Pilgrimage to the City of the Angels (1/3)

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I haven’t updated my blog with any good travel tales for quite some time. However, Kathryn and I managed to pack a lot into our 60-hour road trip to Los Angeles last weekend, so I figured it was time for a new post.

When I sit down to write a new post, I often have the title in my head before the text. The word pilgrimage came to mind right away. Although I was a little hesitant to use it at first, I think it’s appropriate here. The timing of the trip was chosen to allow us to witness one of the friars from our church make his profession of solemn vows into the Franciscan order, as well as to support our choir, which would be singing at the mass. Los Angeles, a city named after Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula, the place where the Franciscan movement began, seems like a particularly fitting place to celebrate such an event, especially in a church named after St. Francis. Continue reading →

Kentucky Fried Chicken: new menu, same lousy service

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As I was reading Wise Bread this morning, I found a coupon for a free two-piece grilled chicken meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I was telling friends this weekend, I’m a little surprised Kentucky Fried Chicken is pushing its new grilled chicken so aggressively; it seems to me the grilled chicken fad started and ended over a decade ago. However, free is the right price, and since I missed out on their free offer last week, I thought I’d give the coupon a try today.

Now, it’s probably been almost five years since the last time I was in a Kentucky Fried Chicken store. Back then, they were calling themselves KFC, perhaps because the word Kentucky made the product sound too regional, or perhaps because the State of Kentucky threatened them with a defamation lawsuit. Whatever the case, with hyperlocalization being fashionable again, I guess they had to follow the pack and bring the original name back.

When I sauntered into my neighborhood Kentucky Fried Chicken at 11:30 this morning, I wasn’t surprised to see several dozen customers in line ahead of me, all with their own coupons. On the other hand, the folks who worked there seemed awfully surprised by the turnout. Although they had plenty of staff on hand, they didn’t have nearly enough food prepared. I guess they assumed the several thousand Honeywell employees across the street had no internet access at their desks and therefore wouldn’t have coupons.

Anyway, I waited about 40 minutes, but eventually made it to the front of the line and received my free two-piece grilled chicken meal. Come to think of it, it wasn’t a significantly longer wait than my previous trip to Kentucky Fried Chicken; there were just a lot more people in front of me this time. I also ordered a small soda, so my total bill with tax was $1.07.

The food, frankly, was not that good. The chicken was a bit rubbery, and the overwhelming flavor was salt. However, the value of my time was really low today, and since the value of a small soda on a hot day was at least $1.02, I’d call the trip a success. Apparently I can use my coupon three more times. I’m not sure I will.

One final thought: Is Kentucky Fried Chicken the only business in the U.S. that has actually become less green over the past five years? They used to sell meals in those paperboard containers that were probably recyclable and biodegradable and most likely made from a significant percentage of post-consumer material. Today, my eat-in order was shrouded in a heavy plastic sarcophagus that was large enough for two meals and weighed almost as much as the food they put in it. I turned the material over, looking for some sign of recyclability; I didn’t see any, but perhaps I missed it. Either way, an old-school paperboard container would have been sufficient.

Upgrading memory on the Mac mini

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Several months ago I bought a 2 GB RAM upgrade for my Mac mini. Admittedly it was a total impulse buy. I saw the price, thought it was a bargain, and snagged it. After the new memory arrived, I finally decided to look into how to install it. That may have been a mistake. It turns out there was no guidance from Apple for upgrading RAM in a Mac mini. The official position was to take it to an Apple Store, which would undoubtedly have cost much more than the memory. Unofficially, there was a tutorial available in the Mac Forums, but it looked complicated enough that I didn’t want to undertake the project until I was prepared to see it through. So, for all these months, the modules have been sitting idle on my kitchen counter.

About This Mac

About This Mac shows 2 GB memory after upgrade of Mac mini

This morning, for some reason, perhaps because of the heat, I decided to opt out of my usual hike and instead tackle the RAM upgrade. And so, for about an hour, my dining room was converted into a Mac mini operating room. As it turns out, the procedure wasn’t nearly as hard as it looked. The idea of prying open my beautiful Mac mini with a putty knife was rather frightening, since I thought I might crack the case. I did put a few small scratches on the plastic where I inserted the knife, but they were underneath the unit where nobody will see them. I was more concerned about hairline stress cracks on the exterior of the unit, but I performed every step deliberately, and there were no problems.

I followed the procedures in the Mac Forums tutorial quite closely. However, I did make a few observations for anyone thinking of trying this at home. Mostly, they involve gathering some additional tools:

  • Another computer. I cleared my dining room table to perform the operation, but I left enough room for my notebook computer. This allowed me to get a good view of the pictures in the tutorial, which came in handy several times.
  • The right screwdriver. The author of the tutorial refers several times to a medium Phillips screwdriver. I’m not sure what “medium” was compared to. After prying open the case, I realized that I didn’t have a Phillips screwdriver that was anywhere near small enough for the job, so I made an emergency run to Ace Hardware, where I bought a 2.5″ #0 Phillips screwdriver. It worked great for me.
  • Needle-nose pliers. I used needle-nose pliers at least a couple times to extract screws that ended up where they shouldn’t have. Without the pliers, I suppose I could have picked up the unit and shaken it until the screws fell out, but I prefer the precision approach whenever possible.
  • Magnetized screwdriver. For the same reason I needed the needle-nose pliers, a magnetized screwdriver was helpful for moving screws that ended up somewhere other than where I wanted them.
  • Flashlight. Even with an eight-bulb dining room light fixture over my head, getting light exactly where I wanted it was something of a chore. I used a Mini Maglite to focus light where I needed it, but any flashlight would be helpful.
  • Phone book. I followed the suggestion of one of the commenters of the tutorial and laid the top half of the Mac mini on a phone book so that I didn’t have to disconnect the ribbon cable between the two halves. I’m sure a book of any similar size would work, but the commenter suggested a phone book, and it turns out a new phone book arrived at my door this morning.
  • Canned air duster. Prying open the case left tiny specks of plastic dust in my operating area, and most likely some of that would end up inside the Mac mini without a shot of air. Not only that, but the unit had almost certainly accumulated some cat hair over the past six months, and since it’s unlikely I’ll ever open it again, I wanted to get it out now.
  • Kitchen shears. Like most RAM modules, the upgrade for the Mac mini came in plastic packaging that is impossible to open gracefully. The kitchen shears made the work somewhat more bearable.

One other observation: I would recommend heeding the advice of the commenter who suggested leaving the case off until the upgrade has been tested. When I hooked up the monitor and turned the unit on, it was a thrill to see 2 GB in the “About This Mac” box. However, if the upgrade had failed, it would have been traumatic to have to pry the case open a second time.

First experience: Sonoran hot dogs in Phoenix

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On a flight home after a Presidents Day vacation with Kathryn, I read an article in the USAirways in-flight magazine about the Sonoran hot dogs sold by street vendors in Tucson. The description made my mouth water. A Sonoran hot dog is a hot dog wrapped in bacon and fried in bacon grease, served in a bakery roll with mayonnaise, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, onions, and whatever else is available. It sounded delightful. When we arrived, I wondered aloud whether similar hot dogs were also sold on the streets of Phoenix. The next day, Kathryn asked around at the hospital, and one of her co-workers said the only place he knew was at 20th St. and Indian School Rd., and only after 6 p.m. We sort of forgot about it after that.

Typical Sonoran hot dog (photo by Stuart Spivack)

Typical Sonoran hot dog(photo by Stuart Spivack)

Fast forward roughly six weeks.

 

The Arizona Republic ran a story about Sonoran hot dogs here in Phoenix, and sure enough the address of the vendor was at 20th St. and Indian School Rd. We live in the northern part of Phoenix, so most nights we’re not in central Phoenix after 6 p.m. However, we were planning to attend the Palm Sunday Mass at our downtown church on Saturday evening, so an opportunity presented itself, and we decided to try the place after Mass.

The name of the vendor is Nogales Hot Dogs. It’s operated from a pushcart with a tent over it, next to which they set up an open-air dining room of folding tables and chairs, all in the parking lot of a guitar store that has gone out of business, at the intersection of two busy streets. The menu is very short. They serve Sonoran hot dogs, sodas imported from Mexico, and bottled water. The bottled water is domestic, I guess. The proprietor greeted us, wiped down a table for us, and took our order: two Sonoran hot dogs with everything, a Coca-Cola, and a water. A few minutes later, dinner was served, and it looked great. Kathryn added some cheese to her hot dog, while I loaded up on green chili salsa, some sort of jalapeno sauce, and a couple different kinds of cheese. They also served some grilled onions and roasted peppers on the side. Then we dug in. The hot dogs were absolutely wonderful. But then, if you read the description above, how could they not be? The imported Coca-Cola in old-school glass bottles was a nice touch, too.

To sum up the experience, we’ll definitely be back. Heck, we may never go to Mass on Sunday morning again! And, in case you’re wondering, total cost of dinner, including a very generous tip, was $10.

Home and gone again

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I’m back on the road again after enjoying three nights of sleep in my own home. Actually, that’s not quite true. I spent one of those night’s at Kathryn’s place. I’m aboard a flight to Portland, Oregon. I have about an hour until landing, so I thought I should take a few moments to catch up on my blog.

Best Western Seaport Inn

Best Western Seaport Inn

Kathryn and I decided to spend Memorial Day weekend in New York City. Some of you may remember the excitement we had on the first leg of our trip to Europe last fall — the leg that went from Phoenix to Phoenix because of a problem with the lavatory. Several weeks after the incident, we each received vouchers worth $400 on Continental Airlines. Continental doesn’t fly many places nonstop from Phoenix, but Newark is one of them. So we used the vouchers that had been burning holes in our pockets for so long.

Ground Zero

Ground Zero

We decided to stay in Lower Manhattan in order to save a little money on the hotel. We also decided to take public transportation from the airport to the hotel, rather than shelling out for a cab. The route from the airport to the city isn’t as straightforward as one would hope, but we planned ahead and it wasn’t so bad. We took the airport light rail to the airport’s train station, then NJ Transit to Newark Penn Station, and finally the PATH subway to the World Trade Center stop. Overall, it took less than an hour. The shocking part of the trip was when we arrived at the World Trade Center stop. The stop is quite literally inside the hole that used to be the World Trade Center. This was our first sight of New York — looking up at the city from inside the giant hole where the Twin Towers used to be. It felt a little weird. Since we were there, we spent a little time walking around the site, but the reality is there isn’t much to see yet, other than the subway stop. Our hotel was at the South Street Seaport, which was about a ten minute walk away.

Ground Zero Museum

Ground Zero Museum

We had a very pleasant time in New York. The weather was beautiful all weekend, with partly cloudy skies and highs in the 70s. We walked a lot, taking the subway to cover longer distances. We took two tours that were both enjoyable. The first tour was the Ground Zero Museum, which included artifacts from the World Trade Center site and the photographs of the Firefighters Union’s official photographer. The photographer was himself on hand to answer questions. The second tour was NBC Studios. Although the tour was in some sense an hour long advertisement for NBC, it was still fun to see the studios for Nightly News with Brian Williams, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Saturday Night Live. However, I do feel like some of the magic of television disappeared after seeing the studios. Much of what we see, even on live shows, is an optical illusion. Conan O’Brien’s studio, for example, is tiny, much smaller than it looks on television. We also enjoyed long strolls through Central Park and some of the shopping districts. Kathryn came home with a new wallet.

Brooklyn Bridge at night

Brooklyn Bridge at night

I was hoping for a really good dining experience in New York, but unfortunately I don’t really have anything to report. We should have planned ahead for at least one decent meal. Most of what we ate was on the go, so although we had some New York-style pizza and some semi-decent Chinese food, nothing was really memorable.

St. Patricks Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Since we were in New York over a Sunday, I was hoping that Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral would be one of the highlights of our visit. In the end, it was, but it took two tries. We attended the 10:15 Mass Sunday morning, which was celebrated by Cardinal Egan. Neither of us had never seen Mass celebrated by a cardinal before. He gave a beautiful homily about Pierre Toussaint and the strength he received from his devotion to the Eucharist, which was particularly fitting since we were celebrating the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ that Sunday. However, what bothered us both was the atmosphere of this particular Mass. The cathedral was jam-packed with thousands of people. Many were snapping photos, chatting with one another, and just generally inattentive. We would have appreciated a little more reverence and a lot more decorum. So, rather than staying angry, we decided to go back the next day for the 8:00 Mass. We were very glad we did. We were among only a couple dozen people there, and the atmosphere was serene. After the Mass ended, we stayed for a while to walk through the cathedral and its chapels in near solitude. It was a great way to end the trip.

Now, after a few days at home in Phoenix, I’m back on the road for a trip to a conference in Portland, Oregon. I’m flying Alaska Airlines for the first time. I chose Alaska for two reasons: price and schedule. It was nonstop, had a slightly better departure time than USAirways, and cost about the same. Alaska has a reputation for impeccable service, but so far I haven’t figured out why. I booked online, just like any other airline. I checked in online, just like any other airline. I dropped off my bag with an inattentive clerk standing behind an automated kiosk, just like any other airline. The aircraft is a very old 737. The beverage service doesn’t have Coke or Pepsi products, and the snack I forewent would have cost $5. I’m really not impressed.

For those of you who are familiar with the company I work for, I’ll post updates from the conference on its blog, rather than on this one. Nevertheless, I might have a musing or two here as well.

Into the darkness

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After not having flown at night in over three years, I recently decided it was time to regain my night currency. In the interest of safety, I thought it would be a good idea to take an instructor along.

Flying at night (photo from AOPA)

Flying at night
(photo from AOPA)

Last night, after waiting the required one hour after sunset, which was at 6:59 pm, we logged 1.5 hours of night flying, with the three takeoffs and full-stop landings required for currency. We flew from Chandler to Casa Grande via Stanfield VORTAC, practicing a procedure turn at Stanfield and flying a published approach to runway 5. The procedure turn and the approach were my instructor’s idea, to give me a taste of instrument flying. I flew the approach well enough, but my execution of the procedure turn was truly horrible.

Landing at night wasn’t as easy as I remembered. All of my landings were flat, and one was a little hard. The problems we had activating the runway lights at Casa Grande didn’t help. The first attempt at a landing resulted in a go-around when we thought the two red obstruction lights on the ground were the glide slope indicator telling us we were too low, although we made another landing without any runway lights at all. Oh, and let’s not forget the panel lights kept cutting out on us. Fortunately, the nearly full moon was on our side, and we did manage to complete two landings at Casa Grande before returning to Chandler, which was much better lit.

Having completed the flight, I’m night current until July 16, although last night made it clear I need more solo practice before I try night landings with passengers. As spring gives way to summer, maintaining night currency will require flying at times of the evening when I’d rather be in bed. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Tying the knot

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Some of you have commented to me privately that I’ve been on a blog holiday for way too long now. When I started this blog, I had a personal goal of posting a minimum of once every calendar month. It should be evident by looking at the archives that I haven’t met my goal for the last three calendar months, and short of posting today, I’ll fail for a fourth. Clearly, the pressure is on.

As usual, my lack of posting is an indicator of my busy personal life, and this time is no exception. I certainly have a lot to talk about, but for the sake of finishing a post in the next twelve hours, I’ll get straight to the point:

I’m getting married again!

Kathryn and I started discussing marriage more than half a year ago. However, to understand where I’m going for the next couple paragraphs, I need to give you more background than that. During the same time, we’d also been discussing our faith, both of us being Catholic, and our desire to attend mass together on a regular basis. This led us on a journey to find a parish that made us feel at home spiritually. The journey started just after Thanksgiving, and it had some low points that really could be the topic of another post much longer than this one. However, long story short, after attending mass at several different parishes in the Valley, we finally discovered our new home on New Year’s Day, when we attended mass for the Solemnity of Mary.

Holy place for a wedding

Holy place for a wedding

Once we began attending mass on Sundays, a couple opportunities quickly began to avail themselves to us. The first opportunity was an announcement that the parish was offering adult confirmation classes. For reasons I won’t elaborate right now, I missed receiving this particular sacrament as a child. However, I wasn’t willing to miss the opportunity again, so I signed up immediately, and I’ve already attended several sessions in preparation for receiving the sacrament later this spring. The second opportunity was an announcement that the parish was having a wedding seminar for couples interested in marrying at our church.

Prior to that point, we’d already talked about how wonderful it would be to marry in the Church, but we had one not-so-small problem standing in our way: my previous marriage. The Church doesn’t recognize civil divorces, so in order to marry in the Church, it would first have to grant an annulment of my first marriage. This was a complication Kathryn and I had already discussed, and we had certainly considered that it might be a lot easier just to have a civil wedding, even though it might put us outside of communion with the Church. In any event, we attended the seminar to get as much information as we could. We heard from the pastor, the business manager, and the wedding coordinator of our parish, who discussed every aspect of a Church wedding, including the diocesan requirements for marriage preparation counseling, the parish’s specific requirements, and the liturgical and ritual elements of the wedding day itself. In short, we really, really liked what we heard. By the time we left the seminar, the idea of a civil wedding had come completely off the table. We were prepared to make whatever effort was necessary for a Catholic wedding.

St. Marys Basilica, Phoenix

St. Mary's Basilica, Phoenix

However, there still remained the issue of my previous marriage. The Church has its own fully established legal system, and an annulment has to be granted through one of its tribunals in much the same way a civil divorce must be granted by a state court. While there are only two parties to a civil divorce case, in the view of the Church, the bond itself must also be defended, substantially raising the burden of the petitioner. Some annulment cases take years to be resolved. To begin my case, I made an appointment to meet the pastor of our parish personally. I felt that the first meeting with him should be outside of the context of the marriage preparation, so as much as I would have valued Kathryn’s support, I thought it would be better to go alone. It’d be an understatement to say the conversation wasn’t easy for me. My first marriage wasn’t blessed by the Church; as a Catholic, I should have received dispensation for a civil wedding, but I didn’t. I know it’s a cliché for a Catholic to talk about guilt, but I did feel an overwhelming amount of guilt in asking the Church to undo a marriage that its rules told me I never should have entered in the first place. However, the pastor was very compassionate about the matter, and even had a sense of humor about it, when appropriate. Ironically, the fact that I hadn’t asked for dispensation was itself the grounds for annulment — it’s called “lack of canonical form” — so the rule I broke ended up making the process easier. The pastor took all my information, and a couple weeks later, I returned to his office to sign the prepared petition. Less than three weeks after that, he informed me the Church had granted my annulment. Kathryn and I were overjoyed.

We’d been waiting until the annulment was granted before we spread the good news about our plans to anyone outside our immediate families. Now that we’ve gotten over the big hurdle, there are still a lot of little ones that remain, but we can jump them together. Sufficient marriage preparation is required for a wedding in the Church, with six months considered a minimum. Because we found out about my annulment just as Holy Week was beginning, we haven’t had a chance to meet with the pastor recently. However, we’ve continued preparing on our own by attending a retreat for marrying couples this past weekend, fulfilling one of the diocesan requirements. Actually, because of our age and the fact I’ve been married before, the pastor recommended we attend a particular retreat especially for remarrying couples. The retreat was an all-day seminar, broken into four parts: theology of marriage, personality, sexuality and family blending, and finance. Overall, Kathryn and I both thought the seminar was worthwhile. If nothing else, it caused the two of us to open a dialogue on some topics we hadn’t previously discussed. At the end, there was an exercise where couples practiced praying together. It may sound a bit corny, but in truth, it was a beautiful moment and a great end to the day.

I didn’t do any preparation or counseling for my first marriage, so I’ve been trying to keep an open mind about the various requirements of the Church. So far, that’s worked pretty well for me. In reality, six months isn’t all that long to prepare for a bond that endures a lifetime. Our preparation should be complete by mid-summer, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to get married in Phoenix in the August heat. However, if we take a few extra weeks to focus of the details of the big day itself, we’ll be ready just in time for an early fall wedding.

Snow!

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I was delighted to wake up this morning and see snow falling. It’s been a long time.

I’m in Denver on a business trip, and I had to brush a couple inches of snow off the car before I left the hotel for the workshop I’m attending. Fortunately, the rental car company included a brush and a scraper in the car. I didn’t need the scraper, which was also fortunate.

After the first day of a three-day workshop, I’m quite satisfied it was worth the trip. I’m already looking forward to the advanced workshop next year.

Frequently asked questions

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We’ve only been home a few days, but Kathryn and I have already heard a lot of questions about our trip. For the benefit of everyone else, I’ve decided to repeat some of them here, along with their answers.

What was the highlight of the trip?

It’s been really tough to single out a highlight, since we had such a great time the whole trip. For me, picking up the new car in Germany was a moment I won’t soon forget, and flying a glider in Austria was a truly unexpected surprise, but the trip was really a series of highlights punctuated by sleep.

How were the flights?

The first leg of our flight ended up being Phoenix to Phoenix. It wasn’t the start we expected. However, when all was said and done, we arrived in Munich only six hours later than we had anticipated, so it wasn’t a total disaster. Furthermore, we were each quite surprised to find $400 vouchers in the mail, along with an apology letter from Continental. The vouchers are good on Continental for up to a year, so we’ll give them another chance and fly somewhere in the near future.

The return flight was stressful, because every segment was late, meaning that every connection was too short. We literally ran for our gates in both Paris and Houston. Air France isn’t alone to blame, though. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration get a fair amount of credit for the nearly missed flights, as well as the security services at Charles de Gaulle.

Did you stay in hotels or bed-and-breakfasts?

We stayed in a combination of hotels, guest houses, and friend’s homes. We spent three nights with my friend Sigrid in Munich and one with my friend Katharina in Eisenstadt. I would consider our night in Baden-Baden to be in a guest house, although the place called itself a hotel. I guess it depends on where you draw the line. Our night near Neuschwanstein was definitely in a guest house. The rest of the nights were in hotels.

Great big beer at Oktoberfest

Great big beer at Oktoberfest

Is your Oktoberfest photo an optical illusion, or are the beers really that big?

The beers are really that big. The standard beer size at Oktoberfest is called a maß, which is one liter or approximately 34 ounces of beer. For the record, I had only one, and Kathryn and Sigrid stuck with apfelschorle, which is apple juice mixed with sparkling water.

BMW in France

BMW in France

How do you like your new car?

The new car is amazing. I love the color. I love the leather. I love the way the instrument panel is laid out. I love the way the steering wheel fits in my hands. I love the way the mirrors fold in at the push of a button, and then unfold automatically when you start driving again. I love all the little features I didn’t even know it had, like the lighted door handles and the climate control memory. The only thing I don’t love is having to wait another six to eight weeks to drive it again.

How fast did you drive?

Most of the time, I drove around 80 to 85 miles per hour on the highways. However, there were a couple of occasions in Germany where I got up to 110 to 115 miles per hour in sections with no speed limit. Other than my death grip on the steering wheel, I was pleased that it handled pretty much the same at the higher speeds as it did at the lower ones.

Kathryn at the wheel, totally in control

Kathryn at the wheel, totally in control

Did you ever let Kathryn drive?

I put most of the miles on the car, but I did let Kathryn drive a couple times. She got it up to 90 to 95 miles per hour at one point in Germany, but she seemed to be in control, so I didn’t mind.

Entrance to Taillevent, Paris

Entrance to Taillevent, Paris

How was your lunch at Taillevent?

Our lunch at Taillevent was simply amazing. I’m embarrassed that I lack the vocabulary to describe the food properly, so I won’t even try. We each ordered a kir royal as an aperitif and then, after receiving a dizzying array of menus, ordered the fixed-price lunch, which had been our plan all along. Naturally, we ordered a bottle of wine, letting the sommelier choose the appropriate bottle for us. An amuse-bouche arrived, which was gazpacho, just to get our taste buds excited. My appetizer was jumbo shrimp, and Kathryn’s was risotto. I continued my seafood theme and had a main course of salmon. There was brie after the main course to clear the palate, followed by dessert — a rich chocolate cake for me — which was accompanied by a plate of assorted chocolates. I had coffee after dessert, and by the time we left, we had been there about two-and-a-half hours. The most pleasant surprise came as we were heading for the front door, when our waiter stopped us and asked us to please wait a moment. A moment later, the owner came out to thank us personally for coming, ask for our repeat business, and wish us a pleasant stay in France. I thought it was an impeccable touch. Someone running a restaurant with two Michelin stars is willing to make guests ordering fixed-price menus and wine-of-the-day feel as important as guests ordering tasting menus and vintage bottles from the cellar.

Did you gamble in Monte Carlo?

No. However, we did take a peek inside the famous casino, allowing us to feel very James Bond for a moment.

Did you take a gondola ride in Venice?

No. A few rides on the vaporetti convinced us that spending $100-plus on a gondola ride might be the most expensive vomit we ever bought. As it turned out, walking around Venice was quite civilized and gave us a chance to see the city without the unwashed hoards.

A little green after first glider flight

A little green after first glider flight

How did you end up gliding in Austria?

When my friend Katharina and her boyfriend David came to visit me in Phoenix two years ago, I took them on an early-morning flight from Deer Valley to Payson for breakfast. At that time, I learned David is also a pilot, but he flies gliders, not airplanes.

Fast-forward two years. When I arrived in Eisenstadt, Katharina let me know that David had a surprise for me the following morning. He arranged for someone in his flying club to take me up in one of their gliders. So while Katharina and Kathryn spent the morning and much of the afternoon seeing the sights in Vienna, I was at the airport in Wiener Neustadt waiting for the weather to improve. However, it eventually did improve to the point where I was able to get a roughly twenty-minute flight. I took the controls for about five minutes, and although I think I did a pretty good job maintaining airspeed, it was a lot different from flying an airplane, especially for maintaining coordination in turns. Glider pilots seem always to be circling for the best air currents. After circling for a while, I was starting to get nauseous, so we headed back to the field a few minutes ahead of schedule. However, it was a positive first glider experience overall, and now that I know what to expect, I may be willing to try it again.

Did you bring home any souvenirs?

I’m not one to buy much of anything when I travel, so my souvenirs from my trips abroad tend to be somewhat accidental. My favorite souvenir of the trip is the German license plate from the front of my new car. Some have suggested that I remount it when I get the car back, despite the dubious legality of displaying it in the U.S. One colleague suggested I leave it on until some cop decides to give me a ticket for it — a suggestion I’m definitely taking under advisement. I also ended up with all the safety equipment required in Europe but not here, such us the reflective triangle, the safety vest, and the first aid kit. Since the items aren’t required in the U.S., they don’t ship with the car, but I can put them all back in the car when it arrives in Phoenix.

Do you feel like the trip brought the two of you closer together?

Definitely.