Friday, October 09, 2020

Fun at the Airport Weekly Link Round-Up

 


Right now, I wish Denis's retirement date had passed, and that he didn't have to darken the airport's doorstep ever again. Why? Because families seem to have decided that it's safe to hop on a plane with all their worldly goods and travel somewhere-- many of them here to Phoenix. 

It began with the horrific fires in California. People didn't like breathing in all the smoke, they had relatives in Arizona, so they decided to get out of Dodge for some cleaner air. If it weren't for COVID-19, I'd say that I couldn't blame them a bit. From what Denis says, it would appear that the only COVID-19 safety measures most airlines have taken is mask wearing (which has led to some interesting encounters) and taking out the middle row of seats when there's a row of three across. I've gotten some of the worst colds in my life on board a plane, and you couldn't pay me enough money to fly now. Anyway...the airlines are packing as many people as they can on board their planes and flying them wherever they want to go. Once they've landed and have picked up their suitcases, strollers, golf clubs, etc., are their aggravations over?

Ha!

 

 

It's only when they hustle all the kids and luggage to the waiting areas to board the shuttle bus for the rental car center that their frustrations really begin. Local government has placed a big plexiglass shield between the bus drivers and the passengers on the shuttle buses (yes!), and they have mandated only ten people may travel on each bus. People are grumpy (I'm being polite with my word choice) from the flight and then they discover that they have up to a five hour wait to get on a shuttle bus. By the time they board, many of them are out for blood, and who's the only person they see that they can rip to shreds? You got it-- bus drivers like Denis. I had something similar happen to me years ago, and by the end of the day phrases like "berserk" and "running amok" were foremost on my brain. I feel for Denis, but there's nothing substantive I can really do.

While I ponder why on earth people are wanting to travel for non-business reasons-- and use a disease-prone method of transportation to boot-- during a pandemic, I think I'll mosey on out to the link corral. Head' em up! Moooove 'em out!


►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
  • Traffic stops as a beaver drags a huge branch across a New Hampshire road. And while I'm on the subject-- All hail the beaver, mighty linchpin of the natural world.
  • Do crows possess a form of consciousness?
  • A photographer creates detailed dining scenes for the hungry squirrels who visit her yard.
  • I love this! Parrots were removed from a UK safari park after teaching each other to swear and then laughing about it. And here's a parrot that talks to squirrels.
  • A quarter of all reptile species, many of them endangered, are sold online.
  • Jak Wonderly's Caught by Cats portrait displays hundreds of animals killed by house cats. (Ask me how I feel about cat owners who turn their animals loose to roam the neighborhood.)
  • This curious octopus investigated an acoustic guitar.
  • This airport in Helsinki employs dogs to sniff out signs of COVID-19 in travelers' sweat.
  • A hero rat wins a top animal award for sniffing out land mines.
  • The pandemic shutdown in San Francisco had sparrows singing sexier tunes.
 
►Crafty Little Gems◄
 
►The Happy Wanderer◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
  • What happens when a president (Jimmy Carter) really listens? 
  • David Attenborough, 94, broke Jennifer Aniston's Instagram follower record in just under five hours. (This tickles me because David Attenborough is one of my heroes.) 
  • Speaking of heroes, one of mine died recently. The nation mourns Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who broke barriers and became a feminist icon.
 
►I ♥ Lists & Quizzes◄

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

10 comments:

  1. The first time I visited kittlingbooks it was on a Fri, and just loved the "link corral." Immediately, "let me look at this blog a little closer." Lot of my interests all rolled into one!
    And now today -
    I'm with you on non-essential travel on airplanes or by car - total insanity. And another coincidence - I'm scheduled Jan. 23 to do a birding trip to Southeast AZ - flying into Phoenix. I'm thinking it will be cancelled. Even if not I am about 98% sure I'll cancel - we'll see. At age 74 I don't need to take the risk. Huge disappointment for me, as you can see here Cathy - http://www.mbwbirds.com/winter-az.html (last years trip)
    Sometimes I wonder do people even get it how brave any worker that deals with the public is to show up and serve. My heart goes out to Denis and you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For several years, Denis and I would go down and spend at least a week in a cottage in the Mule Mountains outside of Bisbee each January and June because those times coincided with our birthdays. I've been to most of the places listed on that birding trip and many that aren't. I love Cochise County.

      (Have you read J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady mystery series which is set in Cochise County?)

      Delete
    2. Thanks Cathy for the J.A. Jance recommendation - I haven't read anything by her. Looks like most if not all of the Brady series, and other series are at my library as electronic books. She is on my list.

      Delete
    3. Good! I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy some of the books. I particularly like the Brady books. Jance grew up in Bisbee and you can almost use some of the books as travel guides the setting is so pitch perfect.

      Delete
  2. You know, Cathy, I'm a person who enjoys travel. But right now? No way. Under no circumstances except dire emergency would I get in a plane. It's a huge, huge mistake, I think. And it puts so many lives at risk. Just no. Anyway...at least we can safely travel virtually, as I will to visit that 400-year-old ship.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as I can get out on the occasional masked jaunt, I'm okay with virtual travel.

      Delete
  3. I know they want to escape the fires, but planes are not a safe choice for avoiding Covid-19. Denis must be completely frustrated. Right now, consideration for others is paramount.

    Off to check on some of the links!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm beginning to think that most of us are entitled jerks-- and I don't want to think that way.

      Delete
  4. You could not pay me enough to travel by public transportation right now, especially in an airplane. I'm not convinced that the air quality, especially for hours and hours, is anywhere near the quality level that airlines claim for it.

    I was on a ten-hour flight from Paris to Houston a few years ago, in business class, when an obviously sick woman was allowed to claim her seat in that part of the cabin. She was coughing - and vomiting - even before we departed, and she continued to do that for hours before she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. It's not a pleasant thought...but she left behind close to a dozen little air-sickness bags when we finally got to Houston. Four days later, I was sick as a dog, and I ended up bedridden during two weeks of my 30-day home-leave.

    Lesson learned...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good gravy! That woman should not have been allowed to board the plane. It's a miracle everyone on board didn't become ill.

      Delete

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