It's The end of the world as we know it. (And I feel fine..)

I've not posted since August but boy, do I have some things to blog about:-

FINANCE and ECONOMY: Today, Dow down 500 to a 5 year low. World finance is on a brink of the abyss. I'm seeing ripple through in travel. Looks like my projection in January 5th came true.

WEATHER: I was 'Iked'. So was Galveston. Don't think Galveston will be a tourist destination for a while.

"SAM". Don't bother about 'son of Sam' movie. I had to travel with his father for 3 weeks. He was a client of mine. Talk about high maintenance and probable undiagnosed case of Asbergers syndrom. ARGHHHH !!!

LAX: Never will I connect through you again.

CONTINENTAL: I have now travelled enough to be upgraded 2 frequent flier classes. I still don't like you even though I was upgraded on one segment to LAX only to miss my flight and get my hard case luggage smashed.

What else ? Hm.

FUNNY / BIZARRE. Stories that I would have commented upon, the lady who checked herself into luggage.

So why the delay in posting ?

- July was corporate escort to maniac customer representative where I was out 3 weeks. See "Sam" above.

- August was moving house and formal change in job but within the same company.

- September, Hurricane hit. No electricity which meant no internet.

Now I'm back to blogging.

'Cause I'm back.

Yes, I'm back.

Well, I'm back.

Yes, I'm back.

Well, I'm back, back Well I'm back in black.

Yes, I'm back in black.

Yes, In back. Yes, I'm b-a-c-k in black.

Or am I back in blue?

Phileas Fogg,

Post-Ike Houston, Texas

Oct 7th 2008

Amnesia: The Capital of the Forgotten World

Here's a story that is hitting the strange stories today where a family got on thier flight without their three year old daughter. From the BBC news:-

Staff at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel have found a three-year-old girl alone in a duty-free shop after her parents accidentally took a plane without her.

The parents boarded the flight to Paris with four of their five children.

The parents did not realise their mistake until the captain of the plane informed them after take-off, according to police.

The girl was put on the next flight to Paris. The parents will be questioned when they return to Israel.

"It is usual that travellers in a rush forget their luggage but not a child. This never happens," AFP news agency quoted a police official by as saying.

In their defence, they had 5 kids which must have kept them busy. On the otherhand, perhaps this kid was the red headed stepchild. What a complex this kid will have when she grows up : Talk about neglected !

Forgetting the relative is not a one off where in 2005, a Macedonian man drove away from an Italian service station without his wife. He only noticed she wasn't in the car when police phoned him six hours later.

This also happened in France where a motorcyclist also left his wife at a service station after coming back from a ride into Germany.

The cops advised "You'll need more than a bunch of roses".

Fogg Phileas,
Texas Houston.
3rd August 2000 and uhm?

Ask, and ye shall NOT receive

The Penisula Hotel in Philippines, charges 1800 Philippines pesos for a journey to/from the airport, equivalent to $40 US.

A licenced taxi costs around 300.

To catch a taxi from the airport, you get a voucher from the taxi controller stating the destination and give it to the driver. I asked approximately how much it would cost for my destination and was told, it is metered.

I have a dialog with the taxi driver but watch the meter as it increases. As we round the Mikati block to the hotel I see the driver turn off the clock and when I ask how much, he says 500.

I blow a fuse and tell him in uncertain language that I know what the meter just read and know what he has done. I then tell him that since meter is reading nothing, I don't need to pay him anything ! He panicked muttered something about a misunderstanding, apologized etc but since I was tired and wanted to get to the hotel room, I could no longer be bothered with this so I paid what I last saw.

Left alone, I probably would have given him a 500 note and said keep the change.

Ah, Caveat Emptor since I don't know Latin for 'Greedy bastard'.

Phileas Fogg,
Manila,
26th July 2008.