Forced Exile Continues

Ok, in case you noticed I am not winging my way home in a shinny B777 or A330. I am still in Prague.

For some odd reason that has not been passed to me USAir did not fly aircraft into Frankfurt yesterday for me to ride home on today. So, cancelled flight once again and my new expected return day is Monday the 26^th. That's right, you are not seeing funny objects on the screen there, that is my new date out of exile.

What can I say.

At least the surroundings here are nice, the Hotel is quite accommodating and they have retroactively put me on their own little rewards program (4 more nights and I get one free).

I have run low on supplies, Coffee, H&S shampoo, lotion, baby powder and socks. I did get some of my laundry taken care of so I have plenty of underwear, although I may send more out before the weekend.

I have been making my own coffee since you can't find typical American brew here. Mostly cappuccino or espresso, there are several Starbucks but I hate that place and won't even patronize it way over here. So I packed a pound of coarse ground coffee and a French press which has served me well over these many days. The pound of grounds I brought lasting until this morning. I have since made the walk to the local TESCO and procured some more grounds, they are a much finer grind but the press seems to be doing a good job anyway and the taste is well, good, very good indeed.

I also needed socks, the white cotton variety which I had only two pair with me: the pair I wore over this way and the pair I was going to wear going back. I do have many black pairs (5 in fact) but those are for business/work.

I have been good doing work but that is fast losing its charm. How much time can one man spend in a single Design document before he goes nuts? Two additional 'strandee's' from my company are heading here today from Vienna. They were on their way to the UAE but were held up also. One has a ride back tomorrow and the other on Saturday. A 4^th company employee who was in the UAE and got as far as Frankfurt before the mass groundings occurred made his way to Madrid and is now scheduled out on Saturday.

I have checked ALL points of exit by the US major airlines, Rome, Madrid, Amsterdam but no one has room. The earliest coach seat I saw were on Lufthansa flights out of Rome but they had to stopover in Frankfurt and switch to USAir aircraft which, well are just not in country.

I did look at Cargo/Freighter ship passage but they are as expensive as buying 1^st class airline tickets and I don't think they would get there any faster. Well, maybe they will if that dam volcano does not stop spewing.

Well back to the Design document. Until my eyes go cross.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Winds Aloft

So what's all the fuss of Airplanes and Volcano's anyway. One can understand the idea of a big ole jet motor ingesting something big and the affects that has. It is hard to imagine that something so small as dust can do the same amount of damage. Well, it does and frankly I am kind of glad the government officials who deemed it necessary to stop all air traffic did so. Most of the aircraft that ply the trans-oceanic airways are twin engine aircraft. It's one thing to be in a B747 or an Airbus A340 and loose one or two of your motors, you have others, but if you are in a B777 or A330 you lose one motor and you have officially half screwed. And on top of that, you have to worry about the health of that other motor. Not a good think in a twin jet.

The way it works is that this material which has been described as glass-like is actually near pure carbon. And at high tempratures it bonds to surfaces which would normally be resistant to such thinks. You pass through a small cloud of the stuff and your motor especially the Rotors and Stators get a little bit of fouling. Pass through a lot of it and it builds up like a new layer or lamination on the hot parts of your average turbo fan. And trust me, there are a lot of hot parts in your average turbo fan. The best you can expect is that it reduces the performace of your engine, robbing you $$$ in fuel costs and average engine life. The worst is that the motor stops functioning altogether and your aircraft becomes a glider. That is a lot to worry about.

Then there begs the question about how did all this stuff get up and distributed so quickly and over such a large area. Simply put, it was the Jet Stream.

You see, the jet stream maneuvered into an unusual position almost two weeks ago, and that is what has brought all this Icelandic hell upon northern Europe. When I flew over here the Pilot announced shortly after takeoff that he was predicting an early arrival into Frankfurt. By more than an hour which when you are strapped into those small things they call 'seats' in Economy class that hour less is certainly welcome. The Pilot claimed it was because we would be crossing the Jet Stream an unusual 4 times as we fly east. Usually they hit is once and get a 15 or 20 minute gain (a boost of airspeed of around 100 knots). Crossing it 4 times meant a gain of more than an hour and true to his words we were almost 90 minutes early into Frankfurt.

But that same unusual pattern is what allowed that plume of ash to get distributed to completely and quickly. It turns out Volcano eruptions happen many times a year in Iceland but their plumes rarely make it to altitude and if there is no jet stream it simply disperses harmlessly.

But not this time. Note below in this capture of the NOAA jet stream forecast showing the shape of the stream as it works it way east, it goes right over Iceland. I doctored it a bit to show all the salient points.

There are several forecasting sites that show what the projected jet steam will be on various dates. I shows how the jet stream shape will change for the better during the week and by Wednesday it might open up enough to allow airliner traffic through. There will still be a cloud by it will have maneuvered away to the south and east. Here is the forecast chart for Wednesday.
I doctored it a bit to show the normal great circle route flight path that the Airliners take on their way across the north Atlantic. Remember, these are for the most part two engine aircraft and they have to say close enough to make it to an airport and that the Circle flight path is the shortest distance between two points on a sphere, you know the earth.

Ah well, its time for a Beer and some goulash. There is a place round the corner that has a "southwestern" goulash, a spicy brew with chili peppers. Closest thing to chili one is apt to see here and it's high time I went over and tried some out.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Pictures from Praha, CZ

Pictures from my current forced-vacation. Thank you Iceland!! Enjoy.

This is the Lesser Bridge Tower. At one time the Georges river ran by here and you crossed through this tower onto a bridge and accross the river. Apperently many centries ago, the good folks of Praha decided to move the river a tad bit to the west and it left this tower with nothing to tower over. It gave them more land to buid their Old Town.
These are the famous spries in Old Town Prague. I am not sure what the name or the denomination of the church that these belong too but they go back more than 700 years. And they are lovely too. Legend has it that Walt Disney was inspired by these spires and you see that in the Magical Kingdom castles that he built.

This is the Tower that the Astronomical Clock is built into. I paid the small fortune (100 kc) to ride up in this building and then I walked up 8 more sets of stairs to get all the way up to the open area you see near the top. It was quite the view.

Here are those spires from directly accross from them at nearly the same height (my educated guess is that we are about 100 feet up)

Here is the view towards the Geroges River Bridge. That huge castle in the back is the seat of the government for all of the CZ. It is also the worlds largest castle.

Looking down into Old Town Square. There were several groups of musians plying their trade in different parts of the square. There are numerous sidewalk cafe's and restruants below and to our righ.

Here is a picture of the famous Astronomical Clock.

This think not only tells time, it does he day and month, phase of the moon, the position of several important stars, horescopes and even juliean fries and onions. Well maybe not that last part, but it is wicked cool.

I love those spires, this was taken a short walk from my hotel room approaching from behind.

Here is a detail of the stone works on the Georges Bridge. The figures are supposed to protect you from, long ears, pot bellies and I think money tails.

And a picture of the river with a tour boat. There is a channel on the right hand side, near that white building that the boats travel up. It serves the boat traffic like a lock, getting the boats up river past the falls.

Hey, What's for lunch!!

You bet I had one, couldn't pass it up!!

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Travel Hell – Kinda, Sorta

Let's say you are doing some business travel, in Europe. On your return trip from what was an exhausting 10 days of 10 to 12 hour days, you get to an intermediate stop. Let us say it is an airport from which you will take a commuter flight to a bigger airport and from their catch the big-ole Airliner back to the good ole US of A.

But its closed. No, not the airport, the skies. Yes they have stopped flying. So there you are with this big ole giant size suite case (carrying 4-bottles of wine by the way) and a laptop bag with two laptops inside along with a thick book that is boring as hell (note: Catherine Coulter sucks as an FBI thriller writer – avoid in future) and it too is weighing you down.

Since your flights have been cancelled you are basically stranded and at the mercy of the airline for your passage back home, them holding the return ticket that is.

It would look something like this:

This is an AP Photo of people stranded in the Franfurt Airport.

That would be Travel Hell. Pure and simple.

And that is where I find myself except for one thing. I am in Prague. Praha as they call it here. So it is far from Hell. I am in fact quite comfortable. My hotel is well in a fine spot, refer to picture below:

The circle and aroow show where My hotel is not far from that great square in Old Town Prague, I hesitate to call them blocks because well, nothing here is situated like one would call a block. But I am very close just the same.

The hotel my company had me booked in for the first night (Friday) did not have internet except in the lobby so I went and found the above place and it was cheaper (by $15 US), came with a breakfast buffet and internet in the room. It's not fast internet or even reliable but it is working. It is a great place to hole up. Especially because US Air says they can't get me out until Wedensday the 21st.

Not sure if my company is going to like this but, them's how the breaks break. Last time I was stranded was in February when the "snow of the century" closed down all the east coast airports from Charlotte to Boston. Frankfurt was the city that hosted me that time and it was, well let us be nice and say that there is a world of difference between Paraha and Frankfurt. Yeah a world of difference.

So, while I have some work to keep me occupied and lots to see my worry is that the cash holds out and I can find a place to do laundry. I need underwear real bad.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Reporting Live from Slavkova

Note: I wrote this a few days ago but I did not have reliable internet service to post it until now. Enjoy.

"What is all that black stuff in the soil here, manure?" I ask. My Czech minder gives me look that tells me he does not understand what I am asking. "Do the farmers burn off their fields?" I get the same look.

We have been stopped on a small two lane road out of the village of Slavkov, I am driving us back to Brno to pick up the other two people from my company, we are all heading to the train station but I was the only one that had to go to work this day. We had been pulling long 10 and 12 hour days (and I worked through lunch each day) the other two being the Executive representatives had spent the week negotiating the terms and conditions, financing, payment schedule and work share of our contract with this small engineering company here in the heart of the Moravia. I on the other hand spent it going over design documents, both hardware and software for the many simulated military items that this company will be manufacturing.

This company's share of the contract is more than $60 million US so they not only provide me a minder to make sure I do not drive off into oblivion they send a second in a car behind us.

The road is blocked and we have plenty of time. I turn off the Skoda Combi and get out, standing there admiring the landscape.

Gentle rolling hills, most of which are covered with green something, grass or early wheat. In this area a farmer has tilled a large plot exposing rich black soil that looks odd against the surrounding green. The contrast. The air is crisp and clean, it has been cold while we have been here, cold and rainy every day. Sleet and sometimes snow. I exhale and it condenses out, it feels good. I walk to the edge of the road and kneel down. I take a hand full of this earth in one hand and I weigh it, feel it, I squeeze it in my fist to judge how wet it is and determine its organic composition. It is good soil, smells rich. I could grow anything in this dirt.

Behind me I hear my two companions talking; they speak softly between themselves, no doubt judging if I have lost my mind. It was a long week.

I stand and hold out my hand to them, the soil spilling from between my fingers.

"It is good soil here in Slavkov, we grow many crops. Many large, eh, vegetables, yes." My ride says. He shakes his hands in a motion together as if he himself were tilling the ground in parallel grooves.

"Yes, yes I am sure." I say to him.

"How much of this do you think I could take back with me." I ask. His eyebrows arch up and he smiles at me, it is a slight smile, the kind you give out of politeness when you are not sure someone is joking.

I nod my head up and down, "You think they would stop me if I shoveled a bunch of this into my bag?" I turn my back and toss the dirt into the field it came from, I dust off my hand and stand their admiring the beauty around me here in the land of Austerlitz.

"You are funny American guy." He says. I turn back and say "No really, I have a very large bag with me, it could hold a half yard easy of this dirt."

He says something to his friend, not sure if I am serious.

This is the land where the battle of the three emperors was fought, the Battle of Austerlitz. The dark almost black strain is in legend thought to be the blood spilled by the tens of thousands that died here in the way back when.

"That's ok," I say, "I brought the big back so I can take some wine home with me." They both break out into smiles.

We return to the cars as the jack-knifed truck ahead has finally been cleared. I drive the roads; make all the right turns to get on the motorway and 18 kilometers later I pull into the hotel parking lot once again. I thank the two fellow engineers for their time and hard work. I look forward to our partnership in this particular job and I am sincere in that, they are more than competent and dedicated. This long week proved that to me at least, they matched my early morning arrivals and late night departures stride for stride. Though I am many years older than they are, I kept a hectic pace wanting to instill in them that measure of devotion and willingness to do what it takes to complete the task at hand.

I am glad to be leaving so I can work my own soil back home in PA. Its planting season and I am loosing precious time in the growing season.

BT: Jimmy T sends.