Jun 172013
 

I’ve frequently heard people complain about Ryanair’s in-flight advertising. For those of you who have not flown the ultra-affordable European carrier, the interior of Ryanair’s planes are covered in advertisements. The back of the seats have an ad, the luggage bins have an ad, and during the trip flight attendants will walk up and down the aisle offering items from catalogs and lottery tickets.

Delta is significantly more expensive to fly than Ryanair, and it does not bill itself as a “discount” airline. In the past few months, I’ve seen a disturbing trend towards more intrusive advertising. Delta, to their credit, has introduced personal video screens. They allow you to view any number of movies and videos for free. However, during takeoff, Delta has decided to show a few minutes of advertising. You can’t shut off the video, and the sound is broadcast throughout the cabin at a high volume. You are trapped in your seats, as the videos are shown before you are allowed to walk around the cabin. It is, in fact, the most intrusive advertising I’ve been subjected to recently.

I love flying–it’s still incredible to me that I can quickly and easily go around the world. But it’s junk like this that makes me frustrated and not want to fly on Delta. I hope they discontinue the mandatory advertisements soon.

 Posted by at 6:02 pm
Oct 082009
 

A couple of weeks ago I went to San Francisco for vacation. I posted a few photos from my cell phone, but I also took my hefty, large camera. Well, not so hefty and not so large, but small enough to fit in my pocket.

We start out our vacation by walking over to Fisherman’s Wharf. Sea lions are all around the wharf, but a ton of them congregate at Pier 39. They are a lot of fun to watch, but they smell quite bad.
Pier 39
Pier 39

You can see Alcatraz from Fisherman’s Wharf. We saw neither Sean Connery nor Nicholas Cage.
Alcatraz

After seeing the Sea Lions, my friend Patti and I walked up a long staircase to Coit Tower. Patti held the tower up.
Coit Tower

We were visiting San Francisco to see my friends Barbara and Raj get married. It was a fun wedding in Monterey, California. Congratulations Barbara and Raj!
Barbara and Raj

[More photos to come later….]

 Posted by at 1:27 am
Oct 072009
 

Earlier this summer I went up to Rhode Island for a weekend.

My friend Patti drove us up to Charlestown, Rhode Island. She was coming from Pennsylvania, and we met for lunch in Beacon, NY at a restaurant called Homespun Foods. We ate a few sandwiches and picked up some food for later.
Beacon

There had been a couple of large storms a few days earlier, and the normally calm shores had waves of well over six feet.
Sea Rhode Island
Ocean

The shorebirds and gulls didn’t seem to mind. Whenever a large swell hit the tidal pools they dashed away.
Shorebird
Shorebird
Shorebird
Seagull
Shorebird

The snails also seemed very happy.
Snails

Seaweed makes a great wig.
Me

Bee

Charlestown has a large briny bay with fish and cormorants.
Cormorant Island
Salt Lake

 Posted by at 8:00 am
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