Archive for the 'Notes' Category

Snakes own a plane…

Published
by
Bryan
on Friday, 31 October 2008
in Notes
. 3 Comments

So last Christmas, I made the mistake of flying U.S. Airways to visit my folks for the holidays (they live an hour out of Las Vegas). Since Christmas fell on a Tuesday, U.S. Airways thought it would be an excellent idea to overbook the flights the previous Friday - given that, for a lot of people including myself, it was a four day holiday. In fairness to U.S. Airways, it is really difficult for a major airline to plan, in advance, for a four day holiday and appropriately book flights. That would require counting the number of seats on a plane, booking only that number of flights, and being moderately organized and competent.

For the record, the number of people people impacted by U.S. Airways overbooking my flight was six - which was the exact number by which U.S. Airways overbooked. Oddly enough, everyone who wanted to take that flight actually did want to fly that day. For those of you still with me, my flight was not the only flight overbooked. I spent a wonderful six hours at Santa Barbara Airport, arriving in Las Vegas, after yet another delay in Phoenix, eight hours after I was scheduled to land. Yes, it would have taken less time to drive. Touché, U.S. Airways.

So for my six hour stint at Santa Barbara Airport - which is a horrible airport at which to be stranded - I received, in the parlance of our times, a voucher. For those who don’t know what, in the parlance of our times, a voucher looks like, here it is:

In the parlance of our times, a voucher.

Here are the terms of, in the parlance of our time, the voucher:

$200 OFF MAY BE APPLIED TOWARD THE PRICE OF ANY ONE TICKET OR MAY BE EXCHANGED FOR A FREE ROUNDTRIP RESTRICTED COACH CLASS TICKET TO THE ELIGIBLE DESTINATION: THE CONTINENTAL 48 STATES

See, “RESTRICTED” can really mean anything. But I digress…

So, as Jennifer and I are hoping to visit my folks for Thanksgiving, I call U.S. Airways to book a flight with, in the parlance of our times, a voucher - the very one I received traveling to the very same destination. And I am told, over the phone by the an EXTREMELY rude reservation person (who, at one point, openly laughed at the idea that would use, in the parlance of our times, a voucher for this flight), that the only flight for which, in the parlance of our times, my voucher can be used is on November 28th. For those still keeping track, that is the DAY AFTER Thanksgiving. Again… touché, U.S. Airways.

So the idea that someone MIGHT want to use, in the parlance of our times, a voucher they received over the holidays for a holiday trip - apparently that’s just crazy talk. Of course, saving, in the parlance of our times, the voucher for this Christmas is not an option as it expires on December 21st. Trois touché, U.S. Airways.

So, would I ever fly U.S. Airways again? Well, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me, you can’t get fooled again.

Mouse vs. Black Widow

Published
by
Bryan
on Monday, 11 August 2008
in Notes
. 0 Comments

Last Friday, I took my monthly trip to our transmitter site at Broadcast Peak, and discovered a dead mouse. That’s not always a unique thing, as Broadcast Peak is in a very remote area, and it’s not unusual for a mouse to end its days around our facility. One even found it’s way into the electrical part of our backup generator, and… well, there wasn’t a whole lot left - although it got the final laugh. Cost of a new generator: over $8000 (includes rodent prevention).

One of the other critters that enjoys broadcast sites are black widows. I routinely see these little creepies when I first enter - where they immediately run and hide out of site and proving that they are, in fact, more scared of us than we are of them (please, no one tell them different).

Apparently, between visits, and mouse tangled with a black widow, and the end result is the photo below:

That is the skeletal remains of a mouse suspended in the remaining web of a black widow spider… and easily one of the coolest things I have ever seen. And if you feel sorry for the mouse… think bubonic plague.

This land was Portland

Published
by
Bryan
on Monday, 28 July 2008
in Notes
. 0 Comments

The best shot I could get under the circumstancesLast night, I got back from Portland, Oregon, where I was attending an über-lefty radio conference. I know what you are thinking - an über-lefty radio conference in Portland can only mean one thing - lots and lots of hippies. And yeah, I had to hear, from more than one person, about the “greatness” of The Grateful Dead - a band of which I am not so fond, to say the least1. To paraphrase Nigel in This Is Spinal Tap,”It’s like, how much more hippie could this be? And the answer is none. None more hippie. ”

Still, I had never visited Portland before, and, aside from a 13 hour drive through Oregon about 15 years ago, I haven’t really seen much of the state. But this time, I walked all over the city. Powell’s Books - the largest bookstore I’ve ever seen (check out the PDF map which doesn’t really do justice) - is incredible. There was a also a trip to the Bagdad Theater to see the second showcase of 2008 of the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls - which was really, really cool. I ate some extremely delicious Ethiopian food at the Queen of Sheba restaurant. And, finally, took a tour of the fine community radio station (and gracious host of the conference I was attending) known as 90.7 KBOO-FM.

I saw more of Portland in four days than I see of Santa Barbara on a regular basis - and I even facilitated a workshop on audio streaming and webcasting - because the person scheduled to do it no-showed I am so well respected. Anyway, Portland was great fun, and I highly recommend a visit.

1Q: What does a Grateful Dead fan say when he runs out of pot? A: “Jeez, this band sucks!”

Let Me Stand Next To Your…

Published
by
Bryan
on Monday, 7 July 2008
in Notes
. 0 Comments

Looking out our balconyWhat a week it’s has been. For those who don’t know, the Gap Fire has burned since last Wednesday in the hills over looking Goleta. Unfortunately, the main power lines from Southern California Edison that power most - if not all - of southern Santa Barbara county run though those very hills. That means that this fire has taken down the power to most of the county at least twice a day since last Wednesday - for at least an hour per outage, usually longer. This includes most of the UCSB campus - including KCSB - so my weekend was quite a blast, switching us from backup generator to main power and back as needed.

Thankfully, the winds have died down a bit, and it appears no homes were lost and no one was injured, but it is not over yet. I’d like to think that we might stop this annual fire trend here in Santa Barbara, but, aside from the smoke, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

The sun through the Gap Fire smoke

That aside, there was a nice article written by Jerry Roberts in Santa Barbara’s weekly, The Independent, on the ordeal KCSB went through to get the station back on the air after the power went out. As a side note, KCSB has been negotiating with the “higher ups” at the UCSB, for the better part of two years, for a replacement backup generator for our building. It’s amazing how something so simple requires so many people’s input, but that is the bureaucracy of a university for you.

Gap Fire from Storke Tower

Published
by
Bryan
on Thursday, 3 July 2008
in Notes
. 4 Comments

I took a gamble that the power would stay on and headed up to the top of Storke Tower to snap some quick shots of the Gap Fire - most of which documents the dramatic amount of smoke that hovering over the area.