Animals and aircraft: a sometimes dubious mixture

 

Courtesy of an e-mail from Eaton Rapids Joe, I was led to this account of a massive pig airlift operation.

Business pard's son flies 747's for Atlas Air. Latest load was around 900 pigs from Cincinnati, stop over in Anchorage. A reverse thruster had stuck, so they had to transfer those pigs to another 747. I figure the big plane can haul around 4 double decker, 18 wheeler (pot) loads of pigs. That's a pot load max of around 50K pounds or so, times 4, still under a 747 max load of 250-300K pounds. They were able to open the 747 nose and side doors to give those pigs some air while the new plane was being readied.

I googled Philippine pig problem and found out they have African Swine Fever Virus, which is contagious and deadly. So the govt is importing 32,000 breeding age pigs from USA and Europe, placing them in ASFV free areas. That virus kills pigs, but does not infect humans. Don't ya know those big planes stank after hauling all those pigs. Bud said the pigs were stomping, were actually shaking the plane. Big plane, but lots of stomping pigs. (Stomping, mad pigs.... would make a great Antifa demonstration).

. . .

Wonder what a "pig ticket" for a half the way around the world trip would cost. And times 900.... And ultimately 32,000 pigs.... Only a govt could afford that, for sure not pig farmers.

There's more at the link, particularly comments from other interested readers.  My favorite:  "Ha! In the Philippines they'll offload 900 pigs and haul them off on three motorbikes, two garongs and a jeepney."  Friends who've been there assure me that's more likely than not . . .

The story reminded me of one of the more "interesting" freight problems involved in flying the Hump, the air transportation of men, machines and equipment from India to China during the Second World War.  I wrote about it at some length several years ago.  One of the most difficult tasks was to fly mules and donkeys to China for use as pack animals, which were essential in the heavily forested terrain of Burma and nearby areas.  The Hump loadmasters would cram anything up to a dozen into C-46 or C-47 transports, and fly them all the way to China.  The trouble was, their urine would seep through the aluminum floor plates and corrode the control cables that ran from the cockpit to the tail.  The problem was discovered one day when a C-47 pilot taxied out to the runway in China, to take off for a return flight to India, and discovered that the rudder would no longer answer to his control inputs.  Subsequent inspection revealed that all the planes used for those animal cargoes were in just as parlous a condition, requiring major overhauls and the replacement of many control cables and surfaces before they could go back to work.

Of course, domesticated (or semi-domesticated) livestock is manageable as cargo.  Wild animals . . . not so much.  One of my favorite episodes was Operation Crocodile in South Africa in 1970.  Conservationist Ian Player was trying to rescue a number of Nile crocodiles from an estuary threatened by severe drought.  He appealed to the South African Air Force, which made available one of its then-new Super Frelon helicopters.

Hilarity - and a great deal of bad language - ensued.  The game rangers and their assistants had to capture, then immobilize the crocodiles, one after another, and load them into cargo nets (a process in which the animals proved to be less than cooperative).  The helicopter would then hover overhead (producing violent protests from the crocodiles, who didn't want anything to do with this strange bird), hook up the net, and airlift the croc to a safer place several miles up-river.  Once there, it was lowered to the ground, the net was removed, and the ropes and tape and other immobilizing bits and pieces were taken off.  This had to be done very carefully, always being prepared for some very high-speed maneuvers to get away from the by now extremely annoyed crocodile.  Video footage of proceedings was very popular with everyone except those immediately involved!

Africa, of course, is a very strange place, and its animals and aviation have their own stories to tell.  One of the worst is, I assure you, absolutely true.  People sometimes accuse me of making it up, so I'll let you read the news report at the link to prove that no, I'm not.

Peter

A Texas cathedral???

 

I had to laugh at Japanese visitor Nobunaga's description of his first time at a Buc-ee's gas station.  A couple of excerpts:

I had been warned about the bathrooms and I had dismissed the warning as the pride of a loud people.

I was wrong to dismiss it.

The bathrooms are famous across the whole state and they have earned it.

I have slept in worse hotels. I nearly bowed upon entering.

. . .

I came out with fudge, a shirt printed with a joke I do not fully understand, forty dollars of jerky, and a feeling I can only describe as having been to church.

I did not need any of it.

I needed all of it.

I have walked through the great cathedrals of the old world. I lit no candle there.

I lit no candle at Buc-ee's either.

But I did fill the truck.

And I understand now that in Texas, this is the same thing.

There's more at the link.  Go read the whole thing.  You'll smile.

I was delighted to find that Nobunaga has compiled about 100 of his "discovering America" posts into a book, "A Samurai Loose in Modern America".

The blurb reads:

All of it. One samurai, one impossible year, one hundred field reports.

This is the complete collection: every dispatch from a man who woke up in modern America in full armor and decided to treat all of it as real. The free chips. The bottomless soda. The neighbors who will not let him pay. The stadium that adopts him in six seconds. The nurse named Brenda who undoes eight hundred years of his philosophy with a juice box.

The table, the counter, the street, and the crowd, gathered in one volume, each of the hundred stories now closing with a note from the samurai himself, written afterward, reporting how far the misunderstanding has been allowed to go.

He came to understand America. He failed, completely, and the failing is the book. He gets the small things wrong with total conviction and the large thing right by accident: that the only law of this country is that no one is ever unkind.

A hundred stories. Pull up a chair. The chips are free, apparently bottomless, and he intends to honor all of them.

It's free to read on Kindle Unlimited.  I think I'm going to enjoy it.

(BTW, Nobunaga isn't alone in his bemused wonder at Buc-ee's.  YouTube has a range of videos showing the reaction of World Cup visitors to the gas station, which they appear to treat more as a tourist attraction than anything else.  Go watch a few and have fun with them.)

Peter

Back from LibertyCon

 

We're safely home from LibertyCon - well, most of us.  Alma Boykin will tackle the last leg, from our home to hers, later this morning.  We had a pleasant journey, with no major problems.  We're all pretty tired, though.  Four days on the road to attend three days of LibertyCon is a poor trade-off.  We may consider flying next year, even though that's more expensive and carries with it the travel hazard of too many people crammed into a tiny metal tube, plus the joys (NOT!) of the TSA and modern airports.

Normal blogging will resume tomorrow, Wednesday.

Peter

On the ground at LibertyCon

 

We arrived safely on Thursday afternoon after a relatively pleasant journey.  The Interstate between Nashville and Chattanooga is often so busy that it can take two hours or more to cover the distance, but for some reason we were blessed with light traffic and good weather.

The convention kicked off today (Friday) with all the usual pleasures of meeting and greeting friends whom we hadn't seen for a year or two.  It looks like I'm not alone in my medical woes, as several people I'd hoped to see here have begged off while they recover from their own troubles.  Funny how that seems to happen more and more often as we get older...

I'm taking it easy, being gentle with myself, and wearing a back brace while walking around, to make sure I don't overstress the damaged areas of my spine.  It's not comfortable, particularly if one goes outside into midsummer humidity and heat, but it's better than the alternative!

So far, plans are to leave Sunday afternoon and get home late on Monday.  That may change depending on Alma's commitments, but we'll see.  Meanwhile, please keep the prayers for safety (traveling and otherwise) coming.

Peter

On hiatus for LibertyCon

 

My wife and I, along with friend of long standing Alma Boykin, are headed out this morning to attend LibertyCon in Chattanooga, TN.  We'll get there Thursday evening, and be back home on Monday evening next week, God and the traffic permitting.

Blogging will be sparse during our absence.  I'll try to put up an article or two during free moments, but conventions typically don't include many of those!  Therefore, please amuse yourselves with the bloggers in my sidebar.

I'll see y'all on the other side.  Prayers for traveling mercy will, as always, be greatly appreciated.

Peter

I'm not a happy Safelite customer right now

 

I'm extremely fed up with Safelite, the windshield replacement people, at present.

I called them last week to replace my vehicle's windshield after a large crack developed.  They handled the initial appointment, insurance issues, etc. without difficulty.  However, when the technician arrived at our home to do the installation, we noticed immediately that the replacement windshield was much, much thinner glass than the factory original.  I queried this, but the installer assured me it was just as good as the original.

He took a couple of hours to replace the windshield, then left.  Less than an hour later, I stepped outside to find that a crack had developed in the center of the new glass, from top to bottom - worse than the initial crack I'd asked Safelite to repair.  Irritated (to put it mildly), I called Safelite at once, but could not get a human being on the line at all - everything was referred to their app or their Web site.  I was eventually able to get an appointment for "warranty service" last Saturday morning.

Lo and behold, on Friday afternoon Safelite canceled the Saturday appointment, with no explanation given.  We had to drive through the weekend in a vehicle whose windscreen I didn't trust not to develop further cracks.  At any rate, yesterday morning I had a call from their technician (at last).  He proceeded to inform me cheerfully that they couldn't replace my replacement windshield immediately, because the glue they used had to dry for at least a week before it was safe to remove it.  Why that information couldn't have been provided last week, instead of making, then canceling, an appointment for work they knew they wouldn't be able to do for that reason, I do not know.  Grrrr!

I pointed out that my wife and myself were leaving for Libertycon on Wednesday, and that the delay would mean we'd have to hire a vehicle for the journey, because I certainly wasn't prepared to trust their cracked windscreen to remain intact over a few thousand miles.  I informed him that I expected Safelite to pay for the hired vehicle, because it was due to their botched repair and delays in fixing it that the hire was necessary.  He told me that Safelite would not cover that cost, as it was their policy never to do so.  We'll see about that.  If necessary, Small Claims Court, here we come!  I think he passed that on to his bosses, as I had a couple more calls later yesterday all trying to tell me that Safelite wasn't responsible for any further expenses.  We'll find out.

Anyway, today I have to pick up our hired vehicle, hoping against hope that we can get the size we need at an affordable price.  We've had good results from Enterprise, so we'll be using them again.  Tomorrow it's off to Chattanooga with a carful of family, friends and luggage, to catch up with friends we haven't seen for some considerable time.  Meanwhile, my vehicle will just have to bask in the North Texas sunshine, waiting for our return before the repairs can proceed.

I'm not impressed by Safelite so far.  We'll see whether they can regain my trust and my future business, or whether it will be better to look elsewhere.

Peter

On the road again

 

My wife and I are headed to Amarillo, where Alma Boykin has invited me to scare terrify enlighten her class about what Africa is really like, versus what their "woke" textbook portrays.  Needless to say, the latter bears little or no relationship to reality!

I'll be offline until Monday morning.  Amuse yourselves with the bloggers in my sidebar.

Peter

About those "donut" spare tires and wheels...

 

It seems that a lot of motorists never think much about the space-saver spare tires fitted to many modern vehicles, and abuse them far beyond their design limits when they use them.  I learned that when I went to a local tire dealer to replace my twelve-year-old donut tire, which was showing signs of oxidization as the rubber perished.

According to the dealer, any tire is supposed to be replaced after nine to ten years on the wheel, including donut spare tires.  The problem is that so many spare tires are mounted underneath the vehicle, where they're hard to see, that they don't even get their pressure topped up, much less inspected for wear.  People seem to forget they exist.  The assistant dealing with my car said that he's had several incidents where vehicle owners had a flat and tried to put on their spare, only to find it was as flat as a pancake.  To make matters worse, some of them then tried to repair their spare tires using cans of tire sealant refill, sold at many auto dealers and supermarkets.  Trouble is, those cans are designed to pressurize full-size tires, not a donut spare with its much smaller internal volume;  so they inflate the latter too much, which - given perished rubber or weak spots - can rupture again almost immediately.

Another problem is that regular car wheels are manufactured, reinforced and stressed to handle forces such as acceleration, cornering, minor bumps and potholes, etc.  On the other hand, donut spare wheels are produced by simply stamping the wheel out of sheet metal.  They're not designed for extreme use.  The vehicle manufacturers warn buyers about that, recommending a maximum speed of 50 mph and maximum distance of not more than 50 miles.  In other words, the donut spare is designed to get the vehicle to a place where it can be repaired, and no further.  However, many drivers seem to regard them as interchangeable with the "main" wheels and tires, using them for days and weeks on end, and running at normal highway speeds.  Inevitably, many donut spares that are abused in that fashion will fail on the wheel, and perhaps cause a serious accident in the process.  Apparently some drivers have even tried to sue the donut spare manufacturer, on the grounds that the wheel and/or tire "failed" or "was defective".  When the facts emerge, and it becomes clear that the spare was abused far beyond its recommended limits, the lawsuit inevitably fails, leaving the luckless motorist to pay the defendant's legal fees.

The final problem I learned about from the dealer was that some (not all) manufacturers may make a given model of vehicle for ten years or more.  They'll order spare wheels and tires in bulk from a supplier, hundreds or thousands at a time, but donut spares are not ordered to a specific wheel and/or tire measurement.  Instead, the overall dimensions of the spare will be specified.  That means a larger wheel diameter with a smaller tire may fit those dimension, or a smaller wheel diameter with a larger tire.  The only common factor will be the spacing and size of the holes for the lug nuts.  It's up to the supplier to send an order that meets the overall dimensions.  The next order, or one from a different supplier, may meet the same overall dimensions, but with different wheel and tire diameters, widths, etc.  Therefore, when ordering a replacement donut spare tire, it's essential to note the measurement of one's existing tire and order an exact size match.  Otherwise, a tire that may be used by some vehicles of that model might be supplied - but it may not fit your specific vehicle's spare wheel.  Tricky!

As you can tell, I learned a lot.  The dealer has ordered my new spare tire, and it'll be here within a couple of days.  I'm looking forward to being a bit better equipped, for safety's sake.

Peter

Tortoise wins, hare left town long ago

 

I had to smile at an award recently conferred in New York City.  It reminded me of Aesop's famous fable.

The M42 Crosstown was just crowned the slowest bus in the Big Apple — a title that its riders say comes as no surprise.

The MTA shuttle earned the first “un-coveted Pokey award” from the New York Public Interest Research Group in three years after clocking in at an exhausting 5.25 miles per hour on average.

At that pace, the M42 would have fittingly finished in 42,232nd place of the 59,226 runners at this year’s NYC Marathon.

At a press conference Monday, MTA Chief of Policy & External Relations John McCarthy acknowledged the M42’s Pokey win, but said the award should have been given to 42nd Street instead of the shuttle.

“It’s really not the bus’s fault. The bus wakes up in the morning and it wants to provide great service; it wants to go fast. That’s what it’s equipped to do and the bus operator wants to drive the bus quickly. The problem is that things are in the way,” said McCarthy.

“I’d like to take this award and hand it to 42nd street because it’s the street, it’s the road and it’s the vehicles that are blocking buses that are the problem and continue to be the problem.”

There's more at the link.

The report amused me, but I had to concede that the explanation offered by Mr. McCarthy was most likely all too accurate.  I've driven in New York and Massachusetts, and almost universally drivers there proved to be the least polite, most aggressive and unhelpful of any I've found in the rest of the United States.  In New York, there seemed to be a competition among drivers over who could be the most obstructive and just plain nasty to tourists and visitors.  I loathed my time on the road in those two states, and won't willingly return to them for that reason.

I'm sure city-proud New Yorkers will object to my comparison, and insist that it's really not that bad there.  To that, all I can say is that if the average New York City driver of my [admittedly limited] experience tried to drive as he's accustomed in Dallas or Houston, he'd be jailed in short order by the local cops - if, that is, local drivers hadn't administered a short, sharp lesson in manners before then!

Peter

The wheels on the trucks... are falling off?

 

The CEO of Freightwaves warns that the "Largest capacity purge in history" is coming to the US commercial trucking market.

The freight industry is experiencing what experts describe as one of the most interesting times ever in freight—though unfortunately, not in a positive way for most participants. Motor carriers and freight brokers across the spectrum are feeling significant pain from weak freight volumes and a rapidly changing operating climate. What we’re witnessing appears to be the calm before a significant storm, with indicators pointing toward what could become the largest capacity washout in trucking history.

With the risk of the market eliminating 600,000 active drivers, the largest capacity purge in history may be coming, bringing COVID-like spot rates. The difference this time is that there won’t be a flood of immigrants created by Biden’s open borders, which offered an endless supply of truck drivers. The capacity relief valve for shippers and brokers is forever shut, meaning carriers will have to pay up in terms of higher pay and bonuses for truck drivers. Capacity will also be much harder to find.

The Great Capacity Purge is coming and there will be no relief valve for shippers or brokers.

. . .

When accounting for the overlap between drivers affected by non-domiciled CDL [Commercial Driver License] restrictions and ELP enforcement, plus undocumented drivers and restrictions on new hires, the total at-risk population could exceed 600,000 drivers—representing about 17% of active drivers, according to transport economist Noël Perry.

Carriers that rely upon immigrant labor or carriers that don’t qualify under the new rules will likely go out of business.

The combination of regulatory changes and prolonged freight recession conditions is creating an environment ripe for significant market disruption. Industry experts anticipate numerous bankruptcies among both carriers and brokers in the coming months as financial pressures mount.

There's more at the link.

In one sense, this is going to produce difficulties in distributing goods from manufacturer or importer, to wholesaler, to retailer.  Shipments will be more expensive due to less trucks (and commercial drivers) on the roads.  It may cause serious economic repercussions for many businesses.

On the other hand, US truck drivers who've long complained about illegal aliens and foreign drivers taking over the trucking business are already seeing improvements in their prospects.  I've seen several drivers post on social media that they're getting rates 20-30% higher than before from spot brokers, and they look forward to this trend continuing.  If, as the article states, up to half a million or more foreign and non-domiciled CDL holders are eliminated from the trucking market, it can only be good news for American workers wanting their jobs back - assuming they do want them back, and haven't moved on to work in other industries.

On the other hand, the decrease in such drivers might have repercussions for the US truck fleet as a whole.

The proliferation of non-domiciled CDLs has coincided with a dramatic increase in trucking capacity across the United States. Since the FMCSA permitted foreigners to obtain non-domiciled CDLs in March 2019, the industry has added more than 310,000 trucks to American roads.

It is not a stretch to believe that at least half of the new capacity has come from non-domiciled CDL holders. We know that 200,000 CDLs were issued, but it is unclear how many of these are still active and currently driving over the road.

Regardless, the industry has suffered greatly from the surge of new truck drivers and the sudden influx of capacity. These new participants have contributed significantly to market oversupply conditions, resulting in the longest freight recession in history ... As the DOT and FMCSA work to implement stricter controls on these licenses, capacity will certainly tighten. The question on the mind of every freight market executive: When will we feel it?

Again, more at the link.

It might soon be a good time to buy that used 18-wheeler you always wanted to convert into a gigantic travel trailer setup . . .

Peter

OK, another car question

 

Thank you to everyone who responded to my car question yesterday.  It looks like, thanks to tariffs and other issues, repairs may cost north of $3K, and given that the value of the car is probably not much greater than that, the calculus is leaning in the direction of replacement.

Online research shows that there's virtually nothing worth having under $10K in the used car market.  Either the mileage is as great or greater than our present vehicle, or there are persistent reliability issues, or availability is haphazard.  Moving up to $15K doesn't improve things very much, although there is a greater selection.  At $20K upward, there's plenty of availability, but low-mileage vehicles remain hard to find in good condition:  most are in the 80-140K mile range, with some notable exceptions.  That means, if we want a reliable replacement to use for the medium to long term, we have to look at new vehicles as well.

The cheapest new vehicle I can find is the Kia Soul (which I've driven before, and is OK as an urban runabout), or the Ford Maverick mini-pickup.  The Maverick's ride quality isn't great, but it's a truck, not a car, and can't be expected to be as soft-riding and comfortable as the Soul.  It does have the advantage of reasonably good utility, with a small loadbed and a back seat that can accommodate a fair amount of baggage or household debris.  Both the Soul and the Maverick (in base model configuration) are in the mid-$20K base price range, plus tax, title, license, etc.  If we move up to the $30-$35K range, there are a lot more options, but then, that's a lot more money.

There's also the big disadvantage that some manufacturers are now demanding monthly subscription payments to use even the most basic in-car services (Toyota, I'm looking at you!).  I'm simply not prepared to do this.  There are also dealers who advertise "no-haggle" prices (that always seem higher than those who will negotiate), and others who low-ball trade-in offers.  There are also too many dealers who add gimmicks pre-sale (e.g. windows engraved with an "anti-theft" serial number, nitrogen tire fills, etc.), and want to charge hundreds of dollars for them, and won't sell you a vehicle without them.  There are an awful lot of shysters out there, it seems to me . . .  Any advice on tell-tale signs that a particular dealer may be more trouble than he's worth?  Obvious red flags?

Therefore, I turn to knowledgeable readers again, to ask for your input.  The need is for local transport of one or two older people, with occasional longer-distance excursions (e.g. 300-400 mile round trip in a day).  Economy is important, as is reliability, and the vehicle should not cost an arm and a leg to insure.

1. If you were looking for a lower-cost vehicle for that mission, what would you recommend?  New or used?
2. Has anyone had experience with the Ford Maverick mini-pickup models?  I'd be very interested to hear what they're like to own, particularly reliability, ride quality, etc.  Their overall utility is appealing.
3. Is there any vehicle that you absolutely would not recommend, due to issues, problems, or whatever?

Thanks in advance for your input.  I'm grateful for your help.

Peter

Post-surgery update and car info request

 

As regular readers will know, one of my kidneys was removed in late September.  Close to a month later, things are on the mend, but painfully slowly (emphasis on the "painfully" sometimes!).

Some of the surgery scars are healing nicely, to the point that they're almost closed with minimal scab left.  Others - including the largest one - are unfortunately taking rather longer to close up.  I'm told that's inevitable, due to natural movement of my body as I walk around or turn over in my sleep, but it's nevertheless irritating me with the slowness of the process.  To add to the fun (?), those bigger scars are itching intensely as the skin grows over the areas where it had been cut open.  I'm constantly having to fight the urge to scratch them.  Keeping them covered helps, and keeps out the dirt, but then they don't dry out, either, which appears to prolong the healing process.  Catch-22, anyone?

The internal injuries caused by taking out the kidney appear to be well on the mend.  The initial pain and "hollowness" I felt have largely ended, and the hollow left in my abdomen by the sudden absence of a kidney is "balancing out" with the rest of my belly.  I'm on a lifting restriction of not more than ten pounds for another six weeks at least, and I have to be careful to observe that;  I've slipped up a couple of times, and the sliced muscles let me know very sharply that I shouldn't do that again.  Apparently I'll be allowed to lift up to 20-25 pounds by mid- to late November, which will help me get back to normal in helping around the house.  All being well, the recovery process should be complete early next year.

Thank you, yet again, to all of you who've helped with the costs of this operation, and with your good wishes and prayers.  It's become a cliche to say "I couldn't do this without you", but that's the plain and simple truth of the matter.  I don't have family in the USA, but I have a support network of readers and online friends and acquaintances, and you've all helped me to get over this particular hump.  I remain very grateful to you all.

Now, if I may, a quick question to the car aficionados among us.  Our 2014 Nissan Pathfinder SUV has just begun to show front suspension problems, which I'll have checked out today.  The irritating thing is that this will be the third time that we've had problems in that area (most recently just over a year ago), and fixing them is not cheap (including labor, over $2K in the past, and with tariffs and other increases, perhaps over $3K today).  The vehicle is about to turn over 180K miles, and is running well apart from the suspension issues.  My dilemma is this:  is it worth sinking another $3K+ into a known issue that may well recur in 1-2 years time, and keep the vehicle running, or is it better to trade it in whilst the rest of it is in very good condition, and find a newer and more reliable ride?  I can see pro's and con's either way.  Based on your knowledge and experience of the car market, what would you recommend?  Please let us know in Comments.  (And, just to reassure anyone who's worrying, no, we won't use any funds donated for surgical costs to pay for the vehicle!)

Thanks again, everyone.

Peter

Southbound again

 

As you read these words, my wife and I will be heading for the DFW metroplex to have my 33 surgical staples withdrawn.  I'm not looking forward to it one little bit, but the skin around the incisions is already looking increasingly irritated as they prevent further healing, so it's time it was done.  If you hear several high-pitched yelps from that direction, it's only me . . .

Prayers for traveling safety and a safe return will be gratefully received, as always.  I'll try not to bleed too much on the journey homeward.

Peter

Going under the knife

 

By the time you read this, my wife and myself should be on our way to the DFW metroplex, where tomorrow morning a surgeon will be helping me lose weight by extracting a defective, rather dead kidney.  It used to be the case that one would stay in hospital for several days following that surgery, but thanks to medical insurance regulations and their reluctance to countenance or authorize "unnecessary" expenses (!), the current expectation is to kick me out that same day.  Thanks to your generosity, dear readers, if it should look like a better idea for me to stay an extra day or two, I'll be able to afford it - and that's an inexpressible relief, let me tell you!

I'll be grateful for your prayers, for the journey there, the preop workup and tests, the surgery, and the aftermath.  Blogging will obviously not be happening for a day or two.  I expect to be back online by Monday morning, God willing.

Thanks again.

Peter

That's one way to get there...

 

From XKCD a few days ago.  Click the image to be taken to the original at the comic's Web page.

The mouseover text at the original site reads:  "We should have you at the gate in just under two hours - two and a half if we get pulled over".

Given the number of travel disruptions airlines have reported over the past summer (most recently just yesterday), I daresay more than a few of their pilots must have considered that option!

Peter

The ambulance chasers lose at last

 

I was pleased to read that a manifestly unjust court verdict has finally been overturned by the Texas Supreme Court.

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Werner Enterprises, reversing a $100 million jury verdict against the motor carrier upheld by an appellate court in a 2014 fatal crash in which a pickup truck lost control on a slick interstate, traveled across the highway median and collided with a Werner tractor traveling on the opposite stretch of road.

. . .

“This awful accident happened because an out-of-control vehicle suddenly skidded across a wide median and struck the defendant’s truck, before he had time to react, as he drove below the speed limit in his proper lane of traffic,” the court wrote. “That singular and robustly explanatory fact fully explains why the accident happened and who is responsible for the resulting injuries. Because no further explanation is reasonably necessary to substantially explain the origins of this accident or to assign responsibility for the plaintiffs’ injuries, the rule of ‘proximate causation’ does not permit a fact finder to search for other, subordinate actors in the causal chain and assign liability to them.”

The high court said that nothing the Werner driver, Shiraz Ali, did or didn’t do contributed to the pickup truck hitting ice, losing control, veering into the median and entering oncoming traffic on an interstate highway.

However Ali was driving, the presence of his 18-wheeler in its proper lane of traffic on the other side of Interstate 20 at the precise moment the pickup truck lost control is just the kind of “happenstance of place and time” that cannot reasonably be considered a substantial factor in causing injuries to the plaintiffs.

There's more at the link.

I've long been angered by the "sue-at-all-costs" approach by so-called "ambulance-chasers":  lawyers who'll hunt down anyone who might conceivably have any case of any kind against another after an accident, then sue on their behalf for often ridiculous sums in damages, hoping that the defendant will settle rather than go to the trouble and expense of an often long-drawn-out trial.  They're an entire sub-culture in the legal "industry".  During our recent travels, both my wife and I commented on the huge number of billboards in economically depressed areas through which we traveled, advertising the services of lawyers to sue anybody whom they could persuade you had "wronged" or "harmed" or "damaged" you.  It appeared to be the major economic activity in those areas, if one judged only by the billboards alongside the roads.

This case is a classic example.  The truck was doing everything legally, traveling in its lane at a lawful speed, and nowhere near traffic coming the other way:  yet the ambulance-chasers tried (and, at first, succeeded) to paint it, its driver and its owner as guilty parties, responsible for the accident and subsequent injuries and expenses.  That they succeeded in a lower court is a black mark against that court, which really should have known better.  Fortunately, in this case, a higher court was able to put a stop to that nonsense:  but how many times does that happen?  How many times can the defendant not afford to take the case to an appeal, and is therefore forced to bear the costs of a settlement?

Shakespeare's prescription for lawyers might have been in jest, but it sometimes seems more than appropriate in the light of how they conduct themselves . . .

Peter

The fun - and pain - of fact-checking and research

 

During our recent perambulations around parts of the Civil War South, my wife and I enjoyed new scenery, new restaurants (hey, gotta sample the local cuisine to get the local "flavor"!), and new people.  We also were reminded - forcibly - that our bodies are older than they were when we last did this sort of thing, and quite a bit more decrepit.  I hadn't expected it to be so painful to spend so much time on foot.  If this goes on, I'll be exploring in a mobility scooter!

Savannah, Georgia was a pleasant surprise in many ways, the first being the weather.  Inland, Georgia was hot and muggy, very unpleasantly so, but on the coast it was a lot cooler and more pleasant.  The Savannah River runs through town, just off the old business and now tourist district, which adds to the cooling.  There are lots of old buildings, some almost as old as the American Revolution and many dating back to the Civil War period.  They've been done up as shops, restaurants and artsy touristy places, leaving the exteriors unchanged but updating the interiors.  Many of the streets are still cobbled rather than tarred, some of them very uncomfortable even in a modern SUV, forcing one to drive at little more than walking pace;  and the traffic through the tourist areas is very heavy, again slowing one down a lot.  On the other hand, the tourist zone is probably no more than a mile or two square, so everything is reasonably accessible.  Those who have land available for parking are doing a land-office business, with everything being run by text messaging or QR codes and visitors' cellphones, so the overhead is minimal.

I was very glad to be able to see the Civil War side of Savannah for myself.  It's all very well to read about what it was like, but to actually see the steps leading up from the river, and the buildings that housed ship chandleries and shops and warehouses dating back that far, and old Civil War forts and jetty pilings, and see old pictures of sailing ships lining the river bank to load and unload . . . it makes it much more real in my mind, and hence I can write about it much more realistically.  It was a very worthwhile visit from that perspective.

The Interstates and regional roads were in pretty decent condition, but traffic was very heavy at times east of the Mississippi River.  I didn't enjoy driving through it, particularly when traffic backed up near cities like Atlanta or Chattanooga.  It confirmed me in my belief that we needed to live west of the Mississippi, where there's room to breathe and space to maneuver.  We acted on that belief when we moved to Texas in 2016, and we were very happy to get back here when the journeying was done.  How all those people will cope - let alone move - if a really bad disaster hits, such as struck North Carolina last year, I hate to think.  (We wanted to visit North Carolina this trip, to see our friends at Killer Bees Honey, but so many of the roads, hotels, etc. in that area are still closed or heavily restricted due to hurricane damage that we gave up on that idea.)

Our cats, of course, were ecstatic to greet us . . . for about ten seconds.  Then the guilt trip started.  "You went away!  Without us!  Where were you?  Why did you abandon us?"  And so on, and so forth, ad nauseam - all while demanding, and getting, treats, petting and attention.  Cats are very good like that.  They forgave us in time to cuddle up with us that night, purring at us to reassure us that even though we didn't deserve it, they still love us.  Sound familiar?

Now we settle back into our normal routine.  I'll be preparing for surgery in a few weeks (of which more later), and must transcribe notes and observations from the trip into a usable format for writing.  My wife went back to work today, and found plenty waiting for her.  She has to get a root canal treatment do-over tomorrow, so she's not real happy about that - and who can blame her!  Me, I'll try to get some more blogging done after I take her in and bring her home.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for traveling safety for us.  Your prayers came in handy a couple of times, I can tell you - and they worked!

Peter

Progress report

 

Our time in Savannah, Georgia is drawing to a close.  We'll be heading out tomorrow on a winding path back to Texas, taking in a couple more writing research places on the way.

Savannah's a nice town:  very touristy, with prices to match, but a lot of genuine history buried among the neon signs and glitter.  Many old buildings (or their exteriors, at least) have been preserved, and are a reminder of not just the Civil War era but of the entire colonial period in North America.  There are some good restaurants, plenty of bars, and lots of art galleries and other "arty" things.  We've enjoyed ourselves, even though we weren't here primarily as tourists.

I found a lot of information and background for my Civil War trilogy.  This morning we took a boat tour of the harbor all the way down to Fort Jackson, and then up the river to the container area, which is apparently one of the busiest in the USA (our tour guide said it was, in fact, the biggest in terms of number of TEU's handled).  The old fort was a massive chunk of masonry erected on what was, at the time, swampy marshland - an amazing piece of engineering in those days.  Sherman's "March To The Sea" forces captured it in late 1864, using improvised boats and pontoon bridges to cross intervening rivers and swamps to reach it.  The other major fortification near the city is Fort Pulaski:  I've set one of the incidents in my trilogy in close proximity to it.

I thought we'd find it difficult to cope with the humidity in this area, but near the sea it's been far less humid than I feared - certainly a lot better than inland Georgia on the way down.  The heat's been pretty bad, but that's the case almost everywhere on the east coast and in the Gulf at this time of year.  We've taken care to drink plenty of water and keep our electrolytes up, so we've been OK.

We're not sure precisely which route we'll follow back to Texas, because much will depend on places we'd like to visit for research purposes on the way.  Traffic will be a big factor.  I'd love to visit several places in Atlanta, but the roads getting there are usually jammed, and riding around the city's not much fun either.  We'll probably take a more southerly route through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana before reaching Texas.  We'll take at least two days over it, and more likely three, because neither my wife nor myself can handle ten- or twelve-hour days on the road as well as we used to.  Age takes its toll.

Once again, prayers for traveling safety will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

Peter

We picked a bad week for travel...

 

... as CNN warns:

A potent heat dome is building over the US, sending temperatures into the triple digits

Looks like our perambulations this week are going to be right under the dome.  Air-conditioning, don't fail us now!

Peter

So far, so good

 

We left home at about 8.30am last Wednesday, and picked up a friend in Wichita Falls, then hit the road.  The first day's travel was relatively peaceful, and the traffic wasn't too bad.  We reached Forrest City in Arkansas by 6 pm, and overnighted there.  We were fortunate to discover Iguanas Mexican Restaurant, where we decided to have supper.  The food had interesting twists on the standard Tex-Mex themes, and was also surprisingly affordable.  We enjoyed it.  If you're passing by, it's worth a visit;  we'll probably eat there again on the way back.

On Thursday we headed out at about the same time, making for Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Libertycon convention.  Traffic was heavier than the previous day, but by taking the 840 loop around Nashville we avoided the worst of it.  The final hour or so was, as always, a trial:  the traffic heading to Chattanooga from both Nashville and Atlanta, GA is pretty heavy, but the Interstates are only two-lane (probably thanks to the very steep hills and mountains of the region, which don't lend themselves to wider roads without a lot of very expensive excavation and blasting).  It's one of my least favorite stretches of Interstate.  Nevertheless, we made it through the morass of semi-trucks and impatient cars without suffering any fender-benders, and arrived shortly after 3pm.  Another wait among throngs of Libertycon attendees, all trying to check in at once, and we were able to flop down on the beds in our room and catch our breath once more.

The convention kicked off yesterday, and has gone pretty well.  My wife and I led a discussion panel on the state of self-publishing within the wider publishing industry, as we have almost every year since 2013.  There was lots to share this year, including the glut of self-published books of low quality flooding the market, the impact of AI-generated scripts and -research (most not very well done at all) that's bedeviling conventional publishers as well as self-published authors, and a number of other issues.  We had an interesting and lively discussion.

We'll be leaving for Savannah in Georgia tomorrow.  It, and the coastline to north and south of it, are heavily featured in the Union Navy trilogy I'm writing about the American Civil War, so I'm going to be doing a lot of research.  We'll also take some time to explore one of the more historic cities in America;  there's a lot to see.

As presently planned (but subject to change), we'll be headed back to Nashville later next week to visit with friends, and then head for home again (via Beachaven Winery in Clarksville, TN, which makes some very tasty and affordable wines;  we plan to stock up for the next year or so).  We should get home by or on Sunday, June 29th.

Thanks to everyone who's been praying for traveling safety for us.  As always, your prayers are much appreciated.

Peter