Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[GwenOnBass]

Never flew out of Boston, to Shannon.
JFK has always been our go to/ go from.

We sit in the back, with the sheepeople, where there ain’t hardly no champagne...ain’t hardly no bruschetta...ain’t hardly no li’l cups of olives...ain’t hardly no leg room...

Imagine how much air travel in the back it takes to sit up front now and again. And I can tell you precisely which seats on the venerable MD-80 are exactly next to the fuselage-mounted engines. Imagine that's your seat for four to five hours every Monday morning.

Some planes are really interesting and fun. Then there's this new breed of boring commercial aircraft sameness.

Pro tip never use a first class upgrades on your outbound trips. Save it for the return
:: enthusiastic nod ::

 

[the harp unstrung]

 

[the harp unstrung]

 

[Deleted member 268085]

I've been on Medicare and a supplement for almost three years. It is pretty much set and forget. I get the annual enrollment notice to review coverage. There is nothing to do if I like what I have.

One other thing to be aware of on the advantage or supplement plans is portability if you move to another state. Your plan may not be offered in the other state.

Too true. But. If you are a vet who gets his/her primary care from the VA, I'd highly recommend seeing if Humana's Honor PPO is available in your area. It was designed primarily for vets primarily cared for by the VA. It eliminated the >$200/month I was paying for Medigap insurance, plus the amount taken from my SS check for Medicare was reduced by $50/month, so I saved over $250/month.

 

[GonePlaid]

Imagine how much air travel in the back it takes to sit up front now and again. And I can tell you precisely which seats on the venerable MD-80 are exactly next to the fuselage-mounted engines. Imagine that's your seat for four to five hours every Monday morning.

Some planes are really interesting and fun. Then there's this new breed of boring commercial aircraft sameness.

Pro tip never use a first class upgrades on your outbound trips. Save it for the return
:: enthusiastic nod ::

I remember my last commercial flight like it was yesterday(it wasn't). NWA, Boeing 720, Miami-Tampa-Milwaukee, 12/25/70. Maybe 20 people on the plane. Roasted almonds and a ginger ale. Slept from TPA-MKE.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

View attachment 4202501

The only truly important thing missing from that photo is

 

[gtmalone]

Imagine how much air travel in the back it takes to sit up front now and again. And I can tell you precisely which seats on the venerable MD-80 are exactly next to the fuselage-mounted engines. Imagine that's your seat for four to five hours every Monday morning.

Some planes are really interesting and fun. Then there's this new breed of boring commercial aircraft sameness.

Pro tip never use a first class upgrades on your outbound trips. Save it for the return
:: enthusiastic nod ::

Don't need to be reminded of that! I had folks on my team and a boss in the Chicago area and was going up there about once a month. After a couple trips next to the engines, I made sure to sit somewhere else. I always flew AA out of DFW then AA started offering flights out of Love Field to compete with the lower cost carriers. They converted the Fokker 100 to all first class with only 56 seats, served drinks and food, and the ticket price was the same as coach out of DFW. Nice ride but didn't last long.
The Time American Fokker F-100s Were Deployed To Crush A Competitor

When I flew out of DFW I was sometimes able to get a 767 on the return. Even coach was a pretty nice ride on that plane. Then someone decided flying into OHare was too expensive and made us fly into Midway then drive out to Arlington Heights. The ticket difference wasn't that much. There was a habit of chasing a dollar at the front door while a thousand ran out the back door.

Then 9/11 happened. I was about to leave the office for the airport when someone told me a plane had crashed into the WTC. No other info. Figured it was a small plane then found out what happened. I didn't go to the airport.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Imagine how much air travel in the back it takes to sit up front now and again. And I can tell you precisely which seats on the venerable MD-80 are exactly next to the fuselage-mounted engines. Imagine that's your seat for four to five hours every Monday morning.

Some planes are really interesting and fun. Then there's this new breed of boring commercial aircraft sameness.

Pro tip never use a first class upgrades on your outbound trips. Save it for the return
:: enthusiastic nod ::

Yup. I preferred Americans Stupid-80s (as I heard one pilot refer to them) to United's 73s way back when my work travel was domestic. 12 First Class seats in an MD-80. Only 8 in the 73. Much easier to upgrade.

This was way back when American first started the frequent flyer/hotel stayer/car renter loyalty craze. There was regular, and then there was Gold (with a variable mileage level depending on your home airport; about 40K/year at O'Hare (a hub) and 25K/year at St. Louis, e.g. (not a hub)).

I checked in one time and looked for the GLD on the boarding pass to make sure I could board early, when I noticed that it said TOP and not GLD. I asked the ticketing agent what that meant, and all she said was "you'll find out!"

Never flew coach again. Free international upgrades (coach to business or business to first). I always bought business class for over-water flights, so I always wound up in the front of the bus (or aluminum people tube, if you prefer).

And then the alliances developed. Which was truly great, if you paid attention and used the system to your advantage.

Case in point. I would fly American in first to Tokyo, then switch to Cathy Pacific for onward travel through Asia and on to Europe. Cathy offered business to first upgrades via the alliance (One World), but there was a catch. Members of Cathy's loyalty program's top tier could upgrade ANY business class fare to first. Alliance members needed a full-fare business class ticket (which I NEVER had). But... Their computer systems weren't well connected. It took them 15-20 minutes to determine exactly which business class fare I'd purchased from American, so I would walk up to the transfer desk, state that I had a full-fare business class ticket and ask for an upgrade to first. I could see the relief in the agents eyes when I'd saved them all of that time (ha!).

Worked EVERY time. Nothing like flying from Hong Kong to Frankfurt in first on a discounted business class ticket!

EDIT: This was back in the day when business class seats were NOT fully flat. Which sucked (well, not compared to coach) on really long haul flights.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Don't need to be reminded of that! I had folks on my team and a boss in the Chicago area and was going up there about once a month. After a couple trips next to the engines, I made sure to sit somewhere else. I always flew AA out of DFW then AA started offering flights out of Love Field to compete with the lower cost carriers. They converted the Fokker 100 to all first class with only 56 seats, served drinks and food, and the ticket price was the same as coach out of DFW. Nice ride but didn't last long.
The Time American Fokker F-100s Were Deployed To Crush A Competitor

When I flew out of DFW I was sometimes able to get a 767 on the return. Even coach was a pretty nice ride on that plane. Then someone decided flying into OHare was too expensive and made us fly into Midway then drive out to Arlington Heights. The ticket difference wasn't that much. There was a habit of chasing a dollar at the front door while a thousand ran out the back door.

Then 9/11 happened. I was about to leave the office for the airport when someone told me a plane had crashed into the WTC. No other info. Figured it was a small plane then found out what happened. I didn't go to the airport.

I was at the airport, on the jet bridge, boarding a plane, when they turned us around and sent us back to the lounge. I managed to get my driver to come back to O'Hare and get me out and back home before they shut down the airport.

I was on the first flight to Europe when O'Hare reopened a week later.

Scary times.

 

[GwenOnBass]

I was at the airport, on the jet bridge, boarding a plane, when they turned us around and sent us back to the lounge. I managed to get my driver to come back to O'Hare and get me out and back home before they shut down the airport.

I was on the first flight to Europe when O'Hare reopened a week later.

Scary times.

Yeah well you all know where I was.

 

[gtmalone]

The only truly important thing missing from that photo is

View attachment 4202523

How did you get a picture of my living room?

We did that back in the day almost every weekend. We took a friend to Memphis with us to a club. There was a guy there we had seen dancing on a local TV program. Apparently he was the Tony Manero of Memphis. Our friend looked at him and said "He can dance better than me but I bet I could whip his ass".

 

[Jeff Scott]

Do you steam reheat already corned beef? I bought some cabbage this weekend.

It's in boiling water as I type this.

View attachment 4202501

Looks like my local library (they took out all the seats).

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Hi GOF's. Well Sitka is at Low Alert. No new cases for a couple weeks. Alaska's vaccine numbers are going up and cases dropping. We are now able to be in buildings without masks except still 6 foot distancing. It's a gorgeous day today. Carey and I are going for a drive today. The whales and seals are beginning their Spring return. Next month is Herring Fishing. We Natives love the herring eggs on branches. Natives drop spruce branches in the water for a week and they become covered with herring eggs. Then we boil them for a minute and eat them with rice and either butter or soy sauce on the eggs.

 

[spiritbass]

We Natives love the herring eggs on branches. Natives drop spruce branches in the water for a week and they become covered with herring eggs. Then we boil them for a minute and eat them with rice and either butter or soy sauce on the eggs.

Interesting - never heard of this.

 

[StereoPlayer]

Hi GOF's. Well Sitka is at Low Alert. No new cases for a couple weeks. Alaska's vaccine numbers are going up and cases dropping. We are now able to be in buildings without masks except still 6 foot distancing. It's a gorgeous day today. Carey and I are going for a drive today. The whales and seals are beginning their Spring return. Next month is Herring Fishing. We Natives love the herring eggs on branches. Natives drop spruce branches in the water for a week and they become covered with herring eggs. Then we boil them for a minute and eat them with rice and either butter or soy sauce on the eggs.

View attachment 4202935

In appreciation of all things First Nation...this is very interesting! Thank you for this post.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Hi GOF's. Well Sitka is at Low Alert. No new cases for a couple weeks. Alaska's vaccine numbers are going up and cases dropping. We are now able to be in buildings without masks except still 6 foot distancing. It's a gorgeous day today. Carey and I are going for a drive today. The whales and seals are beginning their Spring return.

Glad to read things are looking up, up there!

Next month is Herring Fishing. We Natives love the herring eggs on branches. Natives drop spruce branches in the water for a week and they become covered with herring eggs. Then we boil them for a minute and eat them with rice and either butter or soy sauce on the eggs.

View attachment 4202935

Do you eat the branches, too, or just suck the "slop" off of them?

 

[GwenOnBass]

Be right along with my appetite, Will!

 

[Fat Freddy]

Hi GOF's. Well Sitka is at Low Alert. No new cases for a couple weeks. Alaska's vaccine numbers are going up and cases dropping. We are now able to be in buildings without masks except still 6 foot distancing. It's a gorgeous day today. Carey and I are going for a drive today. The whales and seals are beginning their Spring return. Next month is Herring Fishing. We Natives love the herring eggs on branches. Natives drop spruce branches in the water for a week and they become covered with herring eggs. Then we boil them for a minute and eat them with rice and either butter or soy sauce on the eggs.

View attachment 4202935

 

[Charlie Tango]

Hi GOF's. Well Sitka is at Low Alert. No new cases for a couple weeks. Alaska's vaccine numbers are going up and cases dropping. We are now able to be in buildings without masks except still 6 foot distancing. It's a gorgeous day today. Carey and I are going for a drive today. The whales and seals are beginning their Spring return. Next month is Herring Fishing. We Natives love the herring eggs on branches. Natives drop spruce branches in the water for a week and they become covered with herring eggs. Then we boil them for a minute and eat them with rice and either butter or soy sauce on the eggs.

View attachment 4202935

Saw a very cool story on some channel somewhere some years ago about this, with underwater shots and all.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Hi GOF's. Well Sitka is at Low Alert. No new cases for a couple weeks. Alaska's vaccine numbers are going up and cases dropping. We are now able to be in buildings without masks except still 6 foot distancing. It's a gorgeous day today. Carey and I are going for a drive today. The whales and seals are beginning their Spring return. Next month is Herring Fishing. We Natives love the herring eggs on branches. Natives drop spruce branches in the water for a week and they become covered with herring eggs. Then we boil them for a minute and eat them with rice and either butter or soy sauce on the eggs.

View attachment 4202935

Excuse me for asking but that snow looks pretty yellow. I know that there are a lot of huskies in Sitka.

Does yellow snow on the spruce branches serve to attract the herring?