Travel Stuff

It's been difficult finding time to get any work done on this blog. We decided to stay home this year and not do any more travel until next year. Apparently it didn't work very well. We're heading to Las Vegas in two weeks for a hair show and a skin care show, then in September we're making about 14 stops in Germany and France and attending Mondial Coiffure in Paris. This is the largest beauty show in France. Then in December we're heading to Florida for a week & a half.

So why can't I not travel? I have no idea. I get an email from a travel site with some amazing special, I get an email or a flyer for some amazing training event and before I know it I'm booking flights to somewhere that I didn't even realize that I MUST travel to.

With that in mind I decided to share a few travel tips that I've learned. #1 United Airlines sucks! We had flights on Continental, which United bought, and everything went down hill from there. We flew to Seattle and when we arrived United didn't even know whether we were going to fly to Denver or Houston for our next flight. We had 16 flights booked between four of us and we didn't make it on one single planned flight. Then, one flight United couldn't even get ice successfully loaded into the plane. ICE!!! So, I'm sat there on the United airplane wondering why United, who can't get ice on one single airplane things that they have so much additional energy, intelligence and experience to run TWO airlines??? I couldn't think of an answer. They don't even run ONE airline well.

So, I've found that booking flights in February and March has been cheaper for me. I've also found that checking flight prices frequently helps find the best fare, and I mean about every couple of days. I've also found that you can save enough money by flying to certain destinations and then continuing on to your real destination. Like if you want to fly to Paris, you can fly to Barcelona, get off the plane, book a hotel for a couple of nights, get back on the plane and fly to Paris. The cost... about the same as simply flying into Paris! If you're interested in flying to Bologna it's cheaper to fly into Venice, spend a couple nights in a hotel and then take a train to Bologna. It's not just cheaper it's a LOT more fun. Milan is another expensive city to fly into to if you get off the plane, but if you transfer planes and fly to another destination and take the train back to Milan you can usually save a bout 25% of the cost of your flight.

Hotels are also interesting. It seems that in almost every city we fly into there is one hotel that really "get's it"! That is, one hotel that has figured everything out, they care about what they do and they do it really, really well. The rest of the hotels are constantly playing catch-up.

There are certain cities that almost everything there is cheap and while you're there you can't figure out why the place isn't swarming with tourists simply because of the great prices! Verona, Dinan, Fougere, Nice all come to mind. The hotels are cheap, the food is cheap, they're fun cities and they're beautiful! I have no idea why these places aren't more popular while places like Bologna, Frankfurt and Lyon are expensive and they're not very fun and the people aren't very nice. Go figure.

I also find that I'm drawn to water. I love staying by a river, the ocean, a lake... I don't really care much which, I just really like looking at water, or at least being near water. I like mountains too.

So, I forgot... I mentioned some travel tips. Tip #1, if you can avoid it, avoid United. They suck. If you think United is bad, try Ryan Air. They're WAY, WAY worse than United. I know, you think I'm kidding but I'm not! When I flew Ryan air I had to get in the ticket line to check in even though I'd had a ticket for months. Then they tell you that you must check your bag. Another line. So you get in the second line and they charge you a REALLY ridiculous price for you bag but when you try to give it to them, they say that they can't take it because you don't have a ticket for your bag and it must be weighed. So, you get into another line to have your bag weighed and to get a ticket. After your bag is weighed and you have your little ticket, when you try and hand your bag to the person who just weighed it, they won't take it. You must turn around and get back into the line where you paid for the bag. I know... sound's like it couldn't possibly be their system, but it IS! Your bag must weight under 22 pounds, but the bag itself weighs between 2 and 5 pounds.

So, what to do? Take your fishing vest, your camera vest... any vest with big bulky pockets. Why? Because even if your wife has a purse... they charge you. If you have a camera... they charge you. If you have a tiny little bag with a sandwich in it... they charge you! NO I'm not kidding! So, stuff your laptop into the big pocket in the back... your camera on the left, your chargers, cables, etc on the right. Sue wore 3 sweaters, 2 skirts, had her socks in one pocket and her underwear in another, etc. We saved about $300 in additional charges just by bringing two fishing vests with us. They tried to rip us off by being creative so we fought back by being creative. It's a battle over OUR money!

Avoid Ryan Air if you can. And Easy Jet... They took off an hour and a half late which means that we missed our train in Venice. When you complain they say that you should talk with a supervisor at the desk in Venice. Very tricky!!! They don't have a desk in Venice, the borrow another airline's desk just long enough to load their passengers and there is NO supervisor there. Avoid Easy Jet.

Taking a train in France... Do NOT buy the travel insurance. IF you did something to miss the train, they won't refund you. If THEY did something to make you miss the train, even if the train breaks down, say... at the foot of the French Alps, they won't refund your money because they won't respond to your emails. Complete waste of money. There are tickets that are not refundable and that you can not change, and there are tickets that you can change, but they don't! Buy your ticket at the window when you're ready to go. I know, there is a line. I know, many of them don't speak English. But, do it the other way like we just did and your ticket from London to Paris for $240 will cost you well over $1,100 by making you buy the same ticket THREE times! You'll see three options to buy tickets online. RailEurope, EuroStar and EuroRailways. They're ALL going to rip you off. Some by having tickets that are 2 or 3 times more than the actual cost of the ticket, or by offering you insurance that they won't honor, or by getting your ticket to you too late to catch the train. Simply walk into the SNCF station and buy your tickets yourself, when you want to take the train. Simple! The trains in Italy are completely simple and cheap and you don't have to mess with any of this.

If you take a flight into London, the security is a complete joke! Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world with a flight landing every 30 seconds. Yes, I'm serious! So how many customs agents should they have on duty? Apparently about 12, but they're all playing grab-ass, drinking coffee or hanging around in the back office leaving only 2, yes TWO customs agents to clear all of the passengers from all of the flights that land every 30 seconds. Do the math. It should take about 10 minutes to clear customs, but they're airport employees, so, maybe about 30 minutes. In London Heathrow it takes about 4 to 5 hours to land, get your bag, clear customs and then get to your train, which will have left about 3 hours before, thus the long train story.

Give yourself 6 hours if you have to do anything with Heathrow Airport! In fact, I've found that just about any business dealing in the UK takes about 5 or 6 times as long as you would think, IF you can find someone to help you in the first place. There are exceptions to this of course, but in most countries, the exception is that there are a few people that don't want to help you. In the UK there are only a few people that DO want to help you.

Hotels in France. Some hotels in France don't put addresses on their web sites, their printed materials or tell you on the phone. They list the highway they're located on. Not much help. We stayed in one hotel near Fontainebleau that we had to find with our GPS by name, not address. When we finally found it we checked in. I asked, what's up with not listing an address but instead using "somewhere on the highway". He answered, "I don't know, maybe it is a 'French Thing' or something". He put us in room 107. I said really? He looked confused. I said I though you'd put us in "a room, somewhere down the hall". I thought it was really funny, but he didn't. So what! After driving around forever looking for the hotel they'd better get used to a little humor at their expense when we finally DO find the hotel!

Hotel rooms. Read the reviews. They say a lot about the room, the hotel, but also about the surrounding areas, good restaurants, etc. Look at other people's travel photos. Check out tripadvisor.com for reviews, but book with hotels.com. When you stay 10 nights you get a free night. Also, they've been really good at fixing things for you when the hotel screws things up.

Flights - farecompare.com is a bood place to look, so is airfarewatchdog.com. The app for farecompare.com will really frustrate you. They send you alerts when the fares you're watching are good, but the fares never exist! They send you an alert for a fare that is only $411 but when you click the book it now button, the fare they found for you is $827 instead of $411. Think I'm kidding? Try it for yourself. The web site works much better. If you fly Alaska Airlines you're going to hear really long commercials announced by the flight attendants for Bank of America Alaska Airlines credit cards. I got suckered into that one time. Then for no reason, other than Bank of America SUCKS, they raised my interest rate to 29.9% with NO late payments, NO over limit charges and NO negative comments in my credit file. I print my own flyers about how nasty Bank of America is now, and carry them with me when I fly Alaska Airlines. When they stand next to your seat and go on and on for HELF AND HOUR handing out applications all around you, your noise-canceling headphones won't block them out, a regular iPad or iPod won't drown them out, nothing works except a "booster". This is a little amplifier that you plug your headphones into and that plugs into your iPod or iPad. That will amplify the music so that it ALMOST drowns out the annoying flight attendants who are prostituting themselves out for Bank of America. Did I mention that Bank of America SUCKS!

Breaking up trips. Sometimes, a lot of the time, it's cheaper to fly from Alaska to another destination with a good priced airfare and then to book a completely separate airfare from that city to your destination. That can save you a lot. Sometimes. Sometimes not, but look at every possible combination and don't just settle for the first thing that pops up.

Bring stuff home. Sometimes you can find items that are in hot demand where you live that are light, small, and fit right in your checked baggage. Don't freak out, but a few well thought out items that you can sell at home can help reduce your total travel costs.

I'll try and write some more later today. See ya.

Jury Duty

So I reported for jury duty despite the fact that my skin was crawling just being at the courthouse. I wasn't skipping around with joy, but I did it. Mostly I did it so that I could tell the judge what I thought about the current state of jury duty. The Constitution is fresh in my mind in that in just the past two months Obama signed into law a horrible law that allows the US government to arrest US citizens without a warrant and to hold them indefinitely with no trial. On top of this, Obama also made a "recess appointment" of Richard Cordray as the head of a newly created position, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, except the Senate IS in session. So what has happened to our Constitution?


Anyway, I showed up for "jury duty" and passed through the metal detector, removed my laptop, iPad, etc., even though there was no search warrant. THIS is what the Fourth Amendment looks like -

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."


Our Constitutional rights are abuses so frequently that we don't even seem to notice much anymore. I do, but when I mention it people seem to get annoyed. This makes me think of an old saying - "To the fool all things come quickly." So, when you have no rights because gradualism slowly destroyed them, what will you do then?


I disarmed myself so that I wouldn't be arrested by the rent-a-cop at the metal detector. This is what the Second Amendment looks like -

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

I can't think of a greater "infringement" than completely disarming me! The FBI, the Anchorage Police Department and the Seattle Police Department have all researched my background and found me safe enough to carry a weapon. But not the courts?

Instead of being able to earn the normal amount of money I do on a daily basis I was reduced to earning nothing on the first day, and if I were to "serve" for a longer term, I would by paid about a quarter of what a 16 year old Burger King employee makes! I didn't volunteer for this! This is what the Thirteenth Amendment looks like -


"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."


Again... I have committed no crime, in fact I do my best to stay OUT of trouble. Yet my income can be completely stopped by jury duty. I am forced to disarm. I am forced to swear an oath which is STRONGLY condemned in the Bible. My speech is compelled which is prevented by numerous Supreme Court cases.


I had a break in last year for which, after the insurance coverage I was out of pocket about $600. Yesterday, during jury duty, because I was prevented from working, I'm out about $1,000! IF the police did actually catch the burglar that broke into my business, which they didn't, I would lose twice as much money in court day after day testifying against the burglar. If the burglar broke into YOUR business and I was called as a juror, I would lose twice as much money as you did siting on a jury day after day! Certainly the framers of our constitution had NOTHING close to this situation in mind when they made it a requirement to have jury trials!!

It didn't always used to be like this. When jury duty was first instituted in the United States each juror was paid "a workman's wage". Today, that would be a couple hundred bucks! Judges & attorney salaries are through the roof but jurors are only paid $25 per day, BEFORE parking? This is wrong!

I've explained this to THREE different judges who have all had their own version of "It's not MY problem." Well, it should damn well BE your problem because YOU are the one that benefits from my free labor!"Judges and prosecutors and attorney's incomes have shot through the ceiling while the regular working stiff must pay. The criminals certainly aren't!

"But how is this legal plunder to be identified?  Quite simply.  See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong.  See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime."  Frederic Bastiat, The Law

Several people have tried to explain to me that the Supreme Court has found that jury duty is constitutional. Of course they did! I have this to say in response - "Corn can't expect justice from a court composed of chickens."  (from an African Proverb) If you have two parties in a dispute, a third party, a disinterested party, should decide the outcome. By having one of the parties of the dispute determine the outcome of the dispute is the epitome of dishonesty! In fact, the degree of dishonesty of the entire jury process is what upsets me the most! 


Here are some interesting quotes that I found regarding jury duty -

A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer. Robert Frost

This is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Justice is open to everyone in the same way as the Ritz Hotel.  

Judge Sturgess

The jury, passing on the prisoner's life,

May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two

Guiltier than him they try.

William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

Lysander Spooner, Trial by Jury

If the jury have no right to judge of the justice of a law of the government, they plainly can do nothing to protect the people against the oppressions of the government; for there are no oppressions which the government may not authorize by law.  

Beyond and above the logic (or the lack thereof) and beyond and above the law (or the lack thereof), there is the issue of my faith. Christians are told to judge those INSIDE the Church to the degree that it can be determined if they are a true believer or a false believer, and if false, they are to be expelled from the congregation. The following is from my statement to the judge regarding jury duty -

"As a Christian I am called to be honest. Not partially honest, or honest when it is convenient, but honest as an ongoing lifestyle. This very concept is done away with when reporting for jury duty from being searched without a warrant, being disarmed in violation of the 2nd amendment, to compelled speech and being forced to swear an oath or “affirming” that I will tell the truth. I tell the truth all the time, period. This takes a lot of effort and constant vigilance already even without the additional pressure from the state to be dishonest by participating in jury duty! Sin is not the same for everyone, it is based on what you believe in your own heart. For me, jury duty is sin. 

James 4:17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

I will be asked by the prosecutor if I can withhold judgement until I hear “all of the evidence” when he and I both know that a murder case from 2006 was dismissed just last month here in Anchorage BECAUSE a jury heard “all of the evidence” when according to current law, they should have not heard evidence of prior convictions for drunk driving. Because I will never hear “all of the evidence” but rather just one part from the prosecutor and another part from the defense and these two parts will be further constrained by the judge, and NONE of this evidence is in accordance with the Bible’s teaching, I would be forced to make a decision about another human being with only some of the evidence, guessing as it were, in the dark. I am not called to be in the dark but rather called to be in the light, and not to judge those outside the Church. I would be compelled as a juror to witness things that I actively avoid on a daily basis as a Christian. In fact, there is no part of jury duty that is compatible with my faith as a Christian."

James 4:4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

As a citizen of the United States I have a 1st Amendment, Constitutional right to practice my religion without interference from the government. The government violates this right by forcing me to sin according to my personal religious beliefs, by participating in jury duty. There is NO directive in the Bible that I am aware of telling any believer to be in court for any reason. The Bible instead teaches the exact opposite. The word the Bible uses to describe secular courts in 1 Corinthians 6:1 is “adikos” which has been translated into English as “unjust”, “unrighteous”, “sinful” and “ungodly”, and warns believers that the nature of secular courts is to deal with believers in an unjust manner, fraudulently and deceitfully. Believers are taught to avoid being in court if at all possible.

The word used in 1 Corinthians 6:1 is ἄδικος adikos   (ah’-dee-kaus)

a) descriptive of one who violates or has violated justice

b) unjust

1. unrighteous, sinful

d) of one who deals fraudulently with others, deceitful

The Bible teaches Christians not to judge non-Christians or unbelievers which makes me completely unsuitable as a juror in a secular court. Believers are to judge other believers within the Church to the extent of discovering whether they are true believers or not. If found to be true, we are to embrace them as fellow believers, if not, they are to be expelled from the Church. Believers are not to judge non-believers. 

1 Corinthians 5:9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[c] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

Those I judge have presented themselves to me as believers. We are told to be separate from the world, to be IN the world but not OF the world. We are told that at some future date, at The Judgement, believers will judge the world, even angels, but not in this lifetime. The Bible also states that believers should not take believers to court. The Bible instead teaches that believers should suffer being wronged and should suffer being defrauded rather than to take another believer to court.

 12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”[d

1 Corinthians 6

¹ When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous ^rinstead of the saints? ² Or do you not know that ^sthe saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? ³ Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! ⁴ So if you have such cases, ^twhy do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? ^5 uI say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, ⁶ but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? ⁷ To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. ^vWhy not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸ But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even ^wyour own brothers!¹

⁹ Or do you not know that the unrighteous² will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: ^xneither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,^{3 10} nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And ^ysuch were some of you. But ^zyou were washed, ^ayou were sanctified, ^byou were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

The Bible also teaches that if a believer is brought to court that he should settle the case before it gets to a judge.

Luke 12:58

As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled to him on the way, or he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.

Matthew 5:25

"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

Even Jesus refused to get entangled in a legal dispute when asked about an inheritance.

Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

Romans 12:2 - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2 Corinthians 6:15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[b]? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

   “I will live with them    and walk among them, and I will be their God, “Come out from them    and be separate, 17 Therefore, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”[d] and they will be my people.”[c]

Beyond being told not to judge unbelievers, I am also forbidden to swear an oath, to affirm, or to say anything more than a simple yes or no. I do this as part of my everyday life and I speak the truth to everyone I meet in every circumstance to the best of my ability. The Bible also states that anything beyond a simple yes or no “comes from the evil one.” 

Matthew 5:33-37 - 33“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

James 5:12 says this even more clearly - James 5:12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.

Clearly “above all” means above a court, above a ruler, above a government, quite simply above all, I am not to say anything more than a yes or a no and that’s the end of it. So, according to the Bible, when the state forces me to swear they are forcing me to sin, which is another violation of my 1st Amendment rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Forcing me to make a statement that I clearly do no wish to, that I don’t believe in, is “compelled speech” which the Supreme Court has ruled on in 1941, 1943 , 1977, 1980 and 2006.

By participating in jury duty I am forced to be dishonest to my spiritual nature, to violate my own conscience and to disregard my faith which I am unwilling to do." 

Matthew 10:28 says - “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

A

New Orleans

It is SO fun seeing people do what they love doing instead of only doing what they have to do! This is the Smoking Time Jazz Club performing on Royal in December, 2011. Fun, fun, fun!

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary at the Court of Two Sisters. The brunch is absolutely amazing! We also had the best meal of our life at dinner here just two days prior.

We took an airboat tour at Lafitte, Lousiana (named for the pirate Jean Lafitte). Steve, our guide, was an amazing wealth of information and it was obvious that he cared deeply for this place. United lost one of our bags so after zipping through the swamp at 45 mph during a monsoon rain, two of us were soggy for two days until our bag finally arrived.

Charlie & Aly just before the rains.

 Married for 25 years! I have been fortunate to be married to, work with and travel with my very best friend. And to do this for two and a half decades! How cool is THAT?

It is a great, great joy to watch my daughter find love also.

We stayed at the Hotel Provincial on Royal street in the French Quarter.

I'm modeling my Eiffel Tower glasses while viewing the sights from the Nachez steamboat on the mighty Mississippi river.

This is the paddle wheel of the Nachez steam boat on the Mississippi river.

Sue is feeding a bird at the New Orleans Aquarium. Aquarium? I know, huh? It's OK, they have fish too.

Told ya!

All in all, New Orleans is a great get-a-way in the middle of the winter. It's not beaches & sun, but it's warmer than Alaska, provides some great fun and some adventure and it inspired our cooking to an all new level. We took a cooking class and it has improved our meals already.