Another Summer FUN Report 0

[VKurtB]

It’s now official. In this not quite yet post-COVID era, flying commercial is one of the most ghastly experiences you’ll ever know. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being on a date with your favorite supermodel and she’s really into you, and 1 being shot in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun, flying on an airline these days is a 2, if that high.

Seemingly EVERY flight is hopelessly late, and EVERY airline employee makes Adolf Hitler seem like a warm and cuddly personality by comparison.

My new fly/drive dividing line is 1,000 miles. I already paid for my Chicago ANA tickets, but no more after that. If it’s a shorter trip than 1,000 miles, no flying; I’ll drive it or take Amtrak.

Edited July 13, 2021 by VKurtB

[RWB]

Amtrak is nice. Plus, if some jerk won't wear a mask they just open the car door and toss them out. Drunk passengers get sent to the "Quiet Car" for a sobering time-out. (In Acela First Class, they leave you alone except for pillows, blankets, food, cocktails, computer vibration absorbing pad, etc., but no #10 -- sorry.

[MarkFeld]

Your thread title was false advertising. 

[VKurtB]

Okay then, Insider says hello to everyone here, too. He was my first "fist bump hello" at the FUN show. He says it's too difficult to keep up with four different forums, so he had to pare back. I looked over his "road" fluorescent light rig. It is NOT GOOD for color photography, not a tiny bit. It has one strength - the ability to detect "wear", and we all know that is Skip's (Insider's) singular obsession. He is consumed with this "if it has any wear at all it can't go above 58, no matter what" line in the sand. It puts him outside the current mainstream in thought. He'll never adapt. It's not within him to adapt. (Lots of folks like that in this hobby.) I try to stay current, not quixotically tilt at hobby ideological windmills. So I guess I love BEING AT major coin shows, getting to renew acquaintances, but getting to them and back has completely lost any redeeming value if it involves flying. Hopefully that improves over time, but I'm not holding my breath.

Edited July 14, 2021 by VKurtB

[VKurtB]

4 hours ago, RWB said:

Amtrak is nice. Plus, if some jerk won't wear a mask they just open the car door and toss them out. Drunk passengers get sent to the "Quiet Car" for a sobering time-out. (In Acela First Class, they leave you alone except for pillows, blankets, food, cocktails, computer vibration absorbing pad, etc., but no #10 -- sorry.

Hoping Amtrak gets even nicer due to their budget bump in the infrastructure bill. Some changes can be fairly quick (like equipment upgrades and additional runs over existing routes); others will take longer, like adding back passenger rail to some long ago abandoned destinations. (Lobbying here for a run from the existing Crescent route up through the greater Tennessee River valley, perhaps to join up with the Cardinal route in the Ohio River Valley.)

Edited July 14, 2021 by VKurtB

[Alex in PA.]

Thanks for the info.  Been a few blurbs on the news lately about the airlines.  

[Coinbuf]

I agree, we just flew to Denver to visit my daughter and the flight portion of the trip could not have gone worse.   Very unprofessional and shoddy service; having said that; being forced to wear a face diaper for hour after hour on a train because of the irrational fear of a few scared (insert what word you like here) would really be like getting shot in the face with a 12 gage.

[VKurtB]

On 7/14/2021 at 3:38 PM, Coinbuf said:

I agree, we just flew to Denver to visit my daughter and the flight portion of the trip could not have gone worse.   Very unprofessional and shoddy service; having said that; being forced to wear a face diaper for hour after hour on a train because of the irrational fear of a few scared (insert what word you like here) would really be like getting shot in the face with a 12 gage.

I dunno, man. Amtrak already has “quiet cars”. Maybe they could have “fully vaccinated” cars without face diapers. 

[Coinbuf]

On 7/14/2021 at 2:30 PM, VKurtB said:

I dunno, man. Amtrak already has “quiet cars”. Maybe they could have “fully vaccinated” cars without face diapers. 

Its not an Amtrak or airline restriction, its the government that has placed this restriction; so the airlines or Amtrak can do nothing as they are powerless to change the rule.   Now the ridiculous issue with the inability to stay on time is more about milking every penny in an attempt to recover the losses from last year; I get it but it is still horrible customer service when you consider that the customer was not the one that grounded transportation.   

Edited July 14, 2021 by Coinbuf

[VKurtB]

On 7/14/2021 at 4:37 PM, Coinbuf said:

Its not an Amtrak or airline restriction, its the government that has placed this restriction; so the airlines or Amtrak can do nothing as they are powerless to change the rule.   Now the ridiculous issue with the inability to stay on time is more about milking every penny in an attempt to recover the losses from last year; I get it but it is still horrible customer service when you consider that the customer was not the one that grounded transportation.   

Hint: It’s a President who is a HUGE Amtrak fan. Their rules will liberalize before the airlines’ do. Hide and watch. I took several Amtrak trips AND several flights during the height of the pandemic. Those were fantastic compared with now. Now is unforgivable. 

Edited July 14, 2021 by VKurtB

[VKurtB]

Next FUN item: the crowd. Summer FUN was neither particularly busy nor particularly slow. It was 2019 typical, in terms of crowd. I am told that Thursday was the busiest day. I was only there Friday and Saturday. The NGC table was always crushed on those two days. Dealers who had tray after tray of slabbed Morgan dollars looked slow to me because, who cares, right? But dealers with any specialty area all seemed to be doing a great business. Presentations were well attended and properly promoted over the P. A. system. The club tables had lots of attention, probably because most had Treasure Trivia clues. CONECA in particular always seemed busy, as was ANA and the combined Seated and Barber collectors’ table. The kids, about half in Scouting uniforms on Saturday, were in decent numbers. I gave out all the recent Kennedy halves I brought to give to kids.

[Coinbuf]

On 7/14/2021 at 3:30 PM, VKurtB said:

Dealers who had tray after tray of slabbed Morgan dollars looked slow to me because, who cares, right?

This is interesting as the prices for Morgan and Peace dollars at auctions have been sky high with not much sign of slowing down...yet.   

[VKurtB]

On 7/14/2021 at 5:49 PM, Coinbuf said:

This is interesting as the prices for Morgan and Peace dollars at auctions have been sky high with not much sign of slowing down...yet.   

I really think this is a key difference between online numismatists and show-goers. I’ve NEVER seen enthusiasm about Morgan’s among show-goers. Same with shopping for errors, the CONECA table popularity aside. There was only one error coin specialist in attendance that I saw. The ‘net creates collectors of “errors which are not” culled from circulation, not serious error collectors.

Edited July 14, 2021 by VKurtB

[GoldFinger1969]

On 7/14/2021 at 10:19 AM, RWB said:

Amtrak is nice. Plus, if some jerk won't wear a mask they just open the car door and toss them out. Drunk passengers get sent to the "Quiet Car" for a sobering time-out. (In Acela First Class, they leave you alone except for pillows, blankets, food, cocktails, computer vibration absorbing pad, etc., but no #10 -- sorry.

I took Amtrak (I think it was Acela) January 2020 to the last January FUN show.....had never taken a train ride that long, enjoyed it.  Took about 20 hours as I recall.

Might switch up the time I depart in the future so it's a bit scenic earlier and darker later on the trip.  I left Newark about 3 or 4 PM....it was dark 2 hours later.....for most of the Eastern trip it was dark until morning when I woke up in Georgia.  Maybe leaving late-morning would be more enjoyable.

[VKurtB]

On 7/14/2021 at 8:07 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

I took Amtrak (I think it was Acela) January 2020 to the last January FUN show.....had never taken a train ride that long, enjoyed it.  Took about 20 hours as I recall.

Might switch up the time I depart in the future so it's a bit scenic earlier and darker later on the trip.  I left Newark about 3 or 4 PM....it was dark 2 hours later.....for most of the Eastern trip it was dark until morning when I woke up in Georgia.  Maybe leaving late-morning would be more enjoyable.

South of D.C., it couldn’t have been Acela. Likely one of the Silver Services, the Silver Meteor or Silver Star. I have ridden them to an Orlando FUN show years ago when I was Lancaster, PA based. Very nice staff on those lines. Due to my 2009 brain injury, I can sleep soundly anywhere, even a coach seat. Drives my wife nuts. Before our Thanksgiving Night 2019 flight from Kennedy to Lisbon, I was asleep before the plane even started taxiing.

Edited July 15, 2021 by VKurtB

[GoldFinger1969]

On 7/14/2021 at 9:13 PM, VKurtB said:

South of D.C., it couldn’t have been Acela. Likely one of the Silver Services, the Silver Meteor or Silver Star. 

That's it, Silver Meteor.   

[VKurtB]

On 7/14/2021 at 10:18 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

That's it, Silver Meteor.   

It has only one shortcoming - no double height cars because of one tunnel near Baltimore. Someday. 

Edited July 15, 2021 by VKurtB

[Conder101]

On 7/14/2021 at 2:38 PM, VKurtB said:

He is consumed with this "if it has any wear at all it can't go above 58, no matter what" line in the sand. It puts him outside the current mainstream in thought. He'll never adapt.

Good for him.

 

On 7/14/2021 at 5:30 PM, VKurtB said:

Maybe they could have “fully vaccinated” cars without face diapers.

Maybe, but do you take peoples word for it , or do they actually implement the dreaded "Vaccine Passport" that they keep saying they would never do?

On 7/14/2021 at 9:07 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

  I left Newark about 3 or 4 PM....it was dark

Sounds like good thing.

[VKurtB]

On 7/15/2021 at 11:01 AM, Conder101 said:

Maybe, but do you take peoples word for it , or do they actually implement the dreaded "Vaccine Passport" that they keep saying they would never do?

Thanks for asking. I favor checking CDC cards for interstate transit, with underlying penalties for forgery and/or unsworn falsification to authorities. Now, who wants to play? How much is evading a stupid jab worth to you?

I mean, I’m as strident a conservative as anyone, but screw around with public health and I go “postal” on yo’ butt. 
 

If major chain stores can have different rules for vaxxed v. unvaxxed (and they DO), I think Amtrak or Southwest ought to be able to handle it. 
 

I’m old enough to remember smoking sections on planes and trains. You telling me you can’t work that out for vaxx?

Edited July 15, 2021 by VKurtB

[Conder101]

I favor checking the CDC cards as well (I carry mine with me in case there is ever a question, but I think it should have been smaller), and I agree they need a harsh punishment for forging them.  The complaint that it violates your privacy by making your medical records available is garbage.  It makes ONE record available.  Now a "passport" that had your whole medical record on it I could see having more doubts about. (Although on the other hand that can be a very good thing in the case of injury where you can't communicate with the doctor.  A card or chip with your whole medical record could prove invaluable in a case like that.)

[VKurtB]

On 7/18/2021 at 8:37 AM, Conder101 said:

but I think it should have been smaller)

Wow, yes! Look, I support the right of states to make their own intrastate rules, but when it comes to interstate commerce, that’s another matter. The CDC cards were not well thought out. I keep mine in the picture page of my passport, which I have gotten into the habit of using for ALL flights, given that my old state made it more onerous to get a Real ID than it is to get a U.S. passport renewed. Maybe we need to get over the revulsion of a “papers please” society. We’re already 90% of the way down the state surveillance rabbit hole. By the way, HIPAA applies to health care providers, not everyone.

[Conder101]

On 7/18/2021 at 8:43 PM, VKurtB said:

By the way, HIPAA applies to health care providers, not everyone.

I know, I work for a hospital.

[VKurtB]

On 7/20/2021 at 5:00 PM, Conder101 said:

I know, I work for a hospital.

Try explaining that to all the people who are HIPAA-phobic, even though they’re not covered by it.