Stay away from Carnival
With the scare of swine flu passing we learn that this is more like an ordinary flu season. However, the fear about going to Mexico had many cruise ships heading south of the border changing direction. While many cruise lines offered customers various credits and coupons for changing the itinerary on them, the Carnival Splendor took a hard line.
Because of my background as a business coach, I have seen what works and doesn’t work when working with the public. Giving away a desert at a restaurant for slow service, or bringing the wrong dish to the table, will make a customer feel valued. That customer will likely forgive the error and come back again.
Making the customer feel like they are nothing more than a part of a cattle call is a poor approach to continued business and good will. Apparently that is the approach that Carnival Cruise Lines prefers. While they guarantee satisfaction, it requires that you get off the ship at the first NON-U.S. port of call and can get a refund of your unused cruise fare. When the ship headed for Mexico, and then turned around due to the swine flu scare, they never hit a non-U.S. port of call. They returned to Long Beach before going up to San Francisco.
They traded warmth and sun for cold and rain. And offered the passengers NOTHING but a poorly worded apology: “We apologize that we were not able to provide the itinerary that people anticipated.” They might as well of added, “And if you don’t like it, tough luck.”
If this is the kind of cruise line you would like to give your money to, that’s your business. I for one would never take a Carnival cruise based on this business approach.
(Information obtained from an article in the Los Angeles Times, “Swine flu sank Mexico cruise” by David Lazarus in the Business Section, Sunday, May 10, 2009)
Rennie
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
From No Hope to First Place
This is such a wonderful race story: This horse is owned by a couple of cowboys, purchased for $9500, and with such poor stud prospects was gelded, had a 4th place finish somewhere in New Mexico, which was just enough wins to "qualify" for the Kentucky Derby. The owners said, "What the heck" and trainer Bennie Woolley Jr. drove Mine That Bird in a trailer pulled by his Ford pick-up to the Kentucky Derby while Co-owner Mark Allen's pick-up truck broke down on the way there. As expected, the horse started in last place in a field of 19, but at least the owners could say he ran in the Kentucky Derby. He was so far back that when you see the video of the pack of horses running you can't even see Mine That Bird. He stayed in last place through 3/4 of the race. Ridden by Calvin Borel, a jockey who couldn't get a better mount and only met the horse 6 days earlier, he comes up on the inside in the last 1/4 of the race and beats the whole field by almost 7 lengths. The announcer doesn’t even mention #8 Mine that Bird until he is already 2 lengths ahead of the pack. It's a 2 minute race that is wonderful to see from NBC news. It's the kind of story with 50-1 odds that Hollywood would make a movie about it.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30538272/
Rennie
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30538272/
Rennie
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Travel and the Swine Flu
Travel and the Swine Flu
By this time most people are concerned about travel to various areas where there has been an outbreak of the swine flu, especially travel to Mexico. I just read an interesting post that connects the swine flu to the Democrats.
From www.huffingtonpost.com 4-28-09
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/28/michele-bachmann-links-sw_n_192493.html
Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, following Rush Limbaugh's cue, suggested on Tuesday that President Obama was to blame for the swine flu crisis. She went even farther than the talk show host, implying that swine flu epidemics are a Democratic phenomenon that dates back to President Carter:
"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."
Unfortunately, Bachmann's facts are a little off. As Glenn Thrush notes, Republican President Gerald Ford, not Carter, led the country during the last outbreak of the virus.
This whole erroneous coincidence is just so remarkable. It allowed me to draw another unusual coincidence: While airliners were crashing into the World Trade Center on 9-11-2001, Michele Bachmann was shopping at Macy’s. Do you see the connection? Michele Bachmann must have known about the impending attack and fled for the safety of a department store. And, for all we know, Macy’s was behind this horrible attack on our soil.
By this time most people are concerned about travel to various areas where there has been an outbreak of the swine flu, especially travel to Mexico. I just read an interesting post that connects the swine flu to the Democrats.
From www.huffingtonpost.com 4-28-09
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/28/michele-bachmann-links-sw_n_192493.html
Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, following Rush Limbaugh's cue, suggested on Tuesday that President Obama was to blame for the swine flu crisis. She went even farther than the talk show host, implying that swine flu epidemics are a Democratic phenomenon that dates back to President Carter:
"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."
Unfortunately, Bachmann's facts are a little off. As Glenn Thrush notes, Republican President Gerald Ford, not Carter, led the country during the last outbreak of the virus.
This whole erroneous coincidence is just so remarkable. It allowed me to draw another unusual coincidence: While airliners were crashing into the World Trade Center on 9-11-2001, Michele Bachmann was shopping at Macy’s. Do you see the connection? Michele Bachmann must have known about the impending attack and fled for the safety of a department store. And, for all we know, Macy’s was behind this horrible attack on our soil.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
State of Play the movie
Last year I did travel, but not much. For my birthday in July Dianne took me to Sedona, AZ. We also drove to the "ghosttown" Jerome, which was unique, as well as some of the folks we met there.
However, this post is about a movie shown in the KCET film series class that Dianne and I attend twice per year. State of Play, from Universal, comes out this Friday. It has Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Rachel McAdams and more. It is based on a hit BBC mini-series of the same name about investigative reporters helping solve the murder of a congressman's mistress. It is well written, very tight, suspensful, well acted and I highly recommend seeing it. Originally, Brad Pitt was assigned to play the part Russell Crowe got, and I can't see how anyone else could have done as good a job as Crowe.
However, this post is about a movie shown in the KCET film series class that Dianne and I attend twice per year. State of Play, from Universal, comes out this Friday. It has Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Rachel McAdams and more. It is based on a hit BBC mini-series of the same name about investigative reporters helping solve the murder of a congressman's mistress. It is well written, very tight, suspensful, well acted and I highly recommend seeing it. Originally, Brad Pitt was assigned to play the part Russell Crowe got, and I can't see how anyone else could have done as good a job as Crowe.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Ojai
Wow! It has been three months since my last blog post. I guess that means I have not done much traveling. In a way that is true, although I did take the Megabus (www.megabus.com) to visit my daughter son-in-law and grandsons in Las Vegas. That is just the greatest way for me to travel; $35 round trip. It takes the same amount of time as driving, but I couldn’t even pay for enough gasoline to get there with $35. Plus, I do not have to concentrate on the road, I can read, watch a DVD, sleep or whatever.
Anyway, this entry is about a weekend trip to Ojai. Dianne and I stayed at the Lavender Inn (www.lavenderinn.com). It is one block off the main drag, near all the shops and activities, but it is still in a quiet and beautiful setting. The hosts were wonderful and the breakfasts are great. I highly recommend staying here. “Ray the electrician” retired to Ojai about 30 years ago and knows everyone and everything that goes on in Ojai. He had great restaurant suggestions and we were treated well by anyone he referred us to.
Dianne and I were able to ride our bikes all around the town, and we could even ride all the way to the beach in Ventura on a bike path, about 14 miles, and take the bus back from the beach. So anyone could ride the mild downhill slope to the beach and take a bus back. Most folks ought to be able to ride both ways if they ride often enough.
There was a lovely monastery we just dropped into and had a wonderful conversation with a man who was one of the brothers of the order. When asked why we were going to Ojai, like there was nothing there, I agreed. That is why we went there. Yes, there are stores, art galleries, thrift shops, a theatre, and restaurants, but the point was to get away from Los Angeles and have nothing to do. That’s all there is to say. Ojai is only 1 hour away from L.A., but a world away as well.
Anyway, this entry is about a weekend trip to Ojai. Dianne and I stayed at the Lavender Inn (www.lavenderinn.com). It is one block off the main drag, near all the shops and activities, but it is still in a quiet and beautiful setting. The hosts were wonderful and the breakfasts are great. I highly recommend staying here. “Ray the electrician” retired to Ojai about 30 years ago and knows everyone and everything that goes on in Ojai. He had great restaurant suggestions and we were treated well by anyone he referred us to.
Dianne and I were able to ride our bikes all around the town, and we could even ride all the way to the beach in Ventura on a bike path, about 14 miles, and take the bus back from the beach. So anyone could ride the mild downhill slope to the beach and take a bus back. Most folks ought to be able to ride both ways if they ride often enough.
There was a lovely monastery we just dropped into and had a wonderful conversation with a man who was one of the brothers of the order. When asked why we were going to Ojai, like there was nothing there, I agreed. That is why we went there. Yes, there are stores, art galleries, thrift shops, a theatre, and restaurants, but the point was to get away from Los Angeles and have nothing to do. That’s all there is to say. Ojai is only 1 hour away from L.A., but a world away as well.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Ray Romano Surprise Party
Ray Romano
Surprise Party for his 50th birthday
It is time for name-dropping and excuses to post this particular blog. What could attending a surprise birthday party have to do with travel? Not much, other than the difficulty of traveling in the famous Los Angeles traffic, and that was not fun. This is just an excuse to write about the funny events and people I met on Saturday night, December 1st.
It turns out my wife has been friends with Anna Romano for several years. They both have daughters the same age, who attend the same school, and became friends several years ago. Anna is a really neat lady with great values, easy to be with and has her feet grounded in reality, despite the circles she can run in.
With Ray it’s another story. He is far more talkative for his TV show than he is in person, except for people he knows really, really well, and I am not one of those. He seems rather shy, not outgoing. While I have been to dinner at his house, seen him repeatedly, had him at our house, I would bet dollars to donuts that he would not know my name to save his life.
Actually, I am really not much better. There are many people I have met several times and cannot remember their names. One of the reasons I call my children things like Guy, Sweetie, Baby, and Son is because I am terrible with names. I have called my daughter by my son’s name and vise versa. I have confused my grandson’s names with everything from my son’s name to any one of the three grandsons. The only thing I have not done, yet, is call one of the grandsons by a girl’s name, as there are no granddaughters.
Anyway, let’s get back to the Romano party and name-dropping. Anna did a great job of setting up the party; she really had Ray fooled. It took a full year to pull it off. A couple of months ago she had an invitation sent to Ray to attend a toy fundraiser for Christmas sponsored by Clint Eastwood, with special guest Rod Stewart. She got the permission from Clint and Rod to use their names for this surprise. Ray gets piles of invitations all the time, and most go into the trash. However, he knows Anna loves Rod Stewart, and Ray likes Clint Eastwood, so he brought home the invitation and asked Anna if she’d like to go. She said, “Sure, I’d love to go.” and the ball was rolling for the countdown to Ray’s surprise party.
A year earlier Ray said he didn’t want a surprise party for his birthday. He would figure any event near or in December would be an excuse for his party. He suspected a dinner party with writers from his show; a get together at Doris Robert’s house; or an invitation from Brad Garret could all be a ruse for his surprise party. She really got him with this invitation to a Clint Eastwood fundraiser. Ray spoke about how she really had him fooled and it was as funny as any Las Vegas standup routine.
The thrill for me was to meet Clint Eastwood. I am a big fan of his work, both as an actor and as a director. I admire him as a person and for the quality work that he does. I met Jason Alexander (from Seinfeld), Peter Bergman (Emmy winner from a daytime soap opera), played blackjack with Doris Roberts (she did really well), spoke for the first time with our neighbor Fred Willard (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Peter Guest movies and more) and had an encounter with Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm).
Meeting Larry David was a funny experience. My sister-in-law, Lisa, and my daughter are BIG fans of his show. They absolutely love it, but I cannot watch it. It is too over the top and he is just too obnoxious for me. I can take Hugh Laurie as Dr. House, but I cannot take Larry David. I don’t know why, but that’s just how it is. Maybe the difference is that “House” knows he is an asshole and people tell him that to his face. I don’t think Larry David is aware of how obnoxious he is. However, I can’t say this with any authority because I have not been able to get through more than one whole episode, and have tried it on at least four occasions.
Anyway, Larry was sitting at a table next to us, and Lisa said if he was there I should say hello to him for her. I walked over and asked if I could interrupt his conversation. He said, “Sure” and I proceeded to tell him my sister-in-law is a big fan of his. Unfortunately, as many in my family can attest, I am honest in my opinions, and I added that I am not able to watch his show. He asked me why and I said it was too over the top for me. He asked me what I meant and I tried to explain. Then he asked again, “What do you mean ‘over the top’?”
By now I felt like I was on his TV program and explained about the scene I watched where he was having lunch with a young Japanese man who’s father was a Kamikaze pilot and was now in a rest home. Larry was asking the young man how a Kamikaze pilot could be alive. “Did he just glance off a ship instead of killing himself?” His TV wife said his questions were offensive, but Larry said, “I’m just curious. I’m just asking some questions.” No, I say he was being a jerk. Despite the suggestions he was being offensive, he pursued with more rude questions. I couldn’t take it and turned it off. I felt embarrassed explaining this to Larry and said, “Don’t change a thing on account of me. People love your show.” And he said, “Don’t worry, I won’t.” I’m not sure if I am relieved.
All in all, it was a fun evening. Anna brought in a band from New York that Ray loves. He would go to the club next door after his stand up routine and stick around to listen to this band. There were plenty of things to keep the guests busy; three food stations, a beignet stand (like powdered donuts from New Orleans), gelato, candy, practice golf, photo guest book, dancing to the band, roulette and blackjack tables.
Rennie
Surprise Party for his 50th birthday
It is time for name-dropping and excuses to post this particular blog. What could attending a surprise birthday party have to do with travel? Not much, other than the difficulty of traveling in the famous Los Angeles traffic, and that was not fun. This is just an excuse to write about the funny events and people I met on Saturday night, December 1st.
It turns out my wife has been friends with Anna Romano for several years. They both have daughters the same age, who attend the same school, and became friends several years ago. Anna is a really neat lady with great values, easy to be with and has her feet grounded in reality, despite the circles she can run in.
With Ray it’s another story. He is far more talkative for his TV show than he is in person, except for people he knows really, really well, and I am not one of those. He seems rather shy, not outgoing. While I have been to dinner at his house, seen him repeatedly, had him at our house, I would bet dollars to donuts that he would not know my name to save his life.
Actually, I am really not much better. There are many people I have met several times and cannot remember their names. One of the reasons I call my children things like Guy, Sweetie, Baby, and Son is because I am terrible with names. I have called my daughter by my son’s name and vise versa. I have confused my grandson’s names with everything from my son’s name to any one of the three grandsons. The only thing I have not done, yet, is call one of the grandsons by a girl’s name, as there are no granddaughters.
Anyway, let’s get back to the Romano party and name-dropping. Anna did a great job of setting up the party; she really had Ray fooled. It took a full year to pull it off. A couple of months ago she had an invitation sent to Ray to attend a toy fundraiser for Christmas sponsored by Clint Eastwood, with special guest Rod Stewart. She got the permission from Clint and Rod to use their names for this surprise. Ray gets piles of invitations all the time, and most go into the trash. However, he knows Anna loves Rod Stewart, and Ray likes Clint Eastwood, so he brought home the invitation and asked Anna if she’d like to go. She said, “Sure, I’d love to go.” and the ball was rolling for the countdown to Ray’s surprise party.
A year earlier Ray said he didn’t want a surprise party for his birthday. He would figure any event near or in December would be an excuse for his party. He suspected a dinner party with writers from his show; a get together at Doris Robert’s house; or an invitation from Brad Garret could all be a ruse for his surprise party. She really got him with this invitation to a Clint Eastwood fundraiser. Ray spoke about how she really had him fooled and it was as funny as any Las Vegas standup routine.
The thrill for me was to meet Clint Eastwood. I am a big fan of his work, both as an actor and as a director. I admire him as a person and for the quality work that he does. I met Jason Alexander (from Seinfeld), Peter Bergman (Emmy winner from a daytime soap opera), played blackjack with Doris Roberts (she did really well), spoke for the first time with our neighbor Fred Willard (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Peter Guest movies and more) and had an encounter with Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm).
Meeting Larry David was a funny experience. My sister-in-law, Lisa, and my daughter are BIG fans of his show. They absolutely love it, but I cannot watch it. It is too over the top and he is just too obnoxious for me. I can take Hugh Laurie as Dr. House, but I cannot take Larry David. I don’t know why, but that’s just how it is. Maybe the difference is that “House” knows he is an asshole and people tell him that to his face. I don’t think Larry David is aware of how obnoxious he is. However, I can’t say this with any authority because I have not been able to get through more than one whole episode, and have tried it on at least four occasions.
Anyway, Larry was sitting at a table next to us, and Lisa said if he was there I should say hello to him for her. I walked over and asked if I could interrupt his conversation. He said, “Sure” and I proceeded to tell him my sister-in-law is a big fan of his. Unfortunately, as many in my family can attest, I am honest in my opinions, and I added that I am not able to watch his show. He asked me why and I said it was too over the top for me. He asked me what I meant and I tried to explain. Then he asked again, “What do you mean ‘over the top’?”
By now I felt like I was on his TV program and explained about the scene I watched where he was having lunch with a young Japanese man who’s father was a Kamikaze pilot and was now in a rest home. Larry was asking the young man how a Kamikaze pilot could be alive. “Did he just glance off a ship instead of killing himself?” His TV wife said his questions were offensive, but Larry said, “I’m just curious. I’m just asking some questions.” No, I say he was being a jerk. Despite the suggestions he was being offensive, he pursued with more rude questions. I couldn’t take it and turned it off. I felt embarrassed explaining this to Larry and said, “Don’t change a thing on account of me. People love your show.” And he said, “Don’t worry, I won’t.” I’m not sure if I am relieved.
All in all, it was a fun evening. Anna brought in a band from New York that Ray loves. He would go to the club next door after his stand up routine and stick around to listen to this band. There were plenty of things to keep the guests busy; three food stations, a beignet stand (like powdered donuts from New Orleans), gelato, candy, practice golf, photo guest book, dancing to the band, roulette and blackjack tables.
Rennie
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Travel by Bus
The weekend before Thanksgiving I had a plan to visit my daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren, all of whom live in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas. I usually dread the drive because I do not know what the traffic could be like. A clear and easy 4-hour drive can turn into a clogged frustrating drive of 5 or 6 hours.
So I planned to take my motorcycle on this visit. It’s more like a two-wheeled car, but I can still get around traffic jams if I need to. I can carry the luggage I need, it has cruise control, am-fm and a cassette player, etc., and the weather report showed conditions would be ideal for a motorcycle ride.
My wife was not happy about this idea. Actually Dianne was quite upset about it. I did not want to drive a car; that was for sure. There are no trains that go to Las Vegas and I do not enjoy airports. Anyway, it was too late to book airfare at any reasonable price the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Someone suggested craigslist about sharing a ride with someone who would be going to Las Vegas. There were about 9 people going there, but the dates and times did not match up with what I wanted. Then I found a post for Megabus posted by someone who paid $8.50 for a ride to Las Vegas. Apparently if you plan well ahead, or on off hours, you can get there very cheaply. That was not my situation, but the regular fare was only $30 each way. That would have been the same as a tank of gas on my motorcycle each way at current prices.
I booked the trip online and got my confirmation. I left out of Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and got dropped off near the airport in Las Vegas where my daughter picked me up. The trip in each direction was great. The buses were really nice and clean. I saw a DVD movie on the way there and two movies on the way back, none of which I had seen before. I could read, work, sleep, or whatever I wanted. I did not have to concentrate on the road. I was grateful to take the bus home because my traffic fears were realized. There were way too many people leaving Las Vegas on Sunday at 1 pm and the road got jammed by Primm. It took an extra hour to get back to L.A., but I didn’t care. I was not driving. Even though there is a bathroom on the bus, we stopped in Barstow each way for a snack and bathroom break.
I highly recommend this bus service. It is new to the U.S. and only has 24 outbound cities and 9 destination routes. But it they are going where you want to go, it is a relaxing trip. Check them out at www.megabus.com
Rennie
So I planned to take my motorcycle on this visit. It’s more like a two-wheeled car, but I can still get around traffic jams if I need to. I can carry the luggage I need, it has cruise control, am-fm and a cassette player, etc., and the weather report showed conditions would be ideal for a motorcycle ride.
My wife was not happy about this idea. Actually Dianne was quite upset about it. I did not want to drive a car; that was for sure. There are no trains that go to Las Vegas and I do not enjoy airports. Anyway, it was too late to book airfare at any reasonable price the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Someone suggested craigslist about sharing a ride with someone who would be going to Las Vegas. There were about 9 people going there, but the dates and times did not match up with what I wanted. Then I found a post for Megabus posted by someone who paid $8.50 for a ride to Las Vegas. Apparently if you plan well ahead, or on off hours, you can get there very cheaply. That was not my situation, but the regular fare was only $30 each way. That would have been the same as a tank of gas on my motorcycle each way at current prices.
I booked the trip online and got my confirmation. I left out of Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and got dropped off near the airport in Las Vegas where my daughter picked me up. The trip in each direction was great. The buses were really nice and clean. I saw a DVD movie on the way there and two movies on the way back, none of which I had seen before. I could read, work, sleep, or whatever I wanted. I did not have to concentrate on the road. I was grateful to take the bus home because my traffic fears were realized. There were way too many people leaving Las Vegas on Sunday at 1 pm and the road got jammed by Primm. It took an extra hour to get back to L.A., but I didn’t care. I was not driving. Even though there is a bathroom on the bus, we stopped in Barstow each way for a snack and bathroom break.
I highly recommend this bus service. It is new to the U.S. and only has 24 outbound cities and 9 destination routes. But it they are going where you want to go, it is a relaxing trip. Check them out at www.megabus.com
Rennie
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