OK count me in!
I find if I use my real name as my sign in name everywhere it makes life a little easier.I only discovered Flyertalk Boards last year but have been a avid follower since!
It all started in a 5000 watt radio station in Fresno California......STOP! Sorry I couldn't resist, that was Ted Baxter's bio from The Mary Tyler Moore Show!
OK take #2.....I hail from Montreal but have been in Dallas for the past twenty years.I work in television sports as a technician and work is in a different city each weekend.My main client is ABC Monday Night Football.I'm the guy who creates the lovely yellow 1st down line on your tv set.The downside of working weekends makes for strange relationships which brings me to the fact that I just hit 40, single (and looking)! I have a couple of cats,Beatrice and Dee. Almost all my travel is domestic and about 90% on American ( the 800lb gorilla in DFW) I get a treat from time to time during Olympic years and get to go international.I do love those 777's.Looking forward to running into some of my fellow Flyertalkers down the road! You can always reach me at [email protected]

------------------
AA..just plain old Platinum
Instant Messenger# bobcharlap

My main client is ABC Monday Night Football ... no Monday Night game this coming season for my 49ers http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

thank (all of) you for your bio(s) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 05-04-2000).]

Nope.......No Monday night games at all on the west coast this season, in fact the furthest west I go this year is Denver in Nov.....almost everything else east coast.The down side is no early games for me!

------------------
AA..just plain old Platinum
AOL Instant Messenger# bobcharlap
[email protected]

Hello fellow FT'ers. I thought it was about time I made time to introduce myself. I'm a 34 yo analyst in the Telecoms industry, living in Leamington Spa, England. I share my life with my wife and our two cats, Ralph (handsome but stupid) and Mabel (all fluff, but cute with it).

I recently became a FF again after a break of several years, and at the moment travel mainly between the UK and Montreal, New York and Genoa in Italy. Previously I spent a lot of time travelling to the far east. I only became aware of FT and is associated web pages in January when someone pointed me in this direction in response to a question I posted on another newsgroup, so I've had a
lot of fun catching up reading the back catalogue of postings.

My airline of choice (actually my employers choice, but I like it too) is BA, though I rate Swiss/Cross-air higher within Europe. At the moment I have BA Silver status, but I am getting close to Gold. Things I like about BA are the club world cradle seats, space and punctuality. I can't wait to try the new club world beds. Things I dislike are the lack of champagne prior to take-off (Swissair can manage it) and their reluctance to start the main movies till half-way through a flight (after a wait pause and yesterdays news). Oh, and if BA wants to be recognised as British they shouldn't waste a penny re-painting all the tailfins - let's have a selection of decent DRAFT beers in the lounges http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Travel to/from Genoa is usually by a small company jet, which makes for fast check-ins, direct flights and hairy landings! For those of you who haven't visited, Genoa is often pretty windy as the runway is built in the sea next to the coastal mountains. I swear that sometimes you can look down the runway out of the side windows just as you are landing http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif My favourite travel story is about the time I was on a jumbo that crashed at Philadelphia. It's really gripping right up to the point when I have to admit it was stationary, and hit by a cargo truck http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Finally one suggestion for the boards. How about a glossary of abbreviations?
I've spent a lot of time scratching my head reading some postings, and whilst
they may read as second nature to many people, other novices like myself could
do with a little help at times.

Cheers,
Robert.



[This message has been edited by bulkhead (edited 05-05-2000).]

bulkhead, welcome to FlyerTalk... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If by abbreviations you mean Airport & Airline Codes, there are a few resources you can access & bookmark for reference.

For Airport Codes (sorted by code or by city), go here: http://www.cowtown.net/users/rcr/aaa/ccmain.htm

For Airline Codes 2-character abbreviations, go to: http://www.siber.com/sib/travel/airline-codes.txt

If I've misunderstood and there are others you may be looking for, just ask and someone will answer... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Hey all,

Just another newbie here. found this site about 2 weeks ago and I'm addicted!

Hmm, a little about myself - I'm 40, male, live in Vancouver BC and it seems I spend my life travelling.

I currently work for a Medical equipment manufacturer and cover western Canada. I'm SPG Platinum, and Canadian Gold (although with the current state of that airline.... my points and I are getting a little nervous)

Thought I might be able to make the Montreal "Meeting" but our mtg has been moved up to May instead.

I've recently been chided for not getting in on this thread, so here's the short version.

Like a handful of others onboard, I grew up in Bethesda, MD. After college in Boston and grad school in Evanston, I returned home and put that fine education to work (or waste, as some would say) and took a job as a dj at the big rock station in DC. Floated through a few other stations, taught at a community college and the U of MD before joining the govt. I'm now your tax dollars at work--- employed as a reporter and music is my beat. My speciality is roots stuff ---americana, folk, bluegrass, acoustic, that kind of stuff. (I'll be glad to make some recs to anyone interested---and also tell you who and what to avoid)

I'm lucky enough to travel to great festivals in the US and Canada ---the downside is I'm working and not running around having fun. Ok, I manage to have SOME fun, but only when the work is done.
(if you're looking for a great festival, Merlefest is my number one. Calgary and Edmonton folk fests are also great, as is the SF Blues Festival.)

Welcome to all new members/posters and to joanek: I am fortunate to have both the Calgary and Edmonton Folk Festivals close to me. Despite weather problems, they are still going strong with some great line ups.

Revised version to be posted someday....

-bokich

[This message has been edited by bokich (edited 08-09-2001).]

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

I guess I'm overdue to talk about myself also, so here goes...I have lived in Denver since 1982. I have been practicing law here since 1984. About a year ago, I attended an aviation exposition and one of the local colleges (Metro State) had a table touting their aviation program. I saw they offered a degree in aviation management. Deciding it was time to think about doing something else for the second half of my working life, I enrolled last September. Will finish a year from now. The best part of this program is the internship I have lined up with Frontier Airlines at their Denver HQ. I actually started a few weeks ago and I already have done stints in the training department and in marketing. Hope to work in a variety of departments by the time the summer's over. Like many here, I suspect, I find the airline business fascinating and I am enjoying learning lots of details about the industry. I also really like the entrepeneurial, start-up ambience at F9. So, I am really having a great time these days. As far as my life as a frequent flyer, I buy my own tickets so I go with whoever's cheapest. Consequently, I don't have elite status with anyone, even though I fly 12-15 trips a year. It seems that DL and NW often have some great deals out of DEN so I fly with them a lot even though I'm not a huge fan of either carrier. I get passes (but no $$) from my internship at F9, so I'll probably be flying with them a lot in the coming months. Maybe I'll try to jet into a Flyertalk event sometime this summer.

Contrary to what my prior post might suggest, I do believe in paragraphs. I leave spaces and appropriate indentations, but when I submit the post, it appears compressed. What am I doing wrong?

I've never posted one of these, since it seems we give a lot of this information in other posts, but...

I'm an engineer who works for a medical equipment company in the Silicon Valley. Although there is nothing about my job that makes it a "travel" job, I have been flying more and more each year since 1988. Last year, I had 100,000 miles on Delta; I already have 70,000 this year. Part of this is due to the worldwide nature of our company (we have engineering offices in Switzerland, the U.K. and Finland), and part is because I often cross over into marketing and sales functions.

I've been in California since 1986. I was born in New York City, lived in Nevada, went to High School in New Jersey and college in Cleveland (where I also worked for 10 years). I used to fly with Eastern, then I switched to United when I moved to the Bay Area.

It's easy to get lots of miles on the west coast -- things are just further apart here. I was Premier on United for 11 years. I got motivated to watch miles because I loathe to fly in coach internationally -- and the vast majority of my flying is international. My company usually only pay for coach.

I started using Delta more and more in the mid-90's, partly because I could transfer Membership miles to them. After I became Medallion, the upgrades became easier. I have been upgraded almost all the time over the years.

My normal destinations are Zurich (3-5 times a year), Japan (twice a year), London and Brussels.

I'm into computers (of course), music (I was a disk jockey for many years), history, travel, pop culture, writing and baseball. I play softball when I am not on the road.

My wife (who posts on rare occasions on this board as "wendolene") also travels quite a bit. She's an old Pan Am flyer, a Silver Medallion with Delta (although she has a lot more *A miles this year).

Other than English, I speak Spanish (badly), French (worse), German (fluently with food, pathetically otherwise) and Hebrew (well, I can read it). I know 18 words in Japanese; when I learn a new one, I forget an old one.

Like a whole lot of males on this board, my real name is Mark.

And I love this board, it is like a support group for people with really bizarre lifestyles -- people who get too little oxygen, too much cosmic radiation, have no circulation in their lower extremities and subsist on diets heavy in salt and fat.

But I do admit the proposition that Jimmy Buffett is the musical choice of frequent fliers makes me afraid. Very afraid.

Believe it or not, some of us like a variety of music (Balinese gamelan, Steeleye Span, Bach, Verdi, Emmylou Harris, the Byrds, etc etc.). I think the Jimmy Buffett affection kicks in after a few too many drinks at FT functions http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif (one more reason to drink in moderation).

BlondeBomber -- in our house, you would find every type of classical, opera, jazz, blues, Broadway, light opera, rock, hip-hop, new wave, grunge, new age, doo-wop, pop, bubblegum, heavy metal, soul and disco music you can think of. Even an occassional country selection. All together, maybe 40,000 tracks.

But not a single album by you-know-who.

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


[This message has been edited by opus17 (edited 05-08-2000).]

I guess it is my turn to scribe my name on the wall. My name is Dan, I'm 24 and work for a small consulting firm located in the Bay Area. "But Dan, your profile says that you live in Bellevue, WA?" Ahh quite the reason that I have an interest in this board. I have travelled weekly since starting this job last July. Flying 70% of the time SEA-OAK and the other 30% spread out over the rest of the country. AS is my carrier of choice for west coast trips. MVP Gold last year and should hit gold again this year sometime before June is up.

I am a graphic designer and when asked what I specifically do my answer is typically "I make consultants look good!" Basically I create the visuals for all of the business presentations that we conduct. I freelance on the side doing odd design jobs, but travel seems to consume most of my free time.

Born and raised in Modesto, CA, attended college at San Francisco State, and moved to Seattle 3 years ago. Worked at the Evil Empire, Microsoft (yes they should be broken up) for 2.5 years before accepting my current job as a consultant.

Dan, what does your login mean? For those of you who enjoy frequenting Las Vegas as often as I do you shouldn't have to ask. But for the benefit of everyone else: In craps, when you roll an "11" it is called a "yo".

There is lots more to say but that's all I can come up with today. Glad to be a part of the crowd.

-rollyo11
[email protected]

dup

[This message has been edited by shadow (edited 05-10-2000).]

dup

[This message has been edited by shadow (edited 05-10-2000).]

Thanks Dan.

My favorite come-out bet is C&E. Keep rolling those yo's... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

...outdated by now.. I will hopefully add stuff later...

welcome MIZU, and as I said yesterday evening when we exchanged emails, your curriculum vitae (your home page that comes with your emails) did impress me.

I guess it is my turn.
I teach Industrial/Organizational psychology (a little known brach of psychology - psyc in the work place, related to HR things like training design, personnel selection, etc.), and did very little travel until I started to do some consulting a few years back. These past few months have included a lot of travel (for the last 3 months I was away from home for more than a month!). I enjoy the travel to a degree, but miss home and the kids when I am gone. Unfortunatelly there is also more work (both at work and at home) when I return...

I grew up in Israel, and family is still there, so we try to get there once a year or two (we are going this summer), so that adds to the travel.

I really learned a lot from this group, and it is fun! Have not used my FF for much yet (I fly on multiple airline - not my idea), but one of these days - I will try for a great vacation.

rollyo11, Mizu and ronirp, thank you for participating here. Hopefully you'll learn lots and offer some of your own experiences for the rest of us. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<will update>

[This message has been edited by BostonBoy (edited 09-22-2000).]

I work for an US Information Technology company and live in Switzerland. Got degrees in Philosophy and History, then went to graduate school in business.

I spent 4 years in Germany with the US Army, and one of those years was spent with the German Army, as I studied German in high school and at the University. Learned to ski in Austria and drove around Europe as time allowed.

My most perfect travel experience was in 1988 when I was able to spend my birthday skking in St. Moritz. At the time, I had no idea that I would be able to return to Switzerland, much less be able to have a home in St. Moritz, where I try to ski at least 40 days a year when not travelling to LHR or DFW.

There are still many mountains to be skied and museums to be visited. If the computer industry craters, I figure I could be a travel guide in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany...

eMailman - As someone who had one of his best snowboarding days ever on the St. Moritz slopes I am QUITE jealous of your current hometown...while a great town, Chicago doesn't offer much in the way of skiable terrain...

Since you have to live somewhere, it is an advantage to be able to live somewhere nice.

The long rides are bearable as soon as I look out the window from home at the view. We had a light snow Sat morning, but the lifts are all closed for upgrades http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Greetings, All!

I've been posting for just a couple of months here, and am slowly expanding my sphere of influence (annoyance?) beyond just the ol' AA board.

I've lived in Japan for about 7 yrs or so, 4 yrs by KIX (and Itami before that), and the last 3 out here by NRT. <Figured that'd be easiest to understand to all you FFs!> Taught English at local high schools for the first 4, and have since reluctantly embraced (I don't get it, either) the role o' businessman, as "Import Manager" for a large Japanese company.

Flew UA until a couple of years ago, but have switched to AA. Four Japan-US trips last year vaulted my back o' the bus self to Plat, and I haven't flown AA since! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Got married officially in March 2000, but are having the ceremony/honeymoon in late July. (If you're headed to Bali's R-C Hotel, be sure to leave us alone!) It's a non-qualifying JAL flight, dangit!

I've enjoyed "meeting" a host of people here, even though not much seems to happen in the Tokyo area. Anyone with a couple days in town is welcome to contact me at [email protected]. My travel's been limited to US-Japan runs, but I'm hoping to get a bit more exotic when I'm older! (29 now)

Your Kid in the East. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Ok, I'm going to add my little life story to the rest. Since I've been meeting more and more FTers on the boards and for real (Hi, dgolds and johna!), seems like the right time to introduce myself to the rest of the crowd.

As you can probably guess from my username, I'm Jack and I fly AA pretty religiously. My partner and I have lived in NYC for about 4 years and we absolutely love it here. We're both from Texas - me from Houston and Scott from Ft. Worth. We met in school at the University of Texas in Austin and later moved to Dallas for about 4 years. While we return to TX frequently to see family and friends, it's a safe bet that we'll never live there again. The 90+ degree temps this Memorial Day Weekend in Houston reminded me of why I don't miss it!

I work for an internet solutions company that's based in San Francisco. Though I officially work out of our NYC offices, I'm rarely there. These days I'm spending most of my time in SF, though over the past few years I've also spent lots of time in LA, Dallas, Miami, Seattle, and Chicago. I do a bit of international travel as well, to our offices in London, Singapore, and a few others coming on line soon that I can't tell you about yet! It's the international travel that I love the most and I can never get enough of it. A few years ago I had the good fortune to work in Munich for 6 months, just outside of Rome for 3 months, and Paris for 4 months. Since that time, I've been aching for another international assignment and am hoping to get one later this year. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone!

As you can imagine, doing the transcon every week racks up the status and the miles. So far this year I've got about 130K qualifying miles! I've been Executive Platinum on AA for about 3 years now and I have to say it makes the travel life a WHOLE lot easier. I still have my days of unhappiness with AA (like with that @$$inine gate agent at JFK last week, but that's another story...), but I find that for the most part there's a dramatic difference in the way you're treated, even between Platinum and EXP.

On the transcon flights I'm lucky enough to fly Business Class, and occasionally I get to go Premium Class. Unfortunately, that spoils you forever; just like you never want to fly Coach after getting First or Business, once you've been in Premium you never want anything else! When I'm not doing transcons, as an EXP I never have a problem getting upgraded. I know it sounds snobby, but I can't remember the last time I flew in Coach. Probably my favorite perk of all is the upgrade - more than the miles or anything else.

I think unlike many Road Warriors, I'm just as happy to hit the road for pleasure as I am for work. Often Scott and I will meet somewhere for the weekend rather than return home. He travels a lot, too, in his job as a manager of marketing and promotions with a major apparel company. But we enjoy going new places and favorite places as much as we can. In the winter you'll often find us in Miami Beach, in the summer we tend to look for cooler climates. In July we leave for 3 weeks in London, rural Norway, and Barcelona. That's a trip I'm really looking forward to.

FT has been a great resource for me. When you fly as much as most of us do, you think you know all the tricks of the trade. But I constantly discover new things and get tips on stuff I'd never come across on my own. This is a great resource we have and I thank all of you for your contributions here.

Wow, I never thought I'd ramble on this long! I really enjoy participating here and hope to meet many more of you in the future. 'Til then, happy trails everyone!

jAAck and kidpachinko: Thanks for posting, and good to have you both here with us.

Shadow: Could you edit the links at the beginning of the thread to www.webflyer.com.... (instead of talk.webflyer.com....)? They no longer work as they are now.

[This message has been edited by dgolds (edited 06-01-2000).]

Now http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/001305.html

Thanks David...nice catch. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I guess its my turn to tell you who I am. I am one of the newest to this board. Only been here for a few weeks and I really enjoy this place. I check it out every day so far and I will probably continue to do it, if you are looking for some chat I am often on the Flyertalk chat around 4 PM Et.

So who am I? I have asked that question several times myself http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif As you can see I live in Sweden, is in my mid 20s and is one of the few here who is actually working in the airlines business. Working for a major swedish airline(oh, thats a tuff one to figure out).

I live in a small town in the north parts of Sweden(no we dont have any polar bears on the streets).

When I dont work I like to travel(who doesnt on this site) Got any questions? Dont hesitate to email me.

Hi kempis! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif How far North, like Umea? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif

Hi Doc!
How do you know about Umea? I actually live 100km south of Umea(one hour with car). Speaking of Umea I used to study there for 1 year.

I travel a bit! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Also a somewhat famed pathologist of some repute is "stationed" there! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Interesting (and quiet) place for sure, but I'd probably stick with the Stockholm and Uppsala visits in early summer (zummer) - ideally befoe the rain(s) ! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I actually love Sweden! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

kidpachinko, jAAck and kempis...

welcome, welcome, welcome

Glad to have you all aboard.

Well, I feel like a seasoned veteran here, so after prompting from Catman to tell my story, I'll give it my best.

I'm 40 going on 25 and have been in CLT for three years, preceeded by five in Tucson, four near Frankfurt, Germany, two in Great Falls, MT, six months in South Carolina, two years in Omaha, two years in San Antonio, two years in SFO, and a long stretch in Las Vegas, broken up by active duty Navy time.

Well, as a Navy brat to start with, having lived in Naples, Italy at the ripe old age of five, I have always had the bite of the travel bug. Nothing thrills me more than the rush of air travel, but a good sightseeing tour by auto can also be good for the soul.

I have two wonderful boys, ages four and 1 1/2 who live with their mom in Iowa, a recent situation. But I get to see them often as I take advantage of the many miles I have banked over the years. I am quite the packrat and rarely use many miles, so now they are coming in handy.

From 85-97 I worked as a civilian for the Air Force, which will explain many of my changes in location. I also had the "opportunity" to travel several times a year in that capacity.

Now I travel a lot for leisure and an occasional business trip. I spend some time officiating college athletics, so a little travel to some garden spots in the Southeast is usually the order of the day! I have been with American AAdvantage from about day one, but Delta has been my carrier of first choice for many years. I am a slave to US since I live in their major hub, but will stop in ATL with DL rather than direct with US because the price is always right.

In my travels I have had the fortune of being a part of many great events and good times. I would have to rate number one as being present in Berlin for the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989! I even can claim fame to one piece of grafitti that made the wire photos: "They came, they saw, they did a little shopping!" One of my lowest moments came when I actually admitted to being lost when in Berlin on a subsequent trip and did not have the Wall as my landmark!

My worst flying experience would have to be the first government trip to Germany, and the last flown on charter. Never had such a miserable experience, but didn't know at the time that I could fly commercial. Never made that mistake again. Living in Montana was always fun because you would stop in Butte or Bozeman and those were steep, quick descents and would provide for a lot of excitement. But the Saab Turboprop from Kansas City to Omaha one year on the old Eastern during a severe thunderclapper had to be the most harrowing.

I'm spoiled as a longtime Hiltonian and one of these days will take the Around-The-World trip with all of those points. I'm really happy to see the purchase of Promus and have already enjoyed the laid back hospitality of Hampton on several occasions.

Other programs that I claim are America West, until I top off the last award level and most recently new to Northwest. I have become disillusioned with AMEX Membership Rewards since the changes and love the flexibility of Diner's Club Rewards, including the redepmtion bonuses and other one-time good deals that always seem to be out there! I am probably in my twilight years with AAdvantage Visa because their practice of posting late really pisses me off.

I am in dire love of scuba diving and never get wet enough. Someday hope to be an instructor and go part-time pro. Also have an internet-based e-commerce business and do a lot of umpiring and refereeing, not just at the college level. I collect stamps and foreign currency and proof currency coins. Goes right in line with my packratitis! I'm a true epicurean at heart, probably from my years of food and beverage management and my Las Vegas days. Which is why I can't wait to attend fly-in dinners with many of you in the future.

So, remember, be a sport and, hey, Thanks A Bunch!

Spartacus (Jim Bunch)

Welcome all new posters including spartacus, at least someone who once lived "close" to Calgary (ie Great Falls) and a state that I think still has a former Albertan as governor--we do get around!

Now I know there are more Canucks out there who haven't posted--don't be shy!

I hope I have posted in the correct place; sort of a long and winding road to get here.

Those of you who have drilled far enough past the info icon would already know that my given name is Steve.

I am an aerospace professional in the manufacturing sector. I assist airlines with their maintenance programs. The idea is to provide spares and materials (via top-notch forecasting) that will allow the jets to return to revenue service on schedule. I have been able to see several airline maintenance facilities up close and personal. My choice of carriers is very deliberate. We all assume that our lives are in the hands of the pilots when we fly. Recent evidence would inidicate that the best pilot will not overcome shoddy maintenance.

This job entails frequent travel and has taken me around the U.S. and Europe.

It is also my privelege to fly with the United States Air Force Reserve. I fly as a Boom Operator on the KC-10A which is the military derivative of the DC-10-30CF. This job has literally taken me around the world. I have flown within 200 nm of either pole, landed in the Arctic Circle, and had a ton of fun doing it. Oh, the KC-10 is an aerial tanker. We refuel other aircraft whilst flying. Unbelievably cool.

I live in Southern California. I live equidistant from Ontario (ONT) and Palm Springs (PSP) but usually fly from Orange County (SNA) for a number of reasons, chiefly the Admirals Club.

Love to fly, love to travel, enjoy cabernet, and all kinds of food.

Flyer Talk and Napster are my cyber-passions.

Now you know!




[This message has been edited by FlyAAway (edited 06-08-2000).]