We were planning a big surprise party for Genny's 50th birthday. Our friend Marla Bronstein was helping organize the event under the guise of an Oscar (Academy Awards) party. But Genny figured that something was up and asked that we not do a big party.
So we ended up with a modest cake and just family.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
David Does Hawaii
We left Bellingham on Saturday, February 17, just after noon. The first legs of our trip were a bit silly. We flew on Horizon Air, our twin-engine prop service, from Bellingham to Seattle. That's pretty normal. But then, in order to get to LAX, we continued on Horizon Air from Seattle to Medford, Oregon and then on to LA. But hey, what do you want for free. We're on our way to Hawaii using frequent flier points.
Only one problem. When we went to check in for our flight in Bellingham, the gate agent was having trouble getting our bags checked all the way through to Honolulu. In her attempts to correct the problem, she inadvertently cancelled our American Airlines flight to Hawaii. When we got to LAX, we no longer had tickets, and the flight was completely booked (and there were standby passengers). Genny gave the gate agent a box of chocolates and she was finally able to get us seats. Unfortunately, we were no longer seated together. But at least we got on the plane.
The flight was uneventful. But we didn't arrive until midnight local time (2 am Bellingham time). By the time we got our bags, found the shuttle, and got to our hotel, it was 1:30am.
Bruce met us on Sunday morning for breakfast. No, this is not his vehicle. But I couldn't resist.
He took us to a Chinese New Years party at one of the other officer's homes. They had hired a dragon dance team to entertain. We had a great time. It was fun to meet some of the other people Bruce flies with. His commanding officer was even there.
I've even got some video of the party to share with you.
I think you can probably tell we had a good time.
After the party, we drove back into Honolulu and went to China Town. But the place was pretty much closed down for the day.
Monday morning, we walked down the beach toward Diamond Head and went to the Honolulu Aquarium. It's a small aquarium, but they have a wonderful display of local reef fish.
Bruce met us for lunch afterwards and then Bruce, Emma, Clarice, and I all took surfing lessons. We all did pretty well, but Emma proved to be the absolute champion of the group. Unfortunately, the photographer who usually works at the surf shop took Monday afternoon off, since it was President's Day, so we have no photos of our group surfing. You'll just have to take my word for it that I actually did stand up several times (actually, I was able to stand up and ride a wave on my very first try...with a little helpful push from the instructor). It was both easier and harder than I ever imagined: easier in that it's actually not to hard to stand on the board and ride a gentle wave; harder in that the paddling was absolutely exhausting. My back hurt by the end of our two-hour class and my knees were bruised from the board.
After a hard day surfing, we all headed out for dinner.
Tuesday, Bruce had to work, so we spent the day on our own. We had a leisurely breakfast. My girls are definitely getting into tropical beverages.
After breakfast, we went to the Honolulu Zoo, which turned out to be a wonderful zoo, one of the best we've ever been to. The giraffes were fantastic, but the high point of the zoo was definitely the komodo dragon.
After lunch, Emma was back to the surf shop for her second day of surfing lessons. The waves were breaking much differently than the day before, and the rides were much shorter. But the photographer was there and since I wasn't surfing (I'm still recovering from yesterday), I shot video from the beach. I'll edit the video and post some segments once we get home.
Once the day's surfing was completed, we had just enough time to get cleaned off and then head back to the beach to watch the sun set, which definitely ranks as a ritual. Genny thinks our sunsets in Bellingham are more beautiful, but the one today here in Hawaii was pretty spectacular.
Then it was time to head back up the beach in search of dinner. Of course, before we could get there, Genny, Emma, and Clarice did some shopping, with Emma buying a pair of shoes (what is it with women and shoes?). Even Clarice wonders about all the shoes already lining Emma's closet back home.
All in all, it's been a pretty spectacular three days so far.
Tomorrow we're off to swim with the dolphins.
Only one problem. When we went to check in for our flight in Bellingham, the gate agent was having trouble getting our bags checked all the way through to Honolulu. In her attempts to correct the problem, she inadvertently cancelled our American Airlines flight to Hawaii. When we got to LAX, we no longer had tickets, and the flight was completely booked (and there were standby passengers). Genny gave the gate agent a box of chocolates and she was finally able to get us seats. Unfortunately, we were no longer seated together. But at least we got on the plane.
The flight was uneventful. But we didn't arrive until midnight local time (2 am Bellingham time). By the time we got our bags, found the shuttle, and got to our hotel, it was 1:30am.
Bruce met us on Sunday morning for breakfast. No, this is not his vehicle. But I couldn't resist.
He took us to a Chinese New Years party at one of the other officer's homes. They had hired a dragon dance team to entertain. We had a great time. It was fun to meet some of the other people Bruce flies with. His commanding officer was even there.
I've even got some video of the party to share with you.
I think you can probably tell we had a good time.
After the party, we drove back into Honolulu and went to China Town. But the place was pretty much closed down for the day.
Monday morning, we walked down the beach toward Diamond Head and went to the Honolulu Aquarium. It's a small aquarium, but they have a wonderful display of local reef fish.
Bruce met us for lunch afterwards and then Bruce, Emma, Clarice, and I all took surfing lessons. We all did pretty well, but Emma proved to be the absolute champion of the group. Unfortunately, the photographer who usually works at the surf shop took Monday afternoon off, since it was President's Day, so we have no photos of our group surfing. You'll just have to take my word for it that I actually did stand up several times (actually, I was able to stand up and ride a wave on my very first try...with a little helpful push from the instructor). It was both easier and harder than I ever imagined: easier in that it's actually not to hard to stand on the board and ride a gentle wave; harder in that the paddling was absolutely exhausting. My back hurt by the end of our two-hour class and my knees were bruised from the board.
After a hard day surfing, we all headed out for dinner.
Tuesday, Bruce had to work, so we spent the day on our own. We had a leisurely breakfast. My girls are definitely getting into tropical beverages.
After breakfast, we went to the Honolulu Zoo, which turned out to be a wonderful zoo, one of the best we've ever been to. The giraffes were fantastic, but the high point of the zoo was definitely the komodo dragon.
After lunch, Emma was back to the surf shop for her second day of surfing lessons. The waves were breaking much differently than the day before, and the rides were much shorter. But the photographer was there and since I wasn't surfing (I'm still recovering from yesterday), I shot video from the beach. I'll edit the video and post some segments once we get home.
Once the day's surfing was completed, we had just enough time to get cleaned off and then head back to the beach to watch the sun set, which definitely ranks as a ritual. Genny thinks our sunsets in Bellingham are more beautiful, but the one today here in Hawaii was pretty spectacular.
Then it was time to head back up the beach in search of dinner. Of course, before we could get there, Genny, Emma, and Clarice did some shopping, with Emma buying a pair of shoes (what is it with women and shoes?). Even Clarice wonders about all the shoes already lining Emma's closet back home.
All in all, it's been a pretty spectacular three days so far.
Tomorrow we're off to swim with the dolphins.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Autodesk Tells All - Day Two
The second day of Autodesk's "World Press Day" delivered on the promise to unveil the latest features of the next releases of the company's software. Some of those announcements have undoubtedly already found their way onto the web. I'm a bit late reporting in due to a tight travel schedule and a solid schedule of appointments upon my return (a good indication that there are lots more announcements pending from other companies in the weeks to come).
Autodesk personnel spent much of the day going over the new features of the company's vertical market products, leaving the discussion of core AutoCAD 2008 enhancements until the final hour. I'll cover the basics here across the entire product line and then delve into the AutoCAD 2008 specifics separately.
One welcome piece of information is Autodesk's renaming of several of its products. For example, in the Building Solutions Division—oops, that division's name has also changed, to AEC—there has been considerable confusion over the version numbering of the various Revit products. Revit Building is currently up to version 9.1, while Revit Structure is at version 4 and Revit Systems is currently at version 2. At least, I think that's right (and I'm paid to keep up with this). And then there are the AutoCAD-based vertical applications, Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Building Systems.
So I'm quite happy with the fact that the next release will standardize both version numbering and product names. On the AutoCAD-based side of the house, Autodesk has standardized on using the AutoCAD name as part of the product name. So the next release or Autodesk Architectural Desktop (ADT) will become AutoCAD Architecture 2008 and the next release of Autodesk Building Systems will become AutoCAD MEP 2008 (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing). Both products are being more carefully aimed at helping customers streamline their current job flow focused on 2D construction documentation, whereas the Revit products are focused on three-dimensional building information modeling.
Speaking of which, on the Revit side of the house, the name and product version numbering changes are even more striking. Instead of Revit Building, the next release of the architectural flavor of Revit will be called Revit Architecture 2008. Revit Structure retains its name, but changes the version numbering scheme so it will be known as Revit Structure 2008. And Revit Systems gets both a name and version numbering change: Revit MEP 2008. The table below summaries these changes:
I'll look at the features in Autodesk's AEC products in more detail in a separate posting.
Other news of the day included:
Andrew Anagnost talk about new features in Inventor 12.
Autodesk personnel spent much of the day going over the new features of the company's vertical market products, leaving the discussion of core AutoCAD 2008 enhancements until the final hour. I'll cover the basics here across the entire product line and then delve into the AutoCAD 2008 specifics separately.
One welcome piece of information is Autodesk's renaming of several of its products. For example, in the Building Solutions Division—oops, that division's name has also changed, to AEC—there has been considerable confusion over the version numbering of the various Revit products. Revit Building is currently up to version 9.1, while Revit Structure is at version 4 and Revit Systems is currently at version 2. At least, I think that's right (and I'm paid to keep up with this). And then there are the AutoCAD-based vertical applications, Architectural Desktop and Autodesk Building Systems.
So I'm quite happy with the fact that the next release will standardize both version numbering and product names. On the AutoCAD-based side of the house, Autodesk has standardized on using the AutoCAD name as part of the product name. So the next release or Autodesk Architectural Desktop (ADT) will become AutoCAD Architecture 2008 and the next release of Autodesk Building Systems will become AutoCAD MEP 2008 (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing). Both products are being more carefully aimed at helping customers streamline their current job flow focused on 2D construction documentation, whereas the Revit products are focused on three-dimensional building information modeling.
Speaking of which, on the Revit side of the house, the name and product version numbering changes are even more striking. Instead of Revit Building, the next release of the architectural flavor of Revit will be called Revit Architecture 2008. Revit Structure retains its name, but changes the version numbering scheme so it will be known as Revit Structure 2008. And Revit Systems gets both a name and version numbering change: Revit MEP 2008. The table below summaries these changes:
| Current name | New name | |
| AutoCAD 2007 | AutoCAD 2008 | |
| Architectural Desktop 2007 | AutoCAD Architecture 2008 | |
| Building Systems 2007 | AutoCAD MEP 2008 | |
| Revit Building 9.1 | Revit Architecture 2008 | |
| Revit Structure 4 | Revit Structure 2008 | |
| Revit Systems 2 | Revit MEP 2008 |
I'll look at the features in Autodesk's AEC products in more detail in a separate posting.
Other news of the day included:
- A more official roll-out of AutoCAD P&ID 2007 (the software was actually announced on January 9, 2007, but no one seemed to notice). There will of course be a new version—AutoCAD P&ID 2008—and Autodesk is also working on a 3D product to be called AutoCAD 3D Plant.
- Autodesk Design Review, the company's software for online collaborating through the viewing and marking up of DWF files is no longer $199 but rather is available free as a download from the Autodesk website. Now that it's free, I wonder if I should continue to include it in my AUGI CAD Camp repertoire.
- Autodesk Impression, a new product for producing illustrations that has been previewed at many recent AUGI CAD Camp events was formally released. I've been very impressed by its capabilities, but with a MSRP of $495, I think it may be priced too high to be widely adopted by the architects that would otherwise be its most likely users. Only time will tell.
Of course, I still watch the MCAD side of Autodesk's business, and had a one-on-one meeting with Andrew Anagnost on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the next release of Autodesk Inventor. Inventor 12 has more than 400 new features and functions, which Autodesk says are in direct response to user requests. The most notable enhancements are:
Andrew Anagnost talk about new features in Inventor 12.
- Enhanced interoperability with DWG TrueConnect enabling DWG exchange with Inventor, faster and more robust IGES translation, DirectConnect for JT, and enhanced interoperability with Autodesk's recently acquired Alias Studio software
- Improved simulation and analysis thanks to automatic translation of assembly constraints into joints, multiple time step analysis, and thin wall stress analysis.
- Improvements in cable and harness design with support for ribbon cables, automatic connector placement on nailboards, and connector authoring with configurable pin patterns.
- Improved drawing productivity with dimension and cross hatching for isometric views, cross hatch rendering by material type, and improved standards and compliance (particularly for China and Russia)
- Lots of sheet metal enhancements
Yes, I do feel like I was drinking out of a firehose. And as many of you know, I don't just rely on information disseminated via meetings and press releases. I do hands-on hardware and software reviews. So expect to see me loading all of this software and trying it out first-hand as quickly as Autodesk can ship it to me.
Stay tuned.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Not Quite All, But More Tomorrow
So, here we are in San Francisco for the first of day of Autodesk's World Press Day. (Shouldn't that be "World Press Days," since it's actually two days?)
Autodesk issued several press releases today, talking about how the company announced new releases of its software. Well...no, they didn't. Today was focused primarily on presentations from Autodesk CEO Carl Bass and the vice presidents of Autodesk's various vertical market divisions. The announcements will mostly come tomorrow (Tuesday), when the event turns toward individual vertical market breakout sessions.
There was a lot said, and a lot of excellent presentations, both by Autodesk personnel and by three exemplary customers: Palumbo Motorcar Company, designers and manufacturers of a new hybrid sports car; Infinity Ward Inc., makers of the popular Call of Duty video games; and Patrick MacLeary, CEO of HOK, one of world's the leading architectural firms.
The biggest news today was actually an admission of an announcement that was quietly made several days ago. Autodesk's Design Review software, which I have been speaking about at Autodesk University and AUGI CAD Camp events, no longer costs $199 but rather is now a free product.
Tomorrow, Autodesk will publicly show new features in AutoCAD 2008, vertical market products such as Inventor 12 and Revit 10, and formally announce Autodesk Impression (including, one would hope, a price). But today was mostly a 30,000-foot view of Autodesk and its markets.
I've got lots to distill from today's presentations, and it will likely take me several days to sort through all of my notes and thoughts from today's presentations. But during the question and answer period at the end of the day, Brad Holtz (my former employer at EAReport and CADCAMNet) posed a question to Carl Bass regarding what Brad perceived as the difference between Autodesk's apparent rejection of PLM on the mechanical solutions side of the house versus its embracing of building information modeling (BLM) on the architect, engineering and construction side. Brad apparently felt that the two were somewhat synonymous. But based on Carl's response (which is quoted below and in my opinion is the quote of the day), the two are very different:
"Design needs to be informed by more things in order to make better decisions. The sooner in the process you understand that thing, the better off you are," said Mr. Bass. "What's my anti-PLM rap? There are only three customers in the world today that ever had a PLM problem. One of them is Dassault, one is PTC, and one is UGS; all competitors. There is no company that I know that wakes up and says, 'I have a PLM problem.' PLM is an artifact, it's a marketing slogan to satisfy a financial community." According to Bass, Autodesk talks about democratizing. "Think about between that and what's involved in some of these implementations that take years; they take tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. I always laugh at a PLM implementation that costs $20 million and now they can do engineering change orders online. So not only don't I see companies that need PLM, that don't have PLM problems, the number of successful implementations that I've seen in the world I can count on a single hand...Nobody wakes up and says, 'This is a great system. This is what makes us more competitive. This what makes it fun to go to work. This is what gives us design innovation. This is what gives us competitive advantage.' The moment I starting seeing companies like that, I'm going to rethink it. Until then, I say I think there are much more pragmatic approaches—much more digestible approaches—that solve the problem of how do you inform design and engineering early in the process."
Autodesk Tells All Today?
Today I travel to San Francisco for what Autodesk has billed as its "World Press Day." The promise is that today the company will unveil all of its new software, including (one would guess) AutoCAD 2008.
Unlike in years past, this time there appear to be no non-disclosures required. So later today, I expect to be able to start writing about (and hopefully trying out) the next release of AutoCAD.
Stay tuned.
I actually flew down to San Francisco yesterday so that I could spend some time with my daughter Andrea and son-in-law Josh. They live over in Berkeley. Although I get to the Bay Area frequently, this is the first time I have had a chance to get over to the East Bay to visit them.
Unlike in years past, this time there appear to be no non-disclosures required. So later today, I expect to be able to start writing about (and hopefully trying out) the next release of AutoCAD.
Stay tuned.
I actually flew down to San Francisco yesterday so that I could spend some time with my daughter Andrea and son-in-law Josh. They live over in Berkeley. Although I get to the Bay Area frequently, this is the first time I have had a chance to get over to the East Bay to visit them.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Why Do All My Clothes Have Logos On Them?
It's Not Just a Job...It's a Wardrobe
I bought some new pants the other day and wore them at the last AUGI CAD Camp event of the year in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, the black dye in the pants was not completely set and rubbed off onto everything they touched, including my nice white AUGI CAD Camp shirt and the new Lance Armstrong "Livestrong" bracelet that Jeff Rowe had just given me after I had lost the last one. (The bracelet is now sort of green...you know, what you get when you mix yellow and blue).
I washed the shirt in a strong detergent when I got home, but to no avail. The shirt is most definitely no longer white and never will be again. I also tried soaking the bracelet in dishwasher detergent, but the color change appears permanent. Which of course made me wonder why the dye would come off the pants so readily yet refuse to leave any of the items it deposited itself onto.
But what really got me wondering was when I went to get a clean shirt to wear to a social event and found only a scant few that didn't have some sort of logo on them. Out of dozens of nice clean dress shirts, only a handful were suitable choices. The others all had some sort of logo. I'm not talking about Ralph Lauren polo ponies or Izod alligators. I'm talking computer software and hardware company logos. How did my wardrobe come to this?
The question, of course, is rhetorical. I know full well how this happened. For the past 20-plus years, I've worked in the computer industry in one regard or another—as editor of a computer magazine, as president and CEO of a software company, as an independent consultant, and now as an applications engineer for a software reseller. Many of the shirts in question represent companies I've worked for or worked with; countless others tokens of appreciation given by companies with which I've consulted or covered over the years.
There's even a whole subcategory of speaker shirts from 14 years of Autodesk University.
And that's just the dress shirts. There are plenty of other casual golf shirts, not to mention stacks of T-shirts. In fact, the T-shirt collection has been purged repeatedly over the years, yet still includes quantities I'm too embarrassed to mention.
Of course, I do have my favorites, such as the old teal and blue Autodesk CAD Camp windbreaker, this from the "old" CAD Camp, the Autodesk dealer/third-party developer conference that used to be held every summer in San Rafael, California. When the weather turns colder, I often wear the Red Deer fleece jacket, particularly since although bearing a logo, it's a pretty obscure reference. "Red Deer" was the code name for AutoCAD 2004 before it was released. Autodesk presented these jackets to the press at a preview press conference. This jacket always elicits the question, "Why is the deer blue?" since the deer is embroidered in Autodesk's corporate color. And anyone who knows my love of auto racing will immediately understand why I like the SolidWorks fleece vest with the Skip Barber Racing School logo. Another favorite is the leather SolidWorks jacket given to press at a SolidWorks event several years ago. It's definitely the classiest piece of logo-wear I've ever received, but I have to be a bit more careful about when I wear it. It wouldn't be right to show up for an event wearing a competitor's logo.
The same rule must necessarily be applied to many of the other useful industry gifts, such as briefcases, computer bags, and leather notebooks. Although one time I did bring a competitor's briefcase with me on a corporate visit. Company A had flown me in for a week-long event, but since Company B was located nearby and knew I was coming to town, they asked me to come by for a 3-hour meeting while I was in town. But Company B made no offer to reimburse me for my travel from downtown to their suburban office, so I thought it only fair that I show up bearing a bag emblazoned with Company A's logo. To this day, I have no idea if my point was made, or even if this minor slight was noticed, but I felt somehow vindicated.
Most of the items are the kinds of things you'd expect—shirts, hats, bags, and so on. But I've also received socks, sun glasses, a pair of beach shoes, night shirts, fleece blankets, and even a pair of sweat pants. Anyone remember when HP bought Apollo Computer?
I've lost count of all the logo-wear and other logo merchandise I've received over the years. I guess I never really thought about it all until recently. Nor am I complaining. I don't mind having a closet full of shirts with corporate logos on them. And when the T-shirt pile gets too big, I just donate some to Goodwill. There are plenty of homeless people out there wearing computer industry emblems.
I guess I'll just have to go shopping to buy a few new shirts without logos to wear on those occasions when wearing some company's logo is just not appropriate. And I'll try to make sure that the dyes are all colorfast. But it's actually kind of cool, and I really DO appreciate it when a company gives me something that I'll actually use even after their event is over.
And if nothing else, looking back over this small selection of logo-wear reminds me of one of the reasons I still love what I do. It's not just a job...it's a wardrobe.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Houston...We Have A Problem
(I swore that once I got around to starting a blog, I'd make this my first posting. So, even though this happened more than nine months ago, it has to be told.)
I have a new motto: “Happiness is Houston in my rearview mirror.”
To say that my trip to Houston this week was eventful would be an understatement. I mean, first there was the kidnapping and then there was the fire onboard the airplane. And well, what else can you say?
Okay, it wasn’t a kidnapping…exactly. But how would you feel if you were basically held captive in a shuttle van by a crazed 250-pound black woman for more than two hours?
It all started when I tried to save some money on my ground transportation from Houston Airport to my hotel. Instead of a $45 cap ride, I opted for a $20 airport shuttle van. My only mistake was in my choice of shuttle service. The woman who sold me my ticket was nice enough, but the driver turned out to be a deranged person of color who had absolutely no idea how to reach ANY of the major hotels in Houston.
Okay, that’s actually an exaggeration. She DID manage to find the Hilton attached to the Houston Convention Center, at which she dropped the first (and only other) male passenger on the van, approximately 30 minutes after leaving the airport. The fact that it was immediately adjacent to the convention center, the baseball stadium, and the basketball arena in downtown Houston may have helped. But from that point on, she didn’t have a clue.
Without going into vast detail, suffice it to say that for the next two hours, she appeared to be driving aimlessly around Houston, mostly through neighborhoods in which I would not have felt safe even in broad daylight. But it was now quite dark. She stopped once in one of these neighborhoods and pulled into a liquor store parking lot so that she could call her dispatcher to get directions to one of the hotels. After getting that information, she again set off in search of one of the passenger’s hotels, but after driving through downtown Houston for the second time, again crossed under the loop highway and off into an area that obviously was not where one would find a Marriott or Sheraton. It was at this point that I took it upon myself to ask (in a loud voice since I was in the last row of this large shuttle van) whether in fact she had any idea where ANY of our hotels was actually located.
That was obviously NOT the right thing to do. She proceeded to shout at us as she continued driving through Houston. She again called her dispatcher, this time while in motion, and appeared to again get directions to one of our hotels. But again, after more than 30 minutes, still could not locate any hotel. At this point, I demanded that she let us know what she intended to do. This only made her more irate. But she finally did something that at least gave us all our opening. She pulled into a Shell station in what appeared to be a decent neighborhood. As soon as the van stopped, I climbed over the seat, opened the door, and helped my five fellow captives (all women) to the pavement, went around to the back of the van, and quickly unloaded our luggage. We then all called cabs. It turned out that the Shell station was less than two miles from my hotel.
The rest of my time in Houston went well. But apparently unique Houston experience was not yet over.
This morning, as my Continental Airlines flight was taxing out for takeoff, the pilot in the plane behind us noticed what he believed was fuel leaking from the starboard (right) wing of the plane. It turns out that there really was a problem.
We realized that something was wrong when the pilot pulled the plane off to the side of the taxiway and turned off the engines. As you can see, I was obviously seated in the exit row, directly over the affected wing and adjacent to the engine in question. Within a few minutes, the fire trucks started to arrive.
And then the FAA inspectors. And then the airport authorities.
The initial inspection showed that nothing was wrong. But when the pilot restarted the engines and ran them up to speed, something was obviously wrong.
He immediately shut things down. They eventually towed us back to the terminal, and after a substantial wait while maintenance went over the plane and the airline deliberated over what to do, they unloaded us and eventually put us onto another plane.
I finally got back to Seattle around 4pm, about four hours later than scheduled, and a total of nine hours after departing Houston.
I have no intention of going back to Houston any time soon.
This event originally occurred on March 10, 2006
I have a new motto: “Happiness is Houston in my rearview mirror.”
To say that my trip to Houston this week was eventful would be an understatement. I mean, first there was the kidnapping and then there was the fire onboard the airplane. And well, what else can you say?
Okay, it wasn’t a kidnapping…exactly. But how would you feel if you were basically held captive in a shuttle van by a crazed 250-pound black woman for more than two hours?
It all started when I tried to save some money on my ground transportation from Houston Airport to my hotel. Instead of a $45 cap ride, I opted for a $20 airport shuttle van. My only mistake was in my choice of shuttle service. The woman who sold me my ticket was nice enough, but the driver turned out to be a deranged person of color who had absolutely no idea how to reach ANY of the major hotels in Houston.
Okay, that’s actually an exaggeration. She DID manage to find the Hilton attached to the Houston Convention Center, at which she dropped the first (and only other) male passenger on the van, approximately 30 minutes after leaving the airport. The fact that it was immediately adjacent to the convention center, the baseball stadium, and the basketball arena in downtown Houston may have helped. But from that point on, she didn’t have a clue.
Without going into vast detail, suffice it to say that for the next two hours, she appeared to be driving aimlessly around Houston, mostly through neighborhoods in which I would not have felt safe even in broad daylight. But it was now quite dark. She stopped once in one of these neighborhoods and pulled into a liquor store parking lot so that she could call her dispatcher to get directions to one of the hotels. After getting that information, she again set off in search of one of the passenger’s hotels, but after driving through downtown Houston for the second time, again crossed under the loop highway and off into an area that obviously was not where one would find a Marriott or Sheraton. It was at this point that I took it upon myself to ask (in a loud voice since I was in the last row of this large shuttle van) whether in fact she had any idea where ANY of our hotels was actually located.
That was obviously NOT the right thing to do. She proceeded to shout at us as she continued driving through Houston. She again called her dispatcher, this time while in motion, and appeared to again get directions to one of our hotels. But again, after more than 30 minutes, still could not locate any hotel. At this point, I demanded that she let us know what she intended to do. This only made her more irate. But she finally did something that at least gave us all our opening. She pulled into a Shell station in what appeared to be a decent neighborhood. As soon as the van stopped, I climbed over the seat, opened the door, and helped my five fellow captives (all women) to the pavement, went around to the back of the van, and quickly unloaded our luggage. We then all called cabs. It turned out that the Shell station was less than two miles from my hotel.
The rest of my time in Houston went well. But apparently unique Houston experience was not yet over.
This morning, as my Continental Airlines flight was taxing out for takeoff, the pilot in the plane behind us noticed what he believed was fuel leaking from the starboard (right) wing of the plane. It turns out that there really was a problem.
We realized that something was wrong when the pilot pulled the plane off to the side of the taxiway and turned off the engines. As you can see, I was obviously seated in the exit row, directly over the affected wing and adjacent to the engine in question. Within a few minutes, the fire trucks started to arrive. And then the FAA inspectors. And then the airport authorities.The initial inspection showed that nothing was wrong. But when the pilot restarted the engines and ran them up to speed, something was obviously wrong.He immediately shut things down. They eventually towed us back to the terminal, and after a substantial wait while maintenance went over the plane and the airline deliberated over what to do, they unloaded us and eventually put us onto another plane.I finally got back to Seattle around 4pm, about four hours later than scheduled, and a total of nine hours after departing Houston.
I have no intention of going back to Houston any time soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
