Trip Reports - Trip Report: A Tale of Cats and Dogs

<Part 1>

The dog days of summer

I spent a wonderfully productive week in Manhattan, happily interspersed with FlyerTalk get-togethers comprised of friends both old and new. Throughout the week, the weather in NY was oppressively humid, meandering through the streets was more like swimming than walking. I stayed at the Hilton on 6th and 53rd but when I checked in on Monday, they did not have the king bed-equipped room that I had requested when I made my reservation. I was finally able to relocate on Wednesday. I much prefer a room comprised of a king and a desk rather than two full sized beds.

When I was wandering the web one afternoon, I discovered that Hilton was offering weekend rooms on the executive floor (effective Friday) for rates similar to what I was paying for my "regular" room. So I booked a room on their website and then called Hilton to tell them I would be vacating my current room one day early. On Friday morning, I checked out electronically and then called the front desk to find out whether my Towers room was available now. Upon hearing an affirmative answer, I popped up the 44th floor but it turned out only smoking kings were available. So I grabbed some breakfast, checked my bag downstairs and went to work.

Once I returned to the hotel later that afternoon, I retrieved my checked bag and then returned to the executive lounge upstairs to check in. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a suite! It was a corner unit on the 42nd floor that included a huge bedroom with a high ceiling, a large living room, a kitchenette and two closets (one walk in). It was also well adorned with ash trays arrayed in every corner and crevice. Ironically, after postponing my check-in earlier that morning, they wound up giving me a smoking room anyway! But it was a SUITE and I opted to stay put. Besides, although the outside hallway seemed quite stinky, the air in the suite wasn't too bad.

Dinner with the cat

As a pleasant wrap-up to my week in NY, I hooked up with Catman at the W Hotel on Friday night. I joined him with QuietLion, HunnyBear, Jeffrey and Theresa for drinks and showed off my pepper mill collection and some of the cool toys presented to me by the Embassy Suites downtown when I checked in using the Family Fun Pack promotion. Our group then split up to go our separate ways, QuietLion and company to a show and dinner, Catman and I to Sparks. I had never been to Sparks before but the food was great, the space comfortable and airy and the service friendly and non-intrusive. We started off with a platter covered with big slices of gravlax (one of my favorite foods). I told Catman that I'll try to get hold of some fresh caught Columbia river Chinook and import it into NY the next time I am back in town. I have a super gravlax recipe and have often couriered lox in the past. I wonder whether this is why the RCC concierges are so nice to me at JFK (actually its because they really ARE nice). Well I guess Rudi has his chocolates and I have my lox.

We followed up our appetizer with some hefty chunks of beef. Catman ordered the Steak fromage and I ordered a thick chunk of very rare sirloin, entirely encrusted with crushed whole peppercorns. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif It was wonderful. The meal was accompanied by an Oregon Pinot Noir, the selection of which we left up to the waiter. Catman, who do you think the person was with the crown? I was so sorry that I didn't bring mine http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

We then waded through the humid NY air and arrived back at the W Hotel, whose lobby was hopping as usual. Rather than fight the crowds at the bar, we went up to Catman's room, where we sat and talked and drank the King Estate Pinot that I had brought with me from PDX. Naturally, some of our discussion drifted towards pets and I told Catman how I was adopted by my cat Ursula while on a fishing trip in Maine, about my pet raccoon Felix (whose favorite foods were raisinettes) and about the two squirrels who often show up together in my apartment, Gimpy and Itchy.

Before we knew it, it was already 1:30ish and I needed to get back to the Hilton to try to catch some sleep and get my act together for the following day's travails, I mean travels. After another very long walk through the thick night air, I arrived back at the Hilton and into my lovely corner suite on the 42nd floor.

On Saturday morning, I organized myself for travelling and then grabbed some breakfast and a copy of the NY Times. At about 10:35, as I was leaving the 44th floor lounge after settling the bill, I bumped into Catman who had come up to see me off. I loaned him my room key so that he could grab a nosh in the lounge, returned to my room to grab my junk and then wandered outside to await my 10:45 pickup from Carmel car service. By 10:55, no car materialized so Catman watched my bags while I asked the concierge to call CARMEL and request that they get their act together. By 11:00 a car finally did show up and we were on our way. Why is it so difficult to get a car service to show up on time?

Before we clambered on board I made sure the driver understood that I was paying by credit card and then coaxed him to close the windows and turn on the A/C. Once we left Manhattan, traffic was pretty horrendous but the driver seemed to know what he was doing and even managed to avoid the tolls. The Van Wyck itself was a breeze and we pulled into the front of terminal 7 at about 11:40. There were very few people in the terminal and the security people looked very bored so they chose me for a random bag check. As they swabbed the outside of my computer bag, I asked them if they could take some lint off my jacket and Catman asked whether they could remove some cat hair. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

A couple of minutes later, we arrived at the RCC and I proceeded to check in. I knew one of the concierges (who was on the phone) but I had never met the other concierges, Donna. She kindly and politely explained that I was in the wrong club; i.e. I should really be at terminal 6. No, I informed her, I have been coming here for many years and this is my home. As I checked in, I asked her to issue a temporary RCC card for me; mine had just expired and the renewal form had not showed up until 10 days ago. We then made small talk as Catman spoke on his cell phone MUCH TOO LOUDLY http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

It was now about noon and I took Catman on a tour of my little fortress of solitude. And there we sat for the next two hours, sipping our drinks, nibbling cheese, telling stories and toasting new friendships. We sat in our own private club, cocooned in an environment both peaceful and serene. I felt bad for Catman that no Sam Adams was available so he had to make do with gin. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif In any case, it was a low peak time on a very low peak travel day and not a single intruder materialized to interrupt our private domain. I bet Catman now understands why I enjoy travelling out of JFK.

At 2:00, I collected myself together and we wandered over to gate 11 to await the van to terminal 6. I chatted for a few minutes with the gate agent there who I have known for many years. As he finished his shift, the van pulled up and Catman and I trotted down the steps and onto the vehicle. A couple of minutes later, we arrived at the terminal and we strode up the stairs and over to gate 3, where boarding into the awaiting 767-300 was about to commence. Catman and I bid each other our heartfelt farewells and I boarded my flight.

<Part 2>

I Hope You Like Dogs

Saturday, 09/02/00, UA Flight 7, JFK->SFO, 2:45->5:40 Seat 8F

As I was in the process of settling into seat 8F and rearranging myself, my prospective seatmate showed up and said, "I hope you like dogs". I turned around and there was an elderly women with her pampered pet pooch. I said that generally I do like dogs, having grown up with one for 17 years and am OK with it is as long as he is QUIET! However, I helpfully explained that the flight attendants might give her a hard time because the dog (plus associated apparatus) was about as long as 1.5 seat widths and flight attendants sometimes give ME a hard time with my teenchy little carryon. Besides, I didn't want to step on him.

"Well, I guess I'll just move to an empty row," she replied. I responded by saying that every time I have been on this flight, the business cabin was always full (turns out I was wrong) but if she wished to move, it would be polite to wait until everyone else had boarded. "Well, I'll just move to first class!," she harrumphed. I sarcastically told her that they might not let her into employee class, where they typically frown on customers in the front cabin.

About a minute later, TWO UA agents showed up by our seats and told the woman that they would not allow the dog to travel in that manner. He would have to be confined in a carrier which would probably not fit under the seat at all. Although the dog was not exactly Taco-bell sized; he was not a big dog at all but I guess was just on the wrong side of the cutoff point. He was really a sweet little thing and I spent most of the time petting him while the arguments ensued. She tried the moving-to-another-row trick and the moving-to-first-class shtick but after a while, I soon grew weary of the arguments and decided to hang out by the galley and safely out of the line of fire. The last thing I heard her say was that so-and-so said she could bring the dog on board.

How did it all work out? They threw her off! What I really do not understand is that if it was against UAL rules, why did they let her on the plane in the first place? She did NOT smuggle on this animal. It was boarded in plain sight of everyone, including one of the gate agents who had been reading her the riot act. It would have been much easier for all parties concerned if they had nipped it in the bud and declined her boarding at the very beginning. Regarding the more general issue of non-ADA dogs as seat companions, I cannot help but wonder what my father would have done under these circumstances. He has Asthma and is allergic to everything bearing fur or feathers and would not be able to breath if seated next to a dog. (In case you are wondering, he was asthmatic from early childhood but acquired the allergies AFTER we had integrated our lovable pup into the family. He needed weekly injections just to get by and always kept his steroid laden inhaler handy. What people will do for their pets!)

I did not know what to expect travelling on labor day weekend but I guess the mad rush was on Friday because loads were VERY light on Saturday. The business cabin seemed to be only half filled and coach seemed equally open. As we pulled back from the gate, the pilot announced that he had received a last minute rerouting so our flight would be a little longer than usual but he still expected to arrive in SFO nearly on time.

Shortly after we attained our cruising altitude of 39,000 feet, drink service began and then someone must have turned on the HEAT full blast. Now, please understand that I am ALWAYS hot, but some of the other nearby passengers looked like they were ready to pass out. It didn't really look like the FA initially took me seriously when I complained about the heat, but about four other passengers also complained, nearly in unison.

The drink service was followed by meal service in fairly short order. 1K's were not asked for their meal preferences ahead of time but it probably did not matter much on this flight; given the relative lack of passengers. I ordered the cantaloupe with Parma ham and the veal as the main course. Bread was offered only once (with no refills); ditto for the wine. Would it be such a terrible inconvenience to ask passengers whether they would like some more wine before wordlessly snatching away the glass?

We were about 20 minutes into the video presentation before I could finally get the attention of an FA and point out that headsets might be somewhat conducive to enhancing our viewing pleasure. This was also echoed by nearby passengers so they finally got around to distributing the (non-noise cancellation) headsets nearly 1.5 hours into the flight. A few minutes later, an FA came by to tell me that a passenger was complaining about my 2/3 closed window shades. "You mean the cabin is too dark and he would like to open them all of the way?", I asked, mustering the best mock-serious face I could. "No, he prefers that all shades are closed." Especially considering the fact that I had specifically selected the side of the plane away from direct sun light for this very reason, I politely told the FA that if the passenger did not understand the meeting of compromise, I would be more than happy to explain it to him directly. She stared at me kind of blankly for a moment, with a sort of deer-in-the-headlight look before retreating. Anyway, I watched a movie about a rabbi and a priest for a while but I prayed for it to be over; it wasn't all that interesting. I had no trouble viewing my screen despite the presence of day light emitted from the few inches of exposed window. None of the other video selections appealed to me so I wound up reading most of the time.

Please watch where you put your dogs

At one point in the flight, the fellow sitting in 9E decided that the headrest of seat 8E would make a fine and dandy footrest. For some reason, this annoyed me. As his noxious fumes were beginning to waft over and permeate my olfactory nerves, I gave him "the look", which didn't seem to work at first. I was about to reconsider the position of the seatback in 8E but he eventually removed his feet. Remember this the next time you relax in the cozy embraces of an airplane headrest. You don't know where its been.

With about 3.5 more hours to the flight, I didn't see very much more of the crew until shortly before landing. Most of them (at least 4 or 5) spent the majority of the flight huddled in the galley. I waived to them whenever I passed by on the way to the head. I finally managed to snag an attendant later so I could order a Grande Marnier. When he brought it over he asked me whether I was driving. Huh?????? No, I am performing brain surgery when we get into SFO and it helps calm me down. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Well, at least the flight attendants smiled most of the time but as is often the case on the larger planes, it seems that they look at these trips as veritable flying coffee klatches. With about 20 minutes to go, an attendant came through the cabin to collect the valuable non-noise cancellation headphones so we wouldn't try to steal them. I asked him whether UAL no longer serves Godiva chocolates on the transcons but was brushed off. After landing and a quick taxi to the gate, I was still jacketless so I went towards the back to inquire about its fate. Fortunately, fighting the tides was not very difficult because of the light load. Even though the passengers were currently deplaning, many of the attendants were STILL huddled in the galley chatting amongst themselves and I asked them whether they had sold my jacket. I finally noticing it hanging forlornly in the closet and grabbed it myself.

It was now a little before 6:00PM and the terminal was relatively empty by SFO standards. I figured I would hide in the 1K room for a while but it was closed so I walked over to the RCC, grabbed a diet code and then marched over to the upstairs club to await my next flight. I really enjoy talking with the bartender at that RCC. Just as I was settling in at about 6:30, they announced that the club would be closing at 7:00! So, I wound up schlepping back over to the other RCC anyway. Of course, having been on the mezzanine level meant that I had to go through security again. Once again, I was randomly selected (i.e. no other passengers around) and my other carryon was swabbed. I quipped to the security fellow that I am glad both of my bags would now be clean. When he learned that I had just flown in from JFK about 30 minutes prior, he lost interest in the security check and sent me on my way.

The RCC was not very crowded at all but I had to move away from where I was originally sitting because the fellow snoozing way at the other end of the club was snoring so loudly I could nearly feel the seats shake. I relocated into one of the little business cubicles, plugged in my laptop and sat there for an hour, drinking diet code and listening to MP3s.

Saturday, 09/02/00, UA Flight 2270, SFO->PDX, 7:51->:26 Seat 2D

Working like a dog

At 7:30, I left the club and walked over to gate 68, where boarding began as soon as I arrived. The load was also very light and first class had three seats available when we pulled back, a few minutes early. As on the earlier flight, I had a wonderful seat mate -- nobody. Taxiing was fairly quick, the line to take off was short and we quickly arose to 35000 feet where we leveled off. I spent most of the time reading Newsday as I listened to CDs. The fellow in 1D worked feverishly on his Dell 5000 laptop right through the entire boarding process and throughout the flight. I spent a few minutes staring at the reflection of his screen in his window, where I could clearly see every word he was typing.

As I read through the paper, I came across an article describing a recent incident at JFK in which a passenger on a National Airlines flight was arrested when he threatened to kill the crew and passengers because he was told he couldn't use the bathroom while the plane was moving. I showed the article to the friendly FA and she sat down next to me where we spent the remainder of the flight chatting. She told me about a non-sh*ttle flight a few weeks ago, where some sitcom-celebrity and his progeny also raised a big stink when they were instructed to return to their seat during taxi. Maybe their urgent need to use the restroom was to AVOID a big stink but they evidently became very belligerent. Unfortunately for them, there was some type of FAA inspector on board and they wound up with a $1500 fine.

It turns out that the attendant, Cheri (sp?), was Seattle based and I invited her to the Seattle Shindig coming up later this month. I told her about FlyerTalk and about all of the UAL employees who actively participate in the board and of all the great friendships forged. Needless to say, she was not one of the digerati so was unfamiliar with FT. I think she'll "check us out" with some of her more internet savvy buddies in Seattle.

The flight landed on time in slightly rainy PDX. The Thrifty shuttle was waiting for me by the pickup area and I traded jokes and stories with the driver on the way to the parking lot. As expected, there were very few passengers this evening but this would certainly change by Monday.

Well, I am now looking forward to two whole weeks of non-travel and will hit the road again on the 19th. If anyone is interested, Catman and I have worked out a tentative date for the next party in Parsippany for Friday, September 22.

Very enjoyable trip report, Larry, it kind of made me want to say "Bow-Wow"!

Re car service promptness: the problem is not all car services, but some car services. I gave up on Carmel over a decade ago.

I hope the newbies have noticed that the common thread among the various meetings of different groups that went on in NYC this past weekend is... Catman!

I can't quite believe that Catman had steak fromage twice in one month.

By the way, JFK still ****s.

Very sorry I missed you this weekend Larry, but I expect to meet you in Parsippany on the 22nd, so we can compare notes about smoked fish at Zabar's vs. Harrod's, among other things.

Originally posted by RichG:
Very enjoyable trip report, Larry, it kind of made me want to say "Bow-Wow"!

Re car service promptness: the problem is not all car services, but some car services. I gave up on Carmel over a decade ago.

<snip>

Very sorry I missed you this weekend Larry, but I expect to meet you in Parsippany on the 22nd, so we can compare notes about smoked fish at Zabar's vs. Harrod's, among other things.

Well I just abandoned Tel Aviv (see last week's trip report for the scary details) so I guess I'll keep on searching. Someone once said that if you eat in a different restaurant in NYC each day for the rest of your life, you will never eat in the same one twice. Maybe the same is true of car services. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Regarding smoked fish, are you familiar with "Homarus" in Mt Kisco? As far as I know, they actually supply Zabars and many other restaurants with their smoked fish. Many years ago, I used to sneak up there on a Saturday morning when their retail operation was open. At that time, they would gladly dispose of the scraps for free on a first come, first served basis. I would walk out with a fifty pound bag containing huge chunks of smoked salmon that were not pretty enough to be sold but were delicious nonetheless. I was very popular with my colleagues in grad school at the time http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Alas, others soon became wise to the deal http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Great reporting, Larry!

I reckon I'm doggone jealous! <ugh.>

A howlingly purrfect FOUR PAWS UP report! (see I worked in cats and dogs...)

Now while most of you don't care about my personal life, let me give a post script to what happened after I left Larry U..

I call it "Teh Lost Weekend."

Somehow at JFK... I lost:

*My glasses
*MY Walkman
*My Shop Rite Supermarket Price Plus club card.
*My RCC card that I found at the other club.

I must complement the angels at the RCC for taking the time to call all over Kennedy, alas in vein, for my lost glasses (I can easily replace the Walkman.)

Then I thought I lost my Music Man ticket. Major panic attack, then I find them in the right place, my shirt pocket.

What a weekend, but thanks to Larry U and QUiet Lion and Hunnybear and Rich G for cheering my up about my missing glasses.

Sounds like UA 7 was a bow-wow of a flight. Thank you for the report!

I love the term "flying coffee klatsch."
That's brilliant!

Originally posted by Catman:
A howlingly purrfect FOUR PAWS UP report! (see I worked in cats and dogs...)

Now while most of you don't care about my personal life, let me give a post script to what happened after I left Larry U..

<snip>



Who says we don't care about your personal life? Besides, is there life outside of FlyerTalk? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cool.gif trip report, LarryU.

Though the car service I hate the most is generally the car service that last stood me up, Carmel-- which books their trips so tightly that even on a good day it's a miracle if they're nearly on time and which makes the drivers pay half the value of the coupon, leading most of them to claim the coupons are not valid-- occupies a very special place.

Originally posted by Little Matt:
I love the term "flying coffee klatsch."
That's brilliant!

And I bet it would make a great name for a rock band... "The Flying Coffee Klatsches"

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

It helps to get the cabin temperature corrected, if you can verify what the temperature is with a thermometer. Since my watch has one, I know what it is and my body doens't play any tricks on me.

You must be a real riot to travel with!!!!

Originally posted by ROADRUNNER:
It helps to get the cabin temperature corrected, if you can verify what the temperature is with a thermometer. Since my watch has one, I know what it is and my body doens't play any tricks on me.

You must be a real riot to travel with!!!!

On each of my last few international flights, I could hear the FAs gossiping amongst themselves, pointing in my direction and saying, "You gotta watch out for the guy in seat xx!" Can't imagine why. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

In any case, its all mostly harmless, of course. Doesn't happen quite as much on the domestic transcons - they frequently don't show themselves often enough in the cabin to matter.

[This message has been edited by LarryU (edited 09-06-2000).]

rfrost said: "Though the car service I hate the most is generally the car service that last stood me up."

That is also, precisely, my attitude. Unfortunately, I have learned that every car service will eventually stand you up.

[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 09-06-2000).]

Excellent! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif