Nats, MLB Post Mortem on Manuel Transmissions

A day after the taping of the triumphant return of Manuel Transmissions the Nationals fire Matt Williams. You're welcome Nats fans! Let's hope our genius GM can finish the deal and fire Papelbon, too.

We cover the Nats and make predictions here, at Manuel Transmissions: http://youtu.be/B2HPM9kdk1I

Manuel Transmissions: Oscar Edition

Just in time for the Oscars, episode three of the 'Manuel Transmissions' podcast is on YouTube.  In addition to sharing our Oscar picks we discuss the new pace of play rules for Major League Baseball with John, Alex, Ariadne, Evan, Cleo, Michael, Anna, Paul and our newest cast member Kate, with a guest appearance by Sophia! You can also find it here: http://youtu.be/42H3Qx0tZnA

Another visit to the White House

I was fortunate to represent the Sierra Club this afternoon at the White House's unveiling of their 'America's Great Outdoors' report.  

Hard to objectively assess the event.  Though I'm a semi-cynical 48-year old it was still a genuine thrill to visit the White House and be in the same room as the President of the United States, especially this President.   

It wasn't as exciting as my last visit, when the President signed the omnibus lands bill into law and added more than 2 million acres of new public land to America's great - and protected - outdoors - but it was still a great time.

The ceremony itself was relatively short, probably 20 to 25 minutes.  But the President gave a great speech.  And for a lobbyist it was awesome; a chance to talk with senior Administration officials from all the federal land agencies, environmental grant makers, and coalition partners from conservation and environmental organizations (including my next door neighbor John Kostyack from NWF, which meant that wo residents of the 3800-block of Alton Place NW were in the White House today; that may not have been the first time that happened since many of our neighbors are reporters).

Anyway, it was a great day for a great event celebrating America's Great Outdoors, an initiative the Sierra Club has been very active in ever since it was announced in April 2010 (the link is to the report the Lands team delivered to the Obama Administration in August 2010).  

I liked the White House so much I almost left my coat in the coat check room - on purpose - so I'd have an excuse to go back tomorrow.  I tweeted that from the event and did not hear a thing from the Secret Service.  So much for the Patriot Act - "Mr. President, the tweet is coming from inside the White House!"

Carolina - Hellenic Tie In

The visit to White House is also part of a plan to win Carolina it's third national championship in seven seasons.  

As I mentioned above, the last time I visited the White House was in March 2009, one week before the Heels romped to their 5th national championship.  That summer we also went to Greece.  We also went to Greece in 2005, when Roy Williams won his first and Carolina's fourth championship.

I'm not taking any chances this year.  I went to the White House today, and Ariadne* and I are going to Greece for a 5-day visit during her spring break (and a conveniently-timed Congressional recess) in March.  So if the pattern holds and we win our 6th NCAA championship in a month don't thank Roy or Harrison Barnes or John Henson - thank this blog.

* To show Evan some love - and put a cherry on top of the Carolina-Hellenic sundae - I am taking him and his cousin Paul to the Carolina-BC game in Chapel Hill this weekend.

AmeriGO HEELS!

I think I was right

After the Heels' win over Miami on the road I wondered if Carolina, the real Carolina, was back.  

Well, after yesterday's win, an almost 2009-style blowout over N.C. State, I think we are.  Granted, State is still one year away from being above average (or a year away from where Herb Sendak had them) but I loved the way the Heels played against the Wolfpack.

There were at least four things that had to make any Heels fan grin a Mama Dips-size smile.  

One, the Heels came out on fire and aggressive.  For whatever reason the Heels had come out flat in five straight games.  Though they were Trident-gum successful - winning four out of those five games - it was great to see the Heels impose their will on an opponent from the opening tip.  We're well known for great comebacks, but it's not a great habit to get into.  Good to see us throw the first punch.

Two, it was a punch mainly thrown by Harrison Barnes, who finally played a full game rather than putting together a few huge spurts and flourishes. Barnes looked electric against State, hitting shots from all over the floor, driving a few times, pulling down 6 boards, and hustling on defense. His confidence is starting to build, and Barnes is morphing into the player we expected - our best player, the new Hansbrough, the one who leads us deep into the NCAA tournament.

That brings me to point 3; to become our best player he will have to out play John Henson, who right now is the best Carolina player on the floor.  Henson had 16 points, an equal number of boards to go along with seven blocks. Like Barnes he is getting his points in a variety of ways, on dunks, hooks, short jumpers, put backs, even a few free throws!  It took him a while to figure out college basketball but he has, and Henson is thriving.  I love his skill, but am equally impressed by his patience, confidence and intelligence/decision making.  Otherwise known as being a Tar Heel.   

Finally, there is nothing that says Carolina basketball as much as "feeding the post," and against State we did that.  All three of our bigs, Henson, Zeller and Knox, finished in double figures as Marshall, Drew, Strickland, Barnes, Wanda, everyone, fed the post consistently on Saturday.

There were some lapses in the Heels' offense against State, and we probably let Brown get to the rack to easily in the second half.  But at the core of yesterday's win - Barnes' overall play, Henson's skill and savvy, feeding the post - was more proof that Carolina is back.

GO HEELS!

Few Random Notes:

• Heels are back, but some things have changed in North Carolina as the Old North State was America's winter sports capital this weekend.  How odd to think that Raleigh hosted the NHL All-star game the same weekend that Greensboro hosted the U.S. figure skating championships? When I was growing up there you couldn't buy a mixed drink let alone find ice.
• I wanted to root for Duke - and the ACC - against the Big East and St. John's today . . . but couldn't. I can't stand the Big East, but they are better than us this season.  Duke, on the other hand, looked bad, especially down low.  Hope we can exploit that and keep feeding the post against them in Cameron next week.  It appears to me that without Kyrie Irving at the point Duke is having trouble getting Singler enough shots, but I've only seen them play a few times.  Either way, without Irving they are not that scary.  

The Return of Carolina

Last night's scintillating win over Miami - in Coral Gables - could finally be the start of something big for the 2011 Tar Heels.

Not only did the Heels make some big, huge plays down late, Carolina-style plays like Henson's hook,  Barnes' two clutch shots, Marshall's pass, and Zeller's defense and key rebounds. 

But I'm talking about that confident, 'we're going to win this game' sensation that Heels from Dean to Barnes have felt, as have most Carolina fans. 

I felt that last night, even when the Heels fell behind 28 to 14 and even when our power went out with 8 minutes left.  [I followed the rest of the game via Twitter and ESPN game cast on my phone, but mainly via Joey 'Texting Like Woody' Pillow, who provided excellent play by play via text down the stretch. I finally watched the rest of the game this morning via ESPN3.]

That feeling is one of the things that define Carolina basketball.  And to say the least we didn't have it last year, and it's been fleeting this campaign.  For instance, I felt it at half time of the Georgia Tech game, and we know how THAT turned out.

But last night may be different. The Tar Heels had to make play after play to win, and they did. You need skill to make those plays, but you also need that Carolina confidence, that 'we're going to win' mentality.   And it may finally be here to stay.

A great win over a team that shot lights out at home, a win that gives us the same number of ACC road wins - two - as we had all of last year, and one that makes us 4-1 in the conference.  As perplexing as this team has been Carolina is on track to win 10 or 11 ACC games, and team that is getting that Carolina confidence back.

GO HEELS!

Some More Caro-Lines

• Harrison Barnes has certainly had his ups and downs but he saves his ups for key moments, that's for sure. Roy keeps urging him to lose himself in the game, and the shots he made last night are evidence when Barnes does that he excels.  The big shots last night were reactive, basketball plays that good hoopsters make. His biggest problem has been thinking too much, but when he doesn't do that Barnes looks like the big-time talent we expected.  The three was big, but that step-back two was breathtaking, and I jumped out of my seat when I finally watched it this morning.
• Roy also said that more amazing than Barnes' shot was Marshall's pass, and it's hard to argue.  It was another instinctive play, the kind made by talented and confident players.
• After a lackluster first half Zeller really impressed me late with his rebounding, his shot to tie it up late, and his great defense down low.  He's as guilty as Drew and others for some of the recent slow starts this team has had of late, but I'm glad he showed up.
• I can't believe I didn't mention Reggie Bullock until the fourth bullet! It was fantastic to see his confident play carry over from the Clemson game.  He didn't go off for 16 first half points like he did versus the Tigers but he made play after play last night, especially late in the first half when his scoring and rebounding helped the Heels make up a 14-point deficit to tie the score at half.
• Dexter Strickland was the other key player in Carolina's first half run. He was aggressive and smart with the ball on his way to 12 first-half points.  It was his first good ACC game of the season.  While he didn't score in the second half Strickland played some nice D.
• John Henson wasn't as active as in previous games, but he did have a few blocks and helped fuel the first half surge.  And like Barnes, his hook shot late was clutch and confident.   
• How great is it to get contributions from so many players, and I haven't even mentioned quality play from McDonald - who came back after missing a game to make 2 three pointers - Knox who also had some nice moments, and Larry Drew who looks great coming off the bench, finally going to the hoop and initiating the offense instead of dribbling dribbling dribbling . . .
• One negative note to last night's game: how in the wide, wide world of sports can the Hurricanes fail to have a sell out with Carolina in town? Some local celebs - Tim Hardaway, Desmond Howard, the Saints Jimmy Graham - realized that when Carolina comes to town you go to the game.  But the Canes couldn't even sell 8,000 tickets to their on-campus facility for one of the most - or THE most - storied college basketball program of all time?  
• Actually, forget it was Carolina - every ACC team should sell out their conference games.  Miami sports fans are lame: the Hurricanes football team rarely sell out their games unless FSU or Florida are in town; no one goes to Marlins games; the Heat draw now but even when Shaq was in town didn't sell out night after night; even the Dolphins play in front of a few empty seats every Sunday.  But how can you NOT sell a measly 8,000 tickets with Carolina in town?
• The lousy hoops attendance in Miami and Boston College is more proof that ACC expansion was a mistake.  The exception is Virginia Tech, a natural rival for Virginia that is geographically an ACC team AND boasts great (at least passionate) fans.  But the conference has not benefited from having BC and the U as members.

Good riddance to 2010

You know a year that saw the Tar Heels go 5 and 11 in the ACC and end up in the NIT, and saw John Boehner become Speaker of the House, really stunk.  Personally, it was a decent-to-good year for me, but outside of family stuff I thought the last year really, really stunk.

Way too much of my mood hinges on the Tar Heels. I don't want to rehash the problems of the 2010 season, but the worst thing was watching Carolina not look like Carolina.  Looking like Carolina - the Carolina way - matters.  And when the Carolina way is not done right, not only do fans like me suffer but so does the nation.  Or at least the karma suffers.

As I've said before, can it really be a coincidence that John Boehner passes Pelosi, and Krzyzewski passes Dean, in the same year? It's not: when Carolina does well, good triumphs over evil.  Simple as that.

Want more proof?  In 2010, Duke wins a national championship, and not a month later BP causes the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.  

In 2009, Carolina wins a national championship and Congress passes a bill to protect more than 2 million acres of new public lands a wilderness and national parks in the same month. Again, not a coincidence.

The saddest part of Pelosi no longer being speaker, the worst thing to happen to the United States since Bush's reelection, is that when you look back at 2010 a lot actually got done.

• Passing financial reform legislation was huge.
• As was passing a health care bill that will start to reduce the cost of health care, allow children to stay on their parents health plans until 26 and prohibit turning down someone due to a preexisting condition.  It might not have been a national champion of bills, but it is final four worthy.  
• Covering the cost of health insurance for 9/11 first responders was almost as big.
• And repealing 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' was even more huge. 
• And in what other year would getting most U.S. troops, including all combat troops, out of Iraq become a small story, one barely mentioned?

Reciting this list of legislative accomplishments underscores two points.  One, it shows how all those accomplishments are window dressing in the face of high unemployment and general economic anxiety.  And two, how little people pay attention. I honestly think people don't know how much the last Congress did.  Then again, maybe they do but economic anxiety undercuts that knowledge.  Feel and emotion will always triumph over a laundry list.

Or people may simply be crazy and stupid, at least the ones who voted this year.

Anyway, good riddance to 2010, the year of Duke, oil spills, John Boehner, and a electorate driven to stupidity by a bad economy.

The good news is, the Heels will get better.  The bad news, don't expect another long list of accomplishments in the next year.  After all, Democrats still control the Senate and of course the Presidency, so don't expect legislative harmony or many big bills to pass this year.  And even if the House Republicans do scare enough Democrats in the Senate to overturn some of Obama's accomplishments you can guarantee the President will veto them.

A few more notes:

• I forgot the two words that best sum up 2010 for me: Rand Paul.  Duke and stupidity in one package!
• The bad karma extended to the Carolina football team, a team that was supposed to challenge for an ACC championship behind a stout and experienced defense.  Instead, we saw most of the stars from that unit get suspended for improper contact with agents.  Other players were involved in a still unresolved academic scandal.  More than a dozen players were suspended, yet the team still had a decent season thanks to stalwarts like T.J. Yates, Johnny White, Dante Paige-Moss and Quan Sturdivant. 
• Actually, the football Heels' problems had more to do with bad leadership and stewardship from Butch Davis, who embarrassed the university more than Matt Doherty ever did.  Time to get rid of him, time to Fire Butch Davis!
• It was a game against a 2-10 team, but I'm still heartened by the great shooting we saw from the Heels yesterday.  No matter the opponent, good shooting breeds confidence - and more good shooting.  Here's hoping the good shooting that has been on display the last month carries over into the ACC season.  

Wide World of Sports

Lots of post-Strasburg sports news to focus on, including a smorgasbord of baseball, world basketball championships and more bad news, this time from Carolina.

Nationals Notes

Another weird week for the Nats.  The up side for me was the pitching of Jordan Zimmermann.  In his second start after "Steven Strasburg" surgery (formerly known as Tommy John surgery) Zimmermann was dominant is striking out 9 Marlins in six innings of one-hit, shutout ball.  It's only one start, but some good ju-ju for Nats fans contemplating Strasburg's return from the same surgery.

With Zimmermann's return, the signing of Bryce Harper, the September call up of Danny Espinosa, the minor league progress of Cuban pitcher Yunesky Maya and catcher Wilson Ramos, the second half progress of Ian Desmond, Roger Bernadina, Michael Morse, and Drew Storen, plus Gold Glove/Silver Slugger/Face of the Franchise Ryan Zimmerman there is legitimate light at the end of the Dr. Yoakum's scalpel.  

In 2012 Nats, fans could have a young, exciting and legit line up of CF Carl Crawford (would love to sign that guy from Tampa Bay), SS Desmond, 3B Zimmerman, 1B Dunn/Someone Like Him, LF/!B Morse, RF Harper, CF Bernadina, 2B Espinosa, C Ramos, complimented by a starting rotation of Strasburg, Zimmermann, Maya, Ross Detwiler and John Lannan, with Storen closing with help from set up men Sean Burnett, Tyler Clippard, Garrett Mock, and Colin Balester.  

Of course, one name missing from that list of man of the hour, Nyjer Morgan. I'm all over the place with Nyjer.  

Frankly, he lost me on the inside the park home run he 'gave up' to the Orioles' Adam Jones by slamming his glove on the ground in disgust after missing a deep drive.  I say he gave it up because even though he failed to make the catch, the ball did NOT clear the fence.  But instead of finding the ball he slammed his glove down in a fit of pique. Morgan never found the ball, and by the time left fielder Josh Willingham came over to throw the ball back in Jones had an inside-the-park home run.  

Morgan's concentration and production seemed to go south shortly after than unprofessional play.  His on base percentage, base running, and fielding suffered but things really came unglued in the last few weeks.  First he was accused of throwing a ball at a fan in Philadelphia.  Of course, Phillies fans are pains in the Manasses, but a professional DOES not do that.  There have been a few eyewitnesses who exonerate Morgan, but MLB did suspend him 7 games.

That suspension was on appeal when Morgan collided with not one but two catchers. The first collision, against the Cardinals, was just odd.  He bumped the Cards' catcher Bryan Anderson even though there was no throw home. Of course, he connected with Anderson but missed home plate. Morgan was eventually ruled out after Ivan Rodriguez grabbed him and pushed him towards home so he could eventually step on the plate, which is against the rules. Morgan's play was at best odd, at worst stupid.

Instead of trying to bump the catcher, Morgan should have slid and scored.  But Morgan did not seem to learn that lesson; two nights later instead of trying to slide under a tag in the top of the 10th inning (of Zimmermann's gem) Morgan really slammed into Marlins' catcher Brett Hayes in an attempt to jar the ball lose.  It didn't happen.  Hayes made the tag but Morgan had separated the Marlins catcher's shoulder.  He's out for the season.

Morgan and Nats expected retaliation.  Nothing wrong with that as long as it's not at a player's head.  Morgan was plunked in the side, and it seemed like that was that.

But Morgan kept the flames going, at least to the Marlins, by stealing two bases and scoring on a sacrifice fly.  Though the Nats were down at the time 3-14, in Morgan's defense it was only the 4th inning and the Marlins were holding him on. The steals prompted the Marlins to do something you NEVER see - a player getting thrown at twice in one game.

The next time Morgan game up the Marlins threw behind him, and a massive fight ensued.

Like I said, I'm torn.  Morgan has been a below-average player this season, mainly due to mental errors and a lack of professionalism. In Miami, he is not solely to blame for the fight.  You don't throw at a guy twice in one game.  

But again, it goes back to the inside-the-park home run he game up.  A professional makes the smart play, and in this case it meant sliding in to home instead of trying to run over the Marlins' catcher.  Morgan does that - the Nats score and no one gets hurt - and a bean ball war does not start the next game. 

In each instance you can find a scapegoat - obnoxious Phillies fan, Ivan Rodriguez grabbed him, the Marlins threw at him twice in one game - but bottom line you need to be a professional and play with your head.  Perhaps a bad season - Morgan had been demoted to 8th in the Nationals line up - prompted him to take out his frustrations against two catchers.  But neither play made sense, and neither one was the smart baseball play.  

In firing obnoxious blow hard Rob Dibble from the booth and cutting malcontents like Elijah Dukes the Nats front office has demonstrated a willingness to fire employees who rhyme with pass moles.  We'll see how they deal with guys who are unprofessional and unfocused like Morgan has been the last few weeks.

Anyway, remember the good paragraph about the 2012 line up.

Time to Drop Football?

There is disheartening news out of Chapel Hill, too.  It's been hard to keep track of all the fires swirling around Carolina's football team.  Contact with agents, problems with tutors, and academic issues have plagued the Heels all summer.

My gut reaction is Carolina should stop trying to chase the fool's gold that is big time college football, which of course is incredibly impractical but does make sense.  For a great piece on the greed that dominates college football, and undermines a school's mission, check out today's John Feinstein column in The Post.  Ever since Mack Brown left football has suffered, but not from lack of trying. The Heels have never gotten over the hump despite spending millions on new facilities and expanding Kenan Stadium.  

And now 6 of the 11 starters from the famed Tar Heel defense are suspended, as are the Heels two best running backs.  College teams often rally in the face of this kind of adversity; it's almost a coaches dream scenario (at least for pre-game speeches).  But the Heels have so many top players suspended you wonder if there is enough depth to paper over the losses.  

Perhaps most frustrating is the contact with agents.  Why did these guys come back to Chapel Hill for another season - at least four Carolina defensive players were projected as high draft picks in the spring - only to allegedly start taking money and gifts from agents?  And now in addition to not playing they are tarnishing the reputation and embarrassing the university.  

But at least they did not try to steal a pass in the 4th inning.

World Basketball Championships

The U.S. has looked pretty good in the World Basketball Championships in Turkey.  Despite having Krzyzewski as 'our' coach Kevin Durant and Derek Rose have looked great in leading the US to a 5-0 record.  We play Angola in the knock out round tomorrow in what will likely turn out to be another 40-point rout.

Greece, on the other hand, has yet to get their groove back.  Ellas was blowing out teams prior to the bad-karma-inducing game and fight with Serbia a week ago in the Acropolis Tournament.

After winning their first three games - versus China, a good Puerto Rico team, and Ivory Coast - Greece lost to Turkey (no shame there; the Turks have 3 NBA players on their roster and are playing at home) and Russia by 3.  The greater shame is losing to two nations who WE civilized. 

Anyway, that two-game losing streak means Ellas has to play Spain, who also under whelmed in the first round of play, on Saturday in the knock out round.  Instead of playing - as expected - for a medal Greece and Spain are playing for their lives tomorrow. It should be a great game between two of the four best national teams (widely considered to be the U.S., Argentina, Spain and Greece), and I think it will be on NBA TV live at 2:00 pm eastern if you want to tune in.

 

Planes, Trains, but Mainly Airports

So after weeks of not blogging – too much drill baby drill work, Easter and holy week, spring break, my aunt’s funeral, college basketball, opening day, etc. – my recent odyssey in Chicago has prompted me to post again.

It was a weird 24 hours. I arrived at Washington’s National Airport – ironically our most convenient airport – at 2 pm Eastern Time to catch a 4:30 flight to Chicago on my way to the Bay Area for the Western Wilderness Conference. I will finally arrive (I’m typing this on my flight from Chicago) at the airport in San Francisco 29 hours later.

Here’s my itinerary.

I arrived at National early to do a conference call at 3 pm. But even before getting to the airport my ridiculous trip was interrupted by something serious. While waiting for a Yellow Line train at the Gallery Place Metro stop I learned that a women had been stuck by a train at Mount Vernon Square station in an apparent suicide attempt. She survived and was pulled out from under the train (last I heard) but of course trains were not moving through Gallery Place.

I decided to grab a cab to the airport, and was reminded once again how easy it is to get to National. From Gallery Place it took 11 minutes, so I had plenty of time to go through security – which was hassle free - with time to make my conference call.

The call ended at 4 and boarding for my 4:45 United flight was supposed to start at 4:15 but when I went to the gate it was a mob scene. Due to thunderstorms and winds in Chicago, United’s hub, everything was backed up. We finally boarded our flight around 6 pm, taxied onto the apron of the runway then waited another hour and a half for skies to clear in Chicago. Yadda yadda yadda, I didn’t arrive in Chicago until 9 pm central time, 10 minutes after the last flight from O’Hare had left for San Francisco. Our Sierra Club travel agent rebooked me onto a 6:40 am flight – that I changed to an 8:30 flight - and recommended the airport Hilton. 

But as I tried to change my seat assignment at 7:30 am this morning I learned that that flight was cancelled. After calling United I found out the next direct flight to SFO that had seats was at 2:00.  I was given another center seat, but after saying ‘after all I’ve been through I have to sit in the center?’ the United staffer gave me an aisle seat.

She also gave me a ticket to stand by on a noon flight, a flight I later found out was so overbooked I was 72^nd on the stand by list even though I had checked in almost 5 hours ahead of time.

But the 2 pm flight is working out great. In addition to an aisle seat I was given a ‘Premier’ boarding pass so was able to board with Zone 1 right after first class, and I got to watch ‘Crazy Heart’ as my movie.

Here are some more random musings about this trip:

• On par, O’Hare is not a bad airport to be stuck in. The one huge downside, both of the airport and the airport Hilton, is no free Wi-Fi! Having to pay for Wi-Fi in an airport or hotel is simply an injustice (speaking of injustice, Duke winning the national championship in another one.  Butler deserved to win that game and close out a storybook NCAA tournament, but instead the big, bad right-wing school killed Little Red Riding Hood).

• My iPhone made the lack of Wi-Fi doable. As for O’Hare, some of the terminals themselves are interesting; I like the neon light show in the tunnel between terminals B and C, and there is some nice public art between the United and American terminals, too. There’s also a children’s museum and a nice display about Medal of Honor winner and pilot John O’Hare, the airport’s namesake.  As you can tell, I killed time between breakfast with four works calls and a very long walk around O’Hare.

• Food wise I did okay, too.  Last night there was only a Starbucks open but I found a nice chicken-cheddar sandwich and an excellent granola-blueberry-strawberry yogurt parfait there for dinner. This morning I had an egg and cheese sandwich with hash browns from the Billy Goat Tavern in the ‘Jazz Food Court.’  The Billy Goat is the Greek-owned establishment made famous by John Belushi (cheeburger cheeburger cheeburger, no coke Pepsi), and I got to eat while listening to Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’ in the background.

• I went back to the ‘Jazz Food Court’ for lunch at the Zoot Diner. I had a decent turkey sandwich but enjoyed my desert of chocolate covered raisins from ‘Nuts on Clark’ better. I’m hoping that both Zoot and Nuts are local, Chicago businesses.

• Oddly enough, when I asked for peanuts or pretzels on the flight to San Francisco they said ‘no.’ Are you allowed to take off without those two foods? Does the FAA know that?

• It’s the midwest so it makes sense, but everyone I talked to at the airport, particularly the United employee who gave me the aisle seat but also the security people to the cashier at Zoot who happily gave me another copy of my receipt, were incredibly nice.

• This may be especially true at a large facility like O’Hare but you seem to run into every single type of human being at the airport. Every continent is represented, you hear dozens of languages, you bump into the abled and disabled, young and old, etc.  The only people I didn’t run into were assholes. 

• One thing that struck me at the ‘Jazz Food Court’ was how many ethnic Chinese were eating the Chinese food. There was a flight leaving for Beijing near by, so by Chinese I don’t mean Chinese-Americans. I kind of assumed Chinese food in the U.S. is a little dumbed down but at least today real Chinese were loving it; maybe it’s more authentic here than I thought.

• As I mentioned I had a ‘Premier’ boarding pass but I still had to board after first and business class.  First class passengers get to walk on an actual red carpet when they board, which seems a little excessive.  First class on a westbound flight seems different. On the east coast, first class is full of serious folks in suits. On this flight there are a number of fat dudes in jeans and sweat pants in first class, many sporting van dykes and sloppy hair cuts.

This trip, along with our problematic flights to and from Athens via Paris last summer, is another reminder to avoid connecting flights whenever possible (which I’m doing on my return flight). So even though National is our most convenient airport I think next time I fly to the ‘fat-guys in first class’ coast I’ll use Dulles (BTW, Alaska Airline has a non-stop to Seattle from National, the Ted Stevens Memorial flight).

Despite all the delays and hassles, I still like to travel. I also finished watching ‘Up in the Air’ on this trip.  At one point George Clooney opines that things like family and responsibility slows you down, and if you slow down you die faster.  Of course, that is completely wrong.  Family, and especially kids, speed up time. And as I found out today traveling like he does in that movie can make time stand still.