Travel | Piss and Moan

Tug-o-war

Posted on February 25, 2021 by backuphill

The tug-o-war is a struggle while on vacation. You are being pulled this way and that. You are torn between two sets of family who both have missed you, who have looked forward with anticipation to your arrival, and ultimately have planned out every waking moment of your visit.

Here in Arizona, there are two sets of relatives to visit – the inlaws and the sister-n-law’s family. When you only have a week during your vacation, your time has to be split between both and that is the challenge. How do you keep both happy and feel like you have spent enough time with both? In the end, someone is likely going to feel like they got the short end of the stick.

So, this vacation isn’t shaping up to be all that relaxing. It will be go go go the whole time and if it isn’t one it will be the other.

Yesterday’s adventure left out one family but it did have provide for a unique experience as there was a visit to a national park where wild horses roam free. There was a good chance the horses wouldn’t be spotted since they go where they please and one would never know where to find them unless you were in a helicopter looking for them.

Anyway, as it happens, we got very lucky and they were literally less than a hundred yards from us since they had come down to water at the river. A magnificent site they are! Kind of felt like the Old West for a moment. Just sitting there on the bank of the river, watching and listening as they did their thing. I am sure the horses probably feel the tug-o-war war between modern society and the quiet solitude of the wild, something they really have no control over.

Well, despite the push and pull of family obligations, this was a gratifying experience and I am thankful that I was lucky enough to catch this site on the very first visit.

“Walmart” of the sky

Posted on February 24, 2021 by backuphill

It’s been a month since the last vacation. In the scheme of things that isn’t a whole lot of time, but I gotta say that taking a vacation once a month is kind of feeling nice. I wish it could happen again next month.

Anyway, I have flown two different airlines in roughly the last five weeks and it is interesting to see how they have handled (or are handling) the pandemic a year from it’s start. Yesterday’s trip was less fabulous than the first trip. Now, I have flown other airlines, but there are two that I fly that I have liked in the past and those are the two I tend to check first when looking for flights, Alaska and Southwest.

About a month ago, I was on Alaska. The plane are newer, and feel more spacious, even if they may not actually be. The crews were friendly but not overly friendly. The planes felt clean, given the current situation, and the flights were directly to the destination (going and returning). The service inside the cabin was good. Alaska served nearly their full complimentary menu, so a light snack and beverage of choice was available.

Yesterday, I flew on Southwest Airlines. Southwest took a direct flight to Phoenix and routed it through Denver. This notification came just four days after purchasing the tickets. So, a roughly three hour flight turned into an all day affair. I wasn’t real pleased about it, but what can you do once you have already purchased the tickets? The first leg of yesterday’s trip wasn’t too crowded. But the crew wasn’t very friendly and the plane didn’t feel all that clean. It probably was, but it likely also has something to do with the fact that Southwest’s fleet is aging. Also a surprise, the in-flight service. The voice over the intercom announced they would be service iced water and a snack.

That’s it. Essentially, you are getting “bread and water” for flying with us. They, of course, told us this was because of the “current situation in the world.”

The water was a plastic cup with ice and water in it. It wasn’t even bottled water! Wow! So, apparently it is safer to serve an open cup of water in the era of airborne viruses. Go figure!

I asked a buddy who works for Southwest about it, as I was a little taken aback for the lack of services considering the experience just a month prior on a different airline. His response, “Anything to save a buck. We’re basically the Walmart of the sky, so you can’t expect much.”

I guess that is probably about right. It was a cheap flight. The second flight was much more crowded, the “empty middle seat” for social distancing was not a thing on this flight, and the plane didn’t feel any cleaner than the first one.

All in all, it was just a flight to a destination but I have come to expect a little more than what we got yesterday, even for a discount airline.

Am I spoiled or have they set us up to expect more? I am not sure.

Worst ever

Posted on January 29, 2021 by backuphill

There are a lot of lists out there for lots of different things: best, worst, most visited, most traveled, highly valued, etc etc etc. I am not going to jump into that trend because quite frankly the news media outlets do that crap just to generate clicks. I am not much of a bandwagoner so I will avoid that trend.

But, I am going to give a “worst ever” item. The list is only one item, so it won’t take long to read.

So, here we go…the three worst words to see or hear:

“Vacation is over.”

I was standing in the shower and I realized that I don’t like hearing or seeing those words in that order!

I have about 24 hours left of vacation and it has been a very relaxing and restful time away. I don’t want it to end. I just want it to keep on going.

Today’s post will be short and I am going to get off of here and go soak up as much of this vacation as I have left.

See ya next week.

Surprising

Posted on January 26, 2021 by backuphill

Photo by Zsu00f3fia Fehu00e9r on Pexels.com

There are some fruits that I can’t stand. Many of them I developed an aversion to when I was younger and have avoided them ever since. It’s probably because of texture or because of flavor, but I decided way back when that I didn’t like them and have maintained that stance since then.

Yesterday, I was surprised. I had a grapefruit I actually liked. Normally the fruit is kinda nasty to me, so the fact that I even tried it was surprising.

Interestingly, I liked it enough to try it again today and I still liked it.

Now, this is probably an anomaly since they are so sweet. I don’t know exactly the variety, but they look like a traditional pink grapefruit. I have no idea why it is so sweet, but the grapefruit I pulled off the tree in my parents’ yard in Palm Springs is just downright tasty. I have now decided that I would eat at least a half of grapefruit every morning while I am here. It is almost like candy…except supposedly better for me.

I doubt this will change my outlook on them when I return home though. I will probably avoid them like before.

But for a short time, I am going to enjoy the surprising treat.

Just like home

Posted on January 25, 2021 by backuphill

I don’t want it to be just like home.

Vacation. When you leave home for vacation, especially when you live in the Northwest where it is cold and wet all the time, you want to leave for a place that will be warm and sunny. Whatever happens, you want the weather to be different than what you had at home.

Palm Springs hasn’t delivered yet, and the forecast says it won’t the rest of the week either. Last week it was in the 80’s.

Yesterday, the first day here, it was cold, wet, and windy. It was actually stormy. Today, the sun is out to some degree but the dark heavy clouds are zipping my at a high rate of speed since the wind is blowing harder than the blower at the end of a car wash.

Disappointing, to say the least. I was expecting some warm weather down here. Not so much.

Guess there really will be time to relax since I’ll be stuck inside.

Bummer.

Wait times…

Posted on December 30, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by cheptu00e9 cormani on Pexels.com

“Wait times maybe be longer than usual due to higher than anticipated call volumes.”

We’re all familiar with that little phrase, right? We have all be stuck on hold with companies that play this over and over while you sit and wait for someone that isn’t a robot recording to pick up the actual phone and talk to you. In times of an emergency or in times when your system isn’t working as designed, I can see a legitimate reason for getting this message.

What is irritating is that you don’t have the ability to answer a high call volume should it happen or you have purposely caused your system to be overloaded because you caused it to be by your actions.

Case in point:

You send an email to all your subscribers with an offer to add something to their account for free for a limited time.

BUT, in order to take advantage of this offer you have to have your customers actually call you, thus clogging up your phone system.

NOT, make it available to be done on your website with a special code to make the discount apply when it would normally be done there in the first place.

Yeah, that’s good marketing!

Who came up with this idea? Why would you require an action be done over the phone when said action could be done on the website you have for doing said action? Makes no sense.

Irritating and takes advantage of your customer’s time.

Double

Posted on September 28, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Rathaphon Nanthapreecha on Pexels.com

Double. More than double. But not for your pleasure.

A new licensing fee appeared on the renewal form for the car I drive most, a hybrid. It wasn’t there last year, but appeared this year and it more than doubled the cost of registering my vehicle. There was no mention of this fee anywhere in the media, that I can find, until after the fact that it was applied to people’s licensing fees. Surprise! The cost of registering your vehicle more than doubled!

The biggest kicker, I am paying a fee for something I don’t use, an electric vehicle charging station (and those this fee is supposedly going to build). Thus the word HYBRID, meaning it powers itself by using two different types of fuel.

License fees rise for hybrid and electric cars in Washington

I tell you, bigger government means bigger fees. Always. There is never an exception to this. Ever. The problem is that many times the fees aren’t actually used for the stated purpose, nor do they totally justify the collection of the fee in the first place.

Why is the government in charge of building charging stations for electric vehicles? Why is it that those not driving plug-in cars are paying a fee to plug in a car that won’t plug in?

The epitome of what is wrong with government. I mean there is a LOT wrong with our government, at many different levels, but this is just another fine example of why so many people dislike and don’t trust the government.

Fall quarantine

Posted on September 25, 2020 by backuphill

I’m not ready for summer to be over. I’ll admit, I like the sun and warm days (but not hot days…72 is the perfect temp). But, clearly in the Northwest, that doesn’t happen for long up here.

Being from the Northwest, I have grown up with rain. I don’t like it much. Yes, there is a need for it and it does keep things green here, but I don’t like going out in the rain and spending time in it. Yes, I am going to let that stop me from having fun out of doors, because, well, being in the rain for long period of time just isn’t that fun.

Anyway, we just went through six months of lockdown (literally and figuratively). To say that the summer wasn’t a bit of a let down, even with half way decent weather for some of it, would be kind of an understatement. It was a big let down. Trips cancelled. Outdoor activities cancelled or severely hampered/limited. Not much hanging out with friends or family (but we did some). Always the specter of “what if” when we decided to go for a drive to who knows where…what if they aren’t open, what if they don’t have anything to see, what if we can’t find a place to go to the bathroom, what if there is no place to stay? Irritating when you look back on all this stupidity.

So, now there is a new prospect of a “lockdown” in the Northwest, not from dreaded Covid *eyeroll*, but from the weather. It will be more windy, more rainy, and darker sooner and longer. To say that that will kill the spirit of anyone who has to stay inside for the next six months because of the weather is discouraging. Really discouraging.

I am not sure I can handle this next lockdown. I don’t think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder but I can certainly say that I am feeling like I missed out on the best part of the year. I kinda feel like I have treaded water all summer only to have no payoff of fun and relaxation. Know what I mean?

How do you deal with the change in seasons, especially the summer to fall transistion?

Pimpin’ Street Czar

Posted on September 24, 2020 by backuphill

If all the stuff over the summer wasn’t enough to convince you that the city of Seattle was a place run by idiots and Communists, you have to take a look at this. This should be enough to convince you that spending money that this city, as a tourist or resident, is literally a waste of your resources.

This should be the last straw for anyone living in Seattle. But, it won’t be. Somehow they will still justify it. The city tries so hard to be “progressive” it is actually regressing. This only offers further proof. The city and the counsel and the mayor or anything but “woke.”

The city hired a “former” pimp to be a “street czar” so it could have street cred and to be a liaison between the people and the police.

I’m not kidding. I wish I was, but it’s true.

Who comes up with these ideas? The city counsel overrode the mayor’s veto of the proposed budget (the counsel wrote and approved) that literally defunds the police department – the the tune of actually losing policing ability. 100 officers positions will be eliminated.

Wanna feel unsafe in Seattle? Now you know what it will feel like. Doesn’t matter what color, sex, religion you are. The loss will be felt by all.

Oh, but we better make sure some lowlife, exploiter of women and criminal history with no experience or training get paid large amounts of money to do a job with no job description, defined desired performance goals, or oversight. That’s an effective way to solve problem.

I am starting to wonder if some cities in the US are actually competing to run themselves into the ground fastest. People must be waking up each morning and thinking, “What can I do today to make things worse around here?” That can be the only explanation. Really.

I am avoiding Seattle. I hope you will too.

Check out

Posted on August 13, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Rhetorical questions here: Everyone had enough already? Everyone feel like everything is on fire and there is no way in hell you can make it stop? Everyone feel like everything is on fire while there is a tornado whirling around you? A tornado with sharks and snakes and alligators in it?

OK, enough of those questions. I know the answer. That’s why they were rhetorical.

I lied. One more.

Ever wish you could just check out of life like you check out of a hotel room?

“OK, I’m done here. I am not picking up or cleaning. I am not making the bed. Here’s the key. I am moving on. Nothing here is my responsibility any more.”

Yeah, I wish life was that easy.

I have had enough of everyone. Of everything.

Time to start over. Another time. Another place.

Ever feel like that?

That question, it’s not rhetorical. Go ahead and answer.