REFLECTION IN LOS CABOS

As we taxied into Los Cabos (SJD), Mexico, on my last trip, I saw a neat reflection of our plane and took this photo after we had parked. The airport authority always has 15-20 ground staff waiting to meet the plane and usually they are all standing in a row, perfectly spaced, and ready to go to work. Too bad they don't meet our planes in the USA like that...... Seems we're lucky if someone shows up 10 minutes after we arrive on the ramp...... ;-)

THESE CHIPS ARE NOW PERSONA NON GRATA IN MY HOUSE

To all my friends who read my blog, I'm sad to report that my WONDERFUL sister has been let go by her employer, a major chip/snack food manufacturer in the USA . As of this writing, ALL products from this pathetic company are banned from my house. Their sports drinks will never see our mouths again. Her work was going very well for the first four years until she was put under a new boss. One of the snakes in her office threw her under the bus to her new boss and was relentless until Margaret was gone. Many coworkers above her couldn't believe what was happening but felt helpless to help her. She had to sign documents to prevent her from going after this company or any of its employees over a month ago. She was also told to "not tell ANYONE" what was going on. All I can say is that what goes around comes around. Please help me in boycotting this company and their products. I'm sure you can figure out who they are.

BEAUTIFUL LOS CABOS

Just got back from five days of flying........and head back out again tomorrow after only a day and a half of rest and recovery time. Ended up in Toronto (YYZ..........25 degrees (-3 Celsius)...........brrrrr!), Los Cabos, Mexico (SJD)...........85 degrees (30 Celsius), and Cancun (CUN)......84 degrees (29 Celsius). Was a nice trip, but long. Here's a couple of photos of the hotel we stayed at. Absolutely gorgeous, but WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for my tastes. $25 for a basic hamburger, and $18 for a SMALL cheese pizza. Dieting would be easy for me here.....LOL I guess I'd make a horrible "rich person". Was pretty neat to watch the whales in the distance though. But, all in all, ...........I still prefer St Maarten (SXM)!

FLYING INTO SEATTLE

Last week I got to fly from Newark (EWR), to Seattle (SEA). Clouds covered the ground for almost 90% of our flight, which was a relatively short 4 hours and 53 minutes (normally around 5:50 or so). As we were about to start our descent into Seattle, the snow-covered mountains came into view. It was a spectacular view as always. As beautiful as the view is, I STILL would rather live in the warm climate of southern Florida. Now, off to work for a few days.

LONG, SKINNY, and DISAPPEARING

Continental is one of the few airlines in the world flying the long, skinny, Boeing B757-300 series aircraft. Slowly we are adding winglets to them to make them more fuel efficient. This plane is so long, that when you're riding in the back and looking up front, whenever you hit a little bit of turbulence, you can actually see the tube bouncing up and down. It certainly gets your attention the first time you see it. The engineers that designed this plane must have been quite good at computing stress points since this plane MUST have a lot of them. A few months ago Continental had the first and ONLY B-757-300 with winglets in the world. Pretty neat, eh?

COMMUTING VIEW

Every now and then, I get to observe a spectacular sunrise/sunset that I have the opportunity of photographing. Here's one of those shots. I took this picture about three weeks ago during a commute from Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) to Newark, NJ (EWR). Although the shot would have been much better from the cockpit, it just goes to show that shots from the passenger window turn out too.

HARD TO SEE IN SXM

During one of my site seeing adventures in St Maarten (SXM), I came across this little fellow staring me down. You have to admit, his camouflage is incredible, and he didn't move an inch for five minutes. Had I put any of the other shots I took of this little critter on here, you'd have been searching for a bit, but I decided to make it easy for you all!!! I think it's neat how nature puts so many things out there for us to see, yet many of us continually walk right past them.

SXM........HOW LOW CAN THEY GO????

Well, I got to go to my most favorite place in the world (my future retirement home!! ;-) ) St. Maarten (SXM), and had a great time as usual. I'm amazed at how low some of these pilots drag their planes in over the beach in order to give the spectators a thrill. This guy was REAL low........... and fast too. Not quite sure how many times he's done this, but every day he does the same thing, and he seems to be pushing the safety envelope with each and every approach. Hopefully he doesn't ruin the "view" for everyone by clipping a fence one day. Supposedly that's already been done by a B747, and they rebuilt the fence to keep spectators a bit further from the runway. In any case, it's the neatest place in the world to watch airplanes and I can't wait to retire there one day.......! Come on retirement!!!!

MEET BRUTUS!!

The other day we had a cookout at our new home and had a few friends over. My girlfriend's sons coach, Chris, brought his teacup chihuahua for the fun and games. This little guy had a blast. He seemed to be in love with my collection of stuffed animals (Steiff's), and was jumping up and down and carrying on like they were real. This little guys name is Brutus, and boy is he a cute one! At ten months old and a whopping three pounds, Chris and Jimmy (Maria's son), have already taught him to stay, sit, and roll over. His favorite food? Carrots! Go figure. Can't get the humans to eat them, but dogs seem to love them. Here's to you Brutus!!!

WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD MILAGRO!!!

Maria's aunt Milagro (her dad's sister), came to visit us in Hollywood last night. We had a great time and wonderful dinner with her. Maria was able to catch up on all the latest news in Spain. Thanks for the visit aunt Milagro! We hope you enjoyed your stay!

SNOW EVERYWHERE

While flying from Eagle to Newark (EGE-EWR) a couple of days ago, it amazed me at just how much of our nation is covered with snow. From when we left until we arrived in Newark four hours later, we saw nothing but white. Here's a shot from 39,000 feet showing the view we experienced for our entire flight. How can their not be two snowflakes exactly alike??? :-)

FLYING WITH SCOTT

Well, finally back home for three days before I head out again. Got a call from the training department a couple of days ago and they decided I needed to get qualified to fly to Eagle (EGE), Colorado......otherwise known to the rich and famous crowd as "Vail". I'd flown to Vail back in 1989 with my best friend Pat Mooney, when I worked for US Customs. We flew some "VIP support" in the Blackhawk helicopter for the Department of US Treasury. Anyway, I got the pleasure of flying my qualification ride with a guy I'd known back in 1983, in the US Air Force while stationed at Sembach, Germany, Scott Butcher (he's the one in the photo with just a little less hair than me....LOL). This was the first time we've ever flown together, but it's neat to know that after 27 years you can fly with someone you knew from a "previous life". Scott is a stand up guy, AF Academy graduate, F-16 pilot, and one of best check airmen at our airline. He's always one to help whenever help is needed. He has such a great personality and is so well liked by the station agents that they let him use their car, and set up anything he wants to do like skiing, sightseeing, etc. before he arrives. They even know his schedule of when he's arriving so they can all get together. Pretty neat! We all got together for a "sightseeing" trip in the Vail area, and then went out for a nice Italian dinner, and Scott bought dinner for everyone. Here's a couple of shots of my trip: arrival reflection, Scott and I, view from my hotel room, and Ada, Carol, the EGE station agents with Scott, and I. Thanks for a great trip Scott, it was a pleasure flying with you!

AHHHHHH......ST MAARTEN!

Well, heading up to Newark in a few minutes, so I decided to post one last shot before I commute up to the land of the cold...... Here's a shot I took in St Maarten (SXM), which is my most favorite place in the world by the way (except for being home in Hollywood of course..LOL ). For some reason, I never seem to get tired of that place. Nice weather, wonderful people, great beaches, and of course, the best airplane spotting in the world. What more could a person ask for????

YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD FOR THE BEACH!!!

Last week when I went to the beach for some relief from the cold up north, I was surprised to see an "invasion" of "more mature" folks. I'd never seen so many fully clothed folks pour onto the beach at one time. :-) For a minute, I thought their was a BINGO game that I didn't know about going on. I have to say, it really caught my attention.......almost like passengers filing off a bus. It just goes to show you that you're never too old to go enjoy the beach!!!

THE DAY AFTER

Well, I finally got home for a day before I have to head out AGAIN................ Work has been hectic lately with the snowstorms and all affecting any and all plans that I try to make, but hey, at least I have a job, right? :-) Anyway, I got stuck in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (BQN), for the last few days due to the snowstorm in the northeast. (At least it was warm, but rainy). When we finally got released to fly back to Newark (EWR), this is what greeted us. It was almost as if the northeast just got a dusting. I was surprised at how clean the roads and highways were. That being said, I think the "passenger bill of rights" has backfired on the passengers. Airlines are now canceling flights well prior to any weather event to stave off massive fines that would be levied due to delays for something NOT in their control......WEATHER. Can't say I blame the airlines though. Our capitol hill representatives need to stick with something they know best (whatever that may be.....?????), and leave the airlines alone. The snow was beautiful though, but it sure can mess airlines up and create some major transportation headaches. Glad to see everything is returning to normal. Now.......back to work...LOL