Hyperbole survey

I ran across this UPI report about forward thinking in Oregon. The eventual switch to more fuel efficient vehicles is bad news for a state that gets income based on taxing the sale of gas by the gallon, and so there is a test under way to examine the feasibility of taxing resident by the mile driven in the state, using GPS units on cars to determine how many miles were driven in the state. Apart from wondering if the money spent to run such a system would be worth it, this did seem to raise some red flags about the civil liberties issues. Also, the phrase "People's Republic of Oregon" came to mind. But then, I became interested in where I had actually heard this phrase.

I decided to do some rough research into this, using Google. The phrase "the People's Republic of" returns about 13.1 million hits, the vast majority of which (11.2 million) not surprisingly refer to the People's Republic of China. I expanded my research to use this as a measure of a certain type of displeasure with a given state government, and therefore Googled "the People's Republic of ______" for each state. My results:

1. (tie) 0 hits--Mississippi and West Virginia
3. (tie) 2 hits--Kentucky, Nevada, and South Dakota
6. (tie) 3 hits--Arkansas, Missouri, and Montana
9. (tie) 4 hits--Tennessee and Wyoming
11. (tie) 10 hits--Indiana and Oklahoma
13. 11 hits--Idaho
14. 15 hits--New Hampshire
15. 23 hits--Delaware
16. (tie) 24 hits--Louisiana and North Dakota
18. (tie) 32 hits--Arizona and Nebraska
20. 38 hits--Alabama
21. 39 hits--Rhode Island
22. (tie) 42 hits--Iowa and Utah
24. 46 hits--Alaska
25. 50 hits--Georgia
26. 71 hits--Colorado
27. 75 hits--North Carolina
28. 83 hits--Connecticut
29. 110 hits--Maine
30. 114 hits--Wisconsin
31. 136 hits--New Mexico
32. 142 hits--Florida
33. (tie) 148 hits--Kansas and Michigan
35. 154 hits--Ohio
36. 185 hits--Hawai`i
37. 222 hits--Washington
38. 260 hits--Texas
39. 345 hits--New York
40. 434 hits--Minnesota
41. 492 hits--Pennsylvania
42. 568 hits--Vermont
43. 717 hits--South Carolina
44. 1060 hits--Oregon
45. 1080 hits--Illinois
46. 1090 hits--Virginia
47. 1160 hits--New Jersey
48. 1820 hits--Maryland
49. 17,900 hits--California
50. 23,900 hits--Massachusetts

So, Oregon is near, but not at, the bottom of my approximate survey of internet hyperbole.

How can you run a business like this?

I'll freely admit that my business skills are not finely honed, but I do think that I have some degree of common sense. I understand the legacy carriers are not in the best shape financially. I've heard enough economics reports about how Southwest has lower costs and stuff like that, but I still don't understand how you can run a business that can create the scenario outlined below. While I'm certainly not the only one to run across something like this, this is the first time it has happened to me. (I am not a frequent flier.)

At 9:30 pm on March 24, 2006, I searched on Orbitz.com for a one-way flight on a Wednesday in mid-May from Raleigh/Durham (RDU) to within 80 miles of New York, NY. The cheapest flight that it returned was a $49 flight (plus $26 in taxes & fees) on Continental Airlines from RDU to Philadelphia International (PHL). Not a bad deal if I wanted to fly to Philadelphia--it beats Southwest by $5. However, this does consist of two legs, Continental Flight 2950, departing RDU at 10:50 and arriving at EWR at 12:20, where I would have a 3 hr, 10 min, layover before taking Continental Flight 2224, which puts me in PHL at 4:45 PM. Of course, my six hours of flight would still require that I get from Philadelphia to New York.

Perhaps you are anticipating the punchline here (or you just know your airport codes) but this airport encoded EWR is Newark Liberty International Airport, NJ.

Then I wondered, why don't I just look for this Flight 2950 that flies directly from RDU to Newark. It's $264 plus $15 taxes & fees. $279! Let's get from RDU to Penn Station in New York:

Trip 1: Fly to EWR $279 + NJ Transit train from EWR to Penn Station $14 = $293

Trip 2: Fly to PHL, via EWR $75 + SEPTA train from PHL to 30th St. Station in Philadelphia $5.50 + Amtrak train from 30th St. Station to Penn Station $95 = $175.50

Is this some bizarre way to subsidize Amtrak?

By buying the flight to PHL via EWR, and then just skipping the leg to PHL (assuming this is still legal--I think I heard they were cracking down on this) I can save $117.50 and get to Penn Station about 6 hours earlier.

Furthermore, I decided to see how much Flight 2224 from EWR to PHL cost if I started in EWR and didn't start off with Flight 2950 from RDU to EWR. It was $366 plus $15 taxes and fees! Lesson: Always buy in bulk. Flights 2224 and 2950, purchased seperately, $660. Or purchase them together for a savings of $584.

If you were at EWR, you had some free time, you wanted to fly only Continental Airlines, and your heart was set on taking Flight 2224 to PHL, you could save $162 by first buying a ticket for Flight 1418 from EWR at 6:30 AM, arriving at Tampa (TPA) at 9:20 AM for $99, and then also buy for $120 the combo ticket from TPA back to EWR on Flight 1819 (dep. 10:10 AM, arr. 12:52 PM) and Flight 2224.

Or, for a savings of only $6, you could take this trip:

Purchase 1: $105
Flight 474: dep. EWR 9:55 PM, arr. San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) 1:55 AM

Purchase 2: $167
Flight 461: dep. SJU 3:00 AM, arr. EWR 7:04 AM
Flight 1196: dep. EWR 7:45 AM, arr. Chicago Midway (MDW) 9:10 AM

Purchase 3: $103
Flight 1145: dep. MDW 9:55 AM, arr EWR 12:57 PM
Flight 2224

Or, if you were a little more ambitious, and were willing to spend $22 more for a few more frequent flier points, you could take this adventure:

Purchase 1: $99
Flight 1418: dep. EWR 6:30 AM, arr. TPA 9:20 AM

Purchase 2: $111
Flight 1707: dep. TPA 3:15 AM, arr. Houston Intercontinental (IAH) 4:29 PM
Flight 667: dep. IAH 5:50 PM, arr. Seattle/Tacoma International (SEA) 8:24 PM

Purchase 3: $118
Flight 5154: dep SEA 12:50 AM, arr. Minneapolis (MSP) 5:55 PM
Flight 2997: dep MSP 6:30 AM, arr. EWR 10:07 AM
Flight 2789: dep EWR 11:15 AM, arr. RDU 12:45 PM

Purchase 4: $75
Flight 2950: dep RDU 10:50 AM, arr. EWR 12:20 PM
Flight 2224: dep EWR 3:30 PM, arr. PHL 4:45 PM

Note: This does require a 20 hour layover in RDU, if done exactly this way. However, the beauty of this route allows you to skip the flight to Raleigh and stay in EWR after the leg from MSP, and then just wait 4 hours for Flight 2224.

Back in the summer, I reviewed the official state road maps that had accumulated in my glove compartment. On my recent trip to Philadelphia, I picked up a new state's map--Delaware. Since I was only going to follow I-95 through Delaware, I did not use the map for nagavation, but it does seem to be a quality map. While I think the folding of the map could be improved, the scale is approximate 1 inch equals 2.75 miles, making it the largest scale now in my truck. It also has several inserts of different cities, and even a table of airports providing the elevation, length of longest runway, whether or not it has runway lights, and whether it is a hard surface or turf.

When I asked the guy at the info desk at the welcome center/service area for a map, he not only cheerfully provided the map, but he also gave me four different booklets of information on what to do in the state and where to stay. They total to about 300 pages, or roughly one page for every 6.5 square miles of Delaware.

Garden State Crisscrossing

Click here to read about my recent adventures in New Jersey. What it lacks in places to turn left it makes up for in highpointing action.

An Open Letter to David A. Lebryk

Dear Mr. Lebryk,

As Acting Director of the United States Mint, I am directing these comments to you, hoping that you can change a certain policy that harmed me today. This morning I approached the US Mint in Philadelphia excited about touring it, I was turned away because I brought a camera with me.

According to the nice woman who sold me my cheesesteak sandwich, it is only a recent decision to allow tours at all without a note from my congressman, a decision I wholeheartedly endorse. Also I can certainly understand why you not want people to take pictures of the minting process. Counterfeit pennies would destroy the economy. However, as the guard told me, cameras are not even allowed in the building. Not even camera phones. Since they are not even allowed in the building, this means that there cannot be a coat check where I could deposit my camera during my tour. Therefore, if one is staying in the suburbs of Philadelphia and he wants to tour the Mint, then he must ask himself before taking the train into the city (assuming he knows of this policy) "Would I prefer to tour the Mint or take pictures of anything and have my cellphone with me?" The tour regulations page on your website does mention that cameras are not allowed in the building, but there is no mention of the fact that there is no coat check. Having not seen the interior of the building, I do not know if there is in fact room for a coat check, but I feel confident that space could be easily allocated for this purpose.

Sincerely,
Eric Choate
Carrboro, NC

Homicide: Life on the Streets

I just finished watching the DVDs of Homicide: Life on the Streets, Seasons 1&2. It's pretty crazy how many awards the people associated with this show win or get nominated for. There is of course the regular cast, which for these two seasons included Andre Braugher (4 Emmy nom (1 win), 1 Golden Globe (GG) nomination), Ned Beatty (1 Oscar win (Best Supporting Actor in Network, 2 Emmy noms, 1 GG nom), Yaphet Kotto (1 Emmy nom), and Clark Johnson (1 Emmy nomination for directing the pilot of The Sheild). And the creator Paul Attanasio got Oscar nominations for his screenplays for Quiz Show and Donnie Brasco. And executive producer Barry Levinson has 6 Oscar nominations (1 win), 5 Emmy noms (4 wins), and 3 GG noms. And writer/executive producer Tom Fontana has received an absurd 17 Emmy nominations (only 3 wins though) in addition to creating the Fontanaverse. I knew about all these. However, what surprised me was how every episode had an actor who was nominated for something in it:

Season One, Episode:

1. Small role for Stephen Harris, later to get two Supporting Actor Emmy nominations for The Practice
   
2. Stretching it with Matthew Cowles, who had received two Daytime Emmy nominations.
   
3. While the guests are not highly nominated, Tom Fontana and Frank Pugliese won a Writers' Guilde Award for writing this episode.
   
4. Guest Stars Edie Falco (5 Emmy noms, 3 wins) and Luis Guzman (sadly no individual nominations.)
   
5. More Edie Falco, plus a Daytime Emmy nominee Jennifer Harmon and it was directed by 9-time Emmy nominee Bruce Paltrow
   
6. The only guest star in this episode, which takes place almost entirely in a single room, was Moses Gunn, who received an Emmy nomination for his role in Roots. One of Tom Fontana's 3 Emmy wins was for writing this episode.
   
7. No outstanding award winners here, but quality regular Zeljko Ivanek is in it, as is guest star Ling Bai, who has received a couple nominations for her interesting Chinese film Dumblings.
   
8. More Edie Falco, plus Michael Constantine (2 Emmy nom, 1 win) and Lisa Gay Hamilton.
   
9. The bartender is played by John Waters.
   

Season Two, Episodes:

1. Guest star Wilford Brimley
   
2. Guest star Julianna Marguilles has 6 Emmy noms (1 win) and 6 GG noms.
   
3. More Julinna Marguilles
   
4. Guest star Robin Williams received an Emmy nominated for this role (He has 5 others (1 win), 4 Oscar noms (1 win), and 10 GG noms (4 wins) plus 2 special Golden Globe awards). Also guest starring as the Williams' character's son is a 14-year-old Jake Gyllanhaal (1 Oscar nomination) whose father Stephen (1 Emmy nom) directed the episode. Also guest starred Al Freeman, Jr., who has 2 Emmy noms and 3 Daytime Emmy noms.
   

It is understandable why this show, which debuted after the Super Bowl, was cancelled four episodes into the second season. Good thing it came back for 5 full seasons.