Remembering

Once again remembering the enormous sadness that filled that September day and lingered like a dirty film on the days that followed.

 

Flight 93 National Memorial

 

 

Wondering.

 

What decides what we remember? I don't mean personal memories. Rather those events that are remembered by a larger community. Experiences are based on your own perspective. But many memories are shared with a larger group. Is it the size of the group who experienced the event or its affect?

 

Just guessing.

 

I suspect memories of tragedies like 9/11 probably last generations longer since they are focused on short term events pinned to a day or two. The Pearl Harbor attack, and the JFK assassination are also pinned to a date. The aftermath of the event of course can last a long time.

While I had known of the Flu pandemic of 1918 before Covid-19 hit our world, I know it was not as widely remembered as other events. I wonder if our current Covid-19 pandemic will be forgotten quicker than say 9/11.

 

Here's a link to a 9/11 remembrance I posted here - sept. 11 remembrance

 

The future will have tragedies. I wish we could make the man-made ones go away.

 

 

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
and the world will live as one

it looked to be a nice Tuesday

Maybe my mind's picture of that clear blue Tuesday sky is easily recalled because I looked up at the sky much more that day than normal.

I was scanning the sky wondering what was going to happen next.

This year September 11 falls on a Tuesday again. I am hoping for a nice peaceful day. It will be a sad day.


This past spring my wife and I took a road trip to Pennsylvania. My goal was to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial. We made there, the weather that day was not anything like a sunny clear day. Sleet and low clouds swept across the hillside during our visit.

I have mentioned my connection with Flight 93 in previous posts. Here's a remembrance post from 2013.

I've worked at a handful of companies over my career. Airfone (GTE Airfone became Verizon Airfone) was one of my best engineering jobs. The Airfone service played a role in the Flight 93 event.

Certainly, more people died at the World Trade Center in NYC and at the Pentagon. But I do believe if a brave group of passengers had not fought back for control of Flight 93, many more lives would have been lost in or near Washington DC. At the high speed they were traveling, it would have been just minutes before the plane reached the DC area. These heroes figured out via communication with the ground that the terrorists had another target to destroy. The memorial displays the story of that day and how terrorists' plan to use Flight 93 was stopped that day. Flight 93 was crashed deep into an empty Pennsylvania field.

From the Sources and Detailed Information webpage on Flight 93 National Memorial site:

We know that Flight 93 was destined for Washington D.C. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, at 9:55 am, the terrorist pilot Ziad Jarrah dialed in the frequency for the navigational aid at Washington Reagan National Airport, clearly indicating that the attack was planned for the nation's capital.

display of recovered seatback equipment

this walk follows the final flight path

the victims

Remembrance, memorials, books, etc. are important for future generations to understand the terror that can be inflicted on people. Still all those things fail to prevent future similar tragedies. We can be protected but absolute protection would create a prison cell type life. Singer songwriter Donovan wrote the following in his song, "Catch the Wind".

When rain has hung the leaves with tears
I want you near to kill my fears
To help me to leave all my blues behind





I may as well try and catch the wind

a glance over my shoulder

Ok, it wasn’t the best thing since sliced bread. It had a very slow start. Something about it hooked me. The “it” is this blog.

Things add up after a few years. You don’t notice when the increments are slow and small like inches on my waist (actually I’m trying to think of another word than waist because my waist is wasted). So I thought I would pause, review, and share a few historical bits of my blog history. Ok you, falling asleep over there. You are free to click out of here. I’m not trying to compare this to anything. People on youtube, twitter and other blogs get bigger numbers in a week than I have in years.

Just a quick glance over my shoulder.

take a glance you might spy a butterfly

Now at the end of my 10th BLOG year (what you don’t keep track of things in blog years?) I’m a bit amazed I’m still posting. Looking behind me, I don’t see many butterflies but I do notice a few followers. My posting frequency now is much lower than during the peak blog years around 2011 and 2012.

The first post was just a gif that a co-worker found. She had the nickname of DreamweaverDiva. The gif she found inspired the name of the blog. Back in 2006 our small (relative to others in the industry) group of 150 or so were planning big. Maybe too big? Events unfavorable to our big plans hit us hard. Our whole endeavor would be shut down. (much of this is covered in my “short background” page)

I came up with the idea of a blog for common support to help each other get through this lay-off. A few used it and many of that select group would meet for lunch. Before a year had passed I believe those few had stopped visiting the blog. I started exploring blogland and couldn’t decide if I was on the yellow brick road or chasing a rabbit down a hole. I probably should have just stopped and asked Alice.






Over the years I’ve enjoyed comments left by readers from Malaysia, Honduras, Canada, UK, Australia, Namibia, South Africa and California (really it should be it’s own country). The comments keep me going. Besides the important laugh or two, I’ve actually learned a few things while blogging. New words, new places and how common we can be with others in far away places.

On the topic of new words, I small note to myself. Too late (at least I think so) but now after I learned this new word, I want to grow up and become a tribologist because they are smooth and slick.

Oh and feed your blog.

memories in the air

Change is in the air.  I've heard that before.  I might have even repeated it myself.  Change is always around the corner but most of the time we don't notice it much because it often amounts to pocket change (that's another phrase that will become obsolete in our future of smartphone cashless transactions).

inflight wi-fi killed it

Last week the news of SkyMall's bankruptcy spread through the news media more than most bankruptcies.  It reminded me of the extensive coverage when the Hostess Twinkies company was crashing (2012).

The SkyMall catalog was known to most travelers crisscrossing the US.  I got to know it well from my career at Airfone.  I would describe SkyMall's offerings as strange non-essential overpriced items.

Had Airfone back in 2006 been able to pull off our plans to fly the internet, we would have been the ones to hasten SkyMall's demise.  The Airfone internet project is related directly to the origin of this blog.  If interested please read the "short background" page.

When I read (Chicago Tribune) Mary Schmich's column on SkyMall Sunday, I had to post something about it on FB for my fellow ex-Airfone co-workers.  I confirmed that Airfone and SkyMall did have a business arrangement.  Calling SkyMall from our in-the-seatback phone was offered free.  I thought that was true but wanted to check with others since I was not directly involved in that setup.

When I flew I used a company maintenance card and typically annoyed family and my siblings with calls from the air which were free for me.  (see this post about that)  

typical looking Airfone equipment

The Wired site ran a great personal story on SkyMall.  In it the author, Emily Dreyfuss wrote:

"...I just remember the elation of picking up the phone in the back of the headrest on the Delta plane and calling a human being from the air. The line cracked, but from down deep below the thin air, a woman’s voice said, “Hi, thanks for calling SkyMall.” Outside the window, smog and clouds skidded past and I was talking on the telephone to a human being who was going to send us presents!

The possibilities in life were limitless."

I also found this video clip about SkyMall at the Washington Post web site. It's entertaining and informative.

Do you have any SkyMall memories?

sept. 11 remembrance

taken in Chicago, 2011

Recently I read a moving post over at the “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out” blog about the church across the street from the NYC World Trade Center. The post includes many pictures from the area around and inside St. Paul's Chapel.

Her post prompted me to check my older posts about Sept. 11, 2001. I posted my own small story about it back in 2011. I’m repeating that post below with a few updates.

A 9/11 remembrance. 

Nothing to lighten-up about given the enormous sadness that filled that September week and lingered like a dirty film on the days that followed. 

The heroes were a bright spot. The coming together of strangers seeking to help others provided hope to keep many going. 

The tragedy reminded us of that awful dark side existing in enough people that we need to be aware for our own security. 

Painful. 

Forgetting about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happened. 

from an Airfone ad

I don’t have some hero story of my own, but I found myself working with someone who was pulled into the tragedy. Her name is Lisa Jefferson. It forever changed her life.

The week previous to that Tuesday, I had interviewed for a job at GTE Airfone (name was changed to Verizon Airfone months later) and I was still waiting get an offer.  I had worked at GTE Airfone for 4 plus years back in the early 90's.

We live near the flight paths for both O'Hare and Midway airports. It’s very common to see and hear airliners flying in and out. Those September days following 9/11 had a noticeable empty sky above us.

The small act of kindness we were able to provide that day was helping Johnny, our daughter’s friend who was stuck at O’Hare airport. We picked him up and gave him a place to stay for a few days.

I flew a flag. I talked with family. I watched the news. I cried. We all cried.

I took a job offer from Airfone. It was a great job. Airfone (yes it’s spelled with a ‘f’) was the company offering a public phone in the seatback of a few airlines. United Airlines was one of our biggest customers/partners. United Flight UA 93 was the hijacked plane that did not hit the terrorist’s target.

The passengers and crew learned after contacting Lisa (supervisor of Airfone operators) that other planes were hijacked that morning. Airfone had a procedure established for a hijacked plane.  A direct line to the FBI from the Airfone office was immediately established.  Hard to say there is such a thing as a normal hijacking but it quickly became apparent there was nothing normal about this flight.  A group of passengers decided not to allow the terrorists to use their flight. The flight ended in a fiery crash in a Pennsylvania.

While at Airfone, I worked with Lisa Jefferson and her husband who also worked there. She was a calm and peaceful lady. I don’t pretend to know her well, but all my interactions with her tell me she is a wonderful kind person.  She passed along Todd Beamer's last words, "Let's roll".

You might know or even visited the national memorial created at the crash site of UA 93. (I have not visited yet and would be very interesting knowing what visitors think of the memorial.) Our National Park Service has a very good website giving online background information on the Flight 93 National Memorial. There are personal stories presented in videos on the site’s multimedia page. I found the following chart (used in a terrorist trial) showing the number and locations of the phone calls made from flight 93 that day.

Someday 9/11 will be another history lesson like Dec. 7, 1941. If we are lucky many will learn from it.

Peace.

damn

My motto here at “A Few Clowns Short” is lighten-up. 

A 9/11 remembrance. 

Damn the motto for this post. Nothing to lighten-up about given the enormous sadness that filled that September week and lingered like a dirty film on the days that followed. 

The heroes were a bright spot. The coming together of strangers seeking to help others provided hope to keep many going. 

The tragedy reminded us that an awful dark side exists in enough people that we need to be aware. 

Painful. 

Forgetting about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happened. 

I don’t have some hero story of my own, but I found myself working with someone who was pulled into the tragedy. Her name is Lisa Jefferson. It forever changed her life.

The week previous to that Tuesday, I had interviewed for a job at GTE Airfone (name was changed to Verizon Airfone months later) and I was still waiting get an offer.

We live near the flight paths for both O'Hare and Midway airports. It’s very common to see and hear airliners flying in and out. Those September days following 9/11 had a noticeable empty sky above us.

The small act of kindness we were able to provide that day was helping Johnny, our daughter’s friend who was stuck at O’Hare airport. We picked him up and gave him a place to stay for a few days.

I flew a flag. I talked with family. I watched the news. I cried. We all cried.

I took that job offer from Airfone. It was a great job. Airfone (yes it’s spelled with a ‘f’) was the company offering a public phone in the seatback of a few airlines. United Airlines was one of our biggest customers/partners. Flight UA 93 was the hijacked plane that did not hit the terrorist’s target.

The passengers and crew learned after contacting the Airfone operator that other planes were hijacked that morning. A group of passengers decided not to allow the terrorists to use their flight. The flight ended in a fiery crash in a Pennsylvania.

While at Airfone, I worked with Lisa Jefferson and her husband who also worked there. She was a calm and peaceful lady. I don’t pretend to know her well, but all my interactions with her tell me she is a wonderful kind person.  She passed along Todd Beamer's last words, "Let's roll".

Someday 9/11 will be another history lesson like Dec. 7, 1941. If we are lucky some will learn from it. The National Geographic Channel has a site dedicated to it’s remembrance.

I want to leave this post with a better word than it began.

Peace.

Better trips

Back in the early 90's I joined a company starting up an exciting service. Ok, I and many others thought it was exciting but over time and after further advances in technology it's appeal dropped to the point of people questioning if it was ever used. It was used.
I'm referring to Airfone. When I joined the company the name was GTE Airfone.  
This post is not so much about the business or even the technology. I would happy to answer questions about that. Just leave your question in the comments. Today I just want to reminisce about some great travel memories I had while working for them.
I suspect other biz travelers out there long for the way air travel was back in the 90's. There was good competition for grabbing bigger biz travel market share. The airlines tried to out perform each other's service and the traveler benefited.
Any of you remember seeing this?


Back then, I even held PREMIER status once. Now they make me feel like I rank just below dirt bag.
Well back before there were laptops on the tray tables. We were equipping the major US airlines with seat phones. I traveled on those airlines at least once a month. Many trips to the UK., the west coast, and even one to China (China Southern Airlines).


I had the privilege of having a network test card so I could call anywhere in the US on the Airfone system from my seat. I would typically do a test call to home or some other family member. I think the calls sometimes became annoying for them.
I soon realized I had something worth trading with the flight attendants (FA). This trading for a drink, food, or first class desert would often work then because the flights then often were 1/2 or 3/4 full, so the FA about half way or so into the flight would be able to sit back and relax in the back. That's when I would suggest a deal.

One flight coming back late from California, I eagerly waited to demonstrate the power of this card to a new co-worker. Ok, I wanted to show off a bit.

After I was able to explain the deal to the FA, she was more than willing to get both of us these huge fudge sundaes (in real glassware) from first class. We got a good laugh when she stopped by and explained why we needed to wait just a little longer - she had to serve them to first class first. The other funny thing was after we landed she or another FA seem to have lost my test card. I'll never know if it was true, but they did tear apart a few rows of seats looking.

Other flying treats I miss: Free class upgrades, free passes to the airport lounge, empty seats in my row. Please share any good times you had in the air in the comments.

short interesting xfoner news

Just a short item that should be of interest to xfoners. If you have been following this blog or the news of IFE, you already know that LiveTV bought the Airfone network from Verizon.

I didn't know until I was checking some old Airfone links that LiveTV appears to be keeping the Airfone brand name. Although I consider the Airfone name good, I noticed it did confuse some people because of the 'f' instead of 'ph' and I remember getting mail with Air Force in the name.

Short background:
Airfone ==> GTE Airfone ==> Verizon Airfone ==> LiveTV Airfone

hmm, what's the future? Google Airfone? or Twitter Airfone?

Check out their site's page LiveTV Airfone.
A little blurb from their site:

LiveTV introduces its newest product…LiveTV Airfone formerly known as Verizon Airfone. After several years of uncertainty in the market, you can now be sure that Magnastar is staying alive with LiveTV. So relax and be assured that you will continue to receive the same, high quality, Air-To-Ground communication service you have come to expect. In addition, LiveTV plans to provide ongoing support and product enhancements to the General Aviation Market. Planned product enhancements include a next-generation radio supporting both voice and data services.

Wi-Fi flying higher

Today's Chicago Tribune has a business section leading article on United Airlines pick of Aircell's internet service.

I almost missed it since my paper was buried in the snow. I must think today's cold frigid weather is on the minds of travelers at O'hare airports vs. wi-fi in the cabin. If I were flying today, I be wondering how many times they were going to deice my plane.

So United will roll out the service out on their transcontinental flights first. The article discussed the potential demand on longer vs. shorter flights. Two things left out were:

1 Battery life - will your wi-fi operating laptop last from NYC to LA? I doubt it.
2 Room to work on your laptop see an earlier post

I hope this Wi-Fi service works well and is a big hit. It might turn out that smartphones equipped with Wi-Fi might be the common device using these services. They do have better battery life.

one other note - Like many other articles on this subject the writer needed to drop a degrading remark about Airfone:

"...The carriers hope Aircell's Wi-Fi offerings will become a staple of travel and not a novelty like the old Airfones, which were pricey and rarely used..."

"Novelty" - I have read worst remarks about Airfone.

The flying Wi-fi wouldn't be here if Airfone had not existed.

Any reader use the Aircell system yet? Please comment.

old airfone tenzing promo

Some old promotion stuff showed-up on the internet. Glenn Fleishman (some xfoners might remember him covering the FCC spectrum auction) has posted some pictures of a promotion that Airfone and Tenzing did during the Jetconnect days.

Here's a link to his other photos - flicker link

row44 news clip

Well xfoners, you should be able to spot an RF engineer sitting in the row44 plane doing some testing that you might remember.

I must say the row44 test plane has much more room inside than the one Airfone used. It's a Grumman Albatross flying boat.

Here's the MSNBC story this came from.

internet flyers common partner

Some (just a few I think) of the readers may recognize that box above. Of course the picture is small and not very detailed. I was just browsing around the AP Labs site, and noticed the picture.

Oh, if you don't know and are still wondering that's a picture (very small one) of the ATSU that was going to be used in the Verizon Airfone broadband project.

Well, it doesn't take a but a few minutes to discover (PR's support this fact too) that AP Labs is a common partner for Airfone (WAS a partner), Aircell, and Row 44. Their commercial aircraft and inflight entertainment business was grouped under AP Avionx.

You can check out more equipment pictures here.

I find this common source situation interesting but it happens in other industries too.

One other somewhat related item - the Gizmodo link in my earlier post has some additional posting/stories - one of them describes methods to get around the VOIP block. This doesn't surprise me because of the constant battle between hacks and security within internet technologies.

My opinion (this is a blog right?) is that passengers should just use non-verbal communications (IM, email) while on the plane. It's more private, probably works better (loud aircraft background noise) and is unlikely to bother anyone.

Also, on the ground cellphone users should try texting first while in public places before sharing their call with everyone around them.