Woohoooo.....off to Maui

Wooooohooooo........... Ms Darlene and myself are packing the ride headed fo' Nawlins, headed out for Maui and we'll be back in 3 weeks. We'll be staying in Kihei.

If you look at the map of Maui as being a person.....the roundish part on the left being a head...then Kihei is near the Adam's Apple near the 'neck' on the map. Maui is the second largest island in the chain and and older than the big island of Hawaii. If you're really old, you might have also heard of them as the Sandwich Islands. I'll take a shrimp po-boy, please.

If you're nice, we might bring you back a cup of Shave Ice. No, that's not a typo. "Shaved Ice" is a mainlander thing while "shave ice" is the Hawaiian thing and I suppose, Oahu in particular.

The Breezeway

This year, when we had to fly into St Louis for our annual meeting, I had to fly Northwest aka Pinnacle Airlines. Really, Northwest Air is irrelevant because it's being gobbled up by the behemoth, Delta Airlines.

Now, I realize there's a guy or two in a cubicle somewhere in Memphis who had to think up new and exciting ways for frequent fliers to feel like they've made the grade but some of the things these guys come up with just seems a tad silly if you ask me.

For instance, just before we were to load the plane in Memphis, the gate attendant marches over to gate and switches the rope from one post to another and announces that Delta Medallion and Northwest Elite fliers could now board via the Breezeway. Basically, the only difference between the Breezeway and any other track was the rug you walked over with 'Breezeway' emblazoned on it.

After a couple of people made their way through the Breezeway, it appeared there were no others qualified for that perk, so she removed the rope so the unwashed not so frequent fliers could board. I looked around to see a few travelers rolling their eyes and giving sheepish grins.

Whatever it takes to add value and importance to a product or service, I guess but I would be just as happy if they saved the expense of buying and cleaning the rug and not charge me $15 for my bag.