Erk's 2014 Pacamerican Circle

[erkpod]

Various scenes at JFK

 

[erkpod]

The white zone is for the immediate loading & unloading of passengers only. This police car would drive forward, blast the horn at people stopped at the JFK for too long, see someone behind sitting at the kerb too long, reverse back, blast horn, drive forward...







Normally no staff members ride the AirTrain but due to the disruptions, they had people riding on the trains which were running between Federal Circle & Howard Beach/Jamacia.



X listens to some audio we recorded together - I'm helping her in researching to produce some corporate audio. content.

 

[erkpod]

Waiting for the LIRR train back to Penn Station. More expensive but faster & more comfortable than the subway. Faster, too.

 

[erkpod]

Snowing in Manhattan



Traffic CCTV on a TV channel (Channel 72)

 

[erkpod]

I made a fun sized snowman.







Earlier, I wrote my name in the snow.



A message...

 

[erkpod]

Uh-oh.

I was watching TV & saw a news ticker on Fox News reporting an illness outbreak on a cruise ship belonging to Royal Caribbean International.

Googling reveals that the ship is the Explorer Of The Seas - not my ship. However, my ship, Majesty Of The Seas, was affected a week ago.

http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2014/01/18/norovirus-strikes-royal-caribbean-cruise-ship

I am aware that cruise ships can be a hotbed for these sort of outbreaks.

 

[erkpod]

Can't wait for the cruise photos Erk. I would love to do a KISSCruise out of Florida.

Last year's 70000 Tons of Metal was awesome. I won't be online during it - I'm not going to pay 75c/minute for internet.

If you get to do a cruise like this one or the KISS cruise, do it!

 

[erkpod]

Wow, that was fast! My Wednesday trips on DL PDX - ATL - MIA & Thursday's MIA - JFK trips have credited today (Saturday). That's pretty similar to the time for me for VA flights to credit.

 

[erkpod]

Day 26, NYC
Sunday 26 January

Final day in NYC. Was hoping to see X this morning before I leave but if she could, she'd work 24/7. I had a feeling yesterday when I said goodbye yesterday that I wouldn't see her today.

Anyhoo, I checked out of the hotel & went for a walk around the immediate area. I stayed in the same general area this year & last. This year, I was closer to Broadway & 5th Ave but last year, I was 9 streets away from Times Square but further from Broadway.

The general area around me is familiar territory & my navigation skills are pretty good. Indeed it was me who finished navigating us back to a subway station yesterday as X was leading us around Greenwich village in circles. Not that I cared, mind you!

Compared to yesterday afternoon, the snow was on the ground but not falling. The temperature is still under 0°C, still.


I found my way back to the hotel I stayed at last year on 31st but this year's hotel on Madison/27th was much better for a similar amount with a bonus of VFF points.

I'm now in a buffet across the road from the hotel waiting for more food to be put out.

In a couple of hours, I'll be seeing NYC in the rear view mirror of a Super Shuttle bound for JFK, next destination Miami.

 

[erkpod]

What's left of my snowman this morning.







This bike is munted. Munted is, of course, the technical term.





Unlike the bike, this furniture is good.

 

[erkpod]

Walgreens might as well just card everyone.



Last year's hotel.



The sushi place next to last year's hotel.





A couple of good things to live by on signs in the neighbourhood.

Speaking of things to live by, X just called me. Even though we'll still have online, it's still sad that I won't get to see her until the next time I come to America. That said, she spent a lot of her teens down under & is keen to return.

We joked that we'll open a proper Australian eatery here & that I'll look after the meat side of the menu & that I'll leave the veggie side of things to her.

I haven't had a connection with someone like her for some time.

 

[erkpod]

Looks like Erk isn't the only guy in NYC with a name starting with E writing his name in the snow.

 

[erkpod]

Now in the JFK DL Sky Club, T4 Concourse B. This is the best lounge I've ever been in!

 

[erkpod]

More from the JFK DL Sky Club, T4 Concourse B.

 

[erkpod]

More from the JFK DL Sky Club T4, Concourse B







Ordering (paid) meals is easy. There are touch screens then you take a buzzer.

 

[bbewg]

Great TR, Erk!

 

[erkpod]

Now in the DL Sky Club T2. My plane is coming from Orlando & the original scheduled departure of 1800 has become 1810 & since leaving T4 has become 1820.







The lady in the T4 lounge said there was a lounge in T2 but I'm glad I didn't rush over here. I needed to take an airside shuttle bus from T4 to T2.

I'll stay here until boarding is announced. There's an amazing diffeence between T4 & T2 & their Sky Clubs.

 

[erkpod]

Flight report, DL2152 JFK - ATL
Sunday 26 January

I should be writing this in Miami. I'm stuck, though, in the Sheraton Gateway in Atlanta. My bags, however are having a night away from me in Miami.

I knew when check-in started that the plane would leave 10 minutes late. While transferring between T4 & T2 & the respective lounges, that went up to 20 minutes.

On the plane at the gate, the front door was opened several times to allow late arriving pax to arrive. One guy got into a yelling match with the FAs (usual cabin baggage story) & his bags got put into the hold.

There was an APU failure, the plane was late arriving & to make things worse, something in the towbar snapped during pushback.

Departure was 90 minutes late to take off & my connection in ATL was 58 minutes. The plane made up some time, though but ATL being ATL, there was a long taxi. 18 minutes between wheels down & making the next flight was never going to happen.

The female FA I spoke to was nice & explained what I already knew that the decision would be made on the ground. She would, however, try to assist the process by asking non connecting pax to remain seated to give people a chance. True to her word, she did this. She was ignored by the pax who just did what they normally do ... so I lost it. Despite me losing it, only the occasional pax moved aside.

It was all in vain. The flight had closed despite the gate screen showing final call. There was no one at the gate & not a white courtesy phone to be seen. Had to return to the gate I came from, a phone call was made. Flight closed.

Off to customer service & I find that my bags made the flight but not me. So they'll be waiting for me in Miami. I've got an early flight to Miami in the morning & I need sleep. I need to be on the shuttle at 0525 for a 0735 departure - lucky for me, I'm HLO now. All with the exception of my CPAP machine which is having a night off in Miami, I don't really need anything else.

While all the leemings were queued up to check in (Delta must be up for a lot tonight), I was on the phone which was recharging. I spoke to the hotel to confirm I'm a no show.

I spoke to X who has been through this before (she recently was in the same situation as me when returning back to JFK - she was stuck in DC). She calmed me down a lot - that's why I called her.


Then I spoke to the booking company & I'm getting a full refund in 7 - 10 days.

So where am I?

I'm in the Sheraton Gateway near ATL. Too bad I can't enjoy it. With hindsight, I could have stayed in NYC tonight & flew to MIA tomorrow for my cruise but at least I'm in (as X said) in a better hotel that the airline is (quite rightly) paying for.

I have sent a combination compliment & complaint to DL.

 

[TomVexille]

That's a big no-no for your bags to go without you

 

[erkpod]

That's a big no-no for your bags to go without you

That's what I said but according to the DL lady at ATL, it was ok for that to happen. She said my bag would have only been offloaded if it was an international flight.