This dog’s name is”Pigot” (Pronounced “Pea-Go). He is not looking behind himself to see if any people from Haisha, or any other Bad-Hole countries are coming to eat him. On the contrary, he is looking to see if a Dog-Lady or a Dod-Man is coming to pet him, maybe give him a treat. Life is good for dogs, if they live in a place where there are no hungry people who are not where they are not supposed to be….something like that.
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(I took a couple of Airplane rides from Sarasota to Rome the other day…a few observations and travel tips follow below.)
1) The shoe question finally answered: If you are over 80 years old, you do not have to remove your shoes while going through Security. Does this mean no person over 80 has ever tried to blow up an airplane with his or her shoes? Is this a small perk for the elderly in hopes they will fly more?
2) A ‘Tall’ coffee and a Banana Muffin (Warmed, granted) Costs $9.50, before tax & tip add-ons, at Starbucks. It took 20 minutes of standing in line to place the order…and another 5 to get the goods.
3) Most of the phone re-charger stations in the airport do not work…even though there are not enough of them.
4) It is difficult to tell who is a Trumper, or not, just by looking at the people. Almost everybody is ‘Dressed down’…maybe expecting the worst to happen to their clothing while flying to and fro. Almost everybody is showing some signs of being lost and thinking they might be in the wrong area or worse. They are not exhibiting feelings of joy and a bright promising future.
5) I have never understood how you can “Breathe Normally” when “…in case of an emergency”…the oxogen masks drop down…How can you breathe normally when you are screaming in terror or having a myocardial infarction? Or the Life Jacket thing: Pulling all th0se straps and breathing into some pipe and inflating the vest…you are supposed to know how to do all that just from watching some stewardess pretend to do it? …all the while thinking you are about to be eaten by sharks now that you know about sharks in the water…or maybe the sinking airplane might electrocute you…while you are panicking and trying to inflate your mask or vest or whatever you are supposed to do before you die.
6) I hate it when you get to the “Toilet” and you are finally turned around, packed tight in that little room and then the “RETURN TO CABIN” light flashes on with that little accompanying bong-bell noise…it seems to happen 9 times out of 10…and the worst sound in the my world is the horrific monster loud noise of the “Flush”. (Which makes you think you should already have your life jacket on and inflated)…If you did not want to return to cabin before, you certainly do now that you hit the “Flush” button. Or, how about when you finally decide you probably should go to the bathroom and you get up from your seat, crawl over the lucky sleeping person who has the aisle seat, and then see that the food wagons are blocking the pathways to the toilets and you are told to go back to the seat you just struggled to get out of, even though the only thing you can think of doing is going to the bathroom, if you know what I mean.
A few quotes:
- “Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well the earth!” -Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
- “They say Travel broadens the mind:but you must have the mind.” -C.K. Chesterton, “The Shadow of the Shark”, (1921)
- “…and miles to go before I sleep/and miles to go before I sleep’ -Robert Frost (1874-1963)
That’s enough…and a fond “Hello” to Donald…across the Piazza, we know where you are.
