Travel Diary – USA – Arrival in Des Moines

Dateline : Wednesday 8-Sept

Right now I am in the Admirals Club in LAX terminal four. People have never been to one of these should realize what the admirals club is. It is something between a coffee lounge in your local suburban shopping center and the Qantas club – and unfortunately probably closer to the former.

Whereas QANTAS club has free fruit juice, the Admirals club has a voucher for a free drink. Whereas the Qantas Club furnishings are immaculate, the ones here have the occasional stain. Still, like any coffee lounge, it is better than not being there, and I suppose it would be better with some company.

Last night I did not sleep well. I am still getting adjusted to the time change. And it will get worse before it gets better. I have another two time zones today. I think it is only two. We will see

Now, I am on the plane above Palm Springs on the way to Chicago. When I get there I will then grab a flight onto Des Moines. Security was not a hassle – well not too much of one. I did need to take my shoes off to get through the metal detector. Given that 100% of people needed to do this I suspect that the device was too sensitive.

What was not too sensitive was the X-Ray machine. I had accidentally placed my wire cutters in my carry-on baggage. I surrendered these without a problem. They were a junk set anyway. Anyway time to do some work on my presentations before they start the food service.

American Airlines is an interesting animal. There has been a lot of problems in the airline industry in the USA, thanks to savage competition and security issues. The airlines are fighting back, cutting costs.

They are now advertising that their economy seats are furthest apart of any airline. I have now worked out how this is done. First they have removed foam from the seat back, I would be surprised if there is more than an inch of foam on the seat back. I would estimate half that. The seat cushions are similarly bad for my bottom.

The terminal is interesting too. We took a buss from the main terminal to this small out-building that would not look out of place in the Australian bush. This building has a series of ramps that get you to the height of the plane so that you can enter the plane. It is on the opposite side of the airport to everything. It really makes you feel special…

A meal was served since the flight was over four hours. According to the Web Site, it will be about 4 hours and 1 minute. According to the captain, it will be about 3 hours and 20 minutes. Anyway I will now detail the meal Muesli Bar Some Raisins Strawberry Yoghurt A drinkAll served in a paper bag. Oh, and the best bit.

They provided KNIVES AND FORKS!!! A spoon too, but that was useful.

Chicago airport is large. I was frankly amazed. It what makes it more so is that fact that it is all connected. Somewhere like LAX is big, but you don’t get to see the size. O’Hare is just big.

Des Moines is quite the opposite. From what I have seen it is as if someone decided to put in an airport in Orange. Yeah, I know Orange has an airport, but you know what I mean. American Eagle are certainly a low cost carrier. I flew a CanadaJet Regional Jet from Chicago, and this was surprisingly comfortable. On getting to Des Moines we used the planes own steps which was strange. Then we had to use a set of stairs inside the terminal. I think they were fire stairs, or at least looked like it. Not what I was expecting.

The hotel is only a few hundred meters from the airport so I decided to walk. I know this is the USA, but I walked anyway. Things are not set up for walking, but it was quite a short walk. I had to do more walking inside O’Hare, so this was not a problem.

I have come to the conclusion that Iowa is about to invade Canada to the north. There is an Airforce Air Wing based here, as well as the Iowa Air National Guard. The Air Wing has one or two fighters… And occasionally you hear them over head. But the entire thing is on an Iowa scale – small.

Internet access from the hotel is variable. It is always dropping out which is a pity. When it works, it works well. When it does not it is a pain.

Wednesday I had dinner with Steve Bible. I had Atlantic Salmon and it was really nice. I am glad that I chose it. They also had a beautiful salad bar – maybe not as good as Sizzler, bit close. Steve then showed me some of his toys – one was a prototype of a new PIC board with Ethernet for some Nokia radios that Tapr have been donated.

Upon finishing tea we ran into John and Laura Koster, also of TAPR who had been at the hotel since lunch. After dinner I went back to my room and worked on more of the presentations.