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  • International Jaunts 2020
    Day 23

    Social Distancing Phobia

    March 20, 2020 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 50 °F

    By phobia, I don’t mean being afraid to social distance ourselves. Quite the opposite ... I mean the phobia that is making some people take the concept of keeping space between oneself and others to extremes.

    I get that people are afraid of the coronavirus. Rightfully so. I am too. We should all take it seriously. Washy washy hands with hot water and soap — frequently — as well as disinfecting when water is not available is key. Putting space between ourselves and others is an excellent precaution as well.

    Why am I writing about this? Because there’s a passenger on this aircraft who was taking the social distancing to an unhealthy extreme while we were at the gate awaiting the call to board. This increases the stress level unnecessarily ... not good for our mental health, which is essential in combatting the coronavirus.

    Here's the story ...

    When we arrived at our gate at BOS, we happened to take two seats across from said passenger. WHO says to keep a distance of 3 feet with others ... 6 feet is recommended by some organizations. There was far more than 6 feet of separation between us and this woman ... we at one end of a row of seats and she at the other end of the row of seats across from us ... sitting catty-corner and not even face to face.

    She immediately berated me by saying that we’re supposed to practice social distancing. To which I politely responded that I was doing just that by not sitting next to or immediately behind her. I also mentioned that there was about 10 feet between us. Huffing, she told me that I was so smart. I don’t think she meant it in a nice way.

    When Mui sat down next to me, the woman gathered her stuff, told me that “I’m just like all the other Bostonian liberals,” and moved all the way across the waiting area. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I had only been a Bostonian for a few short months ... and that was when I was born in one of the suburbs of the city 60+ years ago! Best not to engage further.

    Guess what? Minutes after she moved, newly arriving passengers started taking seats near her ... always with plenty of distance ... definitely more than 6 feet apart. She put on gloves and a surgical mask and moved away again. Eventually, there was nowhere for her to go.

    And now ... here she is in the first class cabin with 15 other passengers ... with no social distancing whatsoever for the next 4 hours and 19 minutes. Even odder, she doesn’t seem to have any qualms standing by the bathroom to chit chat with others in much closer proximity than she ever was to us or the passengers around her at the gate prior to boarding. By my count, there are at least two crew members and another passenger standing with her in the tiny space between the bathroom, galley, and the cockpit door. Go figure!

    I’m sad for this woman. I get her fear ... I really do. I even gave her the benefit of the doubt, thinking that perhaps she has an underlying medical condition that made her more cautious. That thought went out the window when she forgot all about social distancing and engaged people in close proximity ... as she is doing even as I write this.

    The stress of the circumstances we find ourselves in these days can be alleviated by educating ourselves on what is right and wrong ... what to do to protect ourselves ... what to do to protect others ... what not to do because it has no practical benefit.

    Keeping as positive an outlook as possible under the circumstances will help our mental health. And will go a long way towards helping us get through these difficult times under which we must continue to live our lives.

    Stay safe ... stay healthy ... remain upbeat!

    (More info about social distancing and other preventive measures at this link, which is one of many one can goggle on the web ... https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditio…)    Read more

  • TravelerWest Coast
    Day 1

    Omaha nebraska

    April 12, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C

    Weather: Sunny and 30s
    States: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska
    Miles: 747
    Hours: 10 hours and 22 minutes
    Capitals: Drove through Lansing
    University Campus:Creighton University Omaha
    Restaurant: Cottage Inn Pizza
    Hotel/Home: Springhill Suites Marriot
    Movies:
    Audible: A Phone call from Heaven by Mitch Albom

    Paul and I began the last hour before our departure with the usual scramble of gathering, shoving, remembering forgotten things, consoling shaking dogs that think we are abandoning them and cleaning up the house. Kind of like when you are moving to a new house. Except, our new (but temporary) home has four wheels, captain chairs with Sparty printed on the headrests and a 26 inch tv. We raced to grab a pizza (cheese pizza of course-Lent) on the way to pick the kids up at school. I had them pack the night before. Don’t forget your toothbrush, socks, and bathing suit. Did you put all your shoes in the car? After all that.... Oh crap!! I am the one who forgot my toothbrush and pillow and for 5 minutes I thought I forgot my purse. The kids found it amusing that I forgot my things. I shot back with, “I’ll just borrow Matthew’s toothbrush since he never uses it.”

    After worrying about the weather that passed along our path 24 hours before, we have been driving straight into the sunset. Blue skies and open road. We ate in the car. Paul was still hungry so I offered up some corned beef Rueben’s in the cooler. “It’s Lent,” he said with a glare. We stopped later at a gas station. I saw a rib restaurant. “Ribs?” “It..is...Lent.” Oops. Why can’t I remember? While we were in the gas station...”Honey, do you want a hotdog?” Oooo if looks could kill. Me, “What??” Paul says, “It is already hard enough to not eat meat during Lent, but when someone keeps offering every kind of meat that I love...” Small evil smirk. He always says these things make me cute. So, I told the lady if we can’t eat meat then 12 bags of chips, Dove chocolate and coffee will have to do.

    We are now in Iowa. The sun burned itself out on the horizon. Clear skies, clear roads and sleep in an Iowa Marriott. We are aiming for De Moine by11:00 PM but we might go further. We want to knock off as much pavement as we can. Imagine the Pioneers traveling horseback and wagons for weeks with hopes for fortunes and new beginnings. We are just hoping to see a movie star or two. Not really (well a little) but we love the adventure, the learning and the fun together.

    Well, we kept going and made it to Omaha at 1 AM. We were feeling good and ticked off another couple of hours. We are staying at a Fairfield. Our trusty Marriott Bonvoy. We are now Platinum Elite now (Ghilani’s). I tell you, we have stayed in every level of Marriott and they do not disappoint. So Dad, we just did your Omaha drive that you told me today you used to do when you lived here. Thinking about you. I hope they figure out what is going on. Get Better. Hugs.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha
    Day 15

    Wrapping up the day

    May 5, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    After the meeting we went back out to the Expo Center to do a little sight-seeing and shopping. The deals were killer so we had to buy some See’s candies and look at the awesome BNSF railway display complete with running train and little models of all the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries.

    After the meeting we drove past TD Ameritrade Park (where the College Baseball World Series is held) and then went over the border to Iowa to get some much needed refreshments: Dairy Queen blizzards (another Berkshire-owned company). On the way back for the night we drove past Kiewit Plaza, where Berkshire-Hathaway has its office. What a whirlwind of a day!!!    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha
    Day 15

    Berkshire Hathaway, main event

    May 5, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    At 8:30 the meeting started off with a custom video featuring Warren Buffett and a bunch of stars (Schwarzenegger, Floyd Meriweather, A-Rod). They showed a hilarious sped-up video showing Charlie Munger spending nearly 3 minutes trying to open a box of peanut brittle at a previous meeting, and it was entertaining to see how neither Buffett nor Munger take themselves seriously.

    A little after 9 the meeting commenced with a brief introduction from Buffett and then a question and answer session coming from shareholders (the audience) and analysts. It was pretty cool to get an insight into how both of these brilliant men think and act. We both especially enjoyed Munger’s sense of humor delivered with witty zingers (e.g. “the man clearly doesn’t understand his own profession” directed at someone asking a dumb question).

    The question and answer session went on for about six hours with a one hour break for lunch. We were disgusted to see how many people were disrespectful during the meeting: playing on their cell phones while sitting in the most coveted seats, chit chatting with their neighbors during the presentation, etc. People have no manners!    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha
    Day 15

    Berkshire Hathaway, getting there

    May 5, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We woke up EARLY to get to the CenturyLink Center in Omaha to get into the meeting. First time I’ve seen a sunrise in quite a while. The meeting starts at 8:30 so we arrived a few minutes before 7 to get in line. Evidently thousands of people had the same idea because the line snaked all the way around the entire building and had doubled back on itself by the time we found the end. It took us about an hour of waiting in line before we made it through the front doors, and we entertained ourselves by watching the frantic people behind us and the heavily armed police holding semi-automatic rifles. I feel like we’re going to some popular rock concert!

    Evidently there isn’t a space large enough to seat the 40,000 people in attendance, so the latecomers are directed to a secondary room where they watch the presentation on TVs. We wanted to be in the main room (which is a huge arena for sports events and concerts) so we jogged around trying different sections with no luck. Finally we jogged up to the nosebleed seats and snagged the last two seats in the section. We felt lucky to find them!    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha
    1
    Day 14

    Berkshire Hathaway, Day 1

    May 4, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    The meeting is held at the Convention Center downtown, and the first day is a expo of many of the companies that are owned by Berkshire Hathaway. They set up amazing displays and have storefronts where you can browse and shop. Some of the companies represented are See’s Candies, Borsheim’s, Justin Boots, NetJets, DQ, Fruit of the Loom, Dynamax, BNSF, and more than I can remember! It got us both very excited to see the main event tomorrow!!Read more

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