Throwback Thursday: Redondo Beach Park, Washington

March 13, 2006

Posted in Photos Tagged with: #TBT, travel

Friday Reads: Far and Away by Neil Peart

From Amazon.com:
Rush drummer Peart relates nearly four years of band tours, road trips, and personal discoveries in this introspective travelogue. From the ups and downs of a professional artist to the birth of a child, this revealing narrative recounts 22 adventures from rock’s foremost drummer, biker enthusiast, husband, and father.

Posted in Books Tagged with: #fridayreads, rush, travel

Throwback Thursday: Hawaii, August 2001

Yes, those are muttonchops. No, I don’t know what I was thinking.

Posted in Fun Tagged with: throwbackthursday, travel

United Breaks Guitars by Dave Carroll #fridayreads

Just in case you forgot:

Posted in Books, video Tagged with: #fridayreads, social media, travel, united

No juggling chainsaws on Delta flights

Posted in Fun Tagged with: travel

Southern Road Trip

Via Flickr:
Includes: NEFLIN Tech Day 2013 (FL), New Orleans, Graceland & St. Louis
17-22 June 2013

Posted in Fun Tagged with: NEFLIN2013, travel

Our recent road trip by the numbers

Total miles traveled: 3283.1
Percentage of miles drive by Michael: 100%
States passed through: 14 (some more than once)
Wrong turns: a dozen or so
Average MPG: 36.27815 (Would have been higher but we had to run the air conditioning the whole time.)
Ratio of US Marshals to people with ankle shackles seen: 2:1
Amish children very amused by our Smart Car: 2
Parked Smart Cars seen: 1 (in New Orleans)
Other Smart Cars on the road seen: 3
Times we were asked about our car: 5
Stops at Starbucks: Lost count @ 9
Quilt stores: 1 (but it was HUGE!)
Book stores: 3 (that’s a new low record for us!)
Yards of fabric purchased: I refused to count
Books bought: 15 (again a very low number for us)

Posted in Fun Tagged with: travel

Shrimp & grits… I must be in the south.

Posted in 1 Tagged with: food, travel

Shelf Life: Hotel Libraries

ASK many travellers what books are found in hotels, and they will mutter feverishly about Gideons Bibles, Readers’ Digest hardbacks and dog-eared Catherine Cookson novels. The very idea of a hotel library is enough to send them running to their Kindles for some sort of digital experience, even though a couple of well-filled shelves can provide a welcome surprise and a decent source of local insight.

This is why I’m rather taken with the work of a company called the Ultimate Library, which chooses and supplies books on behalf of its hotel clients for use in library, lounge and individual rooms. The company was started by Philip Blackwell in 2007 after a few too many stays in book-impoverished lodgings. A former CEO of his family’s chain of bookshops he had the knowledge and the contacts to launch such a business, and in the years since he has sold his library vision to the likes of Aman Resorts, Swire Hotels and the Savoy.

Read the full article @ The Economist.

Posted in Libraries Tagged with: design, hotel, travel

All Your Data Are Belong To You: TSA, DHS, devices, and your rights

Sarah Houghton tweeted the other day a mention of being regularly hassled by the TSA. I asked her for details and said it would make a great blog post. She has since obliged. If you think “but I’m just a librarian, why would they be interested in me?” you must read this post. In fact, just read it anyway.

And here begins our story.  I have flown a lot in my lifetime.  Between personal and professional trips, I average one or two dozen trips a year.  About three years ago, I was flying from the Rochester NY airport to Grand Rapids, Michigan – going from my step-son’s graduation to my grandmother’s funeral.  I was stopped by the TSA screeners for having “brass knuckles” in my purse — in reality a 1 1/2″ cat face cheap metal keychain that did not resemble brass knuckles in the slightest.  I was pulled aside, my wallet was taken, and my bags thoroughly searched within my view.  I got mouthy…probably not my best choice, but I was pissed.  This was some over-zealous, bored Rochester TSA flunkie messing with me for no legitimate reason.  I was live-Tweeting it as it was happening.  I was asked to stop.  I said no.  I was asked to hand over my phone.  I said no.  I was asked to hand over my laptop.  I said no.  Eventually they let me go, confiscating the keychain that had made it through security in a couple dozen other airports, and with a warning that I was now on “THE LIST.”  I let fly a few F-bombs and boarded my plane for my grandmother’s funeral shaking from adrenaline and anger.  I wrote complaint letters to the Rochester Airport administration and to the TSA and got no reply from either (surprise, surprise).

Read the full article @ LibrarianInBlack.net.

Posted in Politics & Law Tagged with: privacy, travel, tsa