Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Parking Nightmare

The saga continues. My airfare from Burbank CA to Las Vegas NV was $46.53 plus taxes of $24.68. Total $71.20. When I arrived back two days later my motorcycle was soaking wet from the rain and it would not start and before I could leave, they wanted $80 in parking fees. You can read below the letter I sent to the Manager of Parking Operations for the Burbank Airport. I will post the results on my blog, but do not expect an entry any time soon.

Lot E Burbank Airport December 8, 2009
Entered 12-5-09 Exit 12-8-09
Total Fee Paid $80
Refund requested $80

Based on the information below, I am requesting a refund of my parking fee at the Burbank Airport:
1. Motorcycles used to park for free in the parking structure the last time I was at the Burbank Airport. I have a beautiful Honda Goldwing.
2. I was willing to pay the $20 daily fee, and then found out my motorcycle was prohibited from parking in the structure.
3. I parked where I was told in an open uncovered lot, and DID NOT take away a parking space for a car.
4. When I returned in the morning two days later it was raining. My motorcycle has NEVER before been parked out in the rain. It is always garaged.
5. I spoke to the airport security (Mr. Rickard) to find out what to do. He put me in touch with the parking department. I spoke to Lisa, then Patty, and finally got permission from Raymond Abara to park my bike in the structure until the next day when I could pick it up, hoping when it dried out it would start. If not, I would have to have it towed away. It took an additional 90 minutes before I could leave the airport and have my wife pick me up.
6. I had to push my 900 lb bike about 200 yards in the rain to get into the parking structure.
7. Again, I DID NOT take a parking space from a car but parked next to a storage container in the parking structure..
8. When I came back the next day my bike did start and now I was supposed to pay $80 instead of $40 when I was not my fault it was there another 30 hours.
9. I could have paid $30/day; taken a full parking place; been in the parking structure; returned to a dry motorcycle; and it would have only been $60. But I parked where I was told and now I am being asked to pay an additional $40 and never even took up a parking space. That is just completely unfair and obscene.
10. On the basis of the above 9 points I am requesting a full refund of $80. This fee is outrageous under the circumstances. My parking receipt is enclosed.

Rennie Gabriel, CLU, CFP, UCLA Instructor

Monday, December 7, 2009

F*$k'n air travel

This weekend it was so easy to be reminded why I am a resistant traveler. I think it has more to do with the airport security than anything else. I got a great ticket on Southwest at $50 round trip to Las Vegas to visit my grandsons. I could leave on Saturday morning and be back on Monday morning. Sounds great. Right?

Well, Burbank airport used to allow motorcycles to park for free, and it was in a covered parking structure. I don't know how long ago they stopped that practice, but it's now $20 per day for motorcycle parking and they are prohibited in the parking structure. So, not only did I have to park in an open parking lot, the weather report said that it would start raining Sunday night before my return. Oh great. I will arrive back in Burbank to a wet motorcycle that I get to drive in the rain.

At least I had the foresight to print my boarding pass the day before so I wouldn't have to stand in line at the airport. But now I have to face the dreaded security checkpoints. I also plan ahead for this with my special "airport shoes." They are soft leather loafers, almost like slippers; easy off and easy on. I used to wear my regular hiking shoes until I learned the hassle of getting them on and off with the metal eyelets. Thanks to “Mr. Shoe Bomber" now no one can get on an airplane without first taking off their shoes. When they move to the full body cavity search I will no longer fly anywhere.

However, my shoes were not the problem. I first put my shoes and coat in a bin, and then put my hat upside down on the coat and placed my smart phone in the hat. Next I put my laptop in a separate tub just like I’m supposed to. Well, when the first tub started through the scanner it knocked my hat and cell phone into the tub with my laptop. OH, big no-no. The TSA employee said he had to re-screen the laptop because I did that. So, my computer goes to the back of the line and I’m waiting around for it to come through again.


While waiting I proceed to fill my pockets, put on my shoes, put on my coat and attempt to put on my fanny pack. For some reason the plastic piece will not snap into place, no matter how I line it up. I take a look at it and see the fanny pack I just purchased last month now has a broken buckle/snap. Oh great! Dianne makes fun of me because I wear it everywhere, but now I can’t wear it anywhere. I’ll have to carry it or tie the straps around me. I’ll look like some homeless person holding up his pants with a rope instead of a belt.


Finally I get my laptop back, tie on my fanny pack and head to my gate. While sitting there I glance to my right and notice a carry on suitcase like mine. It then dawns on me that I don’t have my carry on suitcase. Oh great! I hear the constant announcements over the PA system that any bag left unattended will be taken in by the police and blown up. I jump up and hurry back to the screening area.


As I arrive back to the baggage screening area and ask what to do if I left my suitcase here, she points me to a TSA officer who walks up to me with my suitcase and says, “I will have to screen your bag again because you left it unattended and I will have to do a hand search.”


The hand search reveals I didn’t put my itsy bitsy bottles of shampoo and conditioner in a quart sized clear plastic bag. I left them in my toiletries bag which has clear plastic pockets. AND I have this contraband size 6 oz toothpaste tube. I am for sure going to jail. But being a kindly TSA inspector, he says since I’ve already used half the tube, it’s probably only now 3 oz. BUT, he will have to screen my toothpaste tube separately to be sure it isn’t packed with chemical explosives.


Sure, I’m a 61 year old white male planning a trip to visit my grandchildren in Las Vegas and while on the way there I’ll blow up the plane just for the fun of it. At least I got to the airport with enough time to allow for all this and still arrive back at the gate in time for boarding.


At this point you’d think the horror story stops; well it doesn’t. While on the way to the movies with my daughter Davida and grandsons, we get rear ended while waiting to get on the freeway. Auto accidents in Las Vegas are as common as loosing money at blackjack. At least the driver had a valid insurance card, even though he didn’t have his driver’s license with him.


We get to the movies and I enjoyed “Planet 51.” We leave the movies, my daughter drops us off at home, and she continues on to Walgreens to pick up some items needed for the house. While tending my grandsons Davida calls me, “Dad, the car is stuck in ‘park’ and won’t go into ‘reverse’ or ‘drive’ or anything. What should I do?”

I reply, “I guess that smack in the rear end we got on the way to the movies must have done something to the transmission. See if you can reach your mother-in-law and have her bring you home. We’ll pick up the car tomorrow.”


The next day, Sunday, we head over to Walgreens and sure enough, no matter what we do, the car will not get out of ‘park.’ I get behind the car and try to move it forward while Davida tries to get it into gear. No luck. There is also a message on the dashboard that says something about needing to have the transmission serviced. I guess with a Volvo, if you are supposed to get service and don’t, they set the computer to block you from using the car.

I will leave out the details of what it’s like to spend two days with two boys ages 5 and 7, but I will say I am not planning a return visit any time soon. And I have video evidence to make my point.


Monday morning Davida takes me to the airport for the flight home. Things here seem to be going more smoothly. I remember to remove my all my belongings from the screening area and patiently wait to board my flight back to Burbank. I realize my motorcycle has been sitting in an open parking lot in the rain, but I am not concerned. I know I have some rags in the rear trunk to wipe off the seat so I don’t have to sit in water on the way home. Well the joke is on me.


Not only is the whole bike wet from the rain, but it appears water got into something and it won’t start. My Honda Goldwing spends its leisure time in the garage. My bike does not sit out in the rain. My bike does not have to travel in the rain. My bike doesn’t know about the rain. The battery is strong and it’s turning over just fine, but there is no spark, no ignition, no signs that the engine will roar to life. My bike is really angry at me that I left it out in the rain. I’ve never done this before and it’s getting back at me for this transgression.


Even though there are multiple signs that say, “Motorcycles Prohibited from Parking in the Structure” my only hope is to leave it somewhere safe until I can come back the next day. Then I can see if it will start after it dries out, or get it towed away. Knowing this is just as serious as a half tube of toothpaste, I go directly to the Airport Security office.


Officer Rickard tells me the thing to do is contact the parking division, which is separate from the security division and separate from the airport. He helps me find a courtesy phone; I dial 2 and speak with Lisa. I tell her my problem and she refers me to her supervisor Patty. I tell Patty my problem and she says she has to speak with the central parking manager. All I want to do is leave my bike in the parking structure without it being towed away.


The manager tells Patty, who tells me, that she will meet me in the parking structure and show me a place to put the bike. I let her know the bike weighs about 800 pounds and it’s not so easy to move, so I hope it’s not uphill.

Turns out I can park the bike very close to where I placed it in the parking structure. I wrote out a note explaining the situation in case the manager is not available and someone wants to tow it away. It has my name and phone number on the note. I have to be patient and see what tomorrow brings.


Rennie

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Stay away from Carnival Cruise Lines

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 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

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.

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.