On 3/19/14, 11:48 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:30:16 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:

"Screw up there, and we'll send you out to the South Dakota bureau."

If that was Rapid City, you could do a lot worse. The Black Hills
country is beautiful.



I don't remember where the AP bureau in South Dakota was back then, but,
obviously, the boss didn't consider it a rewarding posting.

For a reporter, West Virginia was great. I got to cover a couple of
really huge disasters, some important air pollution hearings, bigtime
politics, a national golf tournament (a giggle, because I knew and know
nuttin' about golf...but I did get to interview Sam Snead and his TV
weathergirl girlfriend) at the Greenbrier, and appear regularly on a
local version of Meet the Press, have a minor role in an Underground
Movie, and become close friends with an actual Hatfield and his wife, a
former Republican governor, and a large number of really interesting
characters. I had an employer-paid membership at a downtown dining and
drinking establishment called the Elephant Walk. I recently learned a
version of it reopened after being gone for decades...

http://tinyurl.com/pdyfm4c


--
Rand Paul & Ted Cruz…your 2016 GOP nominees, because ‘Mericans deserve
crazy!

On 3/19/14, 12:32 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 19 Mar 2014 12:08:14 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 3/19/14, 11:32 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 19:44:42 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:



Even a long, slow boat ride down the ICW is better than a long, slow
drive down I-95. The beauty of the view from 35,000 feet is that within
the United States, it doesn't last very long. It's a six hour flight to
Jackson Hole. How long is the drive? 40-60 hours? Of course, if one
is "retired," time has little meaning.


I am retired and I still like to fly.
The difference I we like to fly up front.

If I'm paying and I can't get the exit row seats, I'll upgrade from
steerage to first class on a long flight, as in...to the left coast or
Europe or beyond. Being in a seat with no legroom only bothers me after
about three hours.

It's only the seat that I see as an advantage to first class. The
first-class food is just a bit pokey to me. I'd rather buy a decent
sandwich and snacks in the airport and carry it aboard.

There are other advantages
Baggage is a big one. When we are planning to live on the road for 2
or 3 weeks, we pack pretty heavy. It is usually 4-5 pieces. That gets
pretty expensive in coach but in 1st class you get 3 each for free.
Food and drinks is marginal to good depending on airline and flight.
Northwest used to have pretty good food but it went down hill fast
when Delta bought them.
I do like the fact that they take better care of you. You get
expedited boarding, you get off the plane first, an express line at
TSA and a separate line at check in/baggage check and better service
on the plane. When things go wrong, they treat you better. When we
were "sleepless in Seattle" (broken plane on the way to Alaska), we
got a suite at a nice hotel, the coach people did not do as well. I
think they are also looser with compensation miles. I got 35,000 for
all of the delays on our trip to Oregon last year and it was just
weather, that they usually chalk up to out of their control.
I doubt the coach people got anything.


Those definitely are tangible benefits. I can pretty much handle any
client assignments I get from just about anywhere, but my wife cannot,
so two weeks is pretty much the upper limit on a trip for us, and I like
to keep the luggage to one big wheeled suitcase for me, and one big
wheeled suitcase for her, plus another suitcase that gets stowed, and
carry on bags.

The only positive change I have seen in airport security is that we
didn't have to remove our shoes or belts, and I was able to leave my
laptop in its bag. We try to start and end vacations on the weekends,
when there is less business travel and the airport traffic seems a
little lighter.

National Airport up here seems well organized. I was not that impressed
with "Ft. Lauderdale International," though it is more convenient to
where we stayed than Miami International.

I love the cultural mix of SE Florida. I was able to speak Spanish for
parts of every day, and overheard a lot of other languages, including
Portuguese, which I hadn't heard since leaving the northeast. Almost all
the service personnel we encountered were Spanish-speaking, and they
appreciated my wife's good skills in Spanish and my stumbling through it
skills. It's always amazing to me how quickly Spanish is spoken by those
for whom it is a first language.



--
Rand Paul & Ted Cruz…your 2016 GOP nominees, because ‘Mericans deserve
crazy!

On 3/19/2014 12:08 PM, F*O*A*D wrote:
The first time we flew to Hawaii was about a year before 9-11 and plane
security was lax. I spent most of the flight in the back of the plane,
standing up, *having a few drinks* and laughing it up with a bunch of guys
and the crew. Alas, the fun days of flying are long gone, and never to
return.


A few drinks? Your yearly quota?

wrote:
On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 19:44:42 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:



Even a long, slow boat ride down the ICW is better than a long, slow
drive down I-95. The beauty of the view from 35,000 feet is that within
the United States, it doesn't last very long. It's a six hour flight to
Jackson Hole. How long is the drive? 40-60 hours? Of course, if one
is "retired," time has little meaning.


I am retired and I still like to fly.
The difference I we like to fly up front.

The strange thing is, going some places, it is not even that
expensive.
I just bought tickets for Montana (3 months out) and the difference
between coach and 1st class was less than $300 if you booked a coach
seat and then took the upgrade option. Our baggage fees would have
eaten that up. I am not even sure why Delta does that. If you just
booked 1st class to start out it was almost $700 more.
Maybe it is just because we are booking early and those upgrades are
limited.

There also seems to be a heluva deal on renta cars at Hertz if you
book and pay in advance. $555 for 2 weeks in a high end SUV.
That was better than anyone else by at least $100 (Costco, AAA, IBM
discount etc)

Renting a house in Montana is another thing altogether. They are
damned proud of those houses ($400 a day and up so far)
We may end up burning some of my wife's credit card points at hotels.
She has a ****load

As you say depends where you fly. We looked at business class to Tahiti,
NZ, and Australia. Was $7000-$10,000 more than the $4000 we paid, cattle
car. When I traveled in the 1980's to Asia and Oz for business, was about
50% more for business on Pan Am, not the 400-500% now.

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 3/19/2014 9:57 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 3/19/14, 9:16 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 3/19/2014 8:18 AM, Poco Loco wrote:


One of the most enjoyable trips I have taken was driving to Denver, CO
via Rt. 90. I did so on a whim in the Ford F-350 diesel towing a car
trailer to pick up a 1955 Ford F-100 pickup that a guy had for sale.
Like many, I had flown back and forth over this part of the country many
times while working and making trips to the West coast but this was the
first time I could actually see what states like Iowa, Nebraska and
Colorado actually looked like at ground level.

Nebraska was strangely beautiful to me. I like being by myself and the
trip across that state certainly makes you feel alone and away from
everything. The only concern I had was fuel stops. There aren't many,
so you have to make sure you fuel up when you can. The one fuel stop I
found reminded me of an old, western stage stop or something. Friendly
people but I have no clue how they survived or made a living out there.

On the return trip I took Rt.80 east. I stopped at the World's Biggest
Truck Stop in Iowa. Interesting place. It has everything you can
imagine including huge shopping areas, doctors, dentists and damn good
food!

I spent some years attending college and working in that part of the
country and saw all I really wanted to see of Kansas, Missouri,
Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, the Dakotas, et cetera. On one assignment,
I spent a month on the road with a photographer writing and researching
a magazine story on small town rail stations that had been abandoned or
repurposed. We made a special effort to avoid "chain" restaurants and
motels. It was interesting. I liked the old M-K-T stations the best.

I spent a college Thanksgiving holiday at a buddy's farm in rural South
Dakota. Talk about cultural shock...sheesh.

I don't like driving long distances. These days, when I visit long-time
buddies in the New Haven area, I take Amtrak and rent a car when I get
there, and New Haven isn't that far of a drive, maybe 300 miles, a six
hour drive if you don't get nailed in the NYC area. It's four and a half
hours on the Acela, maybe an hour longer on the slower train.


Again, different strokes for different folks. Some people enjoy driving
and having the options to stop and see things they would otherwise just blow by.

It took us 13 days to make make the trip south on the boat to Florida. I
could have made it in 6 .. even 5 if we pushed it. We didn't want to
push it. We stopped and explored many interesting ports and places along
the way and had a hell of a good time doing so.
That was enjoyable to me.

We have a slide in pop up camper for the truck. Makes it nice to go to
remote lakes with the boat, and also for longer trips, not worry about
lodging during the trip. We tow up to Vancouver Island every couple years.
Stay in the camper part of the time and B&B part of the time. Long ways
driving to Canada, about 1000 miles to the border, so a couple days, and we
are there. Visit friends and relatives on the way. I do not mind driving.
We just returned from a trip the Tahiti, NZ, and Oz. Drove from
Queenstown to Auckand in 3.5 weeks. So lots of driving, but not much some
days. Beat the hell out of a bus tour.

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 3/19/2014 9:54 AM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article ,
says...


One of the most enjoyable trips I have taken was driving to Denver, CO
via Rt. 90. I did so on a whim in the Ford F-350 diesel towing a car
trailer to pick up a 1955 Ford F-100 pickup that a guy had for sale.
Like many, I had flown back and forth over this part of the country many
times while working and making trips to the West coast but this was the
first time I could actually see what states like Iowa, Nebraska and
Colorado actually looked like at ground level.

Nebraska was strangely beautiful to me. I like being by myself and the
trip across that state certainly makes you feel alone and away from
everything. The only concern I had was fuel stops. There aren't many,
so you have to make sure you fuel up when you can. The one fuel stop I
found reminded me of an old, western stage stop or something. Friendly
people but I have no clue how they survived or made a living out there.

On the return trip I took Rt.80 east. I stopped at the World's Biggest
Truck Stop in Iowa. Interesting place. It has everything you can
imagine including huge shopping areas, doctors, dentists and damn good food!

90 doesn't hit Nebraska. South Dakota.
Whatever road you took, you're right about Nebraska. It has some of the
least populated counties in the U.S.
It's surreal driving through the sand hills.
Makes you wonder. I forget about what.


You're right. It was Rt.80 once I got to Illinois. (back a few years)

Nebraska is flat until the sand hills. The wagon trains could see Scott's
Bluff for weeks before they got there. Sparsely populated as the farming
is not that good, until they brought in irrigation sprayers. My parents
are from that area. Mom grew up 1.5 miles from the Wyoming border. Still
not much there. Closest town was Henry, and is still only about 3 blocks
big.

On Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:28:48 -0500, Califbill wrote:

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 3/19/2014 9:57 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 3/19/14, 9:16 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 3/19/2014 8:18 AM, Poco Loco wrote:


One of the most enjoyable trips I have taken was driving to Denver, CO
via Rt. 90. I did so on a whim in the Ford F-350 diesel towing a car
trailer to pick up a 1955 Ford F-100 pickup that a guy had for sale.
Like many, I had flown back and forth over this part of the country many
times while working and making trips to the West coast but this was the
first time I could actually see what states like Iowa, Nebraska and
Colorado actually looked like at ground level.

Nebraska was strangely beautiful to me. I like being by myself and the
trip across that state certainly makes you feel alone and away from
everything. The only concern I had was fuel stops. There aren't many,
so you have to make sure you fuel up when you can. The one fuel stop I
found reminded me of an old, western stage stop or something. Friendly
people but I have no clue how they survived or made a living out there.

On the return trip I took Rt.80 east. I stopped at the World's Biggest
Truck Stop in Iowa. Interesting place. It has everything you can
imagine including huge shopping areas, doctors, dentists and damn good
food!

I spent some years attending college and working in that part of the
country and saw all I really wanted to see of Kansas, Missouri,
Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, the Dakotas, et cetera. On one assignment,
I spent a month on the road with a photographer writing and researching
a magazine story on small town rail stations that had been abandoned or
repurposed. We made a special effort to avoid "chain" restaurants and
motels. It was interesting. I liked the old M-K-T stations the best.

I spent a college Thanksgiving holiday at a buddy's farm in rural South
Dakota. Talk about cultural shock...sheesh.

I don't like driving long distances. These days, when I visit long-time
buddies in the New Haven area, I take Amtrak and rent a car when I get
there, and New Haven isn't that far of a drive, maybe 300 miles, a six
hour drive if you don't get nailed in the NYC area. It's four and a half
hours on the Acela, maybe an hour longer on the slower train.


Again, different strokes for different folks. Some people enjoy driving
and having the options to stop and see things they would otherwise just blow by.

It took us 13 days to make make the trip south on the boat to Florida. I
could have made it in 6 .. even 5 if we pushed it. We didn't want to
push it. We stopped and explored many interesting ports and places along
the way and had a hell of a good time doing so.
That was enjoyable to me.

We have a slide in pop up camper for the truck. Makes it nice to go to
remote lakes with the boat, and also for longer trips, not worry about
lodging during the trip. We tow up to Vancouver Island every couple years.
Stay in the camper part of the time and B&B part of the time. Long ways
driving to Canada, about 1000 miles to the border, so a couple days, and we
are there. Visit friends and relatives on the way. I do not mind driving.
We just returned from a trip the Tahiti, NZ, and Oz. Drove from
Queenstown to Auckand in 3.5 weeks. So lots of driving, but not much some
days. Beat the hell out of a bus tour.

I enjoy driving. If I could drive to Holland, I'd do it. I hate flying. We're going to check into
upgrading to whatever class has some leg room. If it's only a few hundred, I may go for it. I'm not
putting out another $700 though.

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 3/17/2014 9:25 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Mon, 17 Mar 2014 09:17:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


... and my thoughts are increasingly becoming:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/img005.jpg?t=1395062020


Nice of you to say so. I woke up to four more inches of snow on the
ground. Now I'm wishing they
made snow skis for my new RC airplane.

I'll have to admit I wouldn't mind going fishing with those guys and
catching whatever the fish was
in the next picture. Tuna?



Yup, that was the tuna we got on our first tuna fishing expedition on
the Egg Harbor. I had been warned by others, including some of the
local charter captains that it could take a couple of seasons of
trying to even hook up with a tuna.

We left the dock at about 6am that morning and hooked that one by 8am.
Lucky fishing boat.


Yellowfin? It's hard to tell.

F*O*A*D wrote:
On 3/18/14, 7:35 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:25:13 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:

On 3/18/14, 6:04 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 3/18/2014 5:40 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 17:03:16 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"

wrote:

On 3/18/2014 3:25 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 15:18:37 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d
wrote:

On 3/18/2014 1:36 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:15:14 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d

wrote:

On 3/18/2014 12:55 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 17 Mar 2014 21:49:28 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2014 17:21:20 -0500, Boating All Out
wrote:

If I had the money to spend I'd design a light trawler
capable
of 15
mpg.

===

There's no such animal. Even small sailboats do not get that
kind of
fuel economy under most conditions.

I get around 8-9 MPG at hull speed in my boat.

I get around 8 or 9 mpg in my yacht.

===

How long do your tires last?


Don't know. They look new.

I'm going to have to bite the bullet and spend the bucks for some
tires for the Silverado. About
settled on Michelin LTX MS/2. WalMart's got 'em for $216, plus $12
mounting/balancing/etc. That's
$28/tire less than Costco - which also charges $15/tire for
mounting/balancing.


You need tires already? How many miles do you have on that beast?
My truck just turned 22,000 miles. Had it since 2008. Tires are
still
like new, pretty much. I think they'll rot before they wear.


It's got 57,001 miles on it right now - most of those pulling that
trailer. These tires are probably
good for another 4-5K, but if we decide to take that trailer out to
Yellowstone, which is in our
thoughts, I wouldn't try it with this set.



We tried the RV thing for a while. Just never got into it. The first
TV and major trip was in a 36 or 37 foot Pace Arrow Class A motorhome.
JiminFl should remember that one well. I bought it brand new and we
were on our way to Florida, climbing some hills on Rt 84 in Virginia
somewhere.

All of a sudden I felt and heard an explosion but everything seemed
fine. I stopped for gas and was checking to see what the noise came
from. Discovered I must have caught a rock or something between the
tires on one rear side. (It had duals on the back). Whatever I hit
ripped a hole in the side wall of the inner tire and it was flat. It
was in a pretty remote area with nothing but hills and farms around.
Finally found a truck repair place and pulled in. Nice people but
they
had to special order a new tire so we camped in their parking lot for
the night while they sent a guy to who knew where to pick up the tire.

That was the first of several bad experiences with that piece of junk.
Lost the brakes on it and had to be towed with a giant tow truck.
I also discovered that the rubber fuel line for the generator was
chaffing against a frame section that had been cut with a torch by the
manufacturer of the RV and left rough and ragged. (They cut the frame
to add an extension).

Got rid of it fast.



On our recent trip to south Florida, we flew for about $225 each round
trip, got the Exit Row seats, and got there in two hours and twenty
minutes. Rented a car for the week for $198. Stayed in a four/five star
hotel right on the beach for about $200 a night. Airfare, car rental
and
hotel for under $1800. I spent $20 to fill the car with gas when
turning
it in.

Big, comfy RV, towed by a diesel truck...hmmm...about 1200 miles each
way, total of 2400 miles getting there and back. 10-12 mpg, let's say
12. 200 gallons of diesel @4.00 a gallon. And that doesn't include wear
and tear on your tow vehicle and trailer... $800+ for fuel. And all
the wonderful sights along I-95. Blech.

It's a 15 to 20 hour drive in a car. Been there, done that. So, a full
day each way, and then you have to sleep for half a day when you get
there or back. Three days lost in travel and aftermath of travel.

Food on the road, three meals a day, at least $50 a day per person. Say
$125 for food on the road.

Six nights in a first-class beachfront RV park. That I don't know...but
there were no such RV parks where we were. $75 a night? $500?

And you really truly have to enjoy driving and driving and driving. I
*hate* that.

Yellowstone is about 2200 miles from here. Twice as far as
Hollywood-Ft.
Lauderdale. Oi!

Different strokes, of course. But... Oi!


And you brag about your 'twin-dieseled, Volvo powered trawler. What a
joke.

I won't counter your silly argument. Not worth it. You like the view
from 35,000 feet. I don't.



Even a long, slow boat ride down the ICW is better than a long, slow
drive down I-95. The beauty of the view from 35,000 feet is that
within the United States, it doesn't last very long. It's a six hour
flight to Jackson Hole. How long is the drive? 40-60 hours? Of
course, if one is "retired," time has little meaning.

Oh, and I hardly "brag" about boats, cars, motorcycles, et cetera. I
barely mention them.


Sure. You can't keep track of your lies.