parking without impugning on revenue from actual travelers.    The money lost from the existing short term parkers would be made up with concession revenue in the great hall.   A side effect would be an easing of congestion in the passenger pickup area.    I am sure this idea would never work as it hasn't been the subject of a multi-million dollar study and wouldn't cost a thing to implement.

It's All About The Money

The real danger is that Day's grand plans will raise enplanement costs to airlines, which will discourage growth, or even result in less traffic. As the article states:

One reason for DIA's economic success has been the relentless whittling away of its landing fees, so that the average "cost per enplanement" (CPE) has dropped from $16.85 in 1995 to about $10.50 in 2009. That makes the airport a more attractive stop for carriers such as Southwest, which, in turn, helps to keep airfares low for the consumer.

Once you have less traffic, enplanement costs could rise in a viscous cycle, further discouraging new entrants to the market.   It is hard to see how Day's dreams could result in anything other than runaway costs and less growth at DIA.

Conclusions

DIA's visionary architects clearly anticipated that the city and the airport would grow far beyond it's initial capacity.   A generation ago, that growth was planned for in an intelligent manner.    It would be really sad if Kim Day threw those plans away and squandered DIA's hard won economic advantages by pursuing her bizarre redesign of Denver's aviation icon.

And I've Never Flown US Airways!!!

2010-03-01T14:54:00.001-07:00

This is my balance in Frequent Flier Miles with US Airways as of today. I "bought" these miles for about $2,000. I described the whole scheme here.

Yes, it was perfectly legal.

No, it is too late for you to do it.

Looking at US Airways Star Alliance award chart, you can see that this is the equivalent of:

19 round trip domestic tickets.

4 tickets to Israel in Business class (with 3 domestic round trips remaining).

These miles are good on any Star Alliance airline such as Continental, Lufthansa, Swiss and others.

Remember, I have never flown US Airways, and I probably never will.

Budget Car Rental Scam Exposed!!!

2010-02-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Over at the blog at AskMrCreditCard, I have been digging into a scam involving Budget rental car.

Budget Rent A Car Gives Out Your Credit Card Number To Scammers

More On Negative Option Billing and Preaquired Account Marketing

Here is the short story. You rent a car from Budget. Over six months later you get a "check" that stipulates that when you cash it you get charged a monthly fee to "your credit card on file with Budget".

The problem is, you never authorized Budget to keep your card on file, and as I will write today, Budget can't even tell you which card you have on file, let alone how to get it off their files.

What you are getting is one, two punch of two notorious scams, negative option billing and preaquired account marketing. Each by itself is unscrupulous, and together they are extra devious.

Needless to say, these scammers have a checkered reputation, yet they are clearly still in operation via Budget and Your Credit Card Company!

Be sure to read the blog as I unravel this further....

UD Saves The World, An Update

2010-02-22T09:07:00.004-07:00

Nearly two years ago, I wrote about how a project at the my Alma Mater, the University of Delaware, was going to make it possible for your power company to pay you to charge your electric car.

The project has advanced to a testing phase. Here is a new update.

Like Shooting Fish In A Barrel

2010-02-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Do you know where the picture above was taken?

I did, and won yet another travel contest!

Shmolympic Season Again

2010-02-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

It used to be the world had to suffer through the Olympics every four years, now it haunts us every two years.   Fourteen years ago, I worked for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and I witnessed from an insider's perspective all of the ineptitude and corruption that made me despise this mega-corporation masquerading as some kind of a "sports movement".

This year is no different. In the run up to the games, they have again demonstrated incredible abuse of copyright and trademark laws, documented here.   Next, we saw their callous attitude towards the death of one of their athletes, an Olympic tradition since 1972.   Not to mention all of their technical failures or their rampant environmental hypocrisy.

Let's face it, the Olympics is a traveling circus that leaves financial ruin in it's wake. It is the worst example of corrupt crony capitalism.   Even the television coverage is a sap filled nonsense. I want to puke when I hear the NBC affiliates covering the Olympics during the news like it is the top story of the day.

For more of my observations on the Shmolympics, read here.

What Is The Right Stuff?

2010-02-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

Other than my favorite movie of all time, The Right Stuff is that which separates the ordinary pilots from the extraordinary ones.    This is especially true when it comes to the most critical moment in a pilot's life, when a split second decision means the difference between life and death.

In the past I have written about the "Miracle on the Hudson" and expressed my opinion that it was not Sully's superior airplane handling skills that saved the passengers and crew of flight 1549, it was his brave and timely decision to attempt a landing in the Hudson river.

A year later, my thoughts have been echoed over at FlightGlobal in regards to this incident as well as a very similar crash, British Airways flight 38.   Kieran Daly writes this week that the British Airways pilot's "achievement, like Sully Sullenberger´s in New York, was to make the tough decision. Plenty - probably the great majority - of pilots could have landed on the Hudson and made it over the fence to Heathrow - but not all would have taken the decision to opt for the river over a distant but tempting runway.."

On the other hand, you have "The Wrong Stuff" in the news this week as well. I have also explored the possible causes of crash of Continental flight 3047.   In the immediate aftermath of the accident, it appeared that icing was a likely suspect.    The truth that has been revealed lately is far more shocking.     Both the pilot and the co-pilot displayed a lack of basic airmanship that would be expected of any candidate for a pilot's license.    The pilots failed to recover from a stall, an exercise that I have taught thousands of times to student pilots on one of their first few flights.

In defense of the pilots they were incredibly fatigued and poorly trained, as pointed out in this PBS Frontline documentary that aired this week. I encourage you watch it online in it's entirety.

I found the report surprising, even as I know regional pilots and was even once offered a job as a pilot for a regional airline.    Many of the issues explored in this report directly relate to my decision not to pursue a career as an airline pilot.

Pulling a Gun At a Schwarma Stand

2009-12-27T19:52:00.002-07:00

So here I am in Tel Aviv, and I am about to ingest the holy grail of middle eastern street food, shwarma. Actually, I am in Lod, a small, mixed Arab/Jewish village near the airport where I am staying. Just as I order my food, the guy next to me pulls out a hand gun, and starts saying something to me in Arabic.

While true, the story is not quite as dramatic as it sounds.   He was smiling and was actually trying to hand me the gun to hold for some reason.   My wife suggested what I was already thinking, "don't touch that."    Needless to say, had that scene played out at a restaurant in Denver, people would have screamed, hit the deck, and called the cops. In Tel Aviv, it didn't seem to draw any reaction at all.

Eventually this character decided to put his gun away and went back to his business of being a weirdo hanging out at a schwarma stand.     Later, he seemed to be showing off his handgun to all sorts of people who walked by.   Upon closer inspection, the guy really seemed to be mentally challenged in some way.    My wife remarked, "I can't believe they gave this guy a gun permit" and we decided to take our meal to go.

In a country where automatic weaponry is as common as umbrellas in Seattle, you still need a permit to carry a gun, unlike in the US.   Of course, in the US you still need a permit to drive a car, but that doesn't seem to limit the number of cars there.   Fortunately, most of the heavy weaponry is in the hands of soldiers, which brings to mind the picture below, titled, "Why nobody robs a 7-11 in Israel"

Super Cheap First Class

2009-12-04T15:58:00.003-07:00

I know that I have not been posting much to this blog lately.    It is not that I have stopped writing, it is just that I have been keeping busy over at the AskMrCreditCard Blog where I write an extensive post almost every day.

There, I am finding and sharing some really great frequent flier mile earning and redeeming strategies.   The latest one I have found is a little promotion with US Airways that can get you First Class award to ticket to Europe on any Star Alliance airline for about $1,000, less than the price of a coach ticket most of the year.

I am not talking about business class, which is pretty cool by itself., but an international First Class ticket on an airline like Lufthansa or Swiss.    For reference, most domestic airlines like Delta and Continental don't even have an International First Class.     Check out this article about Lufthansa First Class.

So How Do I Do It?

Read my article at AskMrCreditCard.    I have to say, that this type of award earning strategy has a big drawback, capacity controls.   A lot of awards, like first class seats, may only be obtainable if you are flexible, and can book far in advance.    Ideally, you really need to book 11 months out, at the moment the seats are released.     If you can, the rewards are tremendous!

Stay tuned for more great travel savings.

Abraham Lincoln on Left Wing

2009-11-27T11:20:00.005-07:00

That's my Dad!

The full article is here.

Flaunting A Legal Claim As Genuine As This Photo

2009-10-08T12:21:00.004-06:00

In one of the early posts on this blog, I expressed my frustration with bogus legal claims, which is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my exasperation with our country's legal system. A little background here: for most people, sitting down at a table full of lawyers is their idea of a nightmare, for me it is a typical Thanksgiving. Nevertheless, they are proud that I was one of the first in my family not to attend law school.

Back to the picture. A blog called PhotoShop Disasters posted the above image with the comment, "Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis". I learned from this article at the great blog Techdirt that Ralph Lauren's lawyers issued a legal notice called a "DMCA takedown" against the blog. DMCA is the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act", a hideous piece of legislation that, among other things, requires ISPs to remove any content that someone accuses of being infringing of their copyright.

Of course, this commentary is clearly Fair Use, which is exempt from copyright by both common law and the 1976 Copyright Act. Fair Use exemptions include reproductions for the purpose of criticism and commentary, as was the purpose of the original post, as well as the one you are reading now.

Here is the copy of the notice that Ralph Lauren's attorney sent to another site that reproduced the image as I am doing in the post.

The brilliant lawyer who signed this bogus threat, G. Roxanne Elings of the law firm Greenburg Traurig should probably be fired and/or disbarred.

This nonsense threat is an abuse of the legal system and is, of course, bringing tons of attention to this otherwise obscure blog, against the supposed interests of their client, Ralph Lauren. Note to Ms. Elings, this is known as the Streisand Effect.

On the other hand, I would think that their client would want people to see their advertisements, right? Isn't that the purpose of an ad? Maybe she is craze like a fox? Probably not, as the original blog post was taken down by the ISP, in unfortunate compliance with the bogus threat.

Here's hoping Steele Street also gets a takedown notice from Ralph Lauren.

I would be honored.

Shomlypics Update

2009-10-05T08:15:00.003-06:00

Chicago lost it's bid for the 2016 Olympics. Initially, I was disappointed. Not because I really care if they got the games, but because some people in Denver indicated that they wanted to bid the 2018 winter Olympics if Chicago lost.

That horrified me. The Olympics is a corrupt, greed infested, commercialized fiasco/extravaganza traveling circus with major corporations acting as the "carnies". I am proud to live in Denver, the only city that was ever awarded the Olympics, but turned it down.

Denver was to host the 1976 winter Olympics, but the voters wisely cut off funding in a 1972 election. The Olympics then went to Innsbruck Austria, which had just hosted the games in 1964.

Fortunately for us, the US Olympic committee has decided not to submit a bid for the 2018 games, so Denver is safe from the international Olympic cronies until at least 2022.

Good riddance.

Delta Does The Right Thing, Eventually...

2009-09-14T12:13:00.003-06:00

Looking forward to my next "Falafel Run" to Israel this winter, I ran into a few problems with Delta's schedule changes.

Read all about it and how I was able to resolve the situation over at AskMrCreditCard.

Peak Oil?

2009-08-25T10:56:00.006-06:00

There are two articles in the New York Times today that mention Peak Oil.

One article, is about supply, and the technical debate as to whether or not the worldwide annual production of oil has peaked, as it has in many individual countries such as the United States.

The other article mentions a different kind of peak oil, peak consumption. This article is about how upset the Saudis are that oil consumption in the United States has peaked. The price shocks of the last few years is the largest contributor, but our election of a president who has made a commitment to reducing consumption over the long term has is terrifying them; "the Saudis know that any attempt to reduce gasoline consumption is a threat to the future of the Saudi economy."

This really isn't all that complicated. We produce 7% of the world's oil, while consuming 24%. Simple economics say that we can have a lot more influence on price of oil by managing our demand rather than our production.

In the election last year, you had a candidate who's party was promoting increasing supply ("drill baby drill!") vs. a candidate focusing on reducing consumption. You would think that all of the business people and free market advocates in the Republican Party understand these basic facts, but they are so co-opted by big oil that they are literally being paid not to.

Since the election, the winner has actually been focusing on long term consumption reduction, and the Saudi's are scared shitless. They are now worried about peak oil consumption more than we are about peak oil production. With 230 mpg hybrids and pure electrics on sale next year, they should be.

One final quote from the second article: "the former Saudi oil minister, Sheik Yamani, once said that the stone age didn’t end because the world ran out of stones, and the oil age will not end because the world runs out of oil. It will end when something replaces it."

A380 at Oshkosh

2009-08-19T13:54:00.010-06:00

The Airbus A380 is, by far, the largest commercial passenger airplane in the world. Unless you visit London, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, L.A. or a few other cities, you probably are not going to see one anytime soon.

At the Oshkosh Airventure air show last month, I was fortunate enough not only to see the giant bird, but to witness an aerial demonstration. The demonstration culminated with a particularly interesting landing, to say the least.

The following is a video of the landing:

A critique of the landing can be found here (just fast forward through the 30 second commercial at the start).

Below is my photo of the aircraft right before landing. Note that the aircraft is actually landing to the left side of the picture, even though it is pointing to the right side of the frame. That is how much it was crabbed into the wind.

Finally, here are some shots of the demonstration and the aircraft taxiing past me.

Snowstorm In Denver in August! *

2009-08-17T10:13:00.002-06:00

Ok, it wasn't a snowstorm, just some flurries, and it wasn't in Denver, but up around 12,000 feet of elevation in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was August 16th, and I personally witnessed the snow!

Sorry for the misleading, but cool photo of Denver International Airport after an actual blizzard.

Southwest Fail

2009-08-14T08:56:00.003-06:00

The aviation experts were wrong, Southwest failed to purchase Frontier. I suppose that is good for the Frontier people, who will not be assimilated into the Southwest collective.

I still predict that Southwest will announce service to Atlanta later this year, potentially by bidding to acquire AirTran.

I Win Again

2009-08-12T07:55:00.002-06:00

Another "guess where this is" travel contest at the "One Mile At A Time" blog.

Not quite as hard as the last contest like this that I won.

Why I Am Not An Airline Pilot

2009-08-04T09:34:00.006-06:00

I often refer to myself as a "commercially licensed" pilot rather than a commercial pilot, as I hold a Commercial Pilot's License, yet am not currently employed as a commercial pilot, with the exception of occasional flight instruction.

I have flown commercially on a scheduled charter airline which flew both passengers and cargo between Colorado and Wyoming. In Wyoming, we had a "crash pad" in the basement of some house where we would attempt to sleep during the day.

Today, the Washington Post has an article about underpaid pilots for regional airlines and their crash pads. From the pictures and description of the crash pad they visited, it seems vastly superior to the one I used to stay in at Rock Springs, Wyoming.

The article points out that "..first-year pilots in the industry can make as little as $20,000". Actually, that is a little optimistic. I was once offered a first officer job by Mesa Air. According to their web site, their current starting salary for first officers is $19.26 an hour for turboprops. That sounds great, until you realize those are only flight hours. The time you spend at the gate and in the airport doesn't count. Your contract specifies a minimum of about 76 hours a month. Do the math, and you are looking at $17,565 dollars a year. No wonder they live in $200 a month crash pads. Word has it that many airlines include applications for public assistance in their new hire packet. Something to think about when you book a ticket on Delta/United/American that is "operated by" Skywest, Mesa, Colgan, Pinnacle, etc. More data on region airline pilot salaries is here.

This current scrutiny stems from the aftermath of the Colgan Air flight 3407 crash in Buffalo, in which pilot fatigue seems to have been a major factor. Let's just say that I can understand how that can happen, having worked flights departing at 4 AM. My only problem with the article is that it makes it seem like crash pads and pilot fatigue is a recent phenomenon caused by current events, when this has been the situation for decades. I will grant that it probably has gotten slightly worse over time, but it is not new.

Amazingly, you will periodically read about pilot shortages, not just from people selling flight training, but from serious publications like Aviation Week. There is no pilot shortage, just a shortage of people willing to fly airplanes for less than $20,000 a year, especially when they can be located anywhere in the country based on factors that are out of their control.

Most people would be surprised to know that being a pilot is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. It is usually listed second or third behind fishermen in stories like this. Police on the other hand, despite their high and mighty claims that they must taser children, great-grandmothers, and pregnant women to protect their saftey, rank only 10th.

It is the final quote of the article that made me remember why I ultimately turned down the job offer from prestigious Mesa Airlines. The article quotes the wife of one of the pilots:

"...it has been difficult for their children. "My little girl, she says, 'When is Daddy coming to visit us again?' I said, 'Daddy doesn't come and visit us. This is his home.' "

The Secret Credit Card Menu

2009-07-16T10:05:00.002-06:00

Over at the AskMrCreditCard blog, I have written a post on the Secret Menu available to you when you call your credit card company.

It is an interesting read if I do say so myself.

The Many Lessons Of "United Breaks Guitars"

2009-07-14T11:21:00.005-06:00

The more I think and read about this, and the more the catchy tune plays in my head, the more I realize how many conclusions that can be drawn from the Dave Carroll video, and his story, aside from the astonishing fact that Country Music exists in Canada.

1. The song is not really about trying to get money out of United, the singer has moved on. In light of his new found fame, his guitar has been replaced by the manufacturer for free, and his career will likely take off.

2. United's failure was not in breaking the guitar, it is in how he was repeatedly mistreated by them.

3. United is as clueless in social media relations as it is with customer relations. Read this article for more.

4. This is not going to blow over as a temporary internet phenomenon. It will remain alive in the upcoming songs 2 and 3 that Dave promised. Dave might become an actual star and be known for years as the "United Breaks Guitars" guy.

5. United is fundamentally screwed up. Dave later explains that the person who ultimately denied his claim is a nice person who was just doing her job. This sounds good for United, but it is actually the most damning thing about them. If she was some nasty, rogue employee, United could fire her and be done with it's troubles. The truth is that United is a nasty, rogue company who's insane, the 'customer is always wrong', policies must be executed by otherwise nice, sane people who are just doing their job. As I wrote, it is a company that is structurally designed end engineered to fail it's customers, stockholders, and it's employees.

Thankfully, it's only redeeming quality is it's exemplary safety record. The seemingly appropriate picture above was from a crash in 1973.

United Airlines, Designed To Fail?

2009-07-10T08:57:00.003-06:00

The story of singer Dave Carrol's guitar being mutilated by United Airlines has been making it's rounds all over the web. I am not much for country music, so I went to his website to read what happened.

The story is all too familiar. Few people, if anyone, at that company has any interest in helping you. They sometimes pretend to be helpful, but you later realize that they were just trying to make you go away. I am not talking about a handful of rogue employees, I am talking about the vast majority of their staff.

Read this quote from Dave's site immediately following the incident:

I immediately tried to communicate this to the flight attendant who cut me off saying: “Don’t talk to me. Talk to the lead agent outside”. I found the person she pointed to and that lady was an “acting” lead agent but refused to talk to me and disappeared into the crowd saying “I’m not the lead agent”. I spoke to a third employee at the gate and when I told her the baggage handlers were throwing expensive instruments outside she dismissed me saying “but hun, that’s why we make you sign the waiver”. I explained that I didn’t sign a waiver and that no waiver would excuse what was happening outside. She said to take it up with the ground crew in Omaha. When I got to Omaha it was around 12:30 am. The plane was late arriving and there were no employees visible.

And then again, when he tries to file a claim:

When I got home to Halifax I was told that United doesn’t really have a presence there and that Air Canada is their partner.....When I called the number United said I had to return to the Halifax airport with the guitar to show the damage to someone and open a claim. When I returned to the Halifax airport I met with an Air Canada employee, because United has no presence there, and that person acknowledged the damage, opened a claim number but “denied” the claim because Air Canada would not be responsible for damage caused by United employees in Chicago (which still makes sense to me).

I took the claim number and called United back. They never seemed to be able find the claim number on several subsequent phone calls but at the last minute it would always surface. I spoke several times to what I believe were agents in India who, ironically were the most pleasant, and seemed genuinely sorry for what had happened. Three or four months later I got directed to the Chicago baggage offices of United and after several attempts to speak with someone was told to simply bring in the guitar for inspection…to Chicago…from Halifax, Canada.

When I explained that Halifax is far from Chicago someone then said my claim needed to go through Central Baggage in New York and they gave me a toll free phone number. I phoned that number and spoke to someone. She couldn’t understand why someone in Chicago thought she would be able to help me but she seemed to feel for me and asked me to fax her all the information. I did and a few weeks passed with no reply. I called back and the lady said she’d never received the fax. Then I asked her to look for it and surprisingly, there it was. When she found it she asked me to give her a couple of days and to call back. I did, and by the time I phoned again two days later, the number had been discontinued.

I had to start all over again with the same 1-800 # to India,...

Compare this to my experience trying to get to sit next to my wife and infant child in their business class:

The agent was unable to give us seats together, but assured us the staff at the gate would be able to resolve this matter. The staff at the gate, asked us to speak with the staff on board. The staff at the entrance to the aircraft asked me to speak to the staff in the cabin. The staff in the cabin actually told us to ask around ourselves to see if anyone would switch seats with us! It was only the generosity of a fellow passenger that allowed me to sit with my wife and assist with the care of our infant child.

I can understand that humans are not perfect, and that their are unhelpful and indifferent people in any large organization.

The situation is different than that at United Airlines. Incompetence is the norm, and helpful people are a rarity.

Usually, when you encounter incompetence in front line staff, a supervisor is there to resolve the issue. Not at United.

When booking the previously mentioned flight, we had a similar experience to Dave. We ticketed the trip three months before our daughter was even born, and we were told at that time that we couldn't book the ticket until she was born and had a name, and that then we would just have to pay taxes for her. The agent said repeatedly that it would be "less than $100." When she was born and we called to have her ticketed, we were told that we would actually have to pay over $800 dollars to ticket her as a “lap child” with no seat!. United’s actual policy, contrary to what we were first told, is to charge parents of a lap child an additional %10 of the highest possible price for the seat in the class that the parents are ticket in. Needless to say, I was not happy at the fee, and for being completed misquoted.

The supervisor refused to honor their original quote, so I told him that my wife and I would make it our mission in life to ensure that the whole world knows that United screws young families traveling with infants on their lap. We promised to write every travel, parenting, and consumer affairs newspaper columnist, web site, magazine, and TV Show. The supervisor still refused to do anything.

Sound familiar? Again from Dave's web site:

In my final reply to Ms. Irlweg [supervisor] I told her that I would be writing three songs about United Airlines and my experience in the whole matter. I would then make videos for these songs and offer them for free download online, inviting viewers to vote on their favourite United song. My goal: to get one million hits in one year.

In fact, I didn't go to the press, what I did was write the same threat in an email to United's entire executive staff. Within 24 hours, we received a call from a senior customer service manager who wanted to resolve the matter by charging us what they originally quoted. From the Chicago Tribune:

Rob Bradford, managing director of customer solutions at United, called Carroll Wednesday to apologize for the foul-up and to ask if the carrier could use the video internally to help change its culture.

In both my case and Dave Carroll's, problems with them can only be fixed after:

1. Going through an endless runaround

2. Generating extremely generate bad publicity, or merely threatening their management with bad publicity.

I can't say if their organization was purposely designed that way, or if it just got their through terrible management. I can say that I have concluded that I no longer have neither the time nor the patience to subject myself to United Airlines ever again.

I imagine that Dave has probably reached the same conclusion by now.

Final Note On Jackson

2009-06-30T09:56:00.004-06:00

I was in Atlanta last Thursday, and I had the occasion to speak with a writer for CNN. I initially offered my polite criticism of his employer, which he seconded with a far more scathing rebuke. He was embarrassed to be associated with them, and hoped to leave as soon as possible. In fact, he didn't even get CNN at home.

One of my criticisms was that CNN should start an entertainment news network, and cover all of those stories there, leaving the core channel for actual news.

It was only a few minutes later that I was to hear about the death of Michael Jackson. Today, we learned that "Fully 93% of cable coverage studied on the Thursday and Friday following his death was about the King of Pop."

For days, their top story was: "Michael Jackson is still dead."

Jackson death also killed any remaining interest the world had in the Iranian election, let alone hiking trips conducted by southern governors.

One Rabbi's Experience With Michael Jackson

2009-06-29T16:00:00.003-06:00

I don't follow much celebrity gossip, and I am not particularly interested in reading that Michael Jackson is still dead.

That said, I found this article in the Jerusalem Post by his onetime confidant, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach sufficient to put his life in perspective. Ultimately, Rabbi Boteach was unsuccessful in helping this talented, yet deeply trouble person. In death, he humanizes Jackson in a way he was unable to do in life.

Talk Nicely, and Carry a Big Stick

2009-06-23T10:31:00.004-06:00

Obama is not a simple person. Depending on who you talk to, he a Communist, a Muslim, a Christian, a foreigner, or perhaps even a centrist Democrat (no way!).

This article seems to nail his political strategy to a T. Obama corners his opponents in public by being conciliatory, and then kills them in private. A great strategy, especially when you agree with his policies.

Good Riddance to "Clear"

2009-06-23T09:47:00.005-06:00

The "Clear" registered traveler program went broke and is no more, and that is a good thing. Not only is was it unprofitable, it set a terrible precedent for paying for security.

With paid screening programs like this, the incentive is for the alternative to get worse and worse. I am sure it bothered them to no end when the TSA added new lanes or opened up the existing ones at peak times.

Fortunately, their fatal flaw was that they really didn't do anything but allow you to cut in line. Passengers were subjected to the same security, just possibly with slightly less waiting beforehand.

Actually, the precedent was set a long time ago when they established separate lines for elite members of airline's frequent flier clubs. Of course, membership in these "elite" programs can be obtained through some credit cards without even stepping on a plane. In other instances, a promotion offers the opportunity to take one or two flights that will give you status. So much for the idea of a "frequent flier". And really, how the heck does a private company give you some card that determines your access to a federal security screening? Why can't I use my Blockbuster or Starbucks card?

Ultimately, less ability to bypass security will make the problems of the TSA more noticeable to some of the country's most frequent fliers, our members of Congress.

Air France Tragedy and Fernando de Naronha

2009-06-05T10:26:00.005-06:00

Fernando and Me

This tragedy really struck both my wife and I on a personal level. While the rest of the world is unfamiliar with the area off of the coast of Brazil where this plane disappeared, we remember it fondly as the place where we spent the first week of our honeymoon in July of 2005. The island of Fernando de Naronha (pronounce naron-ya) is an amazing place, often referred to as the Galapagos of the Atlantic.

The Middle of Nowhere

This is an island that is so remote, that it's meager population of a few hundred are the only inhabitants of it's entire time zone, making it the least populated time zone on the entire planet. From that description, and the picture above, you can see why it was such an attraction to us as a honeymoon destination.

The island is incredibly well known throughout Brazil, yet very few Brazilians have ever visited there. It is expensive, by Brazilian standards, and as a National Park the number of visitors is tightly restricted. Very few people outside of Brazil have heard of Fernando, and at the time, it was extremely hard to get there. From Denver, we flew via Miami, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and finally to the island of Fernando. Five flights traveling a great deal out of our way were required since at that time, there was no service from the United States to northern Brazil. Today, Delta and American Airlines serves Natal and Recife from Atlanta and Miami, which are both much more direct routes to the island.

The island is only a few miles across, just large enough for a tiny commercial airport in it's interior. It receives only two flights a day, and it's "terminal" is about the size of a small cafe. Nevertheless, it is easy to see how any distressed pilot in the central Atlantic would immediately turn towards Fernando in the event of an emergency, as there is nothing else out there for hundreds of miles between South America, Africa, and Europe.

Publicity

It is said that there is no such thing as bad publicity, and in the wake of the Air France 447 disaster, billions of people know of Fernando de Naronha who would have never known of it's existence. If .0001% of them ever visit there, it will be a major influx of people.

This New York Times article explains some of the islands history, and references the fact that the paper hasn't written an article about it in nearly 20 years.

Aviation

What brought the plane down? For some informed information, I would refer your to the website of pilot and former CNN correspondent Miles O'Brien. Now that Miles is no longer with CNN, I believe they now cover aviation stories with whoever on their staff happens to have the most frequent flier miles at the time.

Here is an interesting article about the chances of a meteorite hitting an airplane. Of course, who is to say that a small meteorite would be instantly disastrous?

I personally am leaning towards some kind of turbulence induced structural failure, like American Airlines 587.

Philosophy

This kind of accident scares us in part, because there is not yet a known cause. It has been so long since a large jetliner was lost without survivors, the scope of the tragedy seems to have receded from our memory. The last major aviation disaster was actually the aforementioned American Airlines 587 that crashed in November of 2001. This article about the people who accidentally missed boarding that flight shows the random forces that continues to choose between life and death in our modern world.

Few things bother me quite as much as when people say "Everything happens for a reason". It doesn't. There is no reason some people made that flight, and others didn't. When the people who skipped work at the twin towers on 9/11 started saying nonsense like, "I think god wanted me to live", what did those statements imply for the thousands who did show up for work that day?

It is scary to live in a world where the most casual of decisions can ultimately determine life or death. The upside of this realization is that it reminds us to live life to it's greatest extent. That was our motivation for taking three weeks off of work in July of 2005 to visit Brazil, and explore paradise in the Central Atlantic.

Blogging Update

2009-06-05T10:19:00.003-06:00

As some have noticed, I have taken a break from my personal blog. I have also stopped blogging as the Denver Local Expert over at PlanetEye. PlanetEye was a fun gig, but they have restructured their once generous payment system so that I would hardly be getting paid at all there.

All of the while, I have been contributing to the blog at AskMrCreditCard. I have actually learned a lot about the credit card and banking industries while producing lengthy posts nearly every day. If you don't currently read it, I highly recommend that you check it out.

I am now ready to resume some more blogging here on Steele Street.

Investigating Continental 3047

2009-02-13T07:39:00.007-07:00

Sadly, America's run of over two years without a domestic airline fatality has come to an end. In looking at what happened over Buffalo, what is amazing is that anyone with access to the internet can be an accident investigator, as I have shown.

FlightAware is an incredible tool that will show the flight path of any airplane flying on an instrument, or IFR flight plan. This includes many private aircraft and all commercial flights. I frequently use it to track flights of family and friends arriving in Denver as it is far more accurate than the airline's guestimated arrival times. When tradjedy strikes, it can also be used by the public to try to understand what happened.

In the case of Continental 3047, here is what Flight Aware is showing today:

From this page alone, we instantly know far more than the news anchors are able to grasp. The flight was on a Bombardier (DeHavilland) Q400 operated by Colgan airlines. The Q400 is a highly advanced version of the Dash 7, a type that has been operating since 1983.

Lets zoom in at the weather at the crash site:
You can see that redish patch that the flight passed through shortly after disappearing from radar. Every viewer of the local news "weather center" knows that it indicates an area of maximum intensity of precipitation. Every pilot knows that icing is so dangerous that even large jetliners must exit heavy icing conditions as soon as possible.

I am not the accident investigator, and I am not drawing any conclusions. That said, if I were the accident investigator, icing would be the first thing I would look at.

Update: Former CNN science and aviation correspondent, Miles O'Brien has a great post on the same subject in his blog. Miles is an active general aviation pilot, and his dismissal from CNN is another reason that they stink, especially when covering aviation stories like this.

Atlanta Calls Delta's Bluff

2009-02-10T08:23:00.004-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Delta, the world's largest carrier, told Atlanta's airport, "lower your fees or we will reduce service".

Today, rumor has it that my new favorite airline, Southwest, the largest domestic airline, is speaking with the Atlanta people about taking some of the gate space there.

I am sure Delta will complain a little less in the future.

For me, Southwest service to Atlanta would be a dream come true. As an Atlanta Refugee, I fly there several times a year.. As Southwest currently serves almost all major cities not named "Atlanta," this is indeed a welcome development.

Trip Report: Southwest Airlines

2009-01-27T13:12:00.004-07:00

For years I have heard of the legend of Southwest Airlines. Their prices are great, you sit wherever you want, and the company has been by far the most profitably airline in the United States for decades.

Unfortunately, I have spent most of the last 30 years of my life living in cities that did not have service with Southwest Airlines, specifically Atlanta and Denver. That is the thing with Southwest, historically, they have been very picky with which cities they fly to. While airlines like Delta are constantly seeking new service to fly to every paved airstrip within 8,000 miles of Atlanta, Southwest, the largest domestic airline (by passengers), doesn't even serve Atlanta, the busiest airport in the world. That is because they expand slowly and only wish to fly to cities that they could make a profit from. That policy is changing as they have recently announced service to New York LaGuardia and other cities that once lacked their service.

Two years ago, they decided to start a hub in Denver. Interestingly, almost every city they fly to is a hub of some sort. You can connect between almost every city they serve, unlike most airlines that only have a handful of major hubs.

On our trip last week, we went from Denver to Ft. Lauderdale and continued on to Tampa before returning to Denver. Each leg of the trip was priced and purchased separately. After I booked it, I realized that I had entered one of the dates wrong. With any other airline, this error on my part would have incurred a hefty change fee at best. With Southwest, there are no change fees at all. You always have the option of booking a new flight, at whatever price is currently available, using the money paid for your existing reservation as a credit. If the new flight is less than your reservations, you receive a refund as a credit towards a future flight.

Before you say that Southwest is giving away money with this policy, consider my experience: The price drops on my Florida trip, so I received a credit towards a future flight. I actually did this twice in the three months between my initial reservation and the trip, as airfares plummeted with the price of crude. The credits were part of our payment for our next trip on Southwest to San Diego. Just today, the price dropped on our San Diego trip to an incredible $59 each way, resulting in a further flight credit. I am now just starting to wonder how I can fly Southwest again using that credit! It appears to be a win-win policy for everyone, yet no other airline I know of works like this.

I have to say that our first impression with Southwest at the airport was a little strange. We are traveling with our 18 month old daughter, as we have many times before. At check in, Southwest insisted on documentation of her age, unlike Airtran, United, and Frontier have when we flew them domestically. They relented, but it was odd that they would not take the word of the child's parents, as every other business does. They even tried hard to blame FAA regulations that required a seat to be purchased for children over 2 years old, but it seemed like a revenue enhancement meausure to us. We were later able to get our pediatrician's office to fax us her immunization records, so the problem never came up again.

That experience behind us, we were treated to exceptional service by the flight attendants on all of our flights. To our shock, they actually seemed to care about their customers, even showing us extra consideration as we were traveling with an infant.

On each flight we were warned repeatedly that the flight was full, yet on each occasion we were able to have a whole row of three seats for my wife and I as well as our "lap child". My only complaint would be that Southwest mimics the practice of most other airlines in this country of leaving the seat belt sign on for most of the flight. They announce it is for safety as they are expecting turbulence, even when a half an hour goes by without so much as a jiggle. Throughout the whole time, flight attendants are walking about, apparently immune to the laws of physics.

That said, every flight departed and arrived on time. We actually chose a flight from Denver to Ft. Lauderdale that stopped in New Orleans. They offered a non-stop flight, but the price was $80 greater. The quick stop, with no change of plane, was easily worth the $160 saved.

Another great benefit of flying Southwest is their "no fees" policy. There are no telephone booking fees, no fuel surcharges, no curb checking fees, and each passenger gets two free checked bags. I used to travel alone for business, and I rarely checked a bag. Now, it is an absolute pleasure to be able to travel with a child without worrying about the cost of checking luggage. On each flight, our luggage was promptly delivered intact.

Every now and then, I hear someone attempt to justify their company's stupid policies by explaining that they do it their way because other companies in their industry do it that way too. I have also heard people explain weird practices by saying that if there was a better way, someone would have figured it out by now. After flying Southwest, I now see that 1) not every airline is run by idiots, and 2) Southwest has already figured out how to do it better.

So whenever your travel plans call for air travel, consider Southwest. They provide excellent service to every major city in the United States not named Atlanta.

My Thoughts On US Airways 1549

2009-01-27T09:00:00.004-07:00

Most pilots find the initial mainstream media coverage of aviation accidents humorous. We chuckle when the local news reporter recounts the amazing story of a plane that somehow lands without being able to put it's wheels down (this is perhaps the most frequent aviation accident and almost never causes injury). Our eyes roll when we hear about the incredible pilot who lands on the highway after running out of gas. We know the pilot was a moron for running out of gas in the first place and that landing on a highway is no big deal for any decent pilot. Then there was the case of the "hero" pilot who was caught on camera attempting to land in severe conditions. I exposed the fact that he was wrecklessly trying to land on the wrong runway in a dangerous crosswind.

As a commercially rated pilot and a certified flight instructor, I was still quite amazed when I heard about this accident.

I had just landed on a commercial flight to Ft. Lauderdale when I saw the coverage. I immediately assumed that the pictures of an intact airliner in the water in New York City occurred when it skidded off a runway at LaGuardia. Frankly, most pilots had considered the possibility of a commercial airliner landing in the water intact to be somewhat of a joke. The crash scene from the movie Castaway or the fate Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 seems a more likely outcome for this scenario. I was astonished to find out that the plane had actually landed in the Hudson River, not Long Island Sound.

Over at Meadow's Lane, Eric has rightfully commended the entire crew for their bravery, not just the Captain.

As for Captain Sully, I believe that his brilliance was not merely the landing itself, but his timely decision to attempt the landing. I think that that any professional airline pilot should have been capable of making such a landing, however very few would have chosen to do so in time to have the chance to save everyone on board. This has always been a consideration for me as a general aviation (light aircraft) pilot. When I flew a four seat plane to Alaska, I always anticipated landing in the water if I were to have an engine failure, rather than impacting the forests or mountains. Water landings in small aircraft are much more survivable than most dry landings other than on a road or a field.

The truth about being a great pilot is that it is more about making the right decisions quickly than having superior hand/eye coordination. In making the decision to land on the Hudson, his actions went beyond bravery into the realm of chutzpah. In fact, aviation experts are now reconsidering their recommendations for when a "water landing" might be the safest alternative for a stricken airliner.

Finally, for all of my criticisms of domestic airlines terrible customer service, and blatant hypocrisy, there is clearly one area in commercial aviation where the United States leads the world, safety. Having now gone over two years without a fatal accident, we are currently setting historic new milestones for commercial aviation that we can be proud of.

2 Airlines, 2 Bizarre Policies, 2 Different Results

2009-01-12T08:48:00.003-07:00

We have all run across airline policies that clearly make no sense. In fact, as I have documented, airlines in this country have serious credibility problems as they compete with automakers for the title of the worst managed industry.

Recently, I read two different articles about these type of ridiculous price gouging policies, both of which I have had personal experience with.

Problem Number One: United Airlines insists on charging 10% of their highest possible fare for infants traveling on your lap on international flights. When my wife and I flew to Israel last year, using United frequent flier miles for a business class ticket, they wanted to charge us over $800 to carry our infant on our lap. I was able to resolve the situation to my satisfaction, as the representative I initially spoke with quoted us a price of under $100. When asked later to pay $800, I launched an EECB that resulted in a reasonable payment of taxes and fees.

When another flier encounters the same absurd policy and complains, here is their account of United's response via Chris Elliot's blog:

This is a policy they’ve had in place that they will charge 10 percent of whatever cabin that the parents are in. She is not willing to budge as this is “not negotiable” and it is what it is.

She did say that she agrees that this is strange but that the policy has been in effect for a very long time.

They know this is stupid, but that is how they do it, so tough crap.

Problem Number Two: Airlines want to charge fliers enormous fees for carrying a bicycle, even if it folds or can be disassembled to fit in the same size of a normal suitcase. Using the word "bicycle" to describe your luggage's contents triggers both the fee, as well as a waiver of all damages. They can run over it with a truck, and they are not liable for a penny.

I have solved this problem in the past by putting the wheels in one box, and the frame in the other. I mark the large, flat boxes "photography" so that the baggage agents do not consider they contain a bicycle.

A contributor to the Consumerist complains about this absurd policy to JetBlue, and JetBlue replies:

"Thanks for helping to bring this to our attention. We pride ourselves on our customer service and when we’re faced with a situation where policy doesn’t make sense in practice, we’re always ready to correct or clarify......Our bicycle policy has now been updated to reflect that Customers traveling with a folding bikes in a bag that fits within the standard checked bag weights and dimensions (62 inches in overall dimensions and 50 pounds in weight — see our baggage requirements here) will not be charged the Bike fee and will be treated like any checked bag."

Conclusion: When faced with absurd policies, United says "Too bad, that's how we do it.", while JetBlue says, "The customer is right, we are changing our policy".

Which airline would you fly? Which airline do you think will be around in the future?

Airline Credibility Gap

2008-12-22T11:26:00.004-07:00

The two worst managed industries in the United States are the auto industry, and the airline industry. While the auto industry threatens to go bankrupt, bankruptcy is a regular occurrence among airlines large and small.

I would argue that one of the biggest failures in the airline industry today is credibility. People rightfully just don't trust anything an airline says.

Examples include:

1. Lying About Bookings - When booking a flight on United Airlines, the "Economy Plus" section is always shown as "unavailable", with a picture of a person in the seat. Actually, it is available, just not to you, unless you have elite status. They could say that, but that would be too honest, I suppose. People are just led to believe that someone has already take those seats.

2. Lying About Delays - When has an airline ever given consistent or accurate information about the nature of a delay. Airlines frequently give out the "weather" excuse in order to absolve themselves of their contractual duty to provide compensation for mechanical or crew related delays. I would say this is ripe for a class action lawsuit.

3. Lying About Policies - When you call an airline, you are frequently speaking with overseas under trained call centers. These people will tell you anything to get you off the phone, truth be damned.

4. Lying About Costs - The "fuel surcharge" is one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on travelers. These surcharges bear little resemblance to airlines costs for fuel at the time of the flight, or the time of purchase. Airlines implemented no small number of surcharges and other fees over the summer that they blamed on record high fuel costs. Very few have disappeared now that oil is at record lows.

5. Little Value Correlation - People flying "full service" carriers like Delta and United, get charged for everything, while people on discount carrier Southwest rarely see any charges.

6. Price Gouging - Airlines love to price gouge. As the day of the flight gets closer, the price jumps by an order of magnitude. Simply put, there is little correlation between the cost of the service and the price charged. It is like a restaurant charging you more, depending on how hungry you are. Americans are surprised to learn that this is often not the case with airlines in other parts of the world, and it is rarely the case with other modes of transport such as buses, trains, and boats.

7. Lying About Customer Service - The image of airline customer service portrayed in their marketing is vastly different than the reality. It is common to see airline personnel treat customers in a manner that would get them fired from even the most shoddy restaurants or hotels. Again, this is rarely the case with foreign carriers.

8. Over Complication - Airlines make the experience of flying unbelievably complicated, often to their own detriment. Do you want to buy a ticket on Frontier? You now have to consult a chart to determine which of three types of fares is best for you, all of which have you sitting in the same seat. Want to standby for an earlier flight, the airlines routinely collect fees for standby , an insane practice that costs airlines the opportunity to fill an empty seat and sell a seat on a later flight. If the later flight is canceled, every empty seat on the earlier flight means one more upset displaced passenger. Finally, the baggage fees have created chaos as everyone is now carrying on the maximum allowed. People fight for overhead space, bags have to be gate checked, and planes are running late. I believe that people want to get from one place to another, not navigate a virtual world of rules and fees that is constantly changing. Worse, the policies obviously cost the airlines money, yet are marketed as revenue enhancing features.

9. Tarmac Strandings - Airline pilots must do everything in coordination with their operations manual, which seeming covers every contingency, except for not having a gate availible. In this situation, airlines throw up their hands and claim there is nothing that they can do. Airstairs, mobile lounges, and buses somehow cease to exist and passengers are trapped for hours on end, yet airlines argue against any rules requiring passenger evacuation in the event of a long term stranding.

10. Bait and Switch Frequent Flier Programs - You know the drill. You save up your miles and attempt to book a flight, only to be told there are no availible seats to multiple destinations over several months. This has been described as an unregulated lottery. No wonder passengers no longer have much loyalty towards their airline, the entire reason for the frequent flier program's existence.

Interesting Details on the Continental Crash in Denver

2008-12-22T09:00:00.005-07:00

If you are going to crash an airplane engulfed in flames, it is best to do so right in front of the fire station!

Another interesting link I found is to a passenger who twittered the aftermath of the crash. For those of you who don't know twitter is a service that allows people to blog events via instant messaging. This is believed to be a first. Sadly, Denver, was also the scene of another first, a despicable twitter during a funeral earlier this year.

On a lighter note, the pilots may still brag to their passengers, as I always do when I fly passengers, "I stand by my record; in all my accidents, not a single fatality."

Not So Stunning Sight

2008-12-12T08:44:00.003-07:00

This was a brand new Airbus A340-600 airliner that had not even been delivered to it's customer, Etihad Airlines of the middle east. The accident occurred on November 15th, 2007.

The accident report determined that the manufacturer was testing the engines at full throttle without chocking, the aviation term for putting wooden blocks in front of the wheels.

The four engines overcame the brakes and away it went. Needless to say, the aircraft was a complete loss.

Thankfully, no one was killed.

Stunning Sight

2008-12-11T19:44:00.006-07:00

This is the first Northwest 747 coming out of the paint shop in Delta colors.

I believe it has been thirty years since Delta had a 747 in it's fleet.

Guest Blogging

2008-12-10T08:37:00.002-07:00

I recently exchanged guest posts with Brett Snyder over at The Cranky Flier, a fantastic blog about airlines that I have been reading every day for some time now.

You can read my post on his blog here.

It is really cool to have a guest post on a blog that you admire.

In return, Brett, a self proclaimed "airline dork" has written a guest post for the blog I contribute to at AskMrCreditCard.com.

You can read his post here.

Thanks Brett!

One More Time, With Feeling: How to Rent DVDs For Free

2008-12-02T14:00:00.006-07:00

I have had several conversations over the last few days with people, trying to explain to them how they can rent movies for free.

No one believes me.

So I am posting this article again:

One of the themes that has developed in this blog is how to survive without cable TV.

Turns out that renting DVDs is much more enjoyable and cost effective than cable.

So just in case you thought that reading this blog was useless, here is the best tip I know:

Redbox + Promo Codes = Unlimited Free Movies

Note that each code may only be used only once with each of your credit cards, but new codes appear every day.

It turns out that there are several Redbox locations within walking distance of my house.

Of course, I would never, ever use this to make a backup copy of the disc so I could watch it later.

Update: Delta Promo

2008-11-28T10:55:00.004-07:00

It turns out that everyone who registered for the big Delta promo will get their bonus SkyMiles, according to the message now displayed at the promo page:

The More Miles You Earn, the Bigger the Bonus

The SkyMiles® multi-partner threshold promotion was in the development phase and not yet formally announced or launched when it was inadvertently published online. The landing page should not have been live and the content was subsequently removed.

However, Delta Air Lines will honor the bonus miles promotion for SkyMiles members who have already enrolled.

Some Amazing Photos

2008-11-27T10:30:00.003-07:00

From a photo essay in the Boston Globe.

Court Ruling: Obese Given Extra Seat In Canada

2008-11-25T09:28:00.005-07:00

A Canadian court has ruled that Canadian airlines must provide obese passengers with an extra seat for free. This has created a lot of controversy, and some pretty strong opinions against this here and here.

Here is my opinion:

This is an outrage. Clearly, people who are overweight are at fault for their condition. The litigant, Ms. McKay-Panos (if that is her real name) "said she was born with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, a hormonal disorder that causes obesity in about 50 per cent of those afflicted." That means there is a 50% chance it is her fault!

This kind of thing would never happen in America, where the financial health of the airline industry takes precedence over the mere comfort and safety of obese passengers and the people sitting next to them. An airline ticket should only entitle you to one seat, as people should be treated by airlines no different than cargo.

Furthermore, how many so called "disabled" people were crippled due to accidents that they themselves were at least in part to blame for? Why should these freeloaders receive any special treatment? In the era of Roe vs. Wade, we also need to take a more strict look at people who's parents chose to give birth to, despite their genetic conditions, like obesity.

So booo to the Communist Canadians for unfairly interfering with the free market. Never in America would our government become so blatantly involved in the operation of it's corporations, especially when the health, safety, and comfort of it's citizens are involved.

Big Delta Promo, Crash And Burn?

2008-11-21T13:28:00.005-07:00

The link I posted yesterday now returns the message:

"We're sorry, this campaign is currently not active"

What does this mean? There seems to be four possibilities for people like me who have already registered:

1. Delta will re-post the promo, likely with some changes.
2. Delta will honor it, but only if you registered before they withdrew it.
3. They will honor the promotion, but only for transactions that occurred before they withdrew it.
4. They will give the middle finger to all of the people who registered. Several people at FlyerTalk have already discussed taking them to court if they do this. Considering how many bloggers have been following this,(here, here, here, and here) , that would rake in tons of bad publicity for Delta.

I hate to say it, but I think your best chance is if you TOOK MY ADVICE AND REGISTERED WHILE YOU COULD!

Update: I was right, if you registered, you will get the miles.

Huge Delta SkyMiles Giveaway!!!

2008-11-20T14:08:00.005-07:00

IMPORTANT!!! You must register for this free promotion here.

Delta just announced an incredible SkyMiles promotion where you can easily rake in a 150% bonus on top of partner activity between now and the end of the year.

Read my report on the subject on my post at AskMrCreditCard.com. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized I would be able to get three tickets Israel next year for free.

Big deal? Consider that my wife and I currently have NO SkyMiles whatsoever!

What we do have is some Starwood Preferred Guest points that we got from our Starwood Amercan Express cards. 20,000 Starpoints normally gives you 25,000 SkyMiles, but with this promotion it gives you an additional 150%, or 37,500, for a total of 62,500 SkyMiles. Cash in 80,000 Starpoints (about half of which we have received as sign up bonuses) and we get 250,000 SkyMiles, enough for 3 tickets to Israel, essentially for free!

You can cash in points from hotel programs, or maximize points on rental car programs and other credit card partners such as Dinner's Club. It does not count for Amex Membership Rewards transfers

It does NOT count for travel ON Delta, or any of it's airline partners.

IMPORTANT!!! You must register for this free promotion here.

Win A Free Trip To Denver

2008-11-20T14:03:00.003-07:00

It has been a slow blogging week, but here is a great contest prize offered by my friends at the Denver Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Read about it here and sign up here.

See you in Denver!

And Now For Something Completely Non-Political

2008-10-31T08:29:00.004-06:00

My neighborhood, Park Hill in Denver, was just named one of the 10 Great Neighborhoods in the United States. I have to say I was not surprised when I found this list at the Gadling travel blog.

The article points out my neighborhood's proximity to downtown and it's connection to public transit. These are important factors as there is a fundamental shift going on in how people consume energy and where they choose to live.

See the rest of the list here.

Updated Blog Roll

2008-10-02T12:53:00.001-06:00

Check out the "Blogs I Read" column on the right. I have recently updated and resorted it.

Grab Bag For Obama

2008-10-01T14:49:00.005-06:00

Anyone who knows how the electoral college works pays scant attention to the national polls.

So far, Obama has been consistently ahead in all of the states Bush won in 2004. As you can see here, Bush won 278 of 538 votes in the electoral college. Obama needs 269 votes for a tie and 270 for a clear electoral vote win, therefore, any 9 votes beyond the Kerry states grabs him victory.

Which states could he win? Colorado, Virginia, Ohio, and Florida each by themselves are enough to put him over the top. Nevada and New Hampshire together would also work.

As it stands now, Obama holds a clear lead in just about all of these states. In CNN's latest polls he is up 9 Points in Virginia alone!

I still believe that it is Colorado that will put Obama over the top, as he has held a consistent lead in the polls throughout the whole contest as well as an Obama landslide in the state caucus. McCain, on the other hand, was crushed by Romney in the Colorado Republican Caucus.

Finally, what would happen in the not so remote possibility of a 269-269 electoral vote tie? It is complicated, but due to an increasing Democratic congressional majority, a tie would almost certainly go to Obama.

Writing

2008-09-15T08:28:00.003-06:00

This weekend, I took a fabulous class about travel writing from Ron Stern. He detailed methods for finding stories, pitching them to outlets, and obtaining accommodations.

Sometimes finding stories seems to be very difficult, and then you come across an article like this, and realize that your dumbest idea ever may be Pulitzer Prize material in comparison to this, the least interesting human interest story in all recorded history.

Maybe they can pitch it to The Onion.

New Blogging Assignment

2008-09-08T14:46:00.002-06:00

Starting today, you can read my thoughts on the subject of credit card rewards over at AskMrCreditCard.

Blogging is a great way to hone my writing skills while exploring a subject that I have a lot of experience with; maximizing credit card points.

Enjoy!

I Believe in Innocence Until Proven Guilty, But....

2008-08-26T09:31:00.005-06:00

Wow, I have never seen anyone looking more guilty than these three, with the possible exception of this guy.

Full story here.

Denver Update and the Olympic Effect

2008-08-26T09:21:00.003-06:00

You can read my Denver Update on PlanetEye here. It is part of a pattern that I have observed at highly anticipated major events such as the Olympics and the Superbowl.

Step One: City is awarded a major event, nightmare scenarios are predicted for lodging and transportation.

Step Two: Every business in town prepares for record breaking crowds, and quadruples their prices in an attempt to gouge visitors.

Step Three: The residents and regular visitors anticipate this and change their habits, avoiding the city at all costs.

Step Four: The event begins, crowds are light, and business suffers. Life goes on as normal with far fewer disruptions than a typical workday.

Step Five: Residents re-adjust to reality, and repopulate the city, just as the event ends.

This happened in Atlanta in 1996, Bejing last week, and Denver this week. It is predictable, but never predicted.

This Just In...

2008-08-25T14:52:00.003-06:00

A Blue Hen was just spotted in Downtown Denver!

Some of my observations on the crowd.

2008-08-25T14:24:00.001-06:00

I felt compelled to write some Denver Etiquette tips after my experiences last night.

Monday Denver Update

2008-08-25T09:04:00.002-06:00

I went out on the town last night with a friend of mine. Thankfully there was noticeably less visible police presence in "occupied Denver" this time. Perhaps they were busy with actual protesters. There were plenty of cops, but they weren't traveling in such big groups, and they didn't seem as heavily armed and equipped.

We went to the Wyncoop bar, a local place owned by Denver's Mayor, and had a pitcher of "Obaminator" beer. From there we went around town, finally ending up at a bar with the Young Democrats of America. It was pretty cool, and I met another delegate or two.

Tonight I am either going to a Planned Parenthood party, or possibly to a Bill Maher event, if I can snag some tickets.

Denver!

2008-08-24T09:50:00.008-06:00

After living in Denver for the last 10 years, I have never been so thrilled to be here as I am this week!

I am also thrilled to be covering this experience all week long at my Denver Local Expert page at Planeteye.

Last night we went out to Downtown to eat dinner and and see what we see. The city is teaming with delegates, and cops. You could almost call it "occupied Denver", as there were many police officers walking about in large groups with riot gear and heavy weapons.

One of the highlights of our evening was meeting Liz Villarreal, an Obama delegate from Alaska. She has a great blog here. Essentially, she and her husband live in Homer, a mere 7 hour drive or $350 flight from Anchorage. She is one of only 8 pledged delegates from the last frontier. Eating dinner next to us by herself with a t-shirt and a backpack, we would never have guessed that she was an actual delegate. Apparently, she had to hold a fundraiser just to raise the money to attend. We were very impressed.

After dinner, we went to Denver's City Park to see the newly restored Prismatic Electric Fountain that was build for the 1908 Democratic Convention in Denver. Some background here.

If you go, the lights turn on at 8:30 PM.

Taking good pictures at night was tough, but this guy seemed to take better ones.

The Olympics for What it is.

2008-08-22T08:59:00.001-06:00

This guy gets it.