Thumper
10-13-2014, 11:19 AM
Had a great time with my old buds recalling our escapades while traveling around S.E. Asia playing James Bond. It was a lot of fun as some situations were brought up that others had forgotten about and we just never ran out of stuff to talk about even though we've been communicating regularly for over 40 years now (almost daily for the past 10 years or so)!
The trip went pretty well although American Airlines can kiss my rosey-red ass! I was to meet a couple of buds in Austin who were flying in from the San Francisco Airport. Our flights were to land 3 minutes apart and then we were going to rent a car and drive to my bud's place in a small town about 95 miles out of Austin. Well, I get to Dallas with plenty of time to make my connecting flight, so I hop on the tram to go to my next gate. The frigging tram broke down and we were stuck on the thing for 20 minutes until the maintenance crew managed to rescue us and get it moving again! I RAN (not an easy task for me these days) to the gate and as I got there, the flight attendant was closing the door to the ramp! I held up my boarding pass and she simply shrugged her shoulders, turned and walked toward the plane. WTF??? I told the clerk at the desk what had happened and he said they close the door 10 minutes before departure and can't open it once it's closed. I asked him to clarify his statement ... they CAN'T open the door? Or they WON'T open the door? He said they WILL NOT open the door. The frigging bitch was standing there watching me approach as she was closing the damn thing! I was a bit livid as the airlines are frustrating enough these days without this shit!
I asked when the next flight to Austin was and was told one takes off in an hour ... but the gate is on the opposite side of the terminal. If any of you have been to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport, you know that's a bazillion mile trip in itself ... and now, there was only one tram running, so it was like a Greyhound bus ride as you have to make EVERY stop along the way. By time I got to the gate I was told there was only one seat left .. a frigging center seat (my original seat was an isle seat at an exit door ... plenty of room). I DO NOT FIT IN A CENTER SEAT! But, I had no choice and flew the last leg with my arms crossed and sitting at a slight angle since there was not one "small" dude in the three seats on that row. The only way we fit was to leave the armrests up and rub hips the whole way. :angryfire
I left a text for my bud who had just landed in Austin so he had to await my late arrival. The guy who was supposed to be traveling with him came down with food poisoning the day they were to leave and had to stay home wishing he'd just die and get it over with! (he also had a non-refundable ticket) So, it was just the three of us who made it. It was supposed to be 5, but my SEAL buddy is leaving for a 6 month trip to Thailand this week and he simply had too much on his plate.
The trip was well worth the effort and we didn't do much more than sit around and b/s. We're closer than brothers and always will be. They've had my back and I've had theirs at times and that tends to form a special bond that never goes away. Someday, we'll get the 5 of us together under one roof again. We've all hooked up from time to time, but never as a group ... even though we've tried before. Kinda like trying to get a Good Hunting get-together going ... SOMEONE always has a conflicting schedule. Someday ....
Here's a group shot of us worn-out old f'ers. The guy on the left was Intel and flew ARDF (Airborne Radio Direction Finding) ... if I was chasing a bad guy and didn't know where he was, this dude would locate him for me from the air. The dude in the middle (really goofy pic here) is one TOUGH little SOB! He was Intel also ... Special Forces Green Beret "Snake-Eater" and holds a black belt in Karate (not sure what degree) ... and I believe Takewondo. He's about 3 1/2 feet tall. ;) You "might" recognize him from a pic I posted here of one of my Thailand trips at the Embassy with my CIA buddy (who trained me on the Vietnamese mission back in the day) along with my SEAL buddy and myself. (we were a team and all lived/worked closely together for 3+ years)
3755
The trip went pretty well although American Airlines can kiss my rosey-red ass! I was to meet a couple of buds in Austin who were flying in from the San Francisco Airport. Our flights were to land 3 minutes apart and then we were going to rent a car and drive to my bud's place in a small town about 95 miles out of Austin. Well, I get to Dallas with plenty of time to make my connecting flight, so I hop on the tram to go to my next gate. The frigging tram broke down and we were stuck on the thing for 20 minutes until the maintenance crew managed to rescue us and get it moving again! I RAN (not an easy task for me these days) to the gate and as I got there, the flight attendant was closing the door to the ramp! I held up my boarding pass and she simply shrugged her shoulders, turned and walked toward the plane. WTF??? I told the clerk at the desk what had happened and he said they close the door 10 minutes before departure and can't open it once it's closed. I asked him to clarify his statement ... they CAN'T open the door? Or they WON'T open the door? He said they WILL NOT open the door. The frigging bitch was standing there watching me approach as she was closing the damn thing! I was a bit livid as the airlines are frustrating enough these days without this shit!
I asked when the next flight to Austin was and was told one takes off in an hour ... but the gate is on the opposite side of the terminal. If any of you have been to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport, you know that's a bazillion mile trip in itself ... and now, there was only one tram running, so it was like a Greyhound bus ride as you have to make EVERY stop along the way. By time I got to the gate I was told there was only one seat left .. a frigging center seat (my original seat was an isle seat at an exit door ... plenty of room). I DO NOT FIT IN A CENTER SEAT! But, I had no choice and flew the last leg with my arms crossed and sitting at a slight angle since there was not one "small" dude in the three seats on that row. The only way we fit was to leave the armrests up and rub hips the whole way. :angryfire
I left a text for my bud who had just landed in Austin so he had to await my late arrival. The guy who was supposed to be traveling with him came down with food poisoning the day they were to leave and had to stay home wishing he'd just die and get it over with! (he also had a non-refundable ticket) So, it was just the three of us who made it. It was supposed to be 5, but my SEAL buddy is leaving for a 6 month trip to Thailand this week and he simply had too much on his plate.
The trip was well worth the effort and we didn't do much more than sit around and b/s. We're closer than brothers and always will be. They've had my back and I've had theirs at times and that tends to form a special bond that never goes away. Someday, we'll get the 5 of us together under one roof again. We've all hooked up from time to time, but never as a group ... even though we've tried before. Kinda like trying to get a Good Hunting get-together going ... SOMEONE always has a conflicting schedule. Someday ....
Here's a group shot of us worn-out old f'ers. The guy on the left was Intel and flew ARDF (Airborne Radio Direction Finding) ... if I was chasing a bad guy and didn't know where he was, this dude would locate him for me from the air. The dude in the middle (really goofy pic here) is one TOUGH little SOB! He was Intel also ... Special Forces Green Beret "Snake-Eater" and holds a black belt in Karate (not sure what degree) ... and I believe Takewondo. He's about 3 1/2 feet tall. ;) You "might" recognize him from a pic I posted here of one of my Thailand trips at the Embassy with my CIA buddy (who trained me on the Vietnamese mission back in the day) along with my SEAL buddy and myself. (we were a team and all lived/worked closely together for 3+ years)
3755