me no need no dicshunery, man

I have forwarded my interest directly to Premex. Having spent the week on puddlejumpers criss-crossing new england (sorry merry and bao, that's NEW england), let me just say that I AM NOT roberto.

But I've spent a little time looking at old postings doing some good old fashioned detective work. Looking at the typeset layout of the accidental roberto posting, I noticed one identifyable charactoristic. Note the style of addressing Baobab followed by a comma, then a return and then the body of the posting. I looked for this convention in several threads, concentrating on threads that were started by (and responded to by) "roberto."

Based on the overwhelming circumstantial evidence, Monsignor MileCrazy: J'accuse!!!!!

If there are any airlines or hotels reading
these postings... here's a Holiday wish from the CATMAN: Have some kind of double or triple mile promotion (Like Star Alliance) so
we can have another thing to celebrate at our
"free form convention" in Hawaii: MOre Miles and more points!!!

Never been to a convention. I guess they can
get dull.

Here's 2 contests: who used the most miles to get to Hawaii and who's earning the most mile for this trip!

OMNI reference (being a Cat COp I will tell you when they appear!) My Hawaiian shirt and matching shorts are ready to PARTY! (And no
they don't have cats on THEM! CATMAN

CM:

i think a better prize should go to the person who uses the LEAST number of FF miles to get to hawaii. i mean, anybody can just use a no-blackout, first-class roundtrip award of 160,000 (on united, for example) to win the MOST miles prize. it would take a little more ingenuity to get there on the FEWEST miles (i.e., twa is currently offering a roundtrip to hawaii for 15,000 miles if you cough up $299).

matt:

sorry, but i've written enough business letters in my time to always use a colon(:) after salutations. i would never allow myself to fall into roberto's horrid habit of using a comma... keep guessing.

CM:

when in hawaii, stop by a CrazyShirt store. they specialize in cat shirts where a cat is facing you on the front of the shirt (surfing, bowling, eating sushi, etc), and the back of the shirt is him facing away from you. it's a craze over there.

I haven't contributed to "The BUZZ" much, but I have been known to put my 2 cents worth in on Delta. Being in the trade show business, I believe that I can get sponsors to cover Dinner, maybe a dance, party etc. Let me know if you want me to try. For those of you that don't know me..I am a Delta Platinum, proud of going GOLD in 1999 to protest their upgrade policy and service. Let me know if interested. Either way, I WILL BE THERE!!!!
AL

Remember alschp (sorry if I got your handle wrong) NO contribution is too small and whether you post five times or 975... you are helping someone who reads these boards.

Looking forward to meeting you in Hawaii!
CATMAN

Hey, al, nice to "meet" you. I think it'd be a hoot if you could line some stuff up. Tell hilton that if they comp us all rooms at the Hawaiian Villiage that not only will they be able to claim to "cater to the MOST discriminating frequent travellers," they might even get my Freddie vote...

alhcfp (are you welsh, or do you just like challenging our random-letter memories?) - that sounds like a great idea. PremEx and TropicalFlyer are the defacto party co-ordinators (? - correct me if I'm wrong). Perhaps you could e-mail them to discuss/arrange details?

Matt - I think you may have the wrong Mile-man. MA likes using commas when addressing others (see the RBranson posting in Virgin for proof)

Alhcfp...thanks! I'll email you tomorrow.

Multi-posting:

Re: Roberto of the many faces. I hadn't read this thread when I posted (elsewhere) that my nominee for Roberto et al was Merry Flyer. I see here that he has admitted a nodding acquaintance with Greek, so despite his denials I adhere to my nomination. (Also, I'm jealous - he not only has a German double-"s", he also has other diacritical marks on his keyboard. C'mon, do you have a circumflex as well? How about that slash through the "o" that the Norwegians use? Where do you get those keyboards? I have to use html to do that, and this BBS has the html disabled.)

arturo: you forgot "pseudepigraphical" in your list of long words.

baobab: he can't be Welsh - not enough "l"s. (Reminds me of the send-up of "Wheel of Fortune" - category "Welsh saying" - contestant, "I'd like to buy a vowel." - buzzer goes off indicating no such letter.)

And finally: to the extent that my schedule is my own to control (which it sometimes is and sometimes is not), I'll try to be there.

MileCrazy--perhaps we should issue a prize for anyone willing to fly on TWA anywhere?!

I am not roberto either baby. onefreeman, I have finally stopped laughing long enough to reply to your posting re TWA. I'll check with the boss and see about Hawaii ... we have been threatening to go there forever ... we have never been. The only thing is that I will have to give my FlyerTalk secret away ... she doesn't know about this place yet.

Aloha all,

Here's a travel deal you may want to take advantage of for our get-together. United Vacations is offering this special at Hawaii Sheratons:
5 nights hotel, r/t airport/hotel transfers/welcome breakfast/lei greeting

The package starts at $329/person

Big bonus here is 2500 United MP bonus miles and 1000 more if you book through the website at www.unitedvacations.com (this is per person)

If you add in air too, they will take off $50/person.

The fine print: Must book between 10/1/98-11/30/98 for travel between 1/5/99-12/11/99.

I was also thinking that our group would make a great "focus group" for any airline,hotel, car rental, etc. company. I'm going to contact the Hawaii Visitor's Bureau and see if we can offer our "service" in exchange for some sponsorship.

Any objections?

TropicalFlyer, that looks like a great deal by United Vacations! I would just like to warn any of our participants that while you do earn normal Mileage Plus miles (including bonuses and toward elite qualification) for all Air-Inclusive packages and tickets issued by United Vacations, you should be aware that these air tickets are NOT upgradable using any type of coupon/miles/deals. In other words, if you book in Coach, it's coach you'll be flying. So if want a chance at an upgrade, you should get the land-only portion from United Vacations, and book your air separately through normal chanels.

TropicalFlyer and Alhcfp have brought up an issue which we need to discuss here. One option that has been discussed here is to keep this a very informal get-together consisting mainly of meeting each other and enjoying the company of fellow FlyerTalkers in the relaxed vacation setting of Hawaii. We currently plan on having meeting places and times where we can all get together at will, plus one RSVP event in the form of a Dinner with presentations, prizes, etc.

Or we could do all that and add a more formal element to the weekend by having a "focus group" or other Frequent Flyer discussion. Also the subject of possible sponserships and donations from from travel suppliers has been brought up.

We would like to have your thoughts on this.

I'll get things started by giving my thoughts. I'd like to see it stay informal unless someone like Randy agrees to come and host a discussion or such. I think we can graciously accept doorprizes/gifts from suppliers, but with no conditions attached other than mentioning and thanking the source. I don't believe we should accept "sponsership" of the event itself. I believe we should stay independent, and most importantly we should never give the impression that we are either trying to use our "clout" or at the other extreme, begging for goodies. I feel that this should remain mainly a fun trip (especially since many will be bringing spouses, etc), and a "conference," "convention" or other more formal structure, would be more appropriate if someone like FlyerTalk itself were to run an event under the name of their organization. There's my 2 cents worth.

PremEx, I was invisioning this as a fun get together and not a formal convention/trade show situation, and I think we should keep it that way as well. If we start accepting sponsorships, then it's turning into another
convention.

Omni related posting: I have been part of two focus groups and they were as dull. There is the chance the "Sponsor" could take over and direct the meeting to THEIR benefit.

We can have one formal meeting where Randy
can talk to us. (maybe he can come down and
enjoy a few days vacation as well!) But I think our spouses/significant others would not be happy to be going to paradise and attending a regulated, formulated convention.
And as I said before... we ALL need a vacation so this trip should be a time to
kick back with friends and have FEW (if any)
rules!

As PremEx says... we have time to plan this!
CATMAN

Hey, what's wrong with a "convention." The term also carries with it the unstated cache of "business related expense tax deduction."

Matt, when you put it that way... it may work
calling it a "convention" especially if we
all discuss our related businesses (for meals, whatever, tax writeoffs.)

But I don't think anyone would be interested
in my news biz. CATMAN

I sent Randy an e-mail checking for his input. If 30 people attend, then informal is fine. BUT< what happens if 100's decide to go???? Then some structure and planning is needed.

About 6 years ago, on RUSH Limbaugh's show, he told someone in Ft. Collins CO to run a bake sale to raise $29 for Rush's newsletter....WELL...This thing took on a life of it's own and 55,000 people decsended upon Ft Collins. The city had no idea what hit them!!!

I know we won't have anything like those numbers, but let's face guys (gals) WE are the only one's that understand each other....
"Joe & Jane..twice a year travelers" don't comprehend, "GIVE ME AN UPGRADE OR ELSE I'LL STAY HOME"!!!

Al

Not to worry folks...we do (or will) have structure and we are in the planning stages right now. Your crack party planning commitee is hard at work (well actually a few of them are traveling at the moment...can you imagine that!) putting together what is sure to be a memorable event, whatever size and shape it eventually takes! We will make formal postings as developments are firmed up, but for now keep those emails with your suggestions coming into [email protected] and we will complile them for consideration. It's still quite a bit early to post anything yet, but rest assured, in the near future we will have a complete Web Site that will give you all the information on Hotels, Air Deals, Events, Options, and other goodies that you can take advantage of. So keep those ideas coming!

onefreeman:

i'm hurt. now i won't be able to brag that i'll be at the pro-bowl in hawaii on feb7 by using the obligatory 15,000 twa miles to get there.

if any other board members will be in hawaii at that time, let me know. we can make it a pre-party party.

MileCrazy: You should brag from the highest high rises in WakiWaki (sic). Tiz a far far better person than I who can fly Totally Whacked Air!!

Wish we could be there. Hold up BIG sign saying hello (that's hullo to MF) to all the FlyerTalk folks!

is ther futbol game in hawai?

PremEx, that's a good idea that one person
reviews the e-mail then the "party planners"
and you can discuss it. I think if we put all
the suggestions here, we would crash the system.

Omni posting: Now I have three things to look forward to in 1999: Hawaii in November, a Caribbean cruise in August(my first trip to Caribbean!) It's with friends on Royal Caribbean and Possibly in April, another Vegas trip! I see the miles growing as I speak!

OMNI DOS: Especial para Auturo: No futbol in Hawaii. It's in Houston, Tx. TO get free tickets go to this big domed stadium called the Astrodome wearing a "I love New Jersey" tee shirt and sing "I'm a Yankee doodle Dandy." The fans will find you! CATMAN

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. If you do that, aturo. The fans will definitely find you.

my nam arturo, no aturo! wher is arturodome?
they have futbol ther? what is a yankee dodle? i luv hispanol, si habla espanol. who this gato persin?

I agree 100% with Premex & Catman. This shouldn't be a promotional affair for anyone. We're planning to meet each other (for the most part for the first time, although some of us have apparently already mer Rudi) and have a good time. Seeking "sponsorships", etc. detracts from that.

MattWald's idea (supported by Catman) has merit. Why not call it a "convention," have one (or more) formal meetings and make it deductible. I may not be able to attend (Sally says "We were in Hawaii last year, I want to go somewhere else.") but I'd still be willing to contribute a buck if Randy insists on being paid to attend (I think he'd be silly to do that, but he might, and we ought to consider giving in if he does. Of course, then all of us cancel our subscriptions and just continue to use the free features of Flyer Talk.)

Catman: Futbol in Hawaii?: ow about pro bowl? Houston is second rate.

Hello chaps!

I've been following this web site for a bloody long time now and am impressed with your decision to come together. Are you being served? Well, then, now for something completely different: May I offer the services of one of my specially designed 747s to help you along. I will have it painted a special colour in honor of the event and will pick each of you up at your home airport along our way to Hawaii. I shall configure the aeroplane to be all upper class for everyone's enjoyment. After all, we won't be the young ones...very long.

Now, let's see Bob Ayling beat that!

Cheerio!

I think the maximum "formal" meetings we should have is two because as I said before
this should be a fun trip, to get to meet and greet each other and put the faces behind
the handles (NO I don't look like a cat!)

Again, any ideas send them to PremEx or Rudi
or TropicalFlyer. OR even me, and I'll pass them on. Let's keep these boards limited
to postings that are very minor (and no more
postings from you auturo.)

NOW an OMNI: Sir Branson, your offer sounds "Absolutely Fabulous." Is this part of your efforts on "keeping up Appearances" around the world (You started teh Brit Com references!) I would like to see the safety
record of your plane. How many points will
we earn with Virgin's FF program? Can I bring my cats along?

Big question: will you pay for ALL our airfare and hotel bills?

If you are serious, come to NYC and present your offer. I will pick the meeting place.

HEY M-F! Aren't you supposed to be the co-cat-cop???? CATMAN

The last we heard from Merry, he was rolling over & having his tummy rubbed by one of RB's supporters (see the Virgin thread for details)

He's purring so loudly that any cat-co-cop thoughts have left his head!

Well, you are a funny feline chap! But your consideration of my airline being faulty towers over me like a - well, like a fawlty tower.

By the way, I was considering the colours red-green for the scheme of our paradise aeroplane! What do you think?

And touche, Felinemalehumanoid! You are correct about my omission of a price for paradise door to door service. My father (Ted) reminds me to say that it will cost only 99 shilling per participant. Except for the Merry Flyer chap who will be expected to pay twice the price and shall receive only half the service (as this is as he is accustomed).

So pull out that one foot in the grave and -come on - as time goes by! If I'm willing to say yes, minister and come all the way from the Brittas Empire, you should have no excuses!

Mr. Branson, if you want to continue this offer, I suggest you create another OMNI posting. We need focus focus focus people!

M-F: go scratch Mr. Branson and get back on patrol!

Ok Richard... if you come to New York and have a Pepsi with me at your Virgin cafe
on Times Square (that's where you have that too big record store) and meet with me I would say "ALLO ALLO" and give your offer some consideration. It may sound "Ab Fab" but as a cat I must carefully screen all offers.

By the way... as a member of the Possum Lodge
you'll have to clear that color scheme with
our fearless leader Red Green himself. I
think he would prefer Air Canada. CATMAN

arturo like dick branson and forward thinkin
idees. mf probably no lik heem, bbut wher arturo from, mf meen somthin els.

travelcrazy raises an important question: How many of us are making commitments based on the assumption that we control the schedule? How many have wives, "significant others", or whetever else you might want to call them who are not yet aware of this discussion and who might veto attendance?
I don't have an absolute veto from her yet, but it's close, based on other places she might want to go, like Alaska, Bermuda, Caymans (in spite of Mitch), etc. My personal belief is that it will be a blast, and I hope to be there, but (and this may apply to others) is this a one-person decision?

Arturo says he doesn't need a dictionary, but maybe roberto does.