Bogieblog

Travel Observations

Note: I thought I had posted this on Sunday (6/16/24), but apparently I only saved it as a draft.

I traveled back to see the family a couple of weeks ago. CC wanted me to bring home something of value.I declined as I usually have trials getting thru TSA. Sure enough, they were already lined up to pull my carry on, shoes and purse before they had made it half way thru the xray.

I'm not sure where they took everything, but it was a good 5 minutes before they came back and put them back thru the system. As a side note, they opted NOT to pull me out and use a hand held metal detector on my person this time - a small win.

Somehow, even before 9-11, I have always been singled out for having ridiculous additional over site done like running an electronic sniffer around and thru every crevice of my carry on, doing hand searches. The most egregious thing they have ever found to closely examine was an unopened bottle of saline for my contacts (that under a medical need was legal at 4oz) and a tube of toothpast that was too large - in which I had them throw away.

They usually don't even try to be discrete when checking my belongings, even tossing out my undies and bras for the world to see. I have literally been yanked out from under the metal detector for a more thorough wand and hand search - even though the metal detector didn't go off.

I'm pretty sure that if I had chosen to try to bring the valuable item thru the airport, it would have gotten confiscated at the screening. Not only was it valuable, but it was heavy and they would have claimed that either:

• It was ill-gotten gains (they don't even have to give you a trial for that to happen - and they don't give it back). They will even take "large" amounts of cash that they deem you shouldn't have.
• It could be used as a weapon (being heavy).

I'm not even sure they would have let me back out of taking my flight so that I could hang on to the item. Yeah, not even tempting fate.

And, putting it in a checked bag would have guaranteed that thing would have disappeared since my bags are, more often than not, searched. Not even saying that would have been a perscribed confiscation - if you get my drift.

Bronx Zoo

Yesterday I got up earlier than usual, left my house at 4:20 am to meet a bus by 5:45. Departure was at 6 am sharp and I went with 39 complete strangers***. We rode said bus (added "bonus" the weigh station was open so we had to join the semi's in getting weighed) until just after 10:00 to spend the next 7 hours here.

Had a great time and hit everything that I was interested in (left off the Mouse House, camel ride, nature walk, tree top adventure and the Bug Carousel). (map link for better viewing) I could have easily hit some of those if I had wanted to - and I did it all by walking, I did not use the shuttle at all. Not sure I would have gone on the Wild Asia Monorail if I'd thought about it beforehand. Heights are not my friend and the first thing after pulling out of the station is cross a bridge over the Bronx river at 35' above the water. The bridge consisted of the rails only and while sitting you are facing out the open side of the car (instead of facing the front). Most of the rest of the loop has enough trees around that I wasn't forced to realize how far away the ground was. And then of course, there was the second bridge over the river before pulling back into the station. All was good and I was glad I took the ride. Shortly after 6 pm we left the parking lot to head back home. Had to stop at the weigh station to change drivers (it wasn't open so didn't have to drive over the scales this time). It was 10:58 pm when I walked into my house - so it was a long day.

 

*** Complete strangers - People that work for the same company as I do (which employees about 6,000 people in NH). I've never met any of the people, so they were strangers but also I have reason to completely trust them as I know where they work :) )

Now that Covid restrictions are over, the employee engagement team has arranged more trips. The engagement team does all the planning and hires a bus (with bathroom) to take us to our destination. Of course there is a fee associated. But that fee includes tickets to the event as well as driver and gas. Looking at the zoo website group tickets cost $8 less than if bought individually (and with the "Full Experience".

Sunrises

I was away for vacation last week. Had a great time with Cop Car and the rest of the family! In the mornings, I would take walks in the area of the hotel and there were a couple of fantastic sunrises. The first is from 5/19 and the second from 5/20.

Short Trip to PA

Last week I took a trip to PA for work. Three of us drove there on Monday, stayed thru Wednesday about 1pm, then drove back. Since none of us were the going out type, we fit all our sight seeing in during the drives. We got to go thru some amazing corn and soybean farming country in PA as the GPS took us around an estimated 26 minute traffic backup due to a MV accident on the highway.

On the way back I took pictures while going over the Hudson River Bridge

While I was away, remnants of hurricane Henri hit. Of course since it was traveling over land, it was downgraded to a tropical storm and I'm not even sure it had that designation when it got to VT and NH. Regardless, it dumped some rain.

My pet sitter did a great job and kept me informed of her cat sightings. Rita is the only cat that deigned to make an appearance when Anne was here (she made a total of 4 visits). Since Rita was a rescue that I took in when she was about 7, she must have been socialized  during her younger years. Although she isn't the type to seek out attention from strangers, she quickly settles down when they are around.

Of course the two youngsters have only seen a couple of other people in their lives, and those have been people doing work on my house, so they don't tend to be sociable. That being said, at times I have put them in the cat pen in the living room while others have been here, so they also aren't terrified. This is illustrated by Anne saying that she could hear them chasing each other on the main floor while she was cleaning the cat boxes in the basement. I would just about bet that, at times,  Spot was lurking around watching Anne since she is very curious and adventurous.

It was a good trip with the cats and birds well taken care of, so I couldn't ask for anything better than that.

9/11 Memorial

Here are the promised pictures of memorial buildings and reflection pool. Unfortunately we didn't have much time so I couldn't go thru the museum.

And then there is this interesting "Junga" building

Visit to NYC - Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

The place where I work organizes "field trips" about once a month. This month, it was a bus trip to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the 9/11 memorial. Figuring I would never go by myself,  jumped at the chance to go with a group of coworkers (none of whom I had met before). So, yesterday morning I got up at my normal time to make it to the bus by 5:30 am, then I got back home about 12:30 am this morning.

On the way to the Statue of Liberty, we passed the Intrepid which had one of the space shuttles on deck.

Pictures from the boat to the Statue of Liberty

We were escorted part of the way by the US Coast Guard. That was actually coincidental as they were on the way out of the port.

Pictures from the island

Some random dude beside the scaled face.

The original flame - it was a lot smaller than I imagined.

The Liberty Bike

Last shot as we were leaving for Ellis Island

On to Ellis Island

First Immigrant processed in Ellis Island

That is enough for one post - I'll post 9-11 pictures later.

Camping

Last weekend there was a get together (G2G) for Northeast Firewood Hoarders (and Pellet Pigs). I have belonged to that forum for several years and feel I have gotten to "know" some of them. Since the G2G was in northern NH, I decided to attend. At first I was just going to do a day trip, but as the time grew close, and the host was promising a great surprise after dark, I decided I could camp in the truck. The hosts let us know we were welcome to camp on their property and they would have a porta-potty, so I bought an air mattress online, bought a sleeping bag good to 40* and a battery powered lantern. Of course I took food and other stuff. Looking at the truck one would think I was going for a week :D

Camping in the truck was comfortable and the sleeping bag kept me toasty even though the temps got down to 32*.

Somebody brought pallets for a bonfire, so the host unloaded the truck with his tractor.

 

The coolest thing was watching Scotty Overkill (his screen name) bring down a 100' tree, just behind the hosts' house was amazing;

Another tree was also taken down at the edge of a field and a bunch of guys had fun showing off their saws, using their saws to cut to length, and splitting so all the hosts' had to do was stack it for drying

All the attendees got together online and played Santa in June by getting host and hostess gifts. The host got a box - with chains for the tractor

 

The hostess got to read the card and got a nice-sized gift certificate for a local store.

And, of course we had the bonfire with both limbs from the fir tree that Scotty had taken down as well as the pallets.

 

The furthest traveler award went to Backwoods Savage (screen name) and he came all the way from Michigan. He met up with a couple coming from Ohio and spent the night at their house, then they caravaned to NH. Nobody had a clue that he would show up. We had someone from RI and several from CT and NY, a couple from PA another from ME, and yet another from NJ - not to mention 5-6 people from NH (some couldn't make it). It was a well tended event - Had a great time and got to meet a bunch of cool people. Not that "cool" would be what the general populous would call these people - more rednecks, but my definition works for me! 

Christmas Visit

Sunday, 12/24, I started the day extremely early - even for me. My alarm went off at 2:15 and I was on the road by 3:15 AM. It has been sleeting so the roads were a bit slick, but not too bad. There wasn't much traffic so I made it to the airport in plenty of time. After checking my very small bag in for luggage, I went to the TSA line. Much to my delight I was TSA pre-checked so the nice officer said I could leave my shoes on and it would save time. Never had that happen before. Of course, the metal detector went off and after divesting myself of boots and belt I made it thru. Still less drama than usual.

I made it to Chicago and made my connecting flight with time to spare. The flight to Wichita surprised a lot of people as most carry on bags were required to be checked in plane-side. That didn't affect me as my tickets had not allowed me a carry on anyway (only one small personal item that could fit under the seat). The reason for them taking the carry ons was apparent once we entered the plane.

Yes, that is 3 seats across. The only overhead bins were those over the 2 seat side. The center aisle ceiling was so short that I had to take my readers off the top of my head (and I'm 5' 6.5"). This is the smallest jet plane I have ever been on and I seriously believe that Greyhound buses have a bigger passenger area.

I arrived without incident and had several great days with family that included attending Christmas morning with Fantastic Niece, NG's1 & 2, and Rachie in their "new" house (they've been in there for a year or two). I spent time with Wichi Dude and Dudette and Cop Car and her HH were kind enough to put me up for my stay (along with delivery to/from airport). There was a lot of catching up to do since I haven't been back there for 3 years. Some of the highlights were going to browse the "Tool Store" (we didn't get nearly enough time there or cover more than probably 1/8 of the store, but it was awesome!), having lunch with not only family but a dear family friend (Elegant Friend) and shopping for a new purse.

Yes, I said shopping for a new purse was a highlight - not something you would normally hear from a non-girly female :) . It seems every time I go back to Kansas I am in need of a purse. Usually I have been looking for the replacement for a while here in NH, but somehow I can't find the right one. Well, Wichi Dude and I took off one day and he took me to the mall. We visited 2 shops, where WD had to listen to my running commentary on likes and dislikes as I quickly eliminated one choice after another; no "onesies" (the inside needs to be divided into at least a couple of sections - not just a pouch), several outer pockets, small zippered inside pocket, size requirements etc. Let me tell you that WD pays attention and by the time we hit Sears he was going thru them like a pro and bringing my attention to good candidates. I found 3 different purses that would be good and was trying to decide on two of them - figuring that I wouldn't have to look again for 4-6 years. Then the "Sale" sign caught my eye - 50% off. Woohoo! I bought all three for just over $100 and should be good for 6-9 years. Now that is a successful shopping trip.

Cop Car was smart and decided to forego the ordeal of cooking meals - no massive leftovers, no mega dishes to wash, no working around food allergies of various family members. She did make a good selection of cookies and fudge plus there was plenty of lunch meat/cheeses and vegies so we could snack between going out or picking up meals to eat at the house.

Thursday HH took me back to the airport so I could find my way home. My first flight was delayed by a little over an hour. However, I had a 2+ hour layover planned so it was not an issue for me (I think I'm the only one that didn't have to scramble for a different connection). Although my connection boarded and closed the doors on time (or very close to), we sat there at the terminal for an hour waiting to be de-iced. The plane landed in NH right before midnight.

Although I normally walk to my car from the terminal, the temps ere in the negative numbers with a breeze so I elected to take the shuttle. I was the only one on the shuttle so the driver and I chatted. I had disclosed that the only reason I was taking the shuttle was becuase of the cold and he gave me some tidbits of info. The most important one I paid attention to was that if my truck wouldn't start (since it had been sitting in frigid temps for days), that I could wait until the next shuttle came by and inform the driver. Then the driver would arrange for someone to come out and give my battery a boost. Even though it turns out I didn't need it, that is a nice service to have! The shuttle driver also told me what to do if I lost my parking ticket (they take inventory every night so know how long each vehicle has been there) and also disclosed parking strategies (for 7+day trips park in the garage as it has a cap on parking rates where the open parking lots don't). After sweeping off all the snow from the truck and letting it warm up a bit, I headed on my way home - arriving about 1:30.

I had a great time seeing family, but as usual, it was nice to get home.

1st Day of HOT Training

They kept us pretty busy thru the Harley Officer Training (HOT).The Introduction to the training was held in an auditorium with all attendees.

This year's theme of the training was "No Boundaries". That was in reference to the boundaries that we, and our groups place on ourselves that can limit chapter growth, member retention and yes, even the riding and fun.

Sometimes I felt like I was back at high school changing classes every hour or so. The first class for everyone was Building Strong Foundations. Although these classes went on in several different rooms, each chapter was placed at one table. We were lucky and our Sponsoring Dealer attended training also, so we could all discuss what we wanted out of the training and preliminary planning for putting that in action

 

After the planning stages, the schedulers had broken up the Chapters by placing members in different classes. Somehow they knew that I was the one that am not comfortable with other people, so they managed to always place me in a class by myself (except one class on day two). Most of the other Chapter members got one other familiar person in their class.

My second class was Inspire thru Leadership where we were introduced the reason for HOG, what rules the Company institutes for HOG Chapters and ways that leaders handle challenges.

My 3rd class was a "Powerpack" or bonus class that we got to pick from and I chose Using Social Media. I learned a few things about posting picture do's/don't's and a few things to put into action for emails to new members.

 

My 4th class was Forging the Dealer-Chapter Relationship. We broke into groups and were asked to think as  a sector of the Chapter - Sales, Engineer, Designer, Production/QA (this coincided with the 4 types of people that started the H-D brand/company). The groups were self-determined thru personality types and my group was "William - the Production/QA person who listened and didn't talk a lot. Each group was given an exercise and to share results with the entire class. Once again I became the organizer. My work experience with leading meetings was certainly coming in handy by keeping group members on task and leading them thru the different aspects that we were asked to consider.

That evening HOG hosted a dinner with entertainment. I was not originally planning to go as I was all peopled out, but decided to attend the dinner. The had screens set up where pictures taken thruout the day were presented on a slide show. Much to my surprise, my mug was captured.

While everyone else stayed for some of the entertainment (a cover band, alcohol and dancing), our dealer and I headed back to the hotel as neither of us drink (okay, she doesn't drink at all and I rarely drink), nor fully appreciate bashes with all kinds of strangers. After a full day, it was nice to curl up with the Kindle and just decompress.

Buffalo Side Trip

On the way to Harley Officer Training, we took a small side trip to a Buffalo Harley-Davidson dealer. They had an area that showcased some old bikes, which was the best thing about that shop.