Trip Report: Fear and Loathing in Manhattan (ABQ-ORD-LGA-EWR-ORD-ABQ)

The Bill Mattocks wrote

.... something that I had forgotten some time ago ? everyone who
works at EWR hates people...

Arriving/Departing passengers THINK they are already/still in
New York. Airport workers KNOW they are in NJ?

Binyamin Dissen wrote in message . ..
I really don't understand your depth of being a company man.

Less a 'company man' than a 'salaryman'. I like getting a paycheck,
and I'm one of 5 in my department who still do - down from about 25.
I am not the best at what I do, but I'm good. I have to give what I
can to keep me valuable to the company. Times will change.

And then, there's that Marine mentality that's still operating
twenty-some odd years on. Tell me to take the hill, then By God I'm
going to take the hill.

If there aren't any reasonable hotels at your companies per diem, tell them.
You should not have to make the choice of spending your own money or sleeping
on a park bench.

In many cases, I'd agree with you - and I do get my luxuries most of
the time. I stay at Courtyards - nice enough and better than the
Motel 6. In this case, there were just damned few rooms still
available for the entire week in Manhattan. My company usually does
not deny me the few extra bucks I spend on the hotels, air fare, or
rental cars - but when they can pimp me out for a few bucks on a
couple days notice, they don't stop to think what it does to me. I
try to take the bad with the good. And lately, I guesss because of
the end of the year/quarter, they've been nickel and diming me on my
expenses.

If they do not make enough from the class to pay for expenses, they should not
offer the class.

They're managers. You have to talk to them slowly and use small
words. I just try to give 'em something shiny to play with and stay
out of their way.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

"DALing" daling43[delete]-at-hotmail.com wrote in message ...
ah, Bill, we just have your best interests at heart...

I know, I know. And don't think I don't appreciate it. Nothing like
torturing drug addicts to show them the error of their ways. That'll
work.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

"Alec D. Plotkin" wrote in message ...
Philly would not have helped. Philly was a mess too!

I even thought of renting a car and driving on to my next assignment
in Kansas City. But I really wanted to go home and see my wife. Call
me crazy, I like to see her for 10 hours every week or so.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

(Alistair Bell) wrote in message . com...
I don't know about Weehawken, but the Jersey City waterfront has some
pretty good hotels (with great views!) for good prices, and both ferry
and subway (PATH) connections into Manhattan. Sure, it's a touch
further from midtown than you'd like to be, but we were very impressed
when we stayed there. (There's a Doubletree, a Hyatt and an
extended-stay place called Candlewood Suites that we really
enjoyed...)

If you're in Manhattan for fun, sure. But I'm working. I carry a 30
pound pack on my back and I'm not walking a step more than I have to.
I was there to teach classes - 8 hours a day on my feet. An hour
going to and from work turns an 8 hour day into a 10 hour misery.

Not to mention the fact that I found it very difficult to find cabs in
midtown - probably due to the shopping season. I can't feature
trudging 25 blocks from the ferry landing to 56th and 8th twice a day.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

"Jeffrey Hacker" wrote in message ...
Wow, Bill! What a trip!
I've had the misfortune of staying at the Milford Plaza. You make it sound
downright wonderful :-) I remember it being even worse.

I didn't mention the clientele...

The place was packed with retirees, foreign tourists, and what
appeared to be crack ho's. However, my friend Austin Hastings came up
and visited me one evening last week, and he thought they were college
students. Hmmm. The stench of cheap perfume in the elevators told me
otherwise, but kids are different nowadays. And their music? It's
just noise. I'll take Steppenwolf over System of a Down anytime.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

(me) wrote in message . com...
Yeah, my thoughts too. As soon as I saw those original flights being
canceled, I probably would have watched the weather channel and headed
by ground in a favorable direction. He could probably have driven
to Cincinatti in a day.

Sure, but who knew the airports would be closed nearly all weekend? I
figured that they'd have the plows out, get the runways cleared, and
by Saturday afternoon we'd be fine. I figured wrong, but what are ya
gonna do?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Bill --

I was in NYC this weekend too. I'm going to post a trip report when I have
some time, appropriately titled "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles". It was
a real mess in NYC this weekend, but I flew in Friday and departed Monday.
Flying in Friday was terrible, but luckily I did manage to get in on another
airline to a different NYC airport after having my original flight
cancelled.

It was a good, but interesting weekend. When I left on Monday, things were
still a mess at the airports. I saw a friend off Sunday and T7 at JFK was
pretty bad and from what I heard, a riot almost broke out (it got pretty
damn close from what I heard, police called in, etc).

Will post my report when I have time, likely tomorrow -- it'll be a good
read.

Steve

The Bill Mattocks wrote:
Sure, but who knew the airports would be closed nearly all weekend? I
figured that they'd have the plows out, get the runways cleared, and
by Saturday afternoon we'd be fine. I figured wrong, but what are ya
gonna do?

In the northeast, when they start to issue PR notices advising pax that they
are waving change penalties due to the predicted storm, it means that they
expect a backlog of a few days. As I recall, those started coming out on
Thursday night.

(The Bill Mattocks) wrote in message . com...
(me) wrote in message . com...
Yeah, my thoughts too. As soon as I saw those original flights being
canceled, I probably would have watched the weather channel and headed
by ground in a favorable direction. He could probably have driven
to Cincinatti in a day.

Sure, but who knew the airports would be closed nearly all weekend?

No, no, no. You don't understand. Monday morning quarterbacks
don't have to worry about problems like this. We already KNOW you
WERE stuck. It makes the job SO much easier.

I figured that they'd have the plows out, get the runways cleared, and
by Saturday afternoon we'd be fine. I figured wrong, but what are ya
gonna do?

I can't say I would have made a whole lot different decision.
I'm about 50/50 on such. I'd probably have a leg up on ya though
having sat through a few more of those living in Michigan as I did.
It helps to know how to interpret TV weather broadcasts for a certian
area. It took me a few years after moving to Florida to translate
what they were saying into a risk/benefit analysis for my own
situation.