Riding the Rails, to Gratitude.

Those of you who stop by occasionally know I am no corporate shill (certainly, it is not a moral stand as much as the lack of opportunity. I  am constantly on the lookout for openings in the exciting field of corporate shilldom.  Of course, it goes without saying that I would be willing to start as a corporate lackey, or even corporate stooge, and work my way up.  So, if any large corporations happen to be reading this, and are in the market let me know.)   But, recently my family and I flew into Omaha, (dreadful business, that flying) and our old friend, who is completely blind, took the train, and his trip could not have worked better.

Onto the point, if anybody has made it this far, I want to express my gratitude to Amtrak.  When we called to initiate the trip the representative was well informed and thorough, making sure he had a seat on the lower level.  The train personel took such good care of our friend.  When they stopped to pick him up, on the way to Omaha, they called him by name at the station, and gently guided him to his seat.  The conductor helped him with his suitcase, and the whole thing was handled with kindness and gentleness.  And the same thing can be said of his trip home.

It was an extemely difficult thing to ask our friend to take such a leap of faith, and climb into the unknown world of a train car alone, and without assistance.  But, it turns out he was not alone, and had all of the help he needed.

So, if any of you know any high ranking officials at Amtrak please tell them how grateful I am for taking such good care of my good friend.  You have earned our undying appreciation.

Throwing Caution to the Wind, Again.

On our way back, waiting for our flight, the flight here wasn't too bad. Of course, it wasn't without a few tense moments. Like takeoff, landing, and all of the flying in between.

It became almost surreal, when, about 20 minutes out of Chicago, the pilot announced;

"Due to  budget cuts in air traffic control personnel forced by sequestration  the tower at Midway is understaffed today. I'm afraid that this means we are going to need a little help bringing this baby home. Everybody in front of the wings please look out your windows for other airplanes, if you see one, scream, really loud. As we begin our descent those of you behind the wings will need to let me know how close I am to the ground. Passengers above the wings, you are responsible for praying, earnestly, passionately and with feeling."

It seemed a little suspect, but we made it, and it was nice to help out a little. Maybe flying on Monday will be a little easier. Also, we have decided to go through St. Louis instead. It is named after a saint, that can't hurt.  Let's hope Louis is the patron saint of reasonably priced airport food.