Just a little type A

London Mileage Run - Munich to Heathrow

Flight 953 from Munich to Heathrow was delayed - our plane was late in arriving so our outbound was late in leaving. Normally I wouldn't mind but as I was having trouble staying awake while waiting for the plane all I wanted to do was get on the plane and sleep.  I could not believe my level of exhaustion.

The plane was relatively full but thankfully I had row 10A-C to myself. Ipromptly laid down and sleep through the flight, waking up about 10 minutes before we started our descent so I have no idea how the flight was in terms of smoothness or crew performance.

Going through London Heathrow Passport Control took a slight bit longer. The female passport control officer could not grasp the concept of traveling for the miles. I had to explain why the miles were a benefit - to maintain status etc.  She looked through all the pages of my passport, asked more questions etc. Asked to see my entire itinerary - thankfully I was bring a copy of my confirmation, where I was staying etc. When she was finally convinced all was in order I was released.

I headed outside the terminal to catch the Hotel Hoppa to my hotel, the Sheraton Skyline. When the bus arrived the driver would not take my 5 pound note, stating that it was no longer in circulation. I was not happy - I had gone to Wells Fargo before I left to get some pounds so there shouldn't have been a problem with my currency. But he was rigid and since my other 5 pound note was exactly the same and he wouldn't take Euros or Dollars, no Hotel Hoppa for me.

I headed over to the local (free) bus section - and of course I had left the list of local (free) buses to the Sheraton Skyline on my desk so I didn't remember the number and there was no one around to ask.  I waited about 20 minutes and decided to try the Hotel Hoppa again, maybe it would be a different driver. 

When the next bus came, the new driver wouldn't take my 5 pound note either and again I had to go back to the local (free) bus area. Why didn't I just go inside and exchange my note at Travelex you may wonder. I didn't think they would accept the out of circulation note and didn't feel like paying a fee to get only 8 pounds.

After another 20 minutes waiting the local (free) bus that I needed # 423 arrived. The entire ride was about 15 minutes from airport to the Marriott. The local bus drops off in front of the Marriott and the  Sheraton is next door so it was only about 50 yards away.

The local (free) bus was a very pleasant comfortable ride, nothing like the public buses in San Diego. The scenery from the airport was what I pictured England to look like - cottage and thatched homes etc. Had I not been so thoroughly exhausted I would have taken pictures along the way, next time. :)

Checkin at the Sheraton Skyline was relatively painless however despite a prepaid reservation they claimed the payment didn't go through. Since I couldn't remember if I had checked my cc statement to see if the charge went through I figured I would just pay the charge and deal with it later if I was double charged.

Not only that but I had paid for a Club level room and the girl at reception tried to give me a ground floor room. Granted the hotel only has 3 floors but floor 1 is not Club Level. I politely inquired if Floor 1 was Club level and then mentioned that I believed my reservation was for a Club level room. I had my printed confirmation showing my reservation and my room type.  Funny how they had my reservation but tried to claim I had only booked a King room.

After she made a copy of my reservation she then gave me a Club Level Room. I was in 3015, the Club Lounge was in 3107.  My room was very comfortable - pictures to follow after I get home.  A well stocked amenity basket was waiting complete with shoe horn, loofa, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, shoe shine kit, vanity kit, sewing kit, lotion and soap.

A wedding reception was being held in the Sky Bar and even though it was open to hotel guests I didn't want to be rude and enter plus I was not appropriately dressed.

The Club Lounge was decent sized for the hotel's size, could maybe hold 30 people; 2 computer terminals for internet access, reading material and a section for book exchange. Some hot and cold appetizers: Swedish meatballs, some type of breaded ring - nothing inside just a breaded spicy ring, cold canapes, chips, and tortilla chips.  The bar was stocked with bottles of Heinekein, Budwesier, Corona and one other beer. Small bottles of Coke, Diet Coke, Ginger Ale, tonic water, mineral and sparkling water were the non alcoholic beverage choices.

I tried a Swedish meatball - kinda bland. The spicy breaded thing was ok, liked the spicy but since it was only fried bread it wasn't worth eating more so I opted for the tortilla chips along with flat Ginger Ale and Coke.

More later.

London Mileage Run - Heathrow to Munich

The flight from Heathrow to Munich departed from Gate A20 - one of the furthest gates in the terminal, which gave me a chance to see more of the Heathrow airport.  I'm still amazed at the quality of airport shops in foreign airports, shops like Hugo Boss, Tiffany's, etc. significantly more upscale than in the states.  There was even a Caviar Bar and Shop near Gate 18 - might have to stop in sometime to look around.

Before boarding I met up with Steve (aka Hoc) and Gladys (aka alicesantamonica) from Flyer Talk.  They flew in via JFK and were staying overnight in Munich and then heading to Heathrow. 

A full flight with every seat filled, went quickly possibly because I spent the entire 2 hours sleeping. 

I chose to leave the terminal so that I could stop at the supermarket. The officer at Passport Control was shocked to discover that despite my German last name I indeed did not speak German. He laughed and shook his head when I told him I was only going to be in Munich for 2 hours, long enough to pick up some Landjager and then head back to Heathrow and then the US.

The Landjager at the Edeka supermarket paled in comparision to the butcher shop in the Viktualienmrkt, a bit of a disappointment as I had been looking forward to some good Landjager.  I found the Salut fixings that Natasha had asked for but since she didn't say what "flavor" and there were 8 to choose from I didn't get any. I liked the idea of the small packet of salad flavorings. Since I couldn't read the German on the package, I couldn't tell if you add water and oil or what else needed to be added.

I was able to print out my boarding pass earlier in the morning so I was able to avoid the ticket counter, something I had not been able to do on previous MRs to Munich. 

I had expected to be questioned about my short turnaround but the Passport Control officer only just raised his eyebrows and stamped my passport.  Quick trip through security and off to the Galleries Lounge.

Only one person besides myself in the Lounge.  Limited selection of food for the afternoon - a few individually sealed apples, some type of sandwich, and two types of open faced sandwiches. All three had what looked like mayonnaisse and cream cheese on them so I passed.

Will update after I check into my hotel in Heathrow.

London Mileage Run - Boston to Heathrow

For this trip, since I wouldn't have time to explore the city,  I opted to bring my smallest carryon.  Why this was significant was that upon arrival in Boston I realized I did not have a toothbrush.  I have a compartment in my other carryon where I keep a new toothbrush, since I switched suitcases it hadn't occurred to me that by doing so I would be leaving my toothbrush behind. Thankfully, Gary the Boston Admiral's Club AAngel was able to provide one.

Boarding was on time. It's always amazing and interesting to wait people line up for boarding. How there will be a line of people waiting to board yet someone invietably will always barge their way through the line to the front.

One gentleman barged his way, nearly knocking down several people in his desperate desire to be at the front of the line.  When they called for Business Class he was the first to board, the assumption being that he was seated in Business Class. But nope, he was in 21H. Guess he had to hurry and get on in front of the premium paying passengers to make sure he had room for his bags.  I do understand the need to have room for your bags but his behavior was simply rude.

Very long flight. Different flight crew than in the past.  Did their jobs well but not overly friendly or attentive.  In flight movie of "Yes Man", an episode of  "The Office" and I can't remember what else.

Dinner choices were chicken and beef - same as in the past, no surprises there.  Smooth flight, arrived a bit early into Heathrow.

British Airways has added a cubby of boarding pass desk agents in the Flight Connections area. Now instead of going up to the reservations desk you walk past it, as if continuing on to another terminal, take an immediate left into the little room with 4 desks.  You must present your passport and itinerary and then your boarding pass will be printed.

Long, long lines for security.   What I don't understand are the people who feel they can't be inconvenienced to start taking off their jackets, shoes etc, while approaching the front of the line but instead wait until they get right up to the machine.  Argh, maybe my lack of sleep is making me a bit cranky.  It's both amusing and annoying at the same time.

The Galleries Lounge in Heathrow is crowded again today. Porridge is really thick but tasty. Food choices remain the same as in the past, nothing new.  Not many people on the computers and it doesn't look like the showers are being used either.

Hopefully I'll get a little sleep on the flight to Munich so that the 4 hour layover in Munich won't be filled with me nodding on and off in the lounge and miss my flight back to Heathrow.

London Mileage Run - San Diego to Boston Flight

One of the student groups were on my flight from San Diego to Boston; a group of 8th graders from Lewis Middle School heading to Boston as part of a Boston/Washington D.C. trip.  They were well behaved if not a slight bit loud - at least the girls seated a few seats away from me.

Boarding for Flight 226 was early again, by about 10 minutes prior to posted boarding time.  Boarding calls were as follows: those who needed special assistance, First Class, Executive Platinum and Platinum, Gold and Priority Access with not a lot of delay between Executive Platinum and Platinum so not many of us EXPs or PLTs, lastly by group number.

The flight was almost full - just about 10 seats remaining, surprisingly two of them were bulkhead seats - I had 9C and 9B was empty. A gentleman was moved to 9D prior to boarding otherwise both 9D and 9E would have been empty.  Both middle seats in row 10 were empty as well and a few scattered in the back of the plane.

Extremely pleasant, friendly and attentive flight crew despite their lack of sleep. The afternoon flight from Boston to San Diego yesterday that should have arrived around 8pm, had been delayed waiting for the plane from Miami so they arrived about 3 hours late. The crew didn't get to their hotel until about midnight so not a lot of rest for the weary. 

Smooth flight with some showing of "The Office" and movies of "Bride Wars" and "He's Not That Into You" which we saw all but the last 20 minutes or so.

The Admiral's Club is packed! Not a lot of empty seats but no one at the computer terminals. 

Mileage Run to London Heathrow via Munich

Taking advantage of the holiday weekend and doing a quick mileage run to London Heathrow today via Munich.

Despite knowing it was a holiday it didn't really sink in until this morning when there were more cars in the road. Upon arriving at San Diego Airport Parking, every parking spot was taken, including those of us who had made reservations, so the attendants were having to valet park all the cars.

The lines didn't stop at the parking lot either, the airport was pretty congested for 7am on a Saturday morning. Several large school groups were waiting to check their bags at a couple of the airlines including Southwest.

American Airlines' Priority Access Line had 12 people in line, about 1/3 the number of people in the regular check in line and didn't look to be moving at all. As everyone ahead of me had bags to check, I was able to use the kiosk to check in, bypassing the wait.

The Security Line was very long, extending past the Mc Donald's and just short of the covered bridge that leads from Terminal 2 over the road to Airport parking on the other side.  The Priority Access Line had 5 people in front of me.

Because of the holiday weekend, TSA had removed the Frequent Traveler, Occasional Traveler, and Family Lines and were down to 3 lines from their usual 4 lines.  TSA was incredibly strict and procedures were followed to a "t", anything that looked questionable was looked at and taken to secondary.  The gentleman in front of me had his 3.5 ounce bottle of something that he had brought on his initial trip over to San Diego, taken away this morning.  And my shoes, that I've worn on multiple mileage runs were taken to secondary and given the swipe test.

It's very quiet here in the Admiral's Club - just myself and 2 AAngels. Both are very helpful - trying to get me exit row on the trip to London. One of them said she'd keep checking while I was in flight just in case anything opened up.

Rangers win Rancho Buena Vista Little League AA Tournament

Yes!! The undefeated Rangers won the RBVLL AA Division Title in the AA Tournament yesterday with a 12 - 2 victory over the Cardinals. 

The Rangers had been the uncontested AA champs during the season, losing only 4 games: two of which were due to lack of players. So it was a sweet victory to remain the AA division champs and clinch the tournament.

The Rangers brought their bats, and the bats were smoking again!  During the first half of the season the Rangers would bat our entire line up every inning but once the second half of the season started, and tournament rules limiting teams to 5 runs an inning were in place, the bats cooled down and instead of earning 20 runs a game we were down to 5 - 7 runs a game.

Perhaps the fun had left the boys and the pressure was building so before today's game I reminded the boys what we were there for, to have fun.  "Do you remember at the beginning of the season when we would bat our entire lineup every inning?  Do you remember how much fun you had just hitting the ball? Forget about the tournament. Just go out there and do what you do best, hit the ball."  So each time the boys went up to bat I'd remind them, "Just go have fun. Do what you do best." And bam, that ball would fly!

Coach Len did an outstanding  job with the boys, teaching them the fundamentals, building up their talent in both the field and at bat, and also gave every player the opportunity to pitch.  Several pitchers were developed during the year, especially Carlos, who was instrumental in our win.

Even though the Rangers were winning 12 - 2, with the bases loaded in the top of the 5th inning, 2 outs and one of the Cardinals best hitters at bat, Coach Len wasn't taking any chances of letting the Cardinals catch up.  Coach Len brought Carlos (our closer) in to seal the deal.   With just a few pitches Carlos struck the batter out and the Rangers went to victory!

Team photo to follow when I return.

London Heathrow to Munich

Flight 6543 from London to Munich departed from Gate 10c so we had to take a bus to the plane. The plane was at another terminal so the ride took about 7 minutes.  It was an interesting experience because before the first bus would leave, they wanted to make sure that the entire plane had checked in.  So those of us who had boarded the first bus were crammed in like sardines.

One proper English gentleman was a little put out, disembarked the bus and approached the driver, "I say, it's rather hot in here and there's no air conditioning. The bus is full, can we leave for the plane?"  Totally cracked me up, he reminded me of a cross between Inspector Clouseau and Austin Powers.  When he got back on the bus, he excused his behavior and was quite apologetic, "Pardon me, I'm a bit of a trouble maker." But it must have worked because we left about 1 minute later.

Which brings me to the expression "I say" is this the equivalent of "Excuse me?"

was completely full.

will update in Heathrow, need to board now.

Boston to London Heathrow

Spent about 30 minutes in the Admirals Club prior to Flight 108 from Boston to London Heathrow.  The Boston Admirals Club is still being renovated, no changes since my last visit. Significantly more people in the club tonight than in the past. 

Since my previous flight boarded 30 minutes early I headed to the gate 30 minutes early, but Boston is still only boarding at the printed boarding time, if not later.  

Relatively full flight - a few seats open in 20 and maybe a few in the back.  Different crew than the last time I flew with the exception of one male flight attendant who was in the last flight I took.

Meal choices were beef or chicken, same as the last time. Cream Biscuits and a cheddar spread were added to the meal, not too bad. 

Movie shown was Yes Man. 

Somewhat bumpy flight towards the end and we actually got into Heathrow one hour early but they had us circle around for about 15 minutes before we could land. Some great views of London, took a few photos but my batttery died so missed out on some good shots.  I only brought the little camera this time so no backup battery.  By the time we landed and taxied in we were only about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

A lot more people flying on a Saturday vs a Sunday so lines Flight Connections and security took longer than last trip.  They are still raffling off cars - no big huge sign this time but two different cars. A silver Audi and a white Ferrari - signs posted all over the cars to stay off and out of the cars, guess too many people were climbing into the cars in the past.  

 Heathrow Galleries Lounge was packed this morning. Same food selections as last time - bacon on a roll, yogurts, chocolate pastry, porridge, fruit and cereal.  Enjoyed a bowl of porridge and tempted the yogurt again and surprisingly it was good - must have gotten a bad cup last time.

Mileage Run to Munich

This morning I'm flying another mileage run to Munich.  Really looking forward to this weekend's mileage run since I'll arrive on Saturday and the Viktualienmrkt will be open. The thought of all those tasty Bavarian treats, fruits, Landjaeger etc. is enough to make my mouth water and stomach growl.

Traffic was light coming to the airport despite a weekday.  Plenty of parking at San Diego Airport Parking unlike last trip where only three spots remained.  I've been parking at San Diego Airport Parking for the last five years. They have extremely low rates, friendly staff and their shuttle drivers are quick to pickup. 

Only one person in line at the American Airlines counter. When I had booked my flight in March the best available seat was 20A, thankfully somone must have gotten upgraded as I was able to switch to 21A - exit row window, will make for a nice comfortable flight.  I considered asking about row 17 but since it's an overnight flight I figured they would say no so why bother. 

As I sit here typing this I considered asking one of the AAngels at the Admiral's Club to check on availability for row 17 but since they just turned down admitance to a nonmember First Class passenger who carried an American Express card my chances of getting any help are slim.

Although I had headed to the gate about 15 minutes prior to boarding, Flight 226 from San Diego  to Boston boarded 30 minutes early.  Thankfully, I was able to get space for my small suitcase and backpack since I was in 10F - no seat in front of me so nowhere to stow my stuff. 

This was my first experience in seat 10F on a 757.   All in all it was a decent seat, less desirable than row 9 but better than 10D or 10C (both aisles) since I could extend my legs.

The flight was relatively full - only about 12 seats remaining in coach with a very full first class cabin.  Several elites had hoped for upgrades but that didn't happen.  Pleasant and attentive flight attendants. A rather bumpy flight, not the bumpiest I've been on but bump enough so that we wore our seatbelts for the first hour or so.

There was little concern regarding the Swine Flu, not that there should be since we are in San Diego - only one passenger had a mask.  But the man next to me and the women directly behind me were both sick - both coughing but at least he covered his mouth. 

In flight shows were Park something, the new show with the actress who was on SNL and in Baby Mama (not Tina Fey but the blonde), 30 Rock and Conan.  In flight movie was Bride Wars.  After having seen the movie I can understand the mixed reviews - some funny parts and good for an inflight movie but if I was at home I would probably find myself doing other things while watching the movie.

We arrived into Boston early, touched down about 4:50pm, waited a bit and finally taxied in at about 5:15pm.  The flight attendants allowed those of us in 10 to also deplaned intermingled with the passengers in first - a bit unusual but I wasn't complaining. :)