not the normal way to load livestock

I am not sure what the story is behind this photo but its a very unusual way to carry livestock. I know these are camels but I would have expected them to be in some sort of "horse stall" and not individually tied down to a pallet.

The Brexit bar

I was trying to find my way to a restaurant in Warsaw recently I cane across the Brexit Bar (bottom centre) is this the new "Irish pub" with one to be found in every European city .....  

I dont like venture capitalists

Midwest Madness

I don’t get much of a chance to go to the US these days and a meeting in Montreal allowed me to visit some new and old locations for me. In the weekend prior to the meeting.

I started out on the 04:00 National Express bus from Stansted. I arrived at Heathrow at 05:30 and then it was straight through Security on the fast track thanks to my BA status. A quick breakfast in three American Airlines Lounge before my flight to Chicago. The winds were favourable and the on board facilities of the new American B787 were very good and after a pleasant 7 hours and 25 minutes we landed an hour early. I was through immigration remarkably quickly and after taking the interterminal transit I was able to be back airside in the United terminal within an hour of touching down.  after a four hour transit it was time to board the connecting flight to Louisville.

The UPS Hub at Louisville has long been on my bucket list and having found a reasonable one way fare from Chicago I thought it was about time to tick it off. On arrival in Louisville I went to the Holiday Inn as it gave good views of the airport. I went to the bar for something to eat, well to be honest for some “wings” I am on a diet and this was going to be a wings and ribs blowout weekend for me. I happened across a former, and much missed, previous life. There were several Mechanics from a US ACMI carrier who was leasing aircraft to UPS, they were at the bar telling “war stories” it took me a while to figure out they were from Western Global and were MD11 Mechanics but it could have been any ACMI carrier. These guys tend to work on a 20 on and 10 off roster, I used to manage a team of operations reps who did this/ I used to do it myself in a small way. There is something comforting sitting in the bar talking aircraft and then the next day flying to a new country and doing the same again, it was the same but different every day. I loved the fact I could do this in short bursts and then get home to the family.

When booking the trip, I was really struggling to find a cheap ticket out of Louisville to another hub city for less than £250 one way, even Southwest were expensive. The only relatively reasonably priced destination was back to Chicago and the Airport Hilton wanted over £200 for the night so that was out of the question. At That point it occurred to me I could try spending some of the miles that I accumulate with my business travel and looking about I could only fine one available ticket with One World or Star Alliance and it was Louisville to Atlanta with a two hour layover in Charlotte for the incredible sum of £4.50 + miles, I grabbed it before it disappeared. After a hour we touched down into what can only be described as a sea of American tails,

The next night was in one of my favourite hotels, the renaissance concourse in Atlanta. I used to Have to visit Atlanta to visit a customer a few years ago, it’s a great Hotel with balconies that look out over the runway. It has a certain luxury which I like in a hotel, I am not particularly fussed about flying business class but I like an airport lounge and I like a nice hotel. Tonight it was the “ribs” element of the wings and ribs weekend.

I had managed to get a one way ticket to Memphis for £5 and some Virgin miles, the reason for the visit was to see the FedEx hub. FedEx have a massive Sunday afternoon hub which was the reason for my visit well that and a cheap (£89) ticket from Memphis to Montreal with a two hour layover in Toronto. A lot of the FedEx Aircraft had layed over from Friday night but there were still a good number of arrivals. Most aircraft were in by 11:30AM and the last arrival was an A300 at 12:40. At that point there were 151 FedEx Aircraft on the ground.

Air Canada took me to Toronto in two hours, The delay in Memphis cut into my transit time in Toronto and by the time I had cleared immigration and got through security again I just had time to grab a bite to eat and get to my connecting flight to Montreal

I miss this sort of traveling, these days I just don’t get to do it much, happily the Autumn meeting of the group is also in Montreal and I am already planning another three day excursion to the US prior to that meeting.

The Dark Side

Occasionslly I am in a situation where I think, why would they do this. Why did people join the Royal Navy in the days of Nelson, they lived on the ships in awful conditions for years on end. Of course, the reason is that is was better than the alternative ….in this case they got three meals a day and access to medical care which is something they did not get on land.

On my last trip to Dubai I saw a modern-day version of this. I needed to take a 30-minute taxi ride and got chatting to the Indian driver. He told me he worked 10 months of the year and went home for a two month break each year, nothing unusual here, that’s the way it works in the Middle East. He had no family in Dubai his wife and Children live in India because he does not have the sort of job that allows him to bring his family to Dubai.  He told me that we worked 12-hour nightshift …. seven days a week for the 10 months he was in Dubai. He lived in a two bedroom flat with seven other taxi drivers, he shared a bed with the driver that drove his taxi during the 12-hour day shift. The taxi they drove had 410,000 Kilometres on the clock and was 18 months old.

He is on a commission only job he earns approximately 900 Euro a month and Pays 260 Euro for accommodation and food, he keeps approximately 100 Euro for himself and then sends 550 Euro home to the extended family in India. He had been working in Dubai for over 20 years. Why do he do it, because it’s better than the alternative of living and working in India.  The same India that has a huge amount of multi millionares.

When I think about I remember what a lucky life I have had and am forever thankful of that. I gave him a big tip, always take the chance to talk to “the little guy” and see life from their perspective. They only want the same for their families that I want for my own ……. the best. It’s just I have been luckier than most and I should never ever forget that.