Food court musical by folks who cooked up frozen Grand Central

by Jamie Rhein on

A friend and I were looking through a few Improv Everywhere videos, the folks who created Frozen Grand Central, and loved this one so much we watched it twice and then showed it to others.

For anyone who has ever eaten in a food court anywhere in the world, imagine what it might be like if folks broke out into song, but not just any song–one that fit the location and the situation. This particular food court is in a shopping mall in Los Angeles.

One of the details I liked about this effort is the diversity of the entertainers, as well as, the audience members who had no idea what exactly was taking place as they chewed their food.

I loved the woman with the “baby.”

Can I get a napkin, please?

A travel story when the traveler doesn’t have a clue

by Jamie Rhein on

My mother told me this traveler-doesn’t-have-a-clue story yesterday morning after I picked her up at the Greyhound bus station in Columbus, Ohio.

I posted about this yesterday, but I’m still shaking my head and wondering where the woman is today and what she has found to eat. Perhaps she’s in Missouri?

It has reminded me of other travel stories when there is nothing else to do but keep on keeping on–and hopefully, eventually, you’ll get to where you want to go. It’s also to make you feel better if you’ve ever made a travel mistake. I’ve made mistakes, but not quite like this.

Here is the recap:

“Where are you going?” My mother asked the woman who got on the bus in Newark, New Jersey.

“Los Angeles,” the woman said.

“My!” said my mother. “That’s far. When will you get there?”

“Tomorrow.” The woman, according to my mother, sounded confident.

“Tomorrow?!” my mother exclaimed.

Mind you, they are on the bus on the east coast. The U.S. hasn’t shrunk.

The woman nodded, still sure.

In Pittsburgh, the woman discovered the truth. She won’t arrive in Los Angeles until Saturday, I think sometime tomorrow night. It is a looooonnnnnng ride.

My mother said that the woman spoke with an accent , so perhaps she misunderstood the details, or she never asked for the details. I wonder if her ticket gave her an inkling that something was amiss? Regardless, she’s somewhere the middle of the U.S. by now and by tomorrow night she’ll be in L.A.

This reminds me a little bit of the problem when planning international travel that involves crossing the International Date Line. When we lived in Asia I always double checked to make sure I understood exactly what day it would be when I would arrive somewhere. Missing a day can wreck havoc on plans if you’re not careful.

Or there are the mistakes where you head east instead of west or the other way around. I know someone who was driving to Washington, D.C., from Columbus, but didn’t discover he had gone the wrong way until he hit Indiana or thereabouts. He had recently immigrated to the U.S. which added to his sign reading difficulties and reluctance to ask for directions.

LAX employees march and protest against — LAX

by Grant Martin on

Think your airport sucks? It’s ok, most people don’t like their local airports. But you’re in a pretty sad state of affairs when even the employees that work at that airport think it sucks.

That’s what’s been going on at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) recently. Employees, union members and even J D Power and Associates notables have been marching around the terminals protesting the state of the airport and the industry.

I can see where they’re coming from with regard to the airport — Terminal 2, where I spend most of my time is a run down shell of a terminal, where amenities are few, gates are crowded and dirty and a combo meal at Burger King can cost up to twelve dollars.

Just earlier this week, local Los Angeles news reported that there were over a thousand people in line over at Terminal 1.

With regard to their qualms with the industry, I’m not sure if they have much traction. Airlines are cutting back in all facets of the business, including, I’m sure, employee staffing. Any time layoffs and superfluous cost cutting are involved, employees are going to be unhappy.

Luckily, none of this ruckus seems to be (further) affecting airport operations — as of this afternoon, the FAA isn’t reporting any significant delays.

Are we in Los Angeles yet?: A Greyhound bus story

by Jamie Rhein on

My mom just arrived back in Columbus this morning at 7 a.m. from her trip to New York City on a Greyhound bus. The bus was one minute early. Wow! I thought that she’d be late due to the wicked thunderstorm that tore through here all last night.

When I pulled into a non-parking space in front of the station (there was just enough room to maneuver behind another car actually parked at a meter), there she was with her small pull behind that she was allowed to carry-on. If she had checked it there would have been no charge.

One more point for Greyhound.

As I posted previously, my mom took the Greyhound because it was cheaper and easier than flying at the time she found out she needed to get to New York. That still seems to be the case.

Unless, you are the woman my mother told me about who got on in Newark, New Jersey.

“Where are you going?” My mother asked her.

“Los Angeles,” the woman said.

“My!” said my mother. “When will you get there?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” My mom wondered how that could be.

That couldn’t be. When they changed buses in Pittsburgh, the woman found out she didn’t have a clue. She won’t arrive in Los Angeles until Saturday.

My mom said she had an accent, so perhaps when someone explained the trip details, she missed something. Obviously.

I hope she didn’t have much planned for the next couple of days and thought to bring a good book with her–or several. If nothing else, she snagged the best travel mistake story I’ve heard in awhile.

(In case you’re wondering. If you go from New York to Los Angeles, it will take 2 days, 12 hours and 25 minutes minimum and you would have had to make one bus change. Some schedules take longer with two transfers.You will have traveled 3072 miles. It costs $192 if you don’t want a refundable ticket or $215 if you do. There is one ticket left for today’s bus that leaves at 11 a.m.)

Fare Alert! Fall travel from NYC and LA to Honolulu for cheap!

by Grant Martin on

United and Continental published a round of super cheap fares mostly originating from Newark and into Honolulu last night for travel starting this fall into early next year.

I’m pulling up prices under 300$ total for multiple itineraries on Travelocity. Most weekends and holidays are blocked out, but if you’re going to Hawaii you’re going to want to take a couple of extra days off anyway, aren’t you?

To find the fare, go to Travelocity.com and plug in EWR or LAX and HNL or LIH for your departure and arrival airports. Then select “flexible dates” and select May – December.

The search engine will return a variety of prices and availabilities therein; you can try the lowest fare to find dates that might work, or if availability is too tight try something more expensive.

It helps to consider the flex search as more of a general than a precise tool. If you find ballpark dates that might work for you, scoot over to Kayak or Mobissimo to do another search and do your booking — that way you don’t have to deal with going back and forth between cheapest fares and dates, making yourself all frustrated and cursing my name.

Availability for the cheapest fares from Los Angeles are harder to come by, but are there. Try tinkering around with the lowest few fares in the Travelocity search to find dates that work for you or if necessary, turn off the flex search option and just do +/- 3 day searches to work around your schedule; the first few searches I tried failed, but I ended up eventually finding midweek travel in September for 344$ total.

No telling how long this secret sale will work, so book soon and ask questions later.

Aloha!