Recorded in the beautiful home office of, Chateau/ Relaxo, FL. and it’s time to catch up
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If you’re a new listener, welcome. If you're a returning listener welcome back.
It’s been three months since our last episode or as they say in the business world, our previous episode was last quarter.
Once again the work-life balance got in the way of posting any episodes. There’s been a decent amount of travel in the last 90 days, but of course not yet back to those 2019 numbers.
A few trips do stand out. One was to Thomasville, GA. If you’re unfamiliar with Thomasville it’s located about 45 miles north of Tallahassee FL, a straight shot up 319. Thomasville is the quintessential small town coming in with a population right around 19,000. My last visit to Thomasville was September 11th, 2002 and the reason I remember it is it was one year after 911 that morning my 6:00 AM alarm came in the form of firetruck sirens in the parking lot and my first thought was, here we go…. Again. Turned out to be a non-emergency but left a lasting impression.
It was amazing to see the growth that had taken place in the past 20 years. Several new hotels and the main drag, 19 is now littered with fast-food stops including a Whataburger, guess what I had for dinner.
My hotel was a Holiday Inn Express, yes a Holiday Inn Express and my last stay at a Holiday Inn Express was 13 or 14 years ago other than this being a newer hotel Holiday Inn Express not much had changed when it came to their decor. What also had not changed were those warm and gooey cinnamon rolls that they served at breakfast.
The other visit was to Ft Worth TX. I was born in Dallas and have lived there twice but I don’t recall spending any time in Ft Worth. Fort Worth or at least the downtown section is still a very western town. A must-visit is Billy Bobs Texas. Yes, you can get fed but you can also watch live bull riding on Friday and Saturday nights, listen to live music and you can also view the handprint wall where people live Bill Engvall, Charlie Daniels, and Dale Earnhardt stuck their hands in wet cement and once it dried it was affixed to the handprint wall.
If watching bull riding is a bit intense you can head over to the Fort Worth Stockyards to watch the world's only twice-daily longhorn cattle drive, held every day at 11:30 AM & 4:00 PM.
The best meal was at Tim Loves Lonesome Dove Steakhouse. The appetizers were Duck, Rabbit-Rattlesnake Sausage, Pistachios, Black Mission Figs, Blue Corn-Lobster Hushpuppies, Smoked Tomato Butter and Kangaroo Nachos. Each place setting had a small flask of tequila, lime, and syrup to go with the appetizers.
The main course was a 14 oz Buffalo Ribeye with sides of Yukon Gold Mash Potatoes and a hearty serving of Lonesome Dove Mac & Cheese.
The desert was amazing. Tim Love is one of the few that has defeated Iron Chef Morimoto and he did it with this desert. WARM ANCHO CHILE CHOCOLATE CAKE plated with Vanilla Ice Cream, Smoked Almond Brittle, absolutely decadent.
The after-dinner drink was an old-fashioned made with Lonesome Dove Rye this was a legit old-fashioned right down to the Luxardo cherry.
This was dinner for 20 plus coworkers and the Lonesome Dove staff nailed it.
I had a few flights over the past few months and I’m here to tell you that the planes are still full and the TSA lines are long if you don’t have pre-check. And in case you are wondering less than 5% of the people I flew with were wearing masks.
Hotels across the board are more expensive than ever, the Holiday Inn Express was over $160.00 per night and we had a late October trip to Boston, and the hotel was $600.00 per night. I got buyer's remorse and decided that the money was better spent on a couple of months of mortgage payments.
So let’s do a quick catch-up on the last few months of crazy travel.
We have to open this month with this, Fly the Crappy Skies”
Early September a Delta flight out of Atlanta headed to Barcelona had to make a U-turn back to Atlanta due to a passenger's fecal urgency. Urgency might not be the best word more like a passenger’s diarrhea.
The pilot's radio call went out as “Divert to ATL — passenger diarrhea all over aircraft — biohazard”
This poor passenger could not make it to the lavatory and ended up spreading fecal matter literally throughout the passenger cabin. Spreading might not be the best word, more like destroying the aisle of the passenger cabin.
There’s a video, there’s always a video, watch it at your discretion. There’s a LINK in the show notes.
The flight arrived in Barcelona just eight hours late, with the same aircraft after a four-hour deep cleaning. Deep cleaning, how about a complete cabin makeover?
Spoiler alert - this episode should’ve been named the biohazard episode because we’re not done yet.
Ever heard of Mike Beaton? Probably not, but Mike is a British Airways pilot who thought he was checking off a massive bucket list item. And he was so proud of this bucket list achievement that he sent a stewardess friend this text, “I’ve been a very naughty boy.” That sounds very British, naughty boy.
Mike’s bucket list item was meeting two randos in a bar, killing a bottle of vodka with them, and then doing lines of coke off of one of these ladies' breasts. Yep, you heard it right a cheesy porn movie acted out in real life.
Thankfully the stewardess friend reported Mike’s behavior to the British Airways bosses who quickly suspended Mike and canceled his upcoming 12-hour flight, which cost right BA around $120,000 American.
Mike was flown home the next day as a passenger, but not before being drug-tested at Heathrow. When that popped positive, Mike was fired.
Mike who is or was married only comment was, “Co-workers suck”.
This one you can file with two hashtags, #CreepyMcCreeperton and #PeopleAre Stupid.
This comes from View From The Wing
On an American Airlines flight from Charlotte to Boston, there was reported a video camera in the lavatory, and it appeared that it might have been placed there by a flight attendant, and if that isn’t creepy enough it was placed there to record a teenage girl.
According to the girl’s family, they were seated in coach but the 14-year-old was invited to use the first-class lavatory. The crewmember, she said, just wanted to “wash his hands” first. Exiting the lavatory, she says that the flight attendant told her that the seat was broken (but the toilet itself was fine). She went into the lav, and as soon as she came out the flight attendant went back inside.
Thankfully the girl took a photo of what’s apparently the flight attendant’s iPhone stuck to the toilet in the lavatory with maintenance stickers.
So now for the people are stupid part. There’s a picture of how this iPhone was affixed to the back of the toilet seat with two airline “Remove From Service” stickers which included a handwritten note, “Seat Broken”. To be even more stupid the iPhone's flash was on, I mean Stevie Wonder could see this thing from outside the lavatory.
Creepy is bad, creepy against someone without their consent is super creepy, creepy against a minor, and a fast track to jail.
Let’s move to October.
From View From The Wing we have another biohazard story - Explosive Diaper Left In Lavatory Was So Bad, The Airline Thought It Was A Bomb And Diverted
Copa Airlines flight 393 from Panama City to Tampa, Thank You Florida took off but less than an hour later, it was headed back to the airline’s hub with special forces placed on alert. The crew had identified what they thought was a bomb placed in the lavatory. It was a diaper, now I’ve dealt with two kids that were in diapers, and while it isn’t a pleasant experience I never once correlated the smell to a bomb, I have no idea what a bomb smells like. However, this was an adult diaper.
According to officials, We had it on a secure runway where police special explosives canine units and special forces examined the object and found it to be an adult diaper wrapped in plastic, ruling out any risk.
In the end, so to speak, the flight was delayed only 3 hours and cost the airline a couple hours worth of jet fuel. Hey, at least someone had the courtesy to wrap it in plastic.
This started on the sub-Reddit United Airlines - Our plane from NYC to SF diverted because a man threw up; he refused to get off the plane.
WildBloomFlower started with Please let me know if this is normal.
We were on a flight from NYC to SF, and an hour and 45 minutes in, a man threw up in the back of the plane, all over the walls. It was so bad they couldn’t clean it, six people had to move to new seats, and we were diverted to Chicago to have the plane cleaned. The flight attendants said it was a medical emergency and a biohazard that wasn’t safe for the crew or passengers.
WildBlkoomFlower went on -i t was frustrating to get delayed, but I am glad we diverted because it sounded like hell for the people in the back. But once we were there, the flight attendant said the man who was sick wasn’t getting off the plane, he said he was fine, and they couldn’t make him leave…. And they didn’t make him leave, even with force.
If a single individual forces a plane to divert they should leave the plane. Be it for childbirth, injury, threatening passengers, or flight attendants you have to leave the plane.
Then I realized this was United Express and the parent company United Airlines, the same United Airlines that dragged Dr. Dao off a flight in 2017. So now my thought is that United Airlines isn’t forcibly removing anyone from any flights.
Looking to get on the no-fly list? Just do what this individual did. Dateline Orlando MCO Thank You Florida where in October one man decided just to press through the screening checkpoint… without stopping for screening. This is not alright. Equipped with a backpack and a guitar this gentleman crashed through the security checkpoint only to be followed by four TSA agents who finally managed to wrestle him to the ground. Here’s what’s so odd, had he managed to elude the TSA agents he still had to ride the air train to his terminal, and while there isn’t another TSA checkpoint, there are numerous law enforcement officers in every terminal. Don’t forget the Florida slogan Florida, arrive on vacation leave on probation.
Finishing up with some November craziness, we have our last biohazard story. From Live And Lets Fly - UNREAL: WOMAN DROPS PANTS AND SQUATS TO PEE ON AISLE FLOOR WHEN FLIGHT ATTENDANT DENIES HER LAVATORY ACCESS ON FLORIDA FLIGHT. Yep, you heard it here, a woman on a flight out of Thank You Florida needed to use the lavatory after the pilot had indicated that everyone needed to remain in their seats as they were getting ready to land. The flight attendant tried to stop her while the rest of the plane yelled at her, and in the end, she dropped trou and let loose in the aisle.
Time for, “The shoe’s on the other foot”. Again from Live And Lets Fly - INTOXICATED DELTA FLIGHT ATTENDANT KISSED AND GROPED FEMALE PASSENGER, VAPED ONBOARD
This occurred in November 2022 but it’s just now hitting the web. Abigail Louise Trebnick-Emerson one of the four named people, is a Delta flight attendant who was flying “non-rev” (meaning at a greatly reduced price on a space-available basis) from Las Vegas (LAS) to Minneapolis (MSP). To set the stage, she was placed in a middle seat next to Alison Petri, who was seated on the aisle.
Trebnick-Emerson was served wine onboard, two cans at a time. After consuming the first two cans, she ordered two more. After finishing the third, she leaned over and kissed her female seatmate on the mouth. Oh no.
Petri retreated to the rear lavatory and reported the incident. One of the on-duty flight attendants, John Riss, purportedly brought Trebnick-Emerson a glass of water…and, get this, a fifth can of wine.
That may have been the end of it, but after the flight landed when Petri stood up to gather her luggage, Trebnick-Emerson reportedly groped her in the butt. She also began vaping as the plane descended, blowing “‘plumes of smoke” toward Petri.
In the words of former British Airways pilot, Mike Beaton, co-workers suck.
Well, there you have it Episode 193 and we’re all caught up. I thought about doing the 2023 gift guide, but since this is being posted in early December I’m guessing most of you are done with your holiday shopping.
If you want detailed show notes, links, and pictures head over to podpage.com/travel-stories/
Or visit Substack at travelstories.substack.com/
You can also leave me a message on Anchor, or shoot me an email at TravelFrick@gmail.com.
As I always say, travel safe, stay safe, and thanks for listening.
Time To Catch Up - Travel Stories, Episode 193