THIS WEEK'S JOHNNY JET 9/12/2002
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I have been traveling so much and taking so
many pictures that I don't even have time to stay current.
So, this issue is a little long but I will tell you about
yesterday (9/11) and my trip last week to Vancouver.
9/11: Okay, I had to go ahead and open my BIG mouth and
I announce to you and to Amber that I will be a flight attendant for
the day on Sept 11 (Where ever Amber Airplane (AA) had to fly I was
going to accompany her). Well, I was hoping AA's trip would be
something easy, you know like a quick flight to Portland or Seattle.
Keep in mind that Amber is on reserve so she doesn't find out until 7PM
the night before where she is going. She could be called to do anything
from Sydney to San Francisco and needs to be prepared to be at the airport
as early as 5am. Tuesday night, when the 19th hour struck,
Amber was out running errands (shopping). I couldn't wait for her,
so I looked up her schedule on the computer and found out where she was
working. It was a trip to Chicago, then on to Baltimore, with
a measly 10-hour airport layover and return to LAX early on the 12th.
Going across the country for 10 hours was not exactly what I had in mind.
Especially to the DC area after all of the recent threats. I just
sat there and shook my head at the computer screen in disbelief.
I sent an email to my family where I would
be on Sept 11 and not a minute went by when my sister and father
started sending me instant messages like:
"Why do you even consider
flying on this day. Are you kidding me!? Stay
home. Go the next day. Have Amber call in sick!....."
To make a long story short,
they put the fear of God in me. Then my sisters called
and said if something happens to you tomorrow we are going to
put "Stupid Johnny" on your tombstone, not Johnny Jet. Pretty
funny, but effective.
When Amber got home all hell broke loose when I tried to back
out. We got into a BIG fight. We were still not happy
with each other when I dropped her off at LAX, and we had
a lousy good-bye. Amber Airplane was very emotional and adamant
that she work on Sept 11 and I could see how much it meant to her.
I couldn't live with myself with that goodbye and I really felt
I needed to go support and protect her and live up to my word.
So I drove home as fast as I could,
packed my bag, and raced back to LAX. I parked my car,
hopped on the empty
shuttle bus
, and walked through the deserted
LAX
terminal.
Amber Airplane was greeting passengers at the door and
when she saw me board the 757 it brought a big smile and a surprised
look to her beautiful face.
Our flight to Chicago was half full and the
pilot made an incredible inspirational speech prior to
take-off. He basically thanked everyone for traveling today
and to know that we are making a statement to the terrorists that
we are not afraid. He ended by requesting everyone to take
a moment of silence to remember all of those who perishedlast
year.
People were definitely on edge. While taxing down the
runway, one of the metal cabinet doors fell off and made a loud
bang in the galley and the man sitting next to me practically
jumped out of his skin. But once we took off, people calmed
down. The flight to Chicago was smooth and we had a two-hour layover
before our flight to
Baltimore
. Flying in and out of BWI the FAA had the extra security
precautions in effect. No one was allowed to stand thirty minutes
prior to landing (or takeoff). We didn't get much sleep since
we were watching the highlights from the day but we still got up early
this morning at 5:45am (2:45 PST) for our early morning flight. BWI
was surprisingly crowded, with long security lines and packed planes.
After a 5-hour
smooth flight
I'm back in L.A. and I'm proud of Amber for making me keep my promise
and, most of all, for her determination and courage.
VANCOUVER: It was Labor Day weekend and Amber Airplane
had to work so I decided to fly with her. I met her
at her gate in San Francisco and we flew from
SFO to Vancouver. It's only 800 miles away which translates
into a two-hour flight. Landing in Vancouver, you immediately
feel like you are in another country, maybe because YOU ARE!
The airport is so nice! It has high ceilings, windows everywhere,
and an awesome collection of sculptures and paintings.
It also has a running river and totem poles. I didn't have
time to take pictures because when people first get off an international
flight, they walk as fast as they can to get in the Customs line and
I was no different. Our walk was loooong and I was walking
so fast I had to take a few puffs of my inhaler.
Customs
was well organized and we went through quickly. It's about
a twenty minute drive to downtown but we arrived late so we went
right to sleep so we could get a fresh start in the morning. After
all, Amber Airplane only had a 15-hour layover so we had to get moving
early
. We walked to the
harbour
, (you like how I spell like the Canucks?), and
took
the two-minute and two Canadian dollar
ferry across
to
Granville
Island
. Okay, so it's not really an island, like when you think
of the word "island." But don't drive because there aren't many parking
spots and plus it's much more fun to take the ferry. The "island"
has a fascinating
collection
of shops, restaurants, theaters, artists' workshops, and some
heavy industry factories. It also has housing and a
hotel.
We were
one of the first of many to arrive for the day. So,
we just walked around the island to get a feel for it, while
we waited for a good place
place
to open up for breakfast.
The US dollar is so good over
there that it's worth the trip alone. Just imagine
everything being 35% off the price tags. For breakfast,
we had an awesome bacon, egg, and cheese croissant for about
$3 USD. BTW: They take both currencies. I
paid with US Dollars most of the time but they always gave me
change in Canadian Dollars and they incorporated the exhange
rate, as well. Granville Island market has great
fruit stands
and bake shops. We had to stop in here for some amazing
french bread
and an incredible smores brownie for the road.
Vancouver is one Amber Airplane's
favorite cities. She says the people and landscape
are
beautiful
(which they are) and the shopping is great.
Well, we all know how much AA likes to shop, so watch out!
We took the other
ferry back
(they had two different types) and walked down to
Robson Street
. This is the place to shop in Vancouver. Amber was
on a mission to go to her
favorite
store
in the world; Lush
. Amber takes way too long to shop and I am very
impatient, so, I left her alone while I strolled down
Robson Street.
You know you are close to Seattle,
(2 1/2 hours by car), when you see
TWO Starbucks
across the street from each other. Have you ever seen this
before? Not only that, but one of the TV stations
is Seattle based.
Lush wouldn't allow me to take pictures
in the store for fear of stealing ideas so I went outside
and
caught Amber
in the act of spending lots of money on bath oils, soaps, and other
expensive products.
To give you a better understanding of the exchange rate, I walked
into a Gap and checked out their sale racks. They
had the same pair of $9.99 shorts, but when you add in
the exchange rate, now were talking about a real bargain!
It was
getting late, so we had to go back to the hotel and get ready
for our next two flights of the day. We walked
back via
Granville
Street which is the eclectic par of town. It's home to bars,
clubs, ,theaters pubs, restaurants, and porn shops that add to the touch
of seedy authenticity.
Like a fool, I took the crew's free
shuttle (in traffic) back to YVR. I should've
left earlier because when you use a stand-by pass, you have
no pull. I tried to get to the front of the line with
the crew but I got DENIED. I couldn't go to the empty
1K line because I was using the free pass and not a paid
ticket. So I just waited impatiently in a long, slow moving
coach line. I started to get worried that I was going to
be stuck in Vancouver, especially when there was only 30 minutes
left to departure and the agent says, "You're on the Denver
flight? You are not going to make it." He then says, "You
still have to clear customs and security." I said," I have
to try, so I grabbed my DM, (Departure Management), card and ran to
Customs. As usual, when you are in a rush they are really were
slllloow! The guy who was standing behind me at check-in and
was on the Denver flight said to me, "Please hold the plane for me!"
I was designated to a slow customs
line and that man was now in front of me, so I was yelling
to him, "Hold the plane for me!"
I finally made it through customs and had to go through security.
I ran around people in a different line to the security line, when
they said, "You still need to pay the $7 departure tax." I
ran to the other line that I had just run by and I fuddled with my wallet,
pulled out $7 USD, and said, "Here!" Then ran back to security.
These people were even slower then Customs! Here they don't
just make you take your laptop out, but they also make you turn it
on and every other electronic device too. This takes awhile and seems
like eternity when you are late. I was having problems turning
my cell phone on because I pressed it so many times. Speaking
of cell phones, my Sprint cell phone did not work in Canada.
I finally
made it through! Then, can you believe this? The security
lady says, "You're in a hurry?" I said an out of breath,"
YES", and she decides to hide the ticket behind her back, like
I was a kid. I almost smacked her in the head and took
my ticket. But instead I grabbed it and ran, and ran, until
I saw a lady with a cart who says, "Get in Johnny!" I
said, "How did you know my name?" She said, " Amber told me!"
And we flew through the terminal and I just made the flight
as they closed the door!
That was
the great news! The bad news is I didn't get to
take any pictures of the cool airport except for the
awesome all
glass jet
bridge
from the airplane.
Our two-hour plus flight to Denver went by smooth and I ate a well deserved meal .
MEDIA ALERT!
READER AIR-eMAIL
Next Week:
Boise
WHAT'S NEW IN
JOHNNY JET
Travel Celebrity Q&A:
With Travel
Writer: Clara Bosonetto
GOOD TO KNOW!
From my friend Luis:
On Monday Sept. 10th, 2001, I was booked on a 7:45pm flight
from JFK to Rochester, NY. There was a severe thunderstorm
that evening which caused
our flight to be delayed
for a few hours. We finally took off around 11:30pm
and got in close to 2am.
Early the next morning,
Tuesday Sept. 11, we began the first day of a three-day
conference. Around 10am, one of our co-workers walked
into the room and told us that the Twin Towers and the Pentagon
had been attacked. As most people were when they first heard
about these terrible events, we were all in disbelief, and immediately
went to our rooms to call our loved ones. At the
time, I was living in Connecticut in a house overlooking Long Island
Sound. On clear days you could see the Twin Towers in the distance.
When I phoned my wife, she was on the second floor watching the
live broadcasts of the attacks. She was also watching the
rising smoke across the Sound through our window. As I spoke
with her, I felt a frightful, breaking tone in her voice; a tone
of disbelief colliding with reality. It
was very strange because
as I hung up, I wasn't sure how I was going to get home.
We re-grouped in the conference
room, divided all attendees into groups of 4 and
rented cars so that we could drive back to Stamford, CT
(about 45 min outside of NYC), where our offices were located.
There were also attendees from other countries (Brazil, India,
Mexico, etc) who were stuck in Rochester and could do nothing
but wait.
I drove one of the cars
back and made phone calls on the way of people I knew
that either lived in NYC or worked there. I was able
to contact everyone except for one of my closest friends,
Cesar Murillo, who had just begun working in one of the Towers.
It was a long and peculiar 8-hour drive back. The highway
was empty; the only vehicles that passed us were either military
trucks or Verizon telecommunication vans/trucks. As we
neared the NYC metro area eerie signs began to pop-up that read
"New York City is Closed".
I grew up outside of New
York City, and often went to the city to walk around,
to hang out, or just to look at the tall buildings. Growing
up, Cesar and I would often drive in just for the heck of it.
I also went to school in Manhattan and felt very comfortable in the
City. I lived in the village during college and used to
love to rollerblade down at the World Trade Center. The day
of the bombing in 1993, I had been rollerblading there just hours
before.
When I got home from the
long drive that night, I called my friend again, but
got his answering machine. There was a message from
his wife that said that they were over at Rhonda's. It
was so comforting to hear that they were OK that a heavy load was
lifted from my shoulders and, although I was eager to speak with
him to hear his comments, it was late and I decided to call him
at Rhonda's the next morning. I called the next morning and
Alyson, Cesar's wife answered. The news was not good: Cesar was
still missing. I then spoke with his sister and later his mother,
but no one had heard from him. I felt a strange sort of helpless
optimism that day; I hoped, wished and sometimes thought he was alive
somewhere, but was frightened to death that he might not have made
it.
For the following two
days I sat in front of the TV, motionless and emotionless.
No sign of Cesar. I couldn't smile nor could I cry.
I couldn't concentrate nor could I rest. What bothered
me most was that I was unable to feel any joy whatsoever;
I couldn't even smile when I looked at or held my 7-month
old daughter, which tore me up even more. Finally that
Friday evening I felt as if something illuminated my thoughts.
I decided that I had to go to Manhattan to see for myself.
The next day I packed a lunch, made a bunch of posters with Cesar's
picture on it and took an early morning train into the City.
So many times before had I made the same trek
into Manhattan, it was
almost second nature. So many times had I wanted
to go into the City. But that morning I wished I could
turn the clock back to one of those days when Cesar and I
would go in just to goof around. I didn't want to go in
feeling such emptiness and such sadness - but I had to go.
I spent all day walking
around NYC. I watched worn out firefighters and
volunteers go in and out of Ground Zero. I saw the tired
faces of those who had been working day-in and day-out.
I saw the teary eyes of those still searching for hope.
I saw streets of worn souls, shattered dreams and lost loves.
I saw the rubble still in flames, crushed cars, abandoned shops
and dusty streets. I watched people put up pictures at the
armory and I talked with counselors at the Cantor Fitzgerald Center
(where Cesar had worked). I also saw people coming together
to mourn and to help, to sing and to cry, to walk and to search.
And I saw people coming to see something no one had ever imagined
they'd see, and something no one ever wants to see again. I took
pictures, I grabbed a fistful of debris and I made my way back home.
That evening, I told my wife all about the things I saw. I was
able to cry. And I was finally able to look at my daughter and
smile again.
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