My summer that is.  Yesterday I officially said my goodbye’s at the theatre (just for the summer that is), packed up my junk and this morning I made my trek over to the east coast.  Pretty normal travel day all things considered, 6AM wake-up, have Sunreon pound on my door at 6:20, load up my junk into her car and head over to The Red Moose for a cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito.  I can’t remember if I ever mentioned this little coffee shop before, they haven’t been around that long (I believe since December) but they have great coffee and great food.  They are also practically right across the street from my house which could be a dangerous thing.

The traveling today was pretty painless.  I still think that it is a pain in the ass to get from the door of the airport to the door of the plane, but when you fly early enough in the day getting through security is pretty efficient.  In general, flying on Southwest is pretty efficient.  They seem to really be able to get you from one place to the next without much hoopla.  They also have pretty good fares.  I do love sitting in the terminal and on the plane during boarding listening to the agents and flight attendants try to explain to people about the open seating.  There are some people who really just don’t get it.  It isn’t that hard to understand is it?

As we loaded up the first plane (SLC to MDW) I ended up sitting next to a very interesting gentleman who works for the VA hospital right across the street from the theatre.  We shall call him D for the sake of privacy.  It turned out that he was also flying from SLC to MHT, though his reasons for the trip were not quite as upbeat as mine.  He was a very nice man and we had a great conversation for most of the flight.  In fact, by the time that we stopped chatting I only was able to make it about halfway through the new “Alice in Wonderland” movie.  In the end I suppose that isn’t terrible because now I can watch it on a screen larger than my iPhone.  I never did see it in theaters, and I was totally OK with that.

We arrived at MDW a couple minutes early which is a good thing because the layover was only 35 minutes.  I probably should and cold have grabbed some food, but since people were already lining up to board, I figured that I would hit the head and then get in line.  I ended up sitting with the D again and another interesting person who I believe was around my age.  This flight, which was only around 1:30-sin in length, the tree of us chatted the entire time.  I don’t think that I have ever had that much interaction with the people that I have been sitting with (who are not friends or family) on an airplane before.  In the end, D and I exchanged cards, and will probably connect again when I get back to Utah.  He has kids who he would love to see get involved in the arts, and he knows some people at one of the youth theatre organizations that he wanted to put me in touch with.

With an on-time arrival in Manchester I met my parents and I finally got to meet the new puppies.  They are sooo cute!  They are crazy hyper, like all huskies, but they are a lot of fun.  However they did manage to pinch my old Red Sox cap from my bag and chew it up.  It is a little sad, but I am sure that I will get over it (and get a new cap).  So, since it is Friday, I think that I will leave you with one of my father’s photos of the puppies.  The white one is Ava, and the black/silver one is Zoe.

Zoe and Ava on the back porch

I suppose that I should also mention that for the rest of the summer (until mid August) I will be on the east coast, primarily in Maine and New Hampshire working at Indian and Forest Acres camps.  My blogging may be a little more erratic over the summer, but I will keep you all up to date!

Yesterday I rambled about the complete ridiculousness of airline ticketing and pricing.  Today I wanted to continue to talk about airline travel in regards to what you can and can’t do with your luggage and issues with security.

I know that I mentioned it in my previous post that most airlines have started charging you to take checked baggage on your flight.  With the exorbitant price of tickets to start with, I would think that baggage could still be included in that cost.  At $15 for your first bag and $25 (or more) for your second, what exactly are we paying for?  Seeing as every bag doesn’t get handled by it’s own handler, odds are the cost is not directly related to paying the handlers.  With the number of bags each handler moves in an hour, that would be quite a salary!

I understand the weight restrictions on bags, at least to a point.  I would imagine these are in place to protect the baggage handlers.  Slinging 50lb bags of funky shapes and sizes all day can’t be easy, so having a heavy bag could be an issue.  I don’t know if the baggage handlers have a union or anything, but I could see this being a point for hazard pay.

Now let’s look at airline security.  Is it really more than a joke and an inconvenience?  Every “advance” that we make in security protocols in airports is completely reactionary.  Someone tries to put a bomb in their shoe, so we all have to take off our shoes.  Someone decides to try binary liquid explosives so now we can’t take any real quantities of liquids and pastes.  Ironically, the only thing that I think has regressed is the screening of laptop computers in that you used to have to power them up so that the screeners could see that it was actually a working computer.

Sure, we have added a few things in security that are less reactive, but are they really making us safer or just making us spend more time in line in the airport?  Are they more efficient?  Do they invade our privacy?  Many airports are installing/testing full body X-ray devices.  I don’t have anything to hide, and I am sure that most people don’t, but still, does a full body X-ray of myself really need to end up somewhere in cyberspace.  Does airline security take precedence over personal security and privacy?  All that is not to mention the fact that it takes a lot longer to use the full body scan since TSA has to wait for the images to render.

My real thought that comes from all this is that anyone that is determined enough to make some kind of terror act on an airline will find a way to do it.  When you consider how many people and goods come in and out of every airport every day it almost makes all the the security measures that most people see seem moot.  I mean, does every box of donuts for Dunkin’ Donuts and every bag of coffee beans for Starbucks get screened?  Have you ever gone into the FBO section of an airport?  If you are meeting a private jet you can drive your car right out on the tarmac.

So, what’s the point?  Does it really work?  Does all the “security” make you feel more secure?  Have you ever not felt safe flying?

This is part one of probably a two part series of posts about summer travel, specifically relating to airline travel.

As we head into the summer and people are getting out of school many are starting to think about their summer travel plans.  Some people will travel for summer jobs, some just for fun, and some for visiting friends and family.  Most people who are traveling more than across a state or two will probably make their journey by air.  However, this is getting harder and harder every day.  Sure, it is still cheaper and generally more convenient than driving long distance, but the airline industry is out of control.

What made me start to think about this?  It all started when I was talking to my dad about flying home the night before he left this weekend.  There are two direct flights from SLC to BOS every day on Delta.  My dad had originally booked his tickets on the evening flight but wanted to change to the morning.  For this, the airline wanted to charge not only a change fee but an additional $400.  Now, obviously they had seats available, one would think that it is more important to fill the seats.  What accounts for the $400 difference?  This just further illustrates the fact that when you get on a plane you could be sitting next to a person who paid double what you did and the person on your other side may have paid half of what you paid.

The major airlines are already changing ridiculous fees on tickets.  I want to know what the actual cost per passenger is on a full commercial flight.  If an airline like Delta has standard routes that they fly at the same time every day like the SLC to BOS route, why isn’t there a standard price?  The planes fly whether or not all the seats are sold and there is no way to know in advance if a flight will be full.  So why are ticket prices so variable?  The cost per person doesn’t really change on a day-to-day basis.

Then of course consider the fact that on the major airlines there is nothing that you are not charged for.  It is a wonder that you still get a free beverage!  Why are travelers penalized for bringing their luggage on the plane?  Why should we have to pay for every bag we take.  Some airlines have even started to charge for carry-on bags.  Why shouldn’t I be allowed to take my clothes on my trip with me?  Maybe the airlines just want everyone to fly naked?  I am sure that would make TSA’s job easier!

I just read that now the major airlines want to start charging a “Summer Flights” surcharge.  From the articles I have seen this charge could range from $10-$50 per ticket.  Like every other aspect of ticketing, this fee will be variable depending on your travel date, when you book your flight, what airline, where you are going, and how your ex-roommate’s second-cousin’s sister-in-law is feeling.  It doesn’t actually cost more to fly in the summer, in fact one would think that since more people travel in the summer the planes are more likely to be full so it should get cheaper to fly!

This is obviously the time when some of the “smaller/budget” airlines may get the chance to shine.  I will be flying this summer and I am booked on Southwest Airlines who still has pretty standard pricing, they let you take two checked bags for free, and they do a good job.  As far as I know they also won’t be adding on a summer surcharge.  Of course one of the best things about Southwest is the fact that they don’t have penalties for changing your flight beyond the difference in ticket price (if there is one).

It is really right that someone’s greed for money drives the airline industry?  Did anyone stop to think that people might be more inclined to fly more often if prices were more standard and not designed to screw over the travelers?  What about giving the traveler the freedoms and benefits that we used to get insted of charing us for every little thing on the flight?  Why does it have to be so damn difficult?

The big holiday party was lat night and it was a lot of fun.  Getting to see people who i don’t get to see very often is a treat.  It is an awful lot of work to pull off a party like that though.  We had twenty-some odd people at the house.  My mother and I made almost 20lbs of potatoes into latkes, we made 16-ish pounds of corned beef, a turkey and more.  I don’t remember what my father said was the count on number of bottles of wine drunk.

Seeing family and friends is fun, but it is mighty tiring.  People started to show up at 5 and the last guest left between 9 and 10, plus we did all the prep beforehand.  I think I got to tell the same stories over and over to different people, and it is hard to keep up with all of that.  Seeing my cousins Greg Weisman, and Sarah and Brian Swett was nice.  I have not seen them in a long time.  I don’t know if I can convince greg to come out to Utah this year, he has all kinds of other adventures planned.  Maybe SCUBA diving in Israel this spring, he sounded interested in that.

Then of course there are the gifts.  As much as I like getting money as a gift, sometimes I feel like it is a cop-out.  I do kinda need money to pay off all my bills, what with buying a washer and dryer and such, but then I feel like I didn’t really use the gifts that I was given.  There are things that I want to get, but then i feel like I could have used the money to be practical and pay the bills.  Worst of all, is that most of the gifts were in cash, and when i have cash I tend to spend it on things that really are not gifty, like dinner.  It is kind of a dilemma.

Over the course of this trip I did get to visit some friends of mine.  Best of all was getting to see Jesi, who, unfortunately is not working currently, thought that allowed her the time to visit.  We went out to see “Radium Girls” produced by the BU Theatre Department.  It was a great show and I got to finally tweetup with a couple more friends: @gizm770o, @jamisonkissh, and @lightingguru44.  The production was really great, a very interesting show.  I would recommend it to anyone who likes going to the theatre.  One of the other great things about the performance was the fact that they has a talkback after with the playwright, which was very interesting.  I enjoy hearing how good plays came to be.

What really bummed me out was not getting to see my good friend Molly who is currently working at Shakespeare and Company in Lennox, MA.  She had performances most of the days that I was home and then it started to snow on the night that she hoped to come visit.  To tell the truth, out of all the people that were at our party, if i had been able to see Molly, it would have made me a lot happier.  Another time I guess.

So, now thanks to Delta for free wifi on the airplane, I can post this entry.  Go figure that they would actually give something away.  I mean the fact that you have to pay to check bags now is totally ridiculous.  It is even more ridiculous that its costs you MORE to check your bags in the airport rather than online at home even though you still have to go see a real live person at the airport to actually check the bag!  It makes no sense.  More people would fly if it cost less to fly!

I think that is all I have, time to sit back and watch a movie to kill the time before we get in to Salt Lake City.  Then i have to go to work, huzzah for photo call!