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Yes, this IS work!  Random shots taken yesterday. I found a way to download them from my camera.

And this creature startled me when it crawled over my boots. It is an iguana, and lives here. It made me jump such that I almost fell into the ocean! LOL!

Life is short: love what you do, and admire hard work of many who make good things happen and protect and serve others.

I arrived safely at my destination with three flights, the last one being in a very small plane landing at a very small airstrip on the southern far western coast of an island called La Isla del Encanto — the enchanted island, the most populated U.S. island in the Atlantic.  Figure out where I am?

And man, is it ever enchanted here.  I love the people and the energy they bring to life.  The primary language is Spanish, spoken with great gusto and rapidity.  While I understand the language, it takes me a couple days to jump back in by re-tuning my ear. 

Despite a snowfall that greeted me yesterday morning (brought on by the witch doctor conjuring of a biker buddy who lives in New Hampshire), it was not too bad.  I left an hour earlier than I usually would to drive to the airport.  I am glad that I did, as traffic was light but very slow.  I made all of my airline connections, and lots of “local friendlies” helped me every step of the way.  That included picking me up at the final destination airport because everyone in the world knows that I get lost so easily.  Woo-hoo, I do not have to drive!

Today as you read this post, my firefighter boots will be planted on sands of beaches where some exercises (not physical, but tactical) are taking place and that I am officially observing.

I brought my camera, but forgot the cord to connect it to the computer, so my posts from this location will be sin fotografías.

I was taken to dinner by some colleagues at a casual restaurant.  They even accommodated my crazy “earlybird” lifestyle by eating very early — at 6pm.  Their usual dinnertime is about 9pm.  While I remembered to say, “sin tomates y cebollas” (without tomatoes and onions), I forgot how to say “sin ketchup.”  I thought catsup/ketchup was some other word in Spanish.  I forgot to tell them to leave it off. Unfortunately, I cannot eat that, either, without setting off my chronic illness.  Oh well, I scraped off as much of it as I could.  That was the worst of the experience … and if that is the worst, than it really has not been a bad trip at all.  🙂

I love my job.  I love what I do.  I am a happy man in boots — but I have to tell ‘ya, no leather.  It is 85°F (29°C) and humid — too warm for leather.  But not for the warm smiles greeting me everywhere.

Life is short: love the energy in all parts of your country, and the people and the places and what brings you to these places!

I was musing with my friend Bamaboy as we were discussing… um… well, it’s personal, but let’s say that it has to do with how bodily functions shut down after abdominal surgery.  Been there… done that.  Painkillers cause constipation, and when your body begins to return to function, … let’s just say that a lot of gas is involved.  It ain’t pretty.  Might even cause the terror-finders to bring back that silly color code system again.  🙂

I explained to him that after I had gone to Puerto Rico after several hurricanes, doing disaster relief work, there was not much food available on the island because the resources had been depleted.  All that we could find was rice, beans, and tostones (plantains).

I tell ‘ya, while millions of people enjoy that kind of food, it doesn’t work for me.  My body reacts to it so violently that … well … I developed enough “natural gas” that I could have flown home from those assignments without an airplane.

Thank goodness my next visit there next week will not be for relief work.  I hope to be able to find foods that do not collide with my chronic health condition.  Fish would be nice.  You’d think an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other would have lots of fresh fish.  Well, they do, but mostly for the touristas.  Thank goodness I will have understanding local hosts who will help me, so when it comes time to return, I will sit in an airplane and not be self-propelled.  LOL!

Life is short:  love your work, your travel, and the wonders of the world.

One thing that impressed me tremendously about my recent visit to Seattle was how incredibly courteous the drivers in the area were. I drove a lot while I was there, going from town to town up and down I-5 for various meetings. People everywhere were great about letting you in when traffic was heavy. They always used turn signals. They didn’t speed. They didn’t talk on cell phones or text while driving. Man, we have a lot to learn from them in the area where I live. DC drivers are the pits when it comes to courteousness while driving.

Following are some photos that my friend Dave took while we did a bit of touring on Sunday. We took a ferry to one of the Puget Sound islands, had lunch, and a great visit. What a genuinely nice guy. I appreciated having the chance to visit and spend some time touring such a scenic area.

Life is short: make the most of your work and travel!

I mentioned in a recent blog post that my experience as someone who has flown hundreds of thousands of miles all over the world in my past life has been dusted off, tested, and re-engaged in my current life.

Yesterday, I was scheduled to fly from Baltimore to Seattle via Philadelphia. I checked the flight status before I left home, and it said everything was on time. I was dubious about that, because we were having some very bad weather with high winds and driving rain. I know from past experience that it is common for flights to be delayed or canceled when a squirrel sneezes in our area, so I didn’t think what I was reading on-line was correct.

I decided to get to the airport extra early, and I am glad I did. When I got there, an agent for my airline looked at my pre-printed boarding pass, and told me that she thought my flight to Philly had been delayed. She checked, and found that as it was showing at the time, I “possibly” could make my connection. But she and I both knew that the regional jets this airline uses to fly from Baltimore to Philly are more likely to be affected by bad weather than their larger brothers. If I waited until the departure time for my flight and found out the flight was canceled, then I couldn’t make the only connection from Philly to Seattle leaving later in the day. In other words, I would not get there on the date I planned. And because the problem was due to weather, the airline had no obligation to pay for anything. I’d just have to go home and try again the next day, and miss my first meeting of my new job — setting the stage for a bad impression.

So I began asking some questions. Here are some tips you can employ if this happens to you, and some questions that I asked the airline agent.

1. Will you look at what rebooking options are available?

While airlines have no obligation to rebook a passenger if a connection shows on their computer at the time they check that the flights will go, an agent can rebook you on the day of the flight if there is a good assumption that the departing flight may not actually go when scheduled. This is what happened to me — the helpful, friendly agent tapped away at the computer and gave me an option. This option would result in my arriving in Seattle two hours later than I was originally scheduled to arrive. When the agent gave me that option, instead of just rolling over and saying, “okay,” I asked again.

2. Are there additional options available also? (and gave her a big, broad smile, while thanking her for checking again.)

Usually, most airlines have multiple options, and they try to offer you the option on which they will not lose money (as fares are different), or on which they have more seats.

In my case, a second option was available (going through Charlotte-CLT), and resulted in my predicted arrival in Seattle a minute earlier than my original flight. I smiled and said, “thanks a lot! I’ll take it!”

The agent tapped away at the computer again, and checked my bag. She printed new boarding passes and gave them to me. I looked at the seat assignments. The seating on the flight from BWI to CLT was toward the back of the plane, but an aisle. Certainly better than a middle. That was fine, as I realized that I was being rebooked and I was getting what was available last-minute.

However, on the longer flight from CLT to Seattle, I was assigned a middle seat in the back of the plane. I didn’t like that, so I smiled again, and said,

3. Hmmm… the connecting flight’s seating assignment isn’t all that good. On my original flight, I was in 6F, up front on a window. I have been a loyal customer of [airline] for a long, long time. Look at my frequent flyer number and my record — you’ll see over 25 years of flying with you. I would appreciate it if you would consider my long-term airline loyalty and see if there is anything you can do about my seating assignment.

The agent could have refused and said, “that’s the best I can do,” or (this happens often), “you can change it at the gate.” But instead, she got on the phone and called someone. I don’t know who she called, but the result was my getting my original seating assignment back: 6F. Oh goodie, I can snooze and not be interrupted by people crawling over me to go to the bathroom.

I thanked the agent very much for her time and going to the trouble that she did to accommodate me. She really didn’t have to do it. But by being pleasant, smiling a lot, and by being complimentary without being fake-sweet, the agent was willing to work with me to make my flight better than it could have been.

Will this happen all the time? No. The airline just may not have the options or seating availability, or some agents can be stinkers. Fortunately, I was traveling on a Tuesday which isn’t as busy as other days of the week. I think I was able to get this accommodation because I was early in making such a request. I imagine that others in my predicament arriving at the airport after me may not get the same results.

Anyway, I made it to Seattle (a little late), got the rental car as reserved, and even found the hotel where this message was posted to appear today. I’m exhausted and tired, but that’s no different from before. It’s always harder for me to travel from east to west.

PS: A comment about all the stuff we’ve been hearing about the new security scanners at the airport: IMHO: much ado about nothing. This was the first time I went through it. It was simple and quick. The only difference is that in addition to removing boots and all the junk you carry in your pockets, you also have to remove your belt — and run all that stuff through the x-ray (no different from before). The new scanner was fast and painless, and contrary to some of the ding-dongs who have been posting horror stories, your naked image is not broadcast on a TV screen for all to see.

Life is short: be pleasant, persistent, smile a lot, and remember to say, “thank you!”

I’m in Philadelphia today, fulfilling a commitment to facilitate a meeting for a non-profit group.  I made this commitment before I accepted my new job, and negotiated an agreement to let me fulfill this obligation.

I took the train to Philly from DC.  While our train service in the U.S. is generally abysmal, especially compared with train service in Europe (or even the Ghan in Australia), let’s say, “it’s serviceable” for such a rather short distance (about 120 miles/193km).  I probably could have driven here for less money than the cost of rail fare, but when you add up the exorbitant cost for parking in the city, plus wear-and-tear on my nerves (I hate to drive on interstate highways), then using the train is the best choice, especially since I’m not in a hurry.

I will come home tonight, then leave for Seattle tomorrow.  I tell ‘ya, reminders of my years of on-the-go travel with back-to-back trips doing multiple tasks are returning quickly!  The skills I learned as a seasoned “travel warrior” have been dusted off and re-engaged.

I still dislike traveling though, for three reasons:

1. It’s a huge hassle with all the security crap and the nickle-and-diming that airlines do.  It’s just no fun any more.

2. I hate to be away from home.  I miss my partner and miss important things to me that happen while I’m gone: my nephew’s school play, seeing a concert that my partner had gotten tickets to see months ago, and a visit in DC by someone who is very close to me, but who lives in Los Angeles.

3. With my strange diet due to a chronic health condition, I always have struggles with finding foods that don’t set off … um… “challenges.”  Change in the water, etc., do not set well with me.  Plus, I’m generally not the kind of guy who likes to eat out.  I much prefer to prepare my own meals and eat at home.  

Oh well, the bright side is that I’ll get to see several colleagues who I have known for years and renew working relationships, and make new contacts too that will help with my new job.

Life is short:  be where you need to be and get the job done!