Coffee, tea, or an exit row seat?

I wonder how long it will be before some airline marketing type decides thay can charge a premium price on exit row seating?  Just one more menu item for you to choose from when booking a trip.

"Priority boarding....a mere $20."  Nope.

"A cocktail, Sir?  Only $5?"  Umm....sure.

"Would you like a sandwich....only $8?"  Eight bucks?  No thanks.

Think you might need to use our convenient in-flight toilet facilities?  Just $3?"  No, it's only a 2 hour flight.  I can hold it.

"How about an exit row seat for a measly $100 additional?  Can save your life....whatdayasay, sport?"

After the Asiana 777 crash in San Francisco I'll bet the flight attendants will have a plane full of attentive passengers when they give their pre-flight spiel about how to bail out in an emergency.  I always volunteer for exit row seating because you generally have more leg room there, but I'm not sure I'd pay for it.  But of course I always know where my exits are anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back a dozen years ago when I was active in the airshow biz I completed ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting) training at Dallas' Love Field.  The Dallas FD periodically puts on training classes for suburban fire departments that have small airports in their area.  It was a very eye opening experience.

Not me.  This was pinched off the internet for example.

We trained on the Southwest Airlines mock-fuselage at their Dallas home base.  In one exercise we were all seated inside, then they pumped in some sort of cloudy gas so thick you couldn't see the end of your nose.  Then they told us to find the exit, open it, and slide out.  You meet the nicest people crawling around on the floor of an airliner.  :)

Next we had to gear up.  We put on full firefighter "bunker gear"....heavy boots, fire coat and pants, nomex hood, air mask, helmet, gloves, and a Scott Air Pack.  Then in 3-man teams we had to climb a ladder up onto the wing (not easy dressed like we were), open the escape door from the outside, and climb in.  That opening is smaller than it looks.  It was very hard for me to get my head down and under while at the same time picking my feet/legs up and over.  I was pretty much folded in half.  And I don't fold in half very gracefully. *no*

Then we had to find the injured guy (a 160 pound dead weight dummy), unbuckle him, pick him up (it's all about leverage), get him down that narrow aisle onto a backboard, and slide him down the chute, all while being timed.  The professional firefighter teams did it in 3-4 minutes.  My team of amateurs did it in....let's just say my guy would have been dead, cold, stiff, and ripe before we got him out.  

Then we got to go out and play with the big trucks.  FAA requirements say that equipment must be able to get to any spot on the airport within 3 minutes.  Because of this some airports are so large they have multiple fire stations.  (DFW has four.)

The surprising thing to me was how fast they are!  And when they get to where they need to be they can dump a LOT of water/foam/whatever in no time.  As soon as they arrive the driver, using a joystick like a video game, can aim his water cannon and unload in seconds.  Very impressive!  I got to use the joystick and squirt water, but they wouldn't let me drive the truck.  I can't imagine why?  ;)

Bottom line:  These guys and ladies are VERY good.  And they go out on calls a lot more often than you might imagine.  Fortunately most incidents turn out to be non-events as the landings turn out OK.

Point is....be thankful for our first responders, pay attention to what your flight attendants say, and bring your own crappy sandwich.  ;)

S

The Versatile Blogger Award

Yesterday I was honored (and shocked) to learn that my friend Steve the Chubby Chatterbox nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award.  To think that someone as creative and articulate as he would nominate lil 'ol me is quite humbling.  Thank you, Steve.  :)


According to nomination protocol I'm supposed to share 7 interesting things about myself ("interesting" being relative) and then pass on my nomination for the award to a few others I find deserving.  So without further adieu....


1.  I had a loving, stable childhood.  Two parents (no stand-ins), both very caring and ultra-ethical, only three public schools, culminating in a B.A. in BS from Texas Tech University.  My dad had an outrageous sense of humor, so on those occasions when I go totally bonkers just know I'm helpless....it's my dad's genes running amok inside me.  For 30-something years my brother and I have been partners building Park Place Custom Homes (.com if anyone cares).


2.  Politically I'm all over the map.  My conservative friends think I'm a card-carrying Socialist, while my liberal friends think I'm just to the right of Attila the Hun. So which is it?  Both, depending on the issue....with a heavy dose of cynicism mixed in.  I firmly believe our elected officials at all levels (and of BOTH parties) care about themselves first, those who bribe contribute to their re-election campaigns second, while We the People rank somewhere down there with the family pet....maybe even a notch below.


3.  I've had a life-long interest in aviation.  When I was 8 years old my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told them I wanted to have a party on the observation deck of Dallas' Love Field.  Back in the mid-80's I joined a WWII aviation heritage group then known as the Confederate Air Force.  We acquired, restored, and then flew our 130+/- aircraft at airshows all across the country.  I was a marshaller, leading a group of around 50 others who organized and ran the flight line at these shows.  I was the Ramp Boss at events from California to Maryland, Iowa to the very southern tip of Texas.  It was a very challenging (volunteer) job, basically run like a huge jigsaw puzzle based on aircraft size, turning radius, etc.  Over the years I worked closely with the US Navy Blue Angels, the USAF Thunderbirds, the RCAF Snowbirds, and the RAF Red Arrows.  That all came to an abrupt end when....


4.  ....I had several back-to-back detached retinas in my left eye which, long story short, left me with no peripheral vision on that side.  When you're literally working just a few feet from giant whirling propellers capable of turning you into sausage in the blink of an eye, situational awareness is critical.  With no peripheral vision on one side I decided it was time to hang it up.  I then studied and became a certified docent at a local aviation museum, but frankly I found it boring.


5.  I've attended both Citizen's Police and Fire Academies, giving me just enough knowledge of what they do to be dangerous. It was a blast, and very "hands-on".  I've also completed (for real) Aircraft Rescue And Fire Fighting (ARFF) training at Dallas' Love Field and DFW International Airport.  I was first to arrive at several airshow crashes, but the damage was catastrophic and there was little I could do when I arrived on scene.  Very sad.


6.  Back in 1992 I was invited to experience a "trap" (landing) and a "cat shot" (takeoff) on the USS Forrestal, a US Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Gulf of Mexico at the time.  It was a fun ride, lemme tell you!  Yes, that makes me a "tailhooker", no pun intended.  (Well...maybe a little.  ;) 


7.  I met my wife Kelly (aka "K") online, but not the way you might think.  I was reading an aviation blog and it said "for further info on this topic read XYZ@Journalspace.com", so I linked over.  JS said I had to have a membership to read there so I signed up.  Later while surfing JS I saw a photo of a weed on a blog, the blogger asking what it was and how do you control it, so I answered.  Later posts were also interesting so we began visiting.  Come to find out she was living far away at the time but was from near Ft. Worth, Texas (I'm from near Dallas).  More talk, then a meet, then....  :)  And to think if I had linked over to Journalspace just a few seconds earlier or later I probably would never have seen her weed photo and cry for help.  It was fate, I tell ya!


Are you bored to tears yet?  I thought so.  


Now please allow me to nominate a few other bloggers I find interesting:


Oddball Observations....Bruce writes about....well....oddball observations.  He's had an interesting life and has some interesting opinions, too.


Charleston Daily Photo....Joan shares some of the interesting sights and history of the Charleston, SC area.


Suldog....what can I say?  Jim is just not right!  In a good and humorous way, though.


Now y'all close your computers and get to work.  :)


S