Skyway Books – Short Stories – Poems – Books

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Next week I am heading west to enjoy a five day holiday. My destination is Las Vegas. Sin City baby! From where I live it is over 2700 miles so of course I will be flying. I used to enjoy flying and had an overwhelming anticipation of the experience. Nowadays though, I kind of almost regret having to go through the experience.

The industry has changed dramatically since it’s inception about 60 years ago. Actually let’s go back further than that. Airlines actually started out as mail carriers and decided since they were carrying mail, let’s put in some seats, make the planes a little bigger and take on some passengers. You could hop on a plane in the east and be whisked away to a destination all the way across the country in a little over… 4 days. Back then planes could only fly during the day. The air traffic control system didn’t exist and airplanes had little or no navigation equipment. Once the technology improved, planes added beds where customers could sleep once night fell, if you could sleep without getting sick. Pilots had very limited resources for navigating around stormy weather so often planes were forced to fly through the weather, making for some bumpy flights.

In the 1950’s, Boeing introduced the 707, a four engine jet that could take you across the country or over to Europe in hours and not days. At first it was mostly reserved for the elite because it was very expensive and still considered risky by many. If you were fortunate enough to afford it, the service was usually top of the line, with gourmet food, the finest wines and all the extras. I can remember watching an airline documentary that actually showed someone being served a slice of roast beef that was being cut from a full roast right there in the aisle. I had to laugh out loud because I haven’t even been alive long enough to experience that.

Let’s fast forward to today. Due to the rising fuel costs and other economic woes, airlines are cutting out everything. And I mean everything. First they took away free meals. Now you have to pay for snacks. Then they took away blankets and pillows. Now some airlines are charging for not just alcohol, but for soda which used to be free in coach class. You want to check that bag because it’s too big to carry on? Well it’s gonna cost you at least $25. Better hope it’s not overweight too. I saw a commercial in the US once for Southwest airlines where they were poking fun at airlines who charge you for everything. The showed a passenger boarding the plane, arriving at his seat to stow his bag in the overhead bin only to see you need to put in 50 cents in a coin slot to use it. This turned out to be the same for the arm rest, tray table, and window shade. It was a funny commercial, but hopefully not foreshadowing of what is to come. Some airlines are even cutting out movies on some flights because all of a sudden the VCR’s weigh too much. My advice to you is bring a good book, your own snacks, and fasten your seatbelt. It’s gonna be a bumpy flight.

Have a great day and happy reading to everyone!

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Welcome back to the Skywaybooks.com weekly blog. They say inspiration comes when you least expect it. This week’s blog was inspired from an email I received from my nephew Eric. Thanks Eric. I was sent an email with a link to a newspaper article from the Denver Post. It concerns the delay in releasing one of my favourite TV shows to DVD.

The “Wonder Years” which aired from 1988-1993 won critical acclaim including numerous Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe award for best comedy series after only six episodes. It chronicled the life of character Kevin Arnold played by Fred Savage from preteen years through high school. What made the shows so memorable was not only the superior writing and acting, but the music that set the tone for the episodes. This is the snag in releasing the shows to DVD. Copyright complications are making it difficult for the original songs from the episodes to be used on the DVD versions.

This made me think about music and how much of an influence it has on our every day lives. Not only is it on the radio and in our I-Pods and MP3 Players, but also in commercials and in episodic television. I can recall songs I didn’t know existed before I had heard them on TV. Most recently the catchy tune “1-2-3-4” by new singer Feist who performed it on the Apple I-Pod Nano commercial. When Seinfeld aired its final episode with a musical montage tribute of some candid out takes and photos, Greenday’s “Time of Your Life” was the song chosen. I actually thought it was written for this episode. I was then informed that it had been out for years. Now I hear it all the time on the radio, but not once before that night.

Music can lift our spirits when we are down and make us think of places from days gone by. Any song with the word sunshine always puts me in a good mood like “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and The Waves or “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows” by Leslie Gore. However I am not a fan of Sheryl Crow’s “Gonna Soak Up The Sun”. Go figure that one.  I can hear a specific tune and recall a time in my life when it affected me the most or even where I was when I first heard it. I can honestly say I can tolerate all types of music however there are three particular songs that I cannot listen to past the first note. Those close to me know what these are so I don’t the need to say them here. All I can say is I am not having the time of my life, trying to be a hero while dressed as a knight in white satin.

Have a great day and happy reading to everyone!

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Welcome back to the Skywaybooks.com blog. The last blog I dedicated to the recent Halloween holiday. I hope you all enjoyed the poem and the holiday. I myself never really got into Halloween. The thought of dressing up and begging for candy seems to rub me the wrong way for some reason. Speaking of something that doesn’t sit well with me, I have a little matter that I would like to vent about. After all this my blog so I can choose to write about whatever I choose.

I find it a sad state of affairs here in Oakville where I happen to live, that a fine law abiding citizen such as myself, can’t visit someone for more than three hours without receiving a parking infraction from the town’s parking enforcement patrol. This is exactly what happened to me though around two weeks ago. After enjoying a pleasant evening of TV and visiting, I come out to find a nice little $35 ticket on my windshield. The town’s way of saying you have overstayed your welcome on this particular street so move it along. I have two words for this, cash grab. Oh wait one more, quota!

I find it very difficult to comprehend how I am somehow impeding traffic on the street I was on or threatening public safety by parking in front of a house for more than three hours. If I were to walk up to ten people and tell them my story their reaction will most likely be, “What street were you parked on? Never heard of it.” Which is exactly my point. My car was parked on a residential crescent in the White Oaks area of Oakville. If the town wants to really clean up and are that hard up for revenue, then they should patrol the street during the day when cars are parked there for eight hours at a time. I would also like to see more people who park in fire lanes and over cross walks at department stores such as Wal-Mart or grocery stores get nabbed once in a while.

I know this is a by law that is on the books and there is a sign as you enter this street, but I find it has it’s place such as main thorough fares where traffic could be impeded or during winter months when snow ploughs need to get through. To blanket and entire town however with this stupid law, yes I said stupid is ridiculous. Before I sign off I will leave you with one question. I wonder where the parking enforcement officer who ticketed me parks when he visits his relatives.

Have a great day, watch where you park, and happy reading to everyone!

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