Your so lucky you get to travel...
2 January 1998 - Parsippany, New Jersey
Your so lucky you get to travel all the time! Las Vegas - Got up early Sunday morning to head to McCarran Airport for my onward trip toParsippany. At 6:30am I was standing outside the hotel waiting for the valet to bring my car around. I wasn't wearing the jacket that was draped over my luggage and didn't give any thought to it being cold, it certainly wasn't cold enough for me to think I should be putting it on..... Drove to McCarran Airport returned the car and was checking in at 7:00am for my 8:05am flight. On the tram going out the gate the guy next to me said "hey, look snow!". Sure enough there were some tiny flakes falling but nothing to write home about. The tram than dropped into the tunnel and you couldn't see outside anymore (new D gates, you drop underground on the new tram). I still had 45 minutes before my flight so I stopped for Coke and wandered over to sit by the gate. Suddenly a little kid yells out "Mommy, Mommy, look at all the snow. Is it going to be a white Christmas?" I chuckled to myself and turned around to look out the window.
I was shocked to see the entire airport was white with snow and it was coming down hard! I'm talking serious flakes. As the crowd gathered by the windows to watch it come down the airline folks made an announcement "Ladies & Gentleman, as we are not accustomed to snow in the desert... We do not have any de-icing equipment so we will be delayed". 4 1/2 hours later.... (with a bunch of ground crew with ladders rubbing the snow off the wing tops with their hands). We departed Las Vegas for Denver. The view during take-off was very unusual for Vegas, snow covered everything east of the airport... I'm writing this en-route, have already missed my first, second and third options to get to Newark. Hope to find something when I get there... More later...
By the way, it snowed in downtown Tokyo the day before, which is very unusual this time of year... Am I cursed? I'm almost afraid of going to Parsippany and Indianapolis. If I make it snow in places that is doesn't normally... will it snow twice as much in places where it usually does?
Made it to Denver... have been re-routed to Newark via Chicago... Puts me in at 11pm... Only 6 hours late... That 7:00am pickup for the meeting suddenly seems very very early....
Your so lucky you get to travel all the time! Las Vegas - Got up early Sunday morning to head to McCarran Airport for my onward trip toParsippany. At 6:30am I was standing outside the hotel waiting for the valet to bring my car around. I wasn't wearing the jacket that was draped over my luggage and didn't give any thought to it being cold, it certainly wasn't cold enough for me to think I should be putting it on..... Drove to McCarran Airport returned the car and was checking in at 7:00am for my 8:05am flight. On the tram going out the gate the guy next to me said "hey, look snow!". Sure enough there were some tiny flakes falling but nothing to write home about. The tram than dropped into the tunnel and you couldn't see outside anymore (new D gates, you drop underground on the new tram). I still had 45 minutes before my flight so I stopped for Coke and wandered over to sit by the gate. Suddenly a little kid yells out "Mommy, Mommy, look at all the snow. Is it going to be a white Christmas?" I chuckled to myself and turned around to look out the window.
I was shocked to see the entire airport was white with snow and it was coming down hard! I'm talking serious flakes. As the crowd gathered by the windows to watch it come down the airline folks made an announcement "Ladies & Gentleman, as we are not accustomed to snow in the desert... We do not have any de-icing equipment so we will be delayed". 4 1/2 hours later.... (with a bunch of ground crew with ladders rubbing the snow off the wing tops with their hands). We departed Las Vegas for Denver. The view during take-off was very unusual for Vegas, snow covered everything east of the airport... I'm writing this en-route, have already missed my first, second and third options to get to Newark. Hope to find something when I get there... More later...
By the way, it snowed in downtown Tokyo the day before, which is very unusual this time of year... Am I cursed? I'm almost afraid of going to Parsippany and Indianapolis. If I make it snow in places that is doesn't normally... will it snow twice as much in places where it usually does?
Made it to Denver... have been re-routed to Newark via Chicago... Puts me in at 11pm... Only 6 hours late... That 7:00am pickup for the meeting suddenly seems very very early....
It is 3:35pm which is the scheduled departure time of my Denver to Chicago flight... The Captain just announced that due to traffic we will be staying on the ground to 5PM... That takes care of the Newark flight..... We finally got off the ground at 4:30 which got me to Chicago at 7:20pm so I figured there was no way I could make the Newark connection at 7:30. We de-plane at gate B2 and I check the board... GOOD NEWS! The Newark flight is delayed 30 minutes, leaving from C32. (That's like miles away..) I start hoofing it to the other gate only to arrive and see the sign say White Plains, NY... Hmmm, check with the ground staff, I'm at the right gate but they haven't sent out the White Plains flight and the Newark flight will board after that....
8:35 they start boarding the Newark flight, I'm home free! Scheduled to arrive Newark at 10:30. I settle into my seat amongst all the other grumbling folks and shut my eyes thinking I can get a few winks enroute. 8:45 Captain comes on and says there will be a 15 minute delay. No problem we almost there any way... 9:00 pm Captain comes on report electrical problems, the flight is cancelled! Everyone off.
The full flight deplanes and the poor gate agents are surrounded by an angry crowd.... The gal behind the counter literally screams in the mike for every one to hold on for a minute. 10 minutes later she announces some of us can make the 9:45 which departs from (get this, look above) gate B2. Once back to B2 (very winded and sweaty) my frequent traveler status on United pays off. I along with 20 other folks get on the flight. Centre seat, last row. They take all hand carry away from those of us in back cause there isn't enough room for so much as a brief case....
The full flight deplanes and the poor gate agents are surrounded by an angry crowd.... The gal behind the counter literally screams in the mike for every one to hold on for a minute. 10 minutes later she announces some of us can make the 9:45 which departs from (get this, look above) gate B2. Once back to B2 (very winded and sweaty) my frequent traveler status on United pays off. I along with 20 other folks get on the flight. Centre seat, last row. They take all hand carry away from those of us in back cause there isn't enough room for so much as a brief case....
Land Newark 12:30am. Run to baggage claim. The good news, Hand carry comes out almost immediately! The bad news, the suitcase I checked in Las Vegas is no where in sight. Six of us converge on the ground agent, she didn't know what hit her. Five are very disappointed and angry... I'm the only happy camper, they find my bag locked up in the cage. The limo that was booked for me was no where in sight. Stood in line for a taxi for 30 minutes. 30 minute taxi ride US$50.00 later I arrive at the hotel.
1:55am I check in. Only a 15 hour commute (usually a 3 1/2 hour flight). I'm so lucky I get to travel... Can't wait to compare notes with Dave and his travels in the morning at 6:15am.
Good night from the fabulous <sarcastic> Parsippany Hilton!
1:55am I check in. Only a 15 hour commute (usually a 3 1/2 hour flight). I'm so lucky I get to travel... Can't wait to compare notes with Dave and his travels in the morning at 6:15am.
Good night from the fabulous <sarcastic> Parsippany Hilton!
20 August 1998 - Penang, Malaysia
Sitting here in transit at Penang Airport (Malaysia) with some time between flights so I thought I would give you a quick recap of a somewhat eventful summer for the Hickman household...
I took off for two weeks to join Gerri and the kids in Southern California for a bit of R & R. We got a little "r" in, but definitely not the "R & R" that was needed. As many of you have already learned it is more difficult (and expensive) to push one of the fledglings out of the nest, than we ever imagined.....
Sitting here in transit at Penang Airport (Malaysia) with some time between flights so I thought I would give you a quick recap of a somewhat eventful summer for the Hickman household...
I took off for two weeks to join Gerri and the kids in Southern California for a bit of R & R. We got a little "r" in, but definitely not the "R & R" that was needed. As many of you have already learned it is more difficult (and expensive) to push one of the fledglings out of the nest, than we ever imagined.....
JR is officially enrolled in California State University Long Beach and moves into the dorms on 22 August. We lost the battle with the State of California! They did not recognize the fact that Gerri was born in California; Gerri and I both graduated from Cal State Long Beach; nor the fact that we had worked and paid California taxes for a good number of years as criteria for admitting JR as a California (or US resident, for the matter) and they got us for full international student fees (one of the most aggravating checks I've ever had to write). Needless to say I will question paying those alumni dues in the future... (Ok, I will drop it....) The necessary shopping was done for dorm supplies and JR will start his new academic life on Monday.
Living in Southern California without a car is impossible so of course we had to go car shopping. JR is the proud new driver of a blue 98 Honda CRV. The paper work was interesting... Did you know that if you put your 18 year old son as a co-owner on the vehicle they try to clip you for a higher price. A totally new tactic to me... Needless to say after arguing with the State of California (sorry I wasn't going to bring it up again) I was not about to let a car dealer get the best of me... After a few hours of haggling and walking out the door on several occasions we finally drove away in a new car. (The dealer was still smiling when I left so I am not so naive to think we got the better of him, but at least I finally left paying what I expected to pay when I walked in...)
Insurance was the next challenge. Automobile Club of Southern California (of which we are still members) and State Farm both flat turned us down because we did not have a driving record for the last three years in the USA. Rude would best describe them! FARMERS INSURANCE (did everyone hear that!) were the good guys who listened, charged a reasonable rate (is there really such a thing called reasonable when talking about insurance?) and finally wrote the policy. I had not expected this road block... Live and learn Iguess.
Living in Southern California without a car is impossible so of course we had to go car shopping. JR is the proud new driver of a blue 98 Honda CRV. The paper work was interesting... Did you know that if you put your 18 year old son as a co-owner on the vehicle they try to clip you for a higher price. A totally new tactic to me... Needless to say after arguing with the State of California (sorry I wasn't going to bring it up again) I was not about to let a car dealer get the best of me... After a few hours of haggling and walking out the door on several occasions we finally drove away in a new car. (The dealer was still smiling when I left so I am not so naive to think we got the better of him, but at least I finally left paying what I expected to pay when I walked in...)
Insurance was the next challenge. Automobile Club of Southern California (of which we are still members) and State Farm both flat turned us down because we did not have a driving record for the last three years in the USA. Rude would best describe them! FARMERS INSURANCE (did everyone hear that!) were the good guys who listened, charged a reasonable rate (is there really such a thing called reasonable when talking about insurance?) and finally wrote the policy. I had not expected this road block... Live and learn Iguess.
Gerri tried something new... Laser surgery for the eyes! Gerri has been wearing coke bottle glasses/contacts since she was a little one and the final kicker was when she went to renew her driver's license (we still keep the Nevada licenses going so we have some US id when there, and more importantly don't have to take the dreaded driving test to renew) she failed the eye test! She had her contacts in and everything and just couldn't get through it. A little fast talking with the DMV tester and promise to get new lenses got her out the door with a renewed license but the reality was she just couldn't get her vision corrected satisfactorily... So we were introduced to Lasik (spelling?) surgery. Gerri had her eyes measured every possible way on previous visits then we went to an office in Orange County.
The doctor let me in the room with her as he performed the surgery. I even got to watch what he was doing through the microscope on a big screen TV while sitting a few feet away from Gerri. The surgery took about 15 minutes. They put patches on her eyes that she had to wear for 24 hours and gave her an extra strength sleeping pill. We got her home and she literally slept for 14-15 hours. Next morning... 20/20 vision!!! A little blurry but that cleared up. We came home and threw away the glasses, contacts, solutions etc. No pain and for the first time in about 40 years Gerri can see! Wonders of science! Gerri is teaching at the Singapore American School again this year, started last Monday.
Alexis is a sophomore now and has the run of the house. She does not admit it readily but I think she misses JR along with Gerri and I. Her schedule has changed already... Apparently she was the only girl that signed up for co-ed rugby! While she thought there might be some advantages of being the only girl on an all boy team, the reality of it being full tackle rugby with a lot of guys 2 feet taller than her hit home and now she is playing volleyball.....
For me it has been an interesting summer in terms of the economies in Asia are all over the place which presents lots of opportunities on the work front. Travel is heavy as usual but I did manage to play interior decorator and surprised Gerri and Alexis with a redecorated apartment upon their return. (I'm talking painting, new kitchen counters etc. nothing that will get us into Architectural Digest...)
I guess that brings things up-to-date for awhile. Drop us a line if you have a mind to. If you are interested in seeing some of our summer activities and getting a glimpse of how much weight I've gained and hair I have lost or perhaps how big the kids have grown or the before and after shots of Gerri's eye surgery.. go take a look at our home page. It was great seeing family and friends albeit, as usual for these trips, very briefly..
Hope this finds you well and able to talk about a little more exciting things for your summer season.
For me it has been an interesting summer in terms of the economies in Asia are all over the place which presents lots of opportunities on the work front. Travel is heavy as usual but I did manage to play interior decorator and surprised Gerri and Alexis with a redecorated apartment upon their return. (I'm talking painting, new kitchen counters etc. nothing that will get us into Architectural Digest...)
I guess that brings things up-to-date for awhile. Drop us a line if you have a mind to. If you are interested in seeing some of our summer activities and getting a glimpse of how much weight I've gained and hair I have lost or perhaps how big the kids have grown or the before and after shots of Gerri's eye surgery.. go take a look at our home page. It was great seeing family and friends albeit, as usual for these trips, very briefly..
Hope this finds you well and able to talk about a little more exciting things for your summer season.
www.JosephHickman.com