Plane travel

I have traveled the last two weeks, one trip to Mexico City and the other trip to Tulsa.  I flew Delta to Mexico City and Southwest to Tulsa.   The trip on Delta was older planes that were completely full and the flights were basically trouble free.   The only delay was in Atlanta when you go thru customs and then go thru the Atlanta Airport security line, it is always a 20 to 30 minute wait at the TSA security area and there is no PreCheck.  Atlanta does not give a shit about you and never will.  The only airport like it in the world.  The Southwest flights were only about 2/3 full and I decided to travel in the back of the plane instead of the exit rows.  The rear seats are three wide and only had one passenger in each.  When you give people a chance to spread out and they are not cramped or hurried, it makes for a lot more relaxed travel.  It was absolutely glaring the difference between cramped travel and the planes that are not full to the brim.  The passengers are friendlier, more pleasant and the flight attendants actual make a little chit chat with the passengers--nice.  People are in many respects just like any other animal that you crowd together--they get aggressive when crowded and that leads to noise, confusion and bad feelings and a lousy flight experience.

If you read my Facebook you will have already heard this story, but it is worth repeating.   I spent the night in Mexico City last week--city of 22,000,000 people at 7400 feet elevation.  My hotel at the airport had an entrance from the parking garage that passed thru an enclosed area of about the size of a football field with the grass like carpet.  It was open to the sky, but had 20 foot walls completely around the area.  I had not run in Mexico due to the altitude,  safety and really polluted air.  But this was an opportunity I had to pursue.   I got on some running gear and did some 100 m sprints with the wind.  At the end of each round, I fell like throwing up, but managed to do 4 or 5 sprints.  I was really fast, but I did have concerns about the air pollution.  I have gotten walking pneumonia from polluted air in the past and did not need a repeat, so I limited my time.   If you look at the air PSI, it is 11.3 and at home it is 14.6 PSI, which is a huge reduction in the wind resistance.  Running at altitude is fun and fast.   Training seriously in this stuff would be difficult due to the pollution and you would have a tough time working the muscles because you would be out of gas before the legs were tired.

Final prep is underway for Christmas.  This weekend I threw my back out by over extending getting up from a chair...  this happens about every year and it takes about 4 days to get back to normal.  In the meantime--it hurts and I walk like a really old man.   A great way to get into the Holiday Spirit!  Linda and I are both working from home this week.  I try not to travel during the Holidays due to the crowding-- see info above-- and it is pricey and hard to get the flights you really want. Plus customers are not in the mood to do hard trials or hear the sales pitch.

 

This year I traveled enough with Southwest and used their credit card on the kitchen, that next year I can take Linda on any of my trips for free!  Hopefully we can use it a few times on some adventures.  She can go to such beauty spots are Muskogee, Oklahoma or Crossett, Arkansas or Palatka, Florida!   The funny part about all those mill sites is I do not stay close to any of them.   And for Palatka I stay in St Augustine on the beach, drive an hour and enjoy the trip!   Hopefully we can get a some fun experiences from this perk.

 

I am running once or twice a week, but the back deal will set me back a little.  There is an indoor meet in Winston-Salem in mid January that I am interested in trying.  Sign up deadline is Dec 26, so I need to make up my mind quickly.  C'mon back, get better quick! 

 

I hope every one has a Merry Christmas and Santa treats you right!