This is a cross post from my personal blog, Reitmeier Here's the travel part of the story.
I was traveling back from Berlin Germany to Minnesota. It was early December in '06. I was scheduled to fly from Berlin to Amsterdam on the 6AM flight, catching a KLM 747 to Chicago, then up to Minneapolis, and Finally to my home airport at Grand Forks. I didn't really like this route, because it involved 4 legs instead of the usual 3 and because I'd be in Chicago going through customs, (a reported nightmare from friends) and then have to pretty quickly get to another domestic terminal to catch the flight to MSP. The UPSIDE was that I was going to be able to be in the upstairs cabin on the 747 (a first for me), in World Business Class or the KLM equivalent. I miss the front cabins of the 747's Northwest used to fly across the Atlantic, they'd have DC10's on the winter season, and 747's for the summer between Minneapolis and Amsterdam. I liked them both but there was always something about riding the THUNDERING behemoths of the sky that put an added spice to the trip. Because of their size, 747's don't just turn...they slowly lay over and start a wide sweep to a new heading. And if you want a little exercise, walking from my customary seat of 2B all the way to the rear of the plane, then across the row of bathrooms in the back and returning always left you in AWE of human ingenuity and design, to make something so big that was flying so high and so fast. Anyway back to our story.
I was supposed to be on this "unusual" routing but when I got to TGL, Tegal Airport in Berlin, AT 4:30 in the morning, the 6am flight to AMS-Amsterdam had been delayed for up to 90 minutes. So While I was going through the possibilities with this very proper British-English speaking KLM gentleman, I asked about getting on one of the direct flights from AMS to MSP. I remember so well his response, "AHM TERRIBLY SAURY SIR, BUT THE LIKELIHOOD OF THAT IS EXTREMELY REMOTE! YOU'LL HAVE TO GO TO CUSTOMER SERVICE. AH'LL KEEP YOUR BAGS HERE SO I CAN LOAD THEM WHEN YOU RETURN!" OK, I got like 180 minutes so why not give it a try! I head over to the customer service station, turn the corner to face the counter, and low and behold! It's Barbara (about 60, very blond, very attractive, and very Dutch). A supervisor that I've interacted with before. She was the one that worked so hard to try to find me a flight back after the big snowstorm in Amsterdam just the year before.
Of course in my excitement I started babbling this entire story again. In about as fast as an American can spout a dissertation, I'm going, "Remember me, you tried to get me a flight home when my aunt died and there was the big snowstorm in Amsterdam and I waited in line four hours and...and...and..." She was looking at me like I was some sort of predator about to jump over the counter. Finally to finish my story to her, I held my (very same)big leather coat open in the motion that I did on that memorable day, in a wide sweeping, block the counter, motion so that she could sneak away and go to the bathroom. (She had just had surgery, which I had mentioned in my excitement which only seemed to confirm that I knew WAY to much about her as opposed to what she knew about me!) Well the minute I opened my coat, the lights went on in her brain and it all came tumbling back, she got this big smile and said in her best German-Dutch accent, "YA SURE I Hremember you, vat can I do for you today!"
I explained that although I'd been looking forward to the upstairs 747 seat, was it possible that she could re-route me on the more direct and NORTHWEST flight. She smiled and said, "well you know we're not supposed to do that!" And I smiled and said, "and I totally understand if you cant!" as she remade my tickets. The one who really had the surprise was the desk guy back at check-in. He though that he was sending me on a wild goose chase, and when I handed him my newly printed, re-routed tickets, he did a double and then a triple take, and said, "WOW Who do you know!" I just smiled and said that he could tag my bags so I could get to the first class lounge for some orange juice!
After a couple of hours of "lounging" in the first class hangout at Tegal, we boarded the flight and got to Amsterdam. Then a couple of hours wait, and it was time to get on the Northwest flight, an Airbus 330, direct to Minneapolis, arriving in the same time to catch my flight up to Grand Forks. After going through the "screening" (translate GRILLING) to get on an international flight in Amsterdam, I comfortably settled down in my seat 3C, a bit smug that my plans had come together so well and the pilot announced something I'd never heard from a flight deck before. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry but there's going to be a slight delay. It seems that this Airbus 330 won't let us start the engines." HMMM the only thing I could think of was this was a case of the tail wagging the dog. How was it that an airplane could refuse to do it's job. Then further news came. It seems that before they had left Minneapolis, a maintenance switch out of a component had been performed on one of the engines. When the airplane got to Amsterdam and hooked into the main computer system, it was discovered that the guy who did the change out DID NOT have the certification to do that repair. SO, the plane was refusing to move from that very spot until it got the information that it wanted. I didn't know that the computers on board were that sophisticated or had that much power. Well our slight delay turned into an additional 90 minutes on the ground. But it didn't matter to much being in the front of the plane, with excellent service, a wide seat, and a new found secure feeling about the high maintenance standards that the airline had developed! It wasn't that the guy wasn't qualified, it was that his credentials weren't in the master computer correctly, which gave the airplane the power to say, "NO GO!!" and it took them 90 minutes to get the credentials right, then into the world system, then into the plane in Amsterdam so that the engines would start up and we could depart.
If you've never flown in the first class/world class section of an airplane, there's a certain social camaraderie that seems to always be there, especially on long flights, it particularly comes out when there is a delay or other trouble. So the conversation is always lively, and it seems that the FA's (flight attendants) are always more upbeat and even a little snappy in their responses, all which makes for a much more enjoyable environment rather than being in the "squeeze together" cattle car section. So the conversation in the front cabin was lively and spirited, even the pilots came through and there was some banter about who was "really" in control of the plane. Also it was asked of the pilot, if there was some kind of emergency and we really needed to get away from this airport, could you override the airplanes directive, and he sort of winked and said, "the captain is always the one in total control!" Which gave me some confidence that if the computers decided to fly the airplane to some foreign destination where there'd be guys with masks and machine guys, that the captain could explain to the airplane computer that we would be actually flying ON TO MINNESOTA!
In our time on the ground, when all was quiet and the hot salted nuts and champagne were being passed around, I was asked by my seat mate where I was from. Not being shy about where I'm from, I mentioned that I was from Crookston Minnesota and gave an idea of where it sits in the state. I saw that the lead FA's eyes perked up a bit but really didn't give it another thought. Not too much later as she was passing by my seat, she said, "I have an uncle who lives in Crookston, maybe you know him." I responded with the fact that I knew most everyone there so who is he? She said, "Bob Dirks, he used to have the Ben Franklin in town." Well not only did I know him, but we went to the same church and had known each other for years and years and years. So we chatted a bit about the town and his family and that he had been in the family business in Olivia before moving to Crookston and how I knew of their family's furniture store because it was on Highway 71 and I had just driven past it the previous summer on my way to the Jackson County fair.
I'm always amazed at the folks you meet traveling around the world and how often you run into either someone you know, or at least someone you both know! So finally we take off and are heading to Minnesota. Our church in Crookston had just put in stained glass windows, LINK and we had made a Holiday card out of the window that was the Christmas Scene. I had taken about 30 of them along with the grand intention of filling them out in my free time while I was in BERLIN (HA) which then got down to the free time on the flight back to the USA. It hit me like Santa's sleigh running out of reindeer power two feet off my roof...Give a card to Bob's niece, have her send it to him without any mention of me and see if he figures it out! I shared my plan with her and she was game. So at 33,000 feet somewhere over the deepest part of the Atlantic my plan was put into operation. We had a great flight back to MSP, got through customs pretty easily, and were home for supper. I really kind of forgot about what I had done at that time with all the Christmas festivities that seemed to bump against each other. Christmas came and went, and then New Years and the Sunday after as I was walking out of church I felt the presence of someone off my left shoulder following just a little too close and then in my ear I heard, "IT WAS YOU WAN'T IT!" kind of growled like a parent catching their kid with a broken cookie jar. I turned and in my most innocent voice said, "I don't have any idea what you're talking about." He laughed and said he KNEW it was me, and so I told him the story about the Christmas card that went all the way to Germany with me and changed hands somewhere over the Atlantic and ended up at his house. It was a happy moment that I'll always remember.
So I learned a lot of things that day. 1. ASK if you want changes, you might get them. 2. Go with the flow, something good might come from it. 3. Don't be afraid to tell people where you're from. 4. Always be looking for little ways to have fun!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
My Very First Flight
Sure I'd been in airplanes before. Cessna's all of them. Probably all 172 or 182 series, and mostly didn't really like it. I don't like the feeling in my stomach that you get on a Ferris Wheel at a county fair, so why would I want to get 10 times that sick feeling on purpose?
I was working at Yamaha Canada, 1330 Portage Avenue in Winnipeg Canada. Had started working there in September, and although I don't remember what month this first flight was, it was 30 below zero that morning, so we must be talking February or the end of January 1973. I lived in the Courts of St. James, 234 Ronald Street and was really liking the big city/small apartment experience! It wasn't a holiday or anything, I just decided that it was time to find out what it was like to ride in a jet.
It was sort of a silly flight in the fact that it was so short. My parents had to leave the farm to go pick me up, BEFORE the plane lifted off from the runway in Canada. Even though it was only 140 miles or so, it was a different country and so there was customs to deal with. My recollection was that the American customs were in Winnipeg, that we talked to them BEFORE we boarded the plane to leave the country. Seems like a better plan since back then there were flights to several US cities from Winnipeg so why have customs/immigration in all the places, why not in just one.
I sat in Seat A right over the middle of the wing. It was a 727-100 the classic workhorse of so many airlines fleets back then. I remember being deathly afraid every time that the flaps were adjusted. Back then they were on motors that ran a system of gears and they made a LOT of noise in the cabin. I felt each time it started that it was going to have a bad ending. Finally I figured out what it was and rested a little easier about that. The flight was 17 minutes in cruise mode. I wish I had the receipt and boarding passes. I know they were in my jewelery box for years, but girlfriends and different moves always have a way of filtering out mementos. I seem to remember that it was $157.00 Canadian, which in todays money would be some pretty big numbers. My base pay at the time was $600.00 Canadian. But we took off, cruised, and landed all in good stead, and I had had my first experience flying on a jet! I'll never forget the day, the experience and the cold! Thank you Northwest Orient Airlines.
I was working at Yamaha Canada, 1330 Portage Avenue in Winnipeg Canada. Had started working there in September, and although I don't remember what month this first flight was, it was 30 below zero that morning, so we must be talking February or the end of January 1973. I lived in the Courts of St. James, 234 Ronald Street and was really liking the big city/small apartment experience! It wasn't a holiday or anything, I just decided that it was time to find out what it was like to ride in a jet.
It was sort of a silly flight in the fact that it was so short. My parents had to leave the farm to go pick me up, BEFORE the plane lifted off from the runway in Canada. Even though it was only 140 miles or so, it was a different country and so there was customs to deal with. My recollection was that the American customs were in Winnipeg, that we talked to them BEFORE we boarded the plane to leave the country. Seems like a better plan since back then there were flights to several US cities from Winnipeg so why have customs/immigration in all the places, why not in just one.
I sat in Seat A right over the middle of the wing. It was a 727-100 the classic workhorse of so many airlines fleets back then. I remember being deathly afraid every time that the flaps were adjusted. Back then they were on motors that ran a system of gears and they made a LOT of noise in the cabin. I felt each time it started that it was going to have a bad ending. Finally I figured out what it was and rested a little easier about that. The flight was 17 minutes in cruise mode. I wish I had the receipt and boarding passes. I know they were in my jewelery box for years, but girlfriends and different moves always have a way of filtering out mementos. I seem to remember that it was $157.00 Canadian, which in todays money would be some pretty big numbers. My base pay at the time was $600.00 Canadian. But we took off, cruised, and landed all in good stead, and I had had my first experience flying on a jet! I'll never forget the day, the experience and the cold! Thank you Northwest Orient Airlines.
Do you know what a PUPPY SHAKE IS?
I think this is one of the funniest flying events that I've ever heard of. I don't know if it goes from airline to airline, but I've been up close and seen it happen two different times now and both times the description came from the FA (flight attendant) not me!
Watch closely on long flights. There will always come a time, usually after dinner is served that folks will be doing a lot more stranger to stranger chatting, there will be lots of activity in the cabin, and the noise level gets higher than usual. All of a sudden the plane with bounce around a bit and the captain comes on and requests that everyone takes their seats that we're going to have just a bit of turbulence for the next minutes...nothing to worry about, but please sit down and it's Northwest's policy that when your're sitting that you keep your seatbelt fastened.
Notice that the turblence is alwasy sort of the same little shaking motion, that it doesn't last more than a few moments, but it does sit everyone down, and quiet everyone down, and get some tranquil situation going again where the FA's can walk through the aisles without to many blocades of peoples butts blocking their way. If you ever experience REAL TURBULENCE you'll immediately know the difference. So if you overhear an FA asking another, "Isn't it time for a puppy shake," or you hear an FA on the phone system asking for one, you'll know what's about to happen.
If you know what they call it on other airlines, please write me and let me know! We'll add it here!
Watch closely on long flights. There will always come a time, usually after dinner is served that folks will be doing a lot more stranger to stranger chatting, there will be lots of activity in the cabin, and the noise level gets higher than usual. All of a sudden the plane with bounce around a bit and the captain comes on and requests that everyone takes their seats that we're going to have just a bit of turbulence for the next minutes...nothing to worry about, but please sit down and it's Northwest's policy that when your're sitting that you keep your seatbelt fastened.
Notice that the turblence is alwasy sort of the same little shaking motion, that it doesn't last more than a few moments, but it does sit everyone down, and quiet everyone down, and get some tranquil situation going again where the FA's can walk through the aisles without to many blocades of peoples butts blocking their way. If you ever experience REAL TURBULENCE you'll immediately know the difference. So if you overhear an FA asking another, "Isn't it time for a puppy shake," or you hear an FA on the phone system asking for one, you'll know what's about to happen.
If you know what they call it on other airlines, please write me and let me know! We'll add it here!
What do you mean the plane won't let us leave!
Goodbye Bob!
Another Crookston native has passed away. Bob Dirks had lived in town since 1970 and owned the Ben Franklin (or 5 and dime as we called it) Store. It's my recollection that the building was built just for that purpose. He closed it down in 2005 and although I don't know the sequence of events, it wasn't long after that that we heard he was fighting cancer. He was an interesting guy, being interested in hunting and fishing, but I didn't know that he could play the guitar! What a shame as we could have plucked a few strings together.
I have a crazy travel story that I hope to share with his family at the visitation, about how he got involved in my flight about 1/2 way across the Atlantic Ocean at about 33,000 feet.
I was traveling back from Berlin Germany to Minnesota. It was early December in '06. I was scheduled to fly from Berlin to Amsterdam on the 6AM flight, catching a KLM 747 to Chicago, then up to Minneapolis, and Finally to my home airport at Grand Forks. I didn't really like this route, because it involved 4 legs instead of the usual 3 and because I'd be in Chicago going through customs, (a reported nightmare from friends) and then have to pretty quickly get to another domestic terminal to catch the flight to MSP. The UPSIDE was that I was going to be able to be in the upstairs cabin on the 747, in World Business Class or the KLM equivalent. I miss the front cabins of the 747's Northwest used to fly DC10's on the winter season, and 747's for the summer between Minneapolis and Amsterdam. I liked them both but there was always something about riding the THUNDERING behemoths of the sky that put an added spice to the trip. Because of their size, 747's don't just turn...they slowly lay over and start a wide sweep to a new heading. And if you want a little exercise, walking from my customary seat of 2B all the way to the rear of the plane, then across the row of bathrooms in the back and returning always left you in AWE of human ingenuity and design, to make something so big that was flying so high and so fast. Anyway back to our story.
I was supposed to be on this "unusual" routing but when I got to TGL, Tegal Airport in Berlin, AT 4:30 in the morning, the 6am flight to AMS-Amsterdam had been delayed for up to 90 minutes. So While I was going through the possibilities with this very proper British-English speaking KLM gentleman, I asked about getting on one of the direct flights from AMS to MSP. I remember so well his response, "AHM TERRIBLY SAURY SIR, BUT THE LIKELIHOOD OF THAT IS EXTREMELY REMOTE! YOU'LL HAVE TO GO TO CUSTOMER SERVICE. AH'LL KEEP YOUR BAGS HERE SO I CAN LOAD THEM WHEN YOU RETURN!" OK, I got like 180 minutes so why not give it a try! I head over to the customer service station, turn the corner to face the counter, and low and behold! It's Barbara (about 60, very blond, very attractive, and very Dutch). A supervisor that I've interacted with before, she was the one that worked so hard to try to find me a flight back after the big snowstorm in Amsterdam just the year before.
Of course in my excitement I started babbling this entire story again. In about as fast as an American can spout a dissertation, I'm going, "Remember me, you tried to get me a flight home when my aunt died and there was the big snowstorm in Amsterdam and I waited in line four hours and...and...and..." She was looking at me like I was some sort of predator about to jump over the counter. Finally to finish my story to her, I help my (very same)big leather coat open in the motion that I did on that memorable day, in a wide sweeping, block the counter motion so that she could sneak away and go to the bathroom. (She had just had surgery, which I had mentioned in my excitement which only seemed to confirm that I knew WAY to much about her as opposed to what she knew about me!) Well the minute I opened my coat, the lights went on in her brain and it all came tumbling back, she got this big smile and said in her best German-Dutch accent, "YA SURE I Hremember you, vat can I do for you today!"
I explained that although I'd been looking forward to the upstairs 747 seat, was it possible that she could re-route me on the more direct and NORTHWEST flight. She smiled and said, "well you know we're not supposed to do that!" And I smiled and said, "and I totally understand if you cant!" as she remade my tickets. The one who really had the surprise was the desk guy back at check-in. He though that he was sending me on a wild goose chase, and when I handed him my newly printed, re-routed tickets, he did a double and then a triple take, and said, "WOW Who do you know!" I just smiled and said that he could tag my bags so I could get to the first class lounge for some orange juice! I'm sure you're all wondering, what could this possible have to do with Bob Dirks in Crookston!...
After a couple of hours of "lounging" in the first class hangout at Tegal, we boarded the flight and got to Amsterdam. Then a couple of hours wait, and it was time to get on the Northwest flight, an Airbus 330, direct to Minneapolis, arriving in the same time to catch my flight up to Grand Forks. After going through the "screening" (translate GRILLING) to get on an international flight in Amsterdam, I comfortably settled down in my seat 3C, a big smug that my plans had come together so well and the pilot announced something I'd never heard from a flight deck before. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry but there's going to be a slight delay. It seems that this Airbus 330 won't let us start the engines." HMMM the only thing I could think of was this was a case of the tail wagging the dog. How was it that an airplane could refuse to do it's job. Then further news came. It seems that before they had left Minneapolis, a maintenance switch out of a component had been performed on one of the engines. When the airplane got to Amsterdam and hooked into the main computer system, it was discovered that the guy who did the change out DID NOT have the certification to do that repair. SO, the plane was refusing to move from that very spot until it got the information that it wanted. I didn't know that the computers on board were that sophisticated or had that much power. Well our slight delay turned into an additional 90 minutes on the ground. But it didn't matter to much being in the front of the plane, with excellent service, a wide seat, and a new found secure feeling about the high maintenance standards that the airline maintained! It wasn't that the guy wasn't qualified, it was that his credentials weren't in the master computer correctly, which gave the airplane the power to say, "NO GO!!" and it took them 90 minutes to get the credentials right, then into the world system, then into the plane in Amsterdam so that the engines would start up and we could depart.
If you've never flown in the first class/world class section of an airplane, there's a certain social camaraderie that seems to always be there, it particularly comes out when there is a delay or other trouble. So the conversation is always lively, and it seems that the FA's (flight attendants) are always more upbeat and even a little snappy in their responses, all which makes for a much more enjoyable environment rather than being in the squeeze together cattle car section. So the conversation in the front cabin was lively and spirited, even the pilots came through and there was some banter about who was "really" in control of the plane. Also it was asked of the pilot, if there was some kind of emergency and we really needed to get away from this airport, could you override the airplanes directive, and he sort of winked and said, "the captain is always the one in total control!" Which gave me some confidence that if the computers decided to fly the airplane to some foreign destination where there'd be guys with masks and machine guys, that the captain could explain to the airplane computer that we would be actually flying ON TO MINNESOTA!
In our time on the ground, when all was quiet and the hot salted nuts and champagne were being passed around, I was asked by my seat mate where I was from. Not being shy about where I'm from, I mentioned that I was from Crookston Minnesota and gave an idea of where it sits in the state. I saw that the lead FA's eyes perked up a bit and really didn't give it another thought. Not too much later as she was passing by my seat, she said, "I have an uncle who lives in Crookston, maybe you know him." I responded with the fact that I knew most everyone there so who is he. She said, "Bob Dirks, he used to have the Ben Franklin in town." Well not know did I know him, but we went to the same church and had known each other for years and years and years. So we chatted a bit about the town and his family and that he had been in the families business in Olivia before moving to Crookston and how I knew of their family's furniture store because it was on Highway 71 and I had just driven past it the previous summer on my way to the Jackson County fair.
I'm always amazed at the folks you meet traveling around the world and how often you run into either someone you know, or at least someone you both know! So finally we take off and are heading to Minnesota. Our church in Crookston had just put in stained glass windows, LINK and we had made a Holiday card out of the window that was the Christmas Scene. I had taken about 30 of them along with the grand intention of filling them out in my free time while I was in BERLIN (HA) which then got down to the free time on the flight back to the USA. It hit me like Santa's sleigh running out of reindeer power two feet off my roof...Give a card to Bob's niece, have her send it to him without any mention of me and see if he figures it out! I shared my plan with her and she was game. So at 33,000 feet somewhere over the deepest part of the Atlantic my plan was put into operation. We had a great flight back to MSP, got through customs pretty easily, and were home for supper. I really kind of forgot about what I had done at that time with all the Christmas festivities that seemed to bump against each other. Christmas came and went, and then New Years and the Sunday after as I was walking out of church I felt the presence of someone off my left shoulder following just a little too close and then in my ear I heard, "IT WAS YOU WAN'T IT!" kind of growled like a parent catching their kid with a broken cookie jar. I turned and in my most innocent voice said, "I don't have any idea what you're talking about." He laughed and said he KNEW it was me, and so I told him the story about the Christmas card that went all the way to Germany with me and changed hands somewhere over the Atlantic and ended up at his house. It was a happy moment that I'll always remember.
So we say goodbye to Bob Dirks, or really "so long for now," as I'm sure we'll meet again. Bob was a great American citizen and a contributing Crookston resident and a caring member of our church family. Rest in Peace...
Another Crookston native has passed away. Bob Dirks had lived in town since 1970 and owned the Ben Franklin (or 5 and dime as we called it) Store. It's my recollection that the building was built just for that purpose. He closed it down in 2005 and although I don't know the sequence of events, it wasn't long after that that we heard he was fighting cancer. He was an interesting guy, being interested in hunting and fishing, but I didn't know that he could play the guitar! What a shame as we could have plucked a few strings together.
I have a crazy travel story that I hope to share with his family at the visitation, about how he got involved in my flight about 1/2 way across the Atlantic Ocean at about 33,000 feet.
I was traveling back from Berlin Germany to Minnesota. It was early December in '06. I was scheduled to fly from Berlin to Amsterdam on the 6AM flight, catching a KLM 747 to Chicago, then up to Minneapolis, and Finally to my home airport at Grand Forks. I didn't really like this route, because it involved 4 legs instead of the usual 3 and because I'd be in Chicago going through customs, (a reported nightmare from friends) and then have to pretty quickly get to another domestic terminal to catch the flight to MSP. The UPSIDE was that I was going to be able to be in the upstairs cabin on the 747, in World Business Class or the KLM equivalent. I miss the front cabins of the 747's Northwest used to fly DC10's on the winter season, and 747's for the summer between Minneapolis and Amsterdam. I liked them both but there was always something about riding the THUNDERING behemoths of the sky that put an added spice to the trip. Because of their size, 747's don't just turn...they slowly lay over and start a wide sweep to a new heading. And if you want a little exercise, walking from my customary seat of 2B all the way to the rear of the plane, then across the row of bathrooms in the back and returning always left you in AWE of human ingenuity and design, to make something so big that was flying so high and so fast. Anyway back to our story.
I was supposed to be on this "unusual" routing but when I got to TGL, Tegal Airport in Berlin, AT 4:30 in the morning, the 6am flight to AMS-Amsterdam had been delayed for up to 90 minutes. So While I was going through the possibilities with this very proper British-English speaking KLM gentleman, I asked about getting on one of the direct flights from AMS to MSP. I remember so well his response, "AHM TERRIBLY SAURY SIR, BUT THE LIKELIHOOD OF THAT IS EXTREMELY REMOTE! YOU'LL HAVE TO GO TO CUSTOMER SERVICE. AH'LL KEEP YOUR BAGS HERE SO I CAN LOAD THEM WHEN YOU RETURN!" OK, I got like 180 minutes so why not give it a try! I head over to the customer service station, turn the corner to face the counter, and low and behold! It's Barbara (about 60, very blond, very attractive, and very Dutch). A supervisor that I've interacted with before, she was the one that worked so hard to try to find me a flight back after the big snowstorm in Amsterdam just the year before.
Of course in my excitement I started babbling this entire story again. In about as fast as an American can spout a dissertation, I'm going, "Remember me, you tried to get me a flight home when my aunt died and there was the big snowstorm in Amsterdam and I waited in line four hours and...and...and..." She was looking at me like I was some sort of predator about to jump over the counter. Finally to finish my story to her, I help my (very same)big leather coat open in the motion that I did on that memorable day, in a wide sweeping, block the counter motion so that she could sneak away and go to the bathroom. (She had just had surgery, which I had mentioned in my excitement which only seemed to confirm that I knew WAY to much about her as opposed to what she knew about me!) Well the minute I opened my coat, the lights went on in her brain and it all came tumbling back, she got this big smile and said in her best German-Dutch accent, "YA SURE I Hremember you, vat can I do for you today!"
I explained that although I'd been looking forward to the upstairs 747 seat, was it possible that she could re-route me on the more direct and NORTHWEST flight. She smiled and said, "well you know we're not supposed to do that!" And I smiled and said, "and I totally understand if you cant!" as she remade my tickets. The one who really had the surprise was the desk guy back at check-in. He though that he was sending me on a wild goose chase, and when I handed him my newly printed, re-routed tickets, he did a double and then a triple take, and said, "WOW Who do you know!" I just smiled and said that he could tag my bags so I could get to the first class lounge for some orange juice! I'm sure you're all wondering, what could this possible have to do with Bob Dirks in Crookston!...
After a couple of hours of "lounging" in the first class hangout at Tegal, we boarded the flight and got to Amsterdam. Then a couple of hours wait, and it was time to get on the Northwest flight, an Airbus 330, direct to Minneapolis, arriving in the same time to catch my flight up to Grand Forks. After going through the "screening" (translate GRILLING) to get on an international flight in Amsterdam, I comfortably settled down in my seat 3C, a big smug that my plans had come together so well and the pilot announced something I'd never heard from a flight deck before. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry but there's going to be a slight delay. It seems that this Airbus 330 won't let us start the engines." HMMM the only thing I could think of was this was a case of the tail wagging the dog. How was it that an airplane could refuse to do it's job. Then further news came. It seems that before they had left Minneapolis, a maintenance switch out of a component had been performed on one of the engines. When the airplane got to Amsterdam and hooked into the main computer system, it was discovered that the guy who did the change out DID NOT have the certification to do that repair. SO, the plane was refusing to move from that very spot until it got the information that it wanted. I didn't know that the computers on board were that sophisticated or had that much power. Well our slight delay turned into an additional 90 minutes on the ground. But it didn't matter to much being in the front of the plane, with excellent service, a wide seat, and a new found secure feeling about the high maintenance standards that the airline maintained! It wasn't that the guy wasn't qualified, it was that his credentials weren't in the master computer correctly, which gave the airplane the power to say, "NO GO!!" and it took them 90 minutes to get the credentials right, then into the world system, then into the plane in Amsterdam so that the engines would start up and we could depart.
If you've never flown in the first class/world class section of an airplane, there's a certain social camaraderie that seems to always be there, it particularly comes out when there is a delay or other trouble. So the conversation is always lively, and it seems that the FA's (flight attendants) are always more upbeat and even a little snappy in their responses, all which makes for a much more enjoyable environment rather than being in the squeeze together cattle car section. So the conversation in the front cabin was lively and spirited, even the pilots came through and there was some banter about who was "really" in control of the plane. Also it was asked of the pilot, if there was some kind of emergency and we really needed to get away from this airport, could you override the airplanes directive, and he sort of winked and said, "the captain is always the one in total control!" Which gave me some confidence that if the computers decided to fly the airplane to some foreign destination where there'd be guys with masks and machine guys, that the captain could explain to the airplane computer that we would be actually flying ON TO MINNESOTA!
In our time on the ground, when all was quiet and the hot salted nuts and champagne were being passed around, I was asked by my seat mate where I was from. Not being shy about where I'm from, I mentioned that I was from Crookston Minnesota and gave an idea of where it sits in the state. I saw that the lead FA's eyes perked up a bit and really didn't give it another thought. Not too much later as she was passing by my seat, she said, "I have an uncle who lives in Crookston, maybe you know him." I responded with the fact that I knew most everyone there so who is he. She said, "Bob Dirks, he used to have the Ben Franklin in town." Well not know did I know him, but we went to the same church and had known each other for years and years and years. So we chatted a bit about the town and his family and that he had been in the families business in Olivia before moving to Crookston and how I knew of their family's furniture store because it was on Highway 71 and I had just driven past it the previous summer on my way to the Jackson County fair.
I'm always amazed at the folks you meet traveling around the world and how often you run into either someone you know, or at least someone you both know! So finally we take off and are heading to Minnesota. Our church in Crookston had just put in stained glass windows, LINK and we had made a Holiday card out of the window that was the Christmas Scene. I had taken about 30 of them along with the grand intention of filling them out in my free time while I was in BERLIN (HA) which then got down to the free time on the flight back to the USA. It hit me like Santa's sleigh running out of reindeer power two feet off my roof...Give a card to Bob's niece, have her send it to him without any mention of me and see if he figures it out! I shared my plan with her and she was game. So at 33,000 feet somewhere over the deepest part of the Atlantic my plan was put into operation. We had a great flight back to MSP, got through customs pretty easily, and were home for supper. I really kind of forgot about what I had done at that time with all the Christmas festivities that seemed to bump against each other. Christmas came and went, and then New Years and the Sunday after as I was walking out of church I felt the presence of someone off my left shoulder following just a little too close and then in my ear I heard, "IT WAS YOU WAN'T IT!" kind of growled like a parent catching their kid with a broken cookie jar. I turned and in my most innocent voice said, "I don't have any idea what you're talking about." He laughed and said he KNEW it was me, and so I told him the story about the Christmas card that went all the way to Germany with me and changed hands somewhere over the Atlantic and ended up at his house. It was a happy moment that I'll always remember.
So we say goodbye to Bob Dirks, or really "so long for now," as I'm sure we'll meet again. Bob was a great American citizen and a contributing Crookston resident and a caring member of our church family. Rest in Peace...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Saskatoon Saskatchewan Say it over and over!
Let's go in the way back machine today! It was summer on the farm. Up to that time all the telephone calls were going through wires suspended about 20 feet off the ground on telephone poles. Down most roads there would be the electric poles on one side and the telephone poles on the other. Every home had to have 2 of these wires running to it, then they would agregate into poles with 4 and 8 and 16 and 32 wires on them, but each set of 2 had one ultimate destination, someones home, or a few people's homes if it was that they were on a party line. For us to dial the next door neighbor, we had to add a 6 to the end of the 7 number telephone number, then hang up the phone. That gave the CO (central office) the instruction to RING BACK to the the party line, you knew the other party answered because the phone stopped ringing.
Well in the 60's they decided to slice in underground phone lines. This was a big deal and actually had some down side. When it was blustery and actually snow was blowing so hard that you couldn't see the ground in front of you, you could always just head between the electric poles on the one side and the telephone poles on the other and make it home. Removing those poles really changed things, it's very hard to try to drive parallel to just 1 set of poles, trust me I've tried it.
ANYWAY back to our story. One of the line guys that was doing the wiring as the big cat tractor pulled this giant knife which inserted the cable about 8 feet under the ground. As we talked to him, you know the old story, kids on bicycles acting as supervisors to the working guys. One of the guys was from Saskatoon Saskatchewan, a universe away for a young farm kid in Minnesota. I remember saying it over and over and over again. Sask-a-toon Sas-kat-che-wan.
How Ironic that 20 years later, I was in a show band that not only went to Canada, but ended up spending a lot of time in Saskatoon, even a month at a time and several times. It is a cool place to visit! Over some years, we performed at the Embers Supper Club, The Executive Motor Hotel, Ming's Chinese (well almost..for about 10 minutes...but that's another story) And who could forget the first...Jack's Food House, small but full of drinkers and dancers every night! Most evenings (after shows) revolved around Boston Pizza or Chinese food. Great Great memories of Saskatoon.
When the group, The New Canadian Downbeats worked the Executive Motor Inn, we had quite an experience! A matress in a guest room caught on fire. The alarm sounded and most everyone (it was a small 4 story joint) had gathered in the hotel lobby. It was also the place where the regional wrestlers would stay when working the town and I guess this was their weekend. So here comes two firemen pulling this burning/smoldering mattress down a 1/2 flight of steps and out the front door. All of a sudden one of these great big wrestling guys, who had been mute up to this point, in a high squeeky falsetto voice (which we later found out was his regular voice) said, "If you don't want to wake up dead...never...never...smoke in bed!" It was the funniest thing I had every heard, because the voice just DIDN'T go with this great big burley body. Ahh the memories of Saskatoon!
More memories to write about...
embers super club
Bill Coulter or Colter
Chris Siller
Dale Payment
executive motor hotel
Ming's Chinese
Saskatoon INN
Well in the 60's they decided to slice in underground phone lines. This was a big deal and actually had some down side. When it was blustery and actually snow was blowing so hard that you couldn't see the ground in front of you, you could always just head between the electric poles on the one side and the telephone poles on the other and make it home. Removing those poles really changed things, it's very hard to try to drive parallel to just 1 set of poles, trust me I've tried it.
ANYWAY back to our story. One of the line guys that was doing the wiring as the big cat tractor pulled this giant knife which inserted the cable about 8 feet under the ground. As we talked to him, you know the old story, kids on bicycles acting as supervisors to the working guys. One of the guys was from Saskatoon Saskatchewan, a universe away for a young farm kid in Minnesota. I remember saying it over and over and over again. Sask-a-toon Sas-kat-che-wan.
How Ironic that 20 years later, I was in a show band that not only went to Canada, but ended up spending a lot of time in Saskatoon, even a month at a time and several times. It is a cool place to visit! Over some years, we performed at the Embers Supper Club, The Executive Motor Hotel, Ming's Chinese (well almost..for about 10 minutes...but that's another story) And who could forget the first...Jack's Food House, small but full of drinkers and dancers every night! Most evenings (after shows) revolved around Boston Pizza or Chinese food. Great Great memories of Saskatoon.
When the group, The New Canadian Downbeats worked the Executive Motor Inn, we had quite an experience! A matress in a guest room caught on fire. The alarm sounded and most everyone (it was a small 4 story joint) had gathered in the hotel lobby. It was also the place where the regional wrestlers would stay when working the town and I guess this was their weekend. So here comes two firemen pulling this burning/smoldering mattress down a 1/2 flight of steps and out the front door. All of a sudden one of these great big wrestling guys, who had been mute up to this point, in a high squeeky falsetto voice (which we later found out was his regular voice) said, "If you don't want to wake up dead...never...never...smoke in bed!" It was the funniest thing I had every heard, because the voice just DIDN'T go with this great big burley body. Ahh the memories of Saskatoon!
More memories to write about...
embers super club
Bill Coulter or Colter
Chris Siller
Dale Payment
executive motor hotel
Ming's Chinese
Saskatoon INN
Thursday, September 4, 2008
IT WAS THE 60's
How well I remember that summer day. Late June or early July. We had been in the habit of renting a cabin for about 6 weeks each summer at M&M Hayes Resort on Gull Lake, North East of Bemidji Minnesota. I was in my early teens and life was yet to be discovered. We always got cabin #4. I wish we could have gotten cabin #6 because it had an indoor flush toilet, but dad just didn't want to spend the extra money. It seems to me that it cost about $155.00 for the total summer stay. Mom loved it because she didn't have to do all the packing and unpacking. The fridge was stocked and the beds were made with our sheets and everything was in it's place. We had a 1959 Oldsmobile Super 88. A big heavy clunker of a car, huge by todays standards! Kind of a pinkish red with a white top. A hard top that was so cool when you rolled down the windows cause there was no pillar just a lot of open space. So it had to be before 1965 cause that year the Supper 88 with 44,000 miles on it became "old" all of a sudden and a visit to the repair shop resulted in a new 1965 Dynamic Oldsmobile, blue, sedan arriving with no notice. Most of the regulars that stayed with Marvin and Mildred were from their home state of Iowa and it was really the first time that I had run into a "foreign accent!" I'll never forget one Sunday as I and a bunch of the Iowa men were standing around a boat on a trailer and one of them was holding out his hand to show the group a couple of shear pins that he had gotten at the boat dealer in Bemidji. He was most impressed that the dealer was open on a Sunday morning, and even more impressed that the guy just gave him two shear pins. One to use and a spare. All the men were nodding their agreement to his surprise when he finished his story by saying,(in his best Iowa accent) "Course AH dn't tell him Ah's from OUDA Stayte!" I broke out laughing harder than I can ever remember laughing at any moment in my life up to that very minute. All the men looked at me like I was an alien who had just been delivered a secret message by an unseen friend. What he said to them made perfect sense...but to me it was the funniest thing I had ever heard. I don't think any of them ever caught on that they had such accents that you could pick them out of a crowded park of people at 100 paces. I only wish I could have shared it with a Minnesotan when it was happening!
I believe that was the first moment that I realized that I was going to be traveling a LOT in my life. I had to hear every different phrase that folks would utter, I had to learn every accent there was to be learned in the USA, in the World, so that no matter where I went, I could fit in like a local! The adventure begins.
I believe that was the first moment that I realized that I was going to be traveling a LOT in my life. I had to hear every different phrase that folks would utter, I had to learn every accent there was to be learned in the USA, in the World, so that no matter where I went, I could fit in like a local! The adventure begins.
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