Dispatch From The Red Carpet Club

In my last job, when I traveled to and from San Francisco with regularity, I posted several entries from the United Red Carpet Club at SFO.  Since I started my new job in the summer of 2009, I've not had the chance to get out here again.  I am out here today working with a client, and with that work done, I am firmly ensconced in the quiet, roomy, civilized confines of the RCC.  My flight (the red-eye back to Dulles) does not board for five more hours, so I have some time to work, to blog, to read, and to relax--sorta like I had when I worked in my old job.  But little of that these days.

This truly is a beautiful part of the country.  It sucks to pay taxes in California, but there's really nothing wrong with living here.  The weather is pretty much great all the time (at least where people live--I hear it gets rough in the desert, but I have no reason to be there), and there are a hell of a lot of things to do with one's leisure time.  When I lived here (a 15 month special guest appearance 10 years ago while XO of a Cruiser in San Diego), I grew weary of the recreation lifestyle, the "I work so I can play" approach to life.  I yearned for the East Coast psycopaths who work in order to work, for whom recreation is fluffy and unnecessary, and for whom time off mostly counts as time to be bored.  I count myself among their number, but as I get older, I am drawn to what California has to offer.

I could sit here in the lounge all night and not be the least bit inconvenienced.  I sorta wish I still drank, as there is a fine bar here, and getting a little snockered seems like the thing one does when one has time to kill in airports.  While there will be no spirits for me, I will at some point break out of the womb-like protection of the RCC and venture out among the volk to find something to eat.  I noted a Gordon Biersch out there in the airport, and I remember there being tasty pretzels there--though I may be mistaken.

I received notification today that a life insurance policy I had applied for had been approved...though at a higher premium than the initial "teaser".  The notification said something about "information" gained during the application process.  Hmmmm.....gonna have to follow up on that one.  Don't drink.  Don't smoke.  BP is normal--could it be the few "extra pounds"?  Am I being victimized by sizism?  I must follow up.

I listened the other morning to an interview with the Secretary of the State of Washington, Mr. Sam Reed.  He was on POTUS (satellite radio) talking about Washington's exclusively "voting by mail" program, which I found unobjectionable.  Then--he began veering off into a discussion of 8 or 9 ballot initiatives that were before the people of Washington (including an "income tax on the rich"), and in the course of  the discussion, he cited the "wisdom of our founding fathers" in allowing the "people" to legislate when they felt the need.  I don't know what "people" Mr. Reed was talking about--but the Founding Fathers I studied thought that the "people" were wholly incapable of governing themselves (direct democracy), and that's why we have a "representative" democracy.  Other examples of the Founders wisdom include the Electoral College and previous convention of having Senators appointed by state legislatures--since changed by the 17th (?) Amendment.

I will fly home later on a 757, three seats to a side separated by an aisle.  I will be in a middle seat, which most people find onerous, but which I find acceptable (though not optimal).  Whatever the airlines have done--they seem to be on the right path.  Virtually every flight I'm on these days is full--clearly they've cut back on capacity in order to optimize per-flight profit.  Don't get me wrong--the flying experience still blows--but I think they've arrived at a good place with respect to capacity and the flying market.

That's all for now for this dispatch.  Perhaps I'll come back to the blog later.  I do have the time, you know.