THIS WEEK'S JOHNNY JET 1/2/2003
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WHERE'S
JOHNNY JET
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Ever since
my Mom
passed, Christmas has not been the same for me and my family.
We were used to being together for dinner, mass, to open presents, and the
following day as well, since it was my Mom's birthday. This year we
have all decided to go our own way; my Dad went to Las Vega$, my sister
Carol was in the Bahamas, my brother Frank went to Miami, and I was in Los
Angeles and Cleveland on Christmas day. The only one who didn't run
away from Connecticut was my sister Georgette. Don't get me wrong,
it was a nice Christmas for all of us. It's just not one with which we are
familiar. Obviously, I think about my Mom constantly, and I truly
believe she had a fantastic holiday, because she was with all of us and
her loved ones "on the other side."
Would you believe this was my first Christmas in Los Angeles, even
though I moved here a dozen years ago? It's true. I had
a great holiday mainly because
Amber Airplane
was amazing. She had the house decorated to the "T" and made
the extra effort to give me comfort. I never saw anyone work harder
than her these past few weeks. When she wasn't crisscrossing the country,
she spent most of her time shopping (what else is new) for everyone in our
families, and when the shops closed late at night... she came home and baked
until the wee hours of the morning.
We spent Christmas Eve at my Aunt's house in San Pedro. Many of my extended Californian cousins were there and since I am half Italian , I met new ones . I don't know what it is about being Italian, but I have more relatives than I can count. We had a good time catching up and eating pasta. On the way home we drove to Redondo Beach to the corner of Robert Street and the Pacific Coast Highway. There, you will find a whole neighborhood that is totally decked out in Christmas decorations . I mean there are so many lights , that I wouldn't be surprised if astronauts can see it from space. I recommend going late at night, otherwise the traffic is backed up close to a mile.
Christmas day, we opened up our presents, packed our bags and
headed to our sleigh at LAX. Since we flew last minute, we used Amber's
passes, which are flexible and a lot cheaper. We got lucky with empty
flights to Chicago and Cleveland. We were on a
777 to Chicago
, and sat in the Suites which meant our flight went by quickly... too
quickly! Flying on Christmas is a treat. The airports are quiet,
and everyone is in a great mood. Our captain handed out candy canes
to all the little ones, and some of the flight attendant's wore reindeer
ears.
We went from sunny 68 degree weather to snowy and 22 in just a few
hours. Believe it or not, I prefer the latter for Christmas because
it definitely gets you in the holiday spirit.
Cleveland
had 8 inches of snow dumped on them on Christmas Eve, so we were
lucky. It was cool to
open
up
presents
on both sides of the country on the same day, and
Amber's Family
took good
care of me
.
We were there
for 3 nights and then we were back at Hopkins airport for an early
morning flight. The place was a mad house. When we saw
two school busses pull up filled with a high school band going to play the
half-time show of the Fiesta bowl, I knew we were in trouble. The
lines were crazy and it didn't help that the TSA had already implemented the
scanning of everyone's checked luggage. The CTX machine picked up
a solid object in my bag which warranted a hand check. The agent told
me it was my magazines, and that I was clear to go. The same thing had
happened to the passengers in front of us who got held up for maple syrup
and a block of cheese. These machines are very sensitive, but should
make everyone feel much more comfortable.
Most people thinking United Airlines was probably going to be empty because they had recently filed for bankruptcy couldn't have been any more wrong. In fact, United purposely oversold their flights BIG TIME this holiday, so they could get some fast cash. Every flight was oversold to everywhere. We couldn't get on the 7am flight to O'Hare, but made the next one, and then we spent the next twelve (12) hours schlepping around the Chicago airport. I think the word "schlepped" was created in an airport because that's all we did. We went from one gate to another, from one terminal to the next and back again. It was crazy! We even tried to get on flights to the east coast, so we could catch a nonstop from there to L.A., but that didn't happen.
It also didn't help that we woke up at so early (2:00 AM PST) and figured we would take a shower when we got to LA (which should've been at 10:30 AM PST). Besides, we thought who were we going to run into? Well, that turned out to be a bad idea, because I had that funny feeling I was going to see someone I knew. Sure enough we each ran into friends and each one of them looked at us like "Man, you need a shower!" To make a long, I mean a real long story short; we finally got on an 8:00 PM flight. It was the last flight of the day and since there were so many passengers (non revenue and revenue) left in O'Hare, United gave us all a late Christmas present. They added an extra flight and upgraded our plane to a 747! The day was an experience hopefully we won't be stuck like that again. We made the most of it because we love airports. The highlight was being able to watch the NY Giants (my favorite football team) beat the Philadelphia Eagles from the Fox Sports cafe. However, it was the first time in my life I didn't care which seat they gave me, I would've taken a set belt to strap around the rear toilet seat. I didn't care. But hey, we got Business Class so who's complaining?
Happy New Year everyone!
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TIP OF THE WEEK:
Reminders On Children Flying Alone (From
BestFares.com)
If your children are among the estimated seven
million that will fly alone this year, please take note that
what you pack in your child's carry-on requires extra attention.
Security personnel report that many children's backpacks still
contain items that can no longer be carried onboard (small scissors
with points are the most commonly confiscated items). In addition,
children given electronic games to pass time in-flight should be instructed
to keep them turned off until flight attendants give the OK for their
use.
The fee for unaccompanied children, ages five
through 11, range from $40 to $75 for domestic flights. Most
airlines have a minimum age of eight for children flying
solo on connecting flights.
GOOD TO KNOW!
Last week we asked our readers to submit their
Best or Worst 2002 Travel Story. Thanks
to all of those who participated.
Here are the BEST AND WORST stories:
The best experience I had during my 5 1/2 week trip to Italy in
November and December.
During the week of November 17 while I was in Sorrento, I
had engaged a driver to take me on a drive down the Amalfi Coast.
I have done this drive before but wanted to experience it again.
November 19 was a beautiful day especially after Vesuvius (that
was an adventure) and Pompeii in the rain. Sorrento Limo is
the company I was riding with, an excellent company (I did four tours
with them). We started down the Amalfi Drive, stopped to gaze
down at Positano, found out the sea was too rough for the boat ride
to the Green Grotto and so continued on toward to Amalfi.
When we were almost there, a sign warned us that because of the heavy
rain there had been a rock fall and the road near Amalfi was closed.
After I saw the steps I could take down to
the town (and, of course, back up again), I decided that I had
been to Amalfi before and did not need to go again. My driver
was very upset, but it certainly was not his fault that the rocks
had fallen. But he wanted to do something to make up for the
fact that he could not take me to Amalfi and Ravello. He asked
if I would like to visit a farm of a friend near Sorrento. I said
sure. And that turned into a great experience.
This farm has been in the family for
seven generations. Counting the new baby born to my host's
niece, four generations live on the farm. All the men also
work outside of the farm. Each branch has its own part of the
big buildings that are the living areas. Mario showed me over
parts of the farm, and I visited the pigs, chickens, wine cellar, olive
oil storage area and much more. The date on the original building
is 1662.
Everything is grown organically. They
buy sugar, coffee, and probably dried pasta, though Mario did
not mention the latter.
After the tour Genarro, my driver, and I ate
lunch with Mario and his family. I get hungry just thinking
about the meal. Mario's wife made the mozzarella cheese we
ate. His father made the salami and the Italian sausage of
the main course. The tomato sauce was from home canned tomato
puree. I could list about 15 other items from antipasti to
dessert, but since this is already too long. I can only say it
was great, much better than seeing Amalfi would ever be.
Sorry, I seem to have gotten carried away
writing this, but it was marvelous. Joan S.
=================
"Where's the car?"
"I know this is where I parked the car!" I wonder
how many others have uttered those same words?
Arriving in Manchester, NH around 1 AM, we got our
luggage off the carousel, loaded on the shuttle bus and headed
for a tour of the parking lots. Having snowed then changing over
to freezing rain it was a very wet and miserable night. We
made several trips around the first lot while other travelers tried
to locate their cars. I felt rather good about the fact that our
car was located only two slots away from the shuttle stop kiosk in the
last lot. My wife and I could hop off the bus into the kiosk with
our luggage and she could wait there while I got the car going and the
windshield clear of snow and ice. We reached our stop and got
out. The shuttle bus left. I gathered myself up and ran out
into the blowing rain. After several loops around I came back into
the kiosk soaking wet and freezing. "Where's the car?" Hoping
that my wife would have a very comforting answer. Of course parking
and locating the car is one of those things that is left up to me.
So, I made another trip outside in ever widening circles trying to locate
our car. Now, along with being very cold and wet I was getting
very concerned that the car had been stolen. Oh great! Another
trip back into the kiosk.
You have
to picture this - rain coming down, dressed in a sport jacket,
light pants, and loafers, just arriving back from a combination
business/pleasure trip to Tucson, AZ and 80 degree temps now wondering
around in ankle deep slush over very slippery ice in windy 30 degrees.
Talk about wet and miserable.
All of a
sudden the light dawned! I had parked in this location
on my last trip just two weeks ago. This trip I had parked in
a different lot. I suggested my wife stay in the kiosk while
I walk the mile to the other lot (only a half a mile but I knew it
would feel more like two or three by the time I got there.) She
would have none of it. She was not going to stay in this dark parking
lot by herself. She suggested waiting for the next shuttle
bus. I knew that we were on the last one of the night and would
not see another one until around 5 AM. I couldn't even persuade
her to at least leave her luggage so off we trudged. Me trying to hurry
and leap over puddles and her dragging her luggage and calling for
me to slow down and wait for her. I never knew how many gates
and fences there are around an airport. As I said the other parking
lot is only about a half a mile away but as a result of fences and drainage
di tches we had to walk a lot further than that. Once in the second
lot we found the car very quickly just two spaces away from one of the
shuttle kiosks, just like we both remembered. We left that lot
and went back to the first one to get my luggage which had stayed dry.
Even though it had been a long tiring travel day I didn't feel the least
bit sleepy driving the next hour and half home. Just thankful that we
were in our car getting warm and dry. I finally thawed out after a
long hot shower at home.
Of course
when I was unpacking the next day I found the itinerary that
I had put in a very safe place that had the parking lot and row information
on it. Next time I will put it in a less "safe" place.
It had to
be one of the most miserable experiences in my life. Fortunately
my wife is very understanding and took it without giving me a lot
of grief.
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