TromboneAl
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2006
- Messages
- 12,880
My fear of flying consists of fear of waiting around in airports, long lines, being cramped in the airplane seat for long periods, etc.
This isn't an attempt to change your list but sunny winter days are excellent for flying. Less turbulent than hot days and both engine and aerodynamic performance is far superior.I also have a small airport a couple miles away where they give lessons. But given that winter is here and this option does make me want to hyperventilate a bit I think I will go with number 1 or 2.
This isn't an attempt to change your list but sunny winter days are excellent for flying. Less turbulent than hot days and both engine and aerodynamic performance is far superior.
I'm not afraid of flying, I just dislike it. Too many people, too close together.
I'm not afraid of flying, I just dislike it. Too many people, too close together. The pressurization feels strange. I don't like the constant loud noise. I've had takeoffs that were delayed for 2 hours and I was sitting with some creepy people. I've been on planes that circled the airport so long that I got nauseous and ended up using that handy bag. I don't look at it as a fun exciting way to travel, but I have to admit it's a great time saver.
I'll do it if I have to but it's more of an ordeal than a great adventure.
This is my fear (the sunshine skyway bridge ) . I do drive on it if absolutely necessary but otherwise I avoid it like the black plague . It scares the crap out of me .
One of my "clean out the closet" techniques is to take my oldest undies on a trip and throw them out as I go along.....Then after a flight, her luggage broke open on the carousel, and people saw her underwear.
My FIL, who used the bridge on occasion, told me once that fairly frequently people have to be "talked through" driving the bridge. Sometimes people get part of the way over the middle span and just can't go any further.
I drove over it a couple of times. It is disconcerting to go up and up like you are going to go off the top edge. Gives me a bit of the willies but not enough to have avoided the bridge.
It's a lot of fun on a motorcycle. If you are not too busy covering your eyes and screaming, the view is gorgeous.I drove over it a couple of times. It is disconcerting to go up and up like you are going to go off the top edge. Gives me a bit of the willies but not enough to have avoided the bridge.
This is my fear (the sunshine skyway bridge ) . I do drive on it if absolutely necessary but otherwise I avoid it like the black plague . It scares the crap out of me .
Yet it's the undramatic Minnesota bridges that are deadly.
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In contrast, I have gone over the San Francisco Bay bridge a few times and get the willies thinking about earthquakes.
Some years ago I was assaulted on a bus while seated in a window seat, surrounded by five or six large delinquents, one of whom sat next to me in the aisle seat and leaned against me. Long story but eventually he said, "I'm tired of leaning on you" and he and the others got off the bus. I've always had some claustrophobia but that event created a problem for many years.
Thanks, NW-B. In an unrelated incident SO and I were on a bus. Bunch of teens got on dressed like they just came from Sunday School. One of them stole a bag from SO, (bag contained mainly photos and some clothes). It was literally a rip-off, SO threw the bag handle in the gutter in disgust a few blocks later. One kid ran straight into a plain clothes cop who ran him down and made an example of him. Kid made a deal on the morning it was to go to trial so we didn't have to testify. After SO moved out of that neighborhood, we stopped riding those bus lines.Sorry to hear about this, CJ. Reminded me of the case of Bernhard Goetz. How I would love to be a juror in his case, just to do the same that the actual jury did: found him not guilty of all charges except an illegal firearms possession count.
The reason the bridge is this high is because the old bridge was hit by a freighter . It knocked out a section and a lot of people drove off the bridge and died .
I was there in May, 1980 and I'll never forget it. DH and I were vacationing in Florida and stayed the night in St. Petersburg, planning to drive down to Naples the following morning. I remember reading the AAA guidebook and telling DH that he was going to have to drive over this bridge because it was really high and in sections you could see all the way to the water, which was terrifying to me. When we work up that morning, it was raining really hard and we decided to wait awhile before heading south. So instead of getting on the road at about 7 am, we drove around St. Pete and stopped for breakfast. While we were having our third or so cup of coffee, someone came in and said they heard on the radio that a freighter hit the Sunshine Skyway bridge. It was a real "do you remember where you were when?" moment and after watching some of the rescue efforts on tv, we decided not to even attempt to go south. Headed over to the Orlando area, but the whole sad experience clouded the vacation and we decided to cut it short and head back home. To this day, when I see a Greyhound bus on a bridge, I think of all those people who died when their bus went off that bridge.