Open Letter to Jet Blue

 Yes. People travel. They don't always travel because they want to, but because there is a family gathering, there is important business to take care of at the other end. Everyone shops for the "lowest" air fare.

I contend that people would pay up for "all premium" air fare. Just the fare, roomy seats, no extra charges for carry-ons, checked bags, and to somehow make the airport experience more pleasant.

You have a regular route ... HPN-RSW. Two of the richest enclaves around .. Regional Southwest Florida to Westchester County. It used to be a fairly comfortable flight. Westchester Airport is a blight and there is little you can do to improve it save trying to charge me $60 to check my walker in luggage. RSW is not an unpleasant experience save getting on the plane and cramming a small computer case under the seat in front of me and squishing into my "extra room" seat that I paid up for .

I contend that removing a few rows of seats, adding 10% to the price, you could make money on your own without trying to acquire a garbage airline like Spirit. My son's experience with Spirit as the "cheapest flight" he got surcharges for every bag, checked or not, even seat choice (so he could sit with his wife}. He now flies American when he comes.

I recall a trip several years ago where the pilot came on the horn as we were landing "We know you had a choice, Thank you for flying United". Long story short I took the same trip several more times on Delta. One trip I was grounded in Atlanta overnight once (storms). I got on an early flight to my destination on standby, and my luggage arrived with me!

All airlines seem to have lost the focus on CUSTOMER. And why people fly. To desperately cling to airfares  from ten years ago with stupid surcharges is a ridiculous business plan. Give service, you will get paid.

Insanity

 Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over .. expecting different results.

Working class America believes Donald Trump is the engine for change. So let me ask the question: what changes do you expect? His cabinet selections are not being chosen for ability, they are being chosen for how wide they open their wallets. And people with big bank accounts want what? One answer: pay less in taxes.

How well did that work going back to the 80's? Back then it was called trickle down economics. The idea was if the rich had more money to spend, they would spend it, and the economy would improve. .. the rising tide lifting all boats. It didn't work. The stock market began a massive climb upward.

We had a black swan event in 2020 .. covid viruses kept everyone home and permanently disrupted supply chains. Grocery shelves were empty. Our brave servicemen were fighting a losing war halfway around the world. Our national debt exploded. What did republicans do? The governor of Florida encouraged spring breakers to come to Florida in March 2020 assuring the nationwide spread of covid as the party animals returned home to their schools. They initiated tariffs to ostensibly protect the remnants of our economy. They "built a wall" because everyone wanting to come here was a drug dealer who wanted to eat my cat.

Fear and loathing is no way to live. I hope and pray that more Lincoln-esque  Republicans will come forth and feel responsible to all Americans, not just the wealthy.

Electric Car

A message to Chargepoint, EVGo, Electrify America (and all Auto Manufacturers including Tesla)

I own an electric car .. and I love charging it at home. Do you want to know the best high speed charging? 
It doesn't exist yet. Have you ever tried to co-ordinate your charger and your car with your cell phone on a sunny day in Florida? Not only can you not see the screen on the charger, you can't see the screen on your phone. The first successful charging company will have the following features:

• High speed only
• Shade

There are several "level 2" chargers around. Can you consider the thought of driving 175 miles and stopping to charge for 8 hours? I have one in my garage. That's fine. But if I am gonna haul me and my dog to Connecticut, I am gonna have to make major plans.

An Open Letter

 To Electrify America, Changepoint, and others getting into the EV space. 

I live in Florida, a perfect location for EVs. My complaint is about shade. It is nearly impossible to read the charging machine screen or even my cell phone screen in sunlight. I don't even want to think about what it would be like charging in the rain. 

Putting aside the fact that I drove around a Walmart parking lot for several minutes just trying to find the chargers, they are not in pull through spaces where a tractor trailer rig could fill up. It would have been nice to just head for the "green sunshade" to top off.

I know these networks are a work in progress, but to get a real market going remember your users.

 When did "woke" become a dirty word? According to Webster, the definition is 

Definition of woke

 (Entry 1 of 2)

chiefly US slang

: aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)

When and how did caring about your fellow man become "bad"? 

Dissecting the Trump years

 Taxes

Everybody thinks problem 1 is taxes. Nobody likes throwing money down a black hole. But here is what really happened with the Trump Tax Cuts:

People who are genuinely poor got nothing but more pain. The next few quintiles got a little more take home pay, but what happened to that nice Tax Refund check that came in time for Spring Break? And the top payers got the BIGGEST break which is pre-programmed to grow to 2025!

which leads me to Dow 30,000.

On election day, the Dow Jones industrial average was down on the year. It wasn't until the results came in that it worked its way back up to a new high. Yet who chose to pat himself on the back?

The Wall

We were promised that Mexico would pay for the ludicrous wall.

Funds were diverted from FEMA as a hurricane bore down on the Florida panhandle. Literal billions have been diverted from the military. And the wall has holes.

Florida

In many ways my new home state, Florida, is amazing. The weather is consistent. Sunny every day with an afternoon thunderstorm to cool things off. The eye  of Hurricane Irma passed right over my house and a few tiles got knocked off my roof and a few bushes got windburn. The power was out for a few days and some trees got knocked down. Sounds like Connecticut, no?

And Florida politics is very interesting. We have a Republican candidate for governor who ran on the platform "I am endorsed by the President". No other substance at all. The  Democratic candidate was a low budget Mayor who came out of nowhere. We are in for an interesting couple of months until November.