Riding the Sunset Limited

As I noted in the previous post, my original plan after participating in Mardi Gras in New Orleans was to fly directly to Dubai to assist in some business development work being undertaken by my company's office there. However, after the Dubai office suddenly canceled my trip, I found myself needing to find my own way back to Houston. Should I fly Southwest (which is how I got to New Orleans), take a bus, rent a car, or take the train?

Given that it was the cheapest means of getting home ($49 for a ticket to Houston), the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal was close to my hotel, and I wanted to try something different (I hadn't ridden on an inter-city Amtrak train since I was a young child), I decided to ride the Amtrak Sunset Limited back home. So I purchased a ticket online, took short taxi ride to the UPT and waited for the train's 11:55 am departure.

The entire train-riding process, from standing in the ticket line to check in, to standing in the boarding line to get one's seat assignment, to the trip itself, is glacially slow. The scheduled trip from New Orleans to Houston on Amtrak is about nine hours and twenty minutes long, compared to only about six hours by car or one hour, gate-to-gate, by plane. It's not a mode of travel that's going to appeal to anybody who's in a hurry.

There were, however, advantages to traveling by train. There was no security checkpoint where people were required to wait in line, take their shoes off, take their laptop out of their case, walk through an x-ray scanner that allows TSA agents to see people naked, etc. On the train itself, there were no pre-trip safety demonstrations, no seat belts that had to be worn, no restrictions on when people could get up and move around the train. The seats were large with plenty of legroom and they reclined much further than any seat available on a plane (outside of, perhaps, first class). The tray tables were large enough to comfortably fit a regular-sized laptop and electric outlets for charging phones and laptops were available (no in-train WiFi yet, although other Amtrak trains are beginning to offer this service).

The Sunset Limited features a lounge car where drinks and snacks are available, as well as a full-service dining car, where I ate lunch. The service was excellent, the food was decent and the prices were reasonable.

The scenery was nice, but not spectacular: industrial plants and massive railyards in urban areas, rice and sugarcane fields through most of Louisiana and cypress swamps along the Sabine Rver that separates Texas from Louisiana. The most compelling view came shortly after the train departed New Orleans, as it crossed high above the Mississippi River on the Huey P. Long Bridge west of town. From this vantage point 135 feet above the river much of the New Orleans metropolitan area, as well as the maritime goings-on the river itself, could be viewed.

The train traveled at various speeds throughout the journey, stopping a few times to let freight traffic clear. On one stretch of BNSF trackage between Lafayette and Lake Charles the train slowed to a crawl - perhaps ten or fifteen miles per hour, and when the train arrived in Lake Charles well behind schedule. I began to worry that the train wouldn't make it into Houston until well past its scheduled arrival time. But when the train transitioned from BNSF trackage to UP trackage in Lake Charles, it began traveling significantly faster; between Lake Charles and the outskirts of Houston the Sunset Limited was traveling at its top speed of 79 mph for most of its route. The lost time was more than made up and the train arrived in Houston at about 8:30 pm - well ahead of its scheduled arrival time of 9:13. Since the Sunset Limited is at the mercy of the freight operations of the BNSF and UP tracks along which it runs, it's obvious that a significant amount of padding its built into its timetable.

The coach cars where I sat were about half-full (I can't speak to the capacity of the sleeper cars), and the passengers were a mix of sightseers, vacationers and lower-income people who perhaps chose to ride the train rather than take a bus between New Orleans and Houston because of the comfort the train afforded relative to a bus (and it's worth noting that, due to traffic conditions and the number of stops they make, a Greyhound bus ride between New Orleans and Houston takes anywhere from seven to nine hours - not a significant time savings advantage, especially since bus and train fares were about the same).

In the dining car I met a gentleman from Portland, Oregon who had also come to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and was heading back home. He was taking the Sunset Limited all the way to its final terminus in Los Angeles, where he would then board the Coast Starlight to Portland. He apparently took the train whenever he traveled (was he afraid of flying? I didn't ask) and his trip home would take approximately four days. I'm guessing he was self-employed or independently wealthy or something, because I don't see how people with regular jobs would be able to have that much free time to spend on the journey itself.

The Amtrak station in Houston is located on Washington Avenue, just on the other side of I-45 from downtown. It is not well-served by public transportation (the nearest bus stop was several hundred feet away and, although the train passes directly underneath the UH-Downtown METRORail station, there is no way to get there from the Amtrak station) but there was a taxi queue. Most passengers getting off at Houston had friends or relatives come pick them up (Lori and Kirby came to get me).

The massive government subsidies that Amtrak requires in order to operate aside, I found it to be a viable form of inter-city transportation. That being said, I can completely understand why more people don't ride the Sunset Limited: the infrequent services (it only makes three trips a week per direction), the slow pace of the trip, and its unreliable adherence to its timetable (although there's something to be said for getting to Houston ahead of schedule!) make it unattractive to business travelers or people who are otherwise in a hurry. Such is the nature of a passenger rail service that operates on tracks intended primarily for freight usage. For that reason, I'll probably be sticking to Southwest for most of my trips to New Orleans.

However, I did find the trip to be relaxing and enjoyable, and I'm glad I decided to ride the train in this particular instance. If conditions permit, I might just ride the Sunset Limited again someday.

Krewe of Pygmalion 2011

So a month ago I rode in the 2011 Krewe of Pygmalion Parade in New Orleans. In typical Thomas fashion, I didn't get around to writing and posting pictures until now. Better late than never, I guess. Anyway...
The wine-themed Krewe of Cork parades through the French Quarter. I had never been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras season before. I enjoyed the festive "vibe" the city possesses during this time of year; it really is a different place than it is during the summer or fall. The French Quarter is decorated for Mardi Gras like most communities would decorate for Christmas, with green, gold and purple flags, banners, bunting and ornaments everywhere. Here's one example of the elaborate Mardi Gras ornaments that adorn the historic buildings of the Quarter. Our parade followed behind the Krewe of Sparta parade. The morning of the parade, their floats were lined up along Julia Street in the Warehouse District as they made last-minute preparations for the evening. Our floats were lined up a few blocks away.
As we made our way from the Warehouse District to the parade's staging area, we began preparing by putting beads on hooks to make them easier to access and throw. Although I was surrounded by several large bags of beads, doubloons and other throws, I didn't know how quickly I would go through all of them and so when the parade started I was careful to ration my throws so that I wouldn't run out before the parade ended. However, by the time the parade reached downtown I realized I had many more beads than I could get rid of so I began furiously flinging handfuls of them to the crowds. I still had one big bag of beads left over by the time the parade ended.
Here I am, in costume and ready to go as we waited on Napoleon near Magazine for the parade to begin. In retrospect, hanging beads from my arms in preparation to throw them was not a good idea, as they got easily tangled. Students from the James M. Singleton Charter Middle School await the start of the parade. This school was one of several middle and high school marching bands that participated in the parade. I was really impressed with these kids' stamina - they marched, played and danced non-stop for the entire three-hour duration of the parade. Here's the entire "staff" of our float. Float Lieutenant Dave Ghisalbert, who recruited myself as well as several other folks to participate on his float, is on the far right.
Here are the crowds along St. Charles. Notice the stepladders with the seats atop them that the kids sat in. This is very common, are level the float which made it easy to toss beads and other throws (which, aside from beads, doubloons, blinking necklaces, plush toys for kids, moon pies and even Zapp's potato chips) across to them. The St. Charles portion of the route is very family-friendly, with lots of children and no women baring their, well, you know. Another view of the crowds on St. Charles. The guy in the brown shirt uses that net to catch beads and doubloons. The crowds along the downtown portion of the route, which goes up Canal Street and the back down to Tchapitoulas and ends at Poydras, were a bit rowdier and less family-oriented than the crowds along St. Charles.
Another parade crosses Bourbon Street early Sunday afternoon. I was pretty wiped out after my parade on Saturday, so I spent Sunday relaxing, recuperating and enjoying the festivities. I was originally supposed to travel to Dubai the following Monday, but that didn't happen.

All in all, it was a fun experience and I appreciate the opportunity to have participated. Dave sent us our applications for the 2012 parade last week. I am definitely going to do this again next year.

Requiem for a bracket

So I had Ohio State, Duke, Florida and Kansas in the Final Four.

Needless to say, I am hating college basketball right now.

The Lady Cougars are going dancing

While the rebuilding men's program had a season to forget, the UH women's basketball team had a surprisingly good year, winning the C-USA regular season title en route to a perfect 16-0 conference record and a 26-5 overall record. As a result, they've punched their ticket to the NCAA womens' basketball tournament.

The Lady Coogs, who enter the tournament as an 8 seed, will face 9 seed West Virginia in the first round this Sunday in Waco.

Congratulations to the Lady Cougars and first-year head coach Todd Buchanan. Good luck and Eat 'Em Up!

The 2011 model humans have arrived!

I know I'm rather late to the party, but I'd nevertheless like to offer a belated congratulations to my cousin Liz and cousin-in-law J.E. on the arrival of their two twins, Iris and Theo, last week.

Twice the diapers, twice the fun! Or maybe not. But welcome to the world regardless...

Oops, nevermind...

Received the "we think we have our staffing needs worked out, so we don't need you to come over here after all" e-mail from the Dubai office on Sunday morning.

That's right. The day before I was supposed to leave.

Needless to say, I'm a bit annoyed right now.

From Mardi Gras to the Middle East

My company's Dubai office has requested my presence there to work on some business development items. It's been over two years since my last trip, so it will be interesting to see how things have changed since I was last there. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the completed Burj Kalifa and riding the Dubai Metro for the first time.

But before I do that, I'm heading over to New Orleans to participate in tomorrow's Krewe of Pygmalion parade. A friend of mine is a float lieutenant for that event, and several months ago he recruited myself and several other people to be bead-throwers on his float. So that's what I'm going to be doing tomorrow afternoon. Being a participant in a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade is most definitely a "bucket list" item for me, and I'm obviously looking forward to it.

I'll spend Sunday hanging out in New Orleans, and then on Monday I'm going to fly from New Orleans to Bush Intercontinental and then from Bush Intercontinental to Dubai on Emirates 212. I'll be in Dubai for three weeks, if all goes according to plan.

New Orleans to Dubai in one day - this is going to be a bit of a culture shock!

It's rather serendipitous that the Dubai office has summoned me over there right now, because as of March 25th - two days after my scheduled flight back - I will no longer be able to earn OnePass miles on Emirates! (Just another reason why Continental's merger with evil United sucks.)

The next several days are going to be rather interesting ones for me, to say the least. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Kirby visits the Orange Show

The late Jeff McKissacks's fascinating architectural homage to his favorite fruit is located only about a mile and a half from my house. It truly is one of Houston's most unique attractions.

Last weekend I took Kirby there for the first time.
The Orange Show is currently undergoing renovations and was only open for self-guided tours when Kirby and I went. Which was fine, as Kirby easily guided himself though the labyrinthine folk-art monument.




We'll come back again once renovations are complete and all the exhibits have been restored.

University of Houston announces 2011 football schedule

The University of Houston has released its 2011 football schedule, as follows:

Sep. 03: UCLA
Sep. 10: at North Texas
Sep. 17: at Louisiana Tech
Sep. 24: Georgia State
Oct. 01: at Texas - El Paso (UPDATE: now Thursday 9/29)
Oct. 08: East Carolina
Oct. 15: off
Oct. 22: Marshall
Oct. 29: Rice (UPDATE: now Thursday 10/27)
Nov. 05: at Alabama-Birmingham
Nov. 12: at Tulane (UPDATE: now Thursday 11/10)
Nov. 19: SMU
Nov. 26: at Tulsa

As of right now, these are all Saturday games. It remains to be seen if the networks make any changes to it (e.g. moving some games to weeknights) as the season gets closer. After the schedule came out, three games were moved from Saturday to Thursday and the schedule has been updated accordingly.

At first glance, I think it's a good schedule. Yes, it is a bit weak on the out-of-conference side, with UCLA being the only "marquee" matchup, but since the Cougars are coming off a 5-7 season and with a defense that is still one of the nation's worst until it proves itself otherwise, this might not be a bad thing. The conference schedule is also set up nicely, although road dates against C-USA Western Division opponents UTEP (we all know what happened last time the Cougars went to El Paso) and Tulsa are not going to be gimmes. November isn't going to be particularly easy as well, with three games on the road.

Ryan Monceaux points out things he likes in the schedule: no three-game roadtrips this season, a bye week right in the middle of the season, and a three-game homestand in October. He worries that Tulane might be a "trap" game, coming right before what will be a crucial late-season matchup against divisional rival SMU, but generally thinks that this is the schedule that the Cougars need as they try to rebound from last year's disappointment:

In total, this is a schedule where you could make a run. There are no obvious holes and there are no season-killing teams on this schedule. Coach Sumlin has to like his chances in this schedule a lot more than the first three he was dealt.

I mostly agree with Ryan, although I think the North Texas game has "trap" written on it as well. No, the Mean Green have not been particularly good lately, but that doesn't mean they should be considered an automatic win. New head coach Dan McCarney took an Iowa State team that was absymsal thoughout the 80s and early 90s to five bowl appreances while he was there, so he knows how to turn bad programs into decent ones. More importantly, Houston's game in Denton is North Texas' first at their new stadium. The Mean Green will be amped up to play the Cougars in their brand-new home. The Cougars, meanwhile, will be coming off an emotional "revenge" game over their highest-profile opponent, UCLA, and depending on what happens in that game might have trouble "getting up" for North Texas.

That being said, if the goal for the Cougars this season is to put last season behind them and compete for a conference championship this season, this is a favorable schedule for them. I plan to be at all the home games and also make road trips to Denton and New Orleans. I can hardly wait!

Ice Day

When I woke up this morning and saw that that the "one to three inches of snow" on the ground that the television forecasters had breathlessly been predicting over the last few days hadn't materialized, I was a bit disappointed. (And I wasn't the only one; my son was pretty bummed, too.)

But I wasn't exactly surprised. I was in fact beginning to have my doubts about the possibility of snow over the course of the day Thursday as I continued to check the hour-by-hour forecasts on The Weather Channel. At first the wintry precipitation was expected to begin at 3 pm. Then it was pushed back to 5 pm. Then 9 pm. Then 11 pm. Then 1 am. You get the point.

As it turned out, we did start getting precipitation in the form of freezing rain late Thursday night. But the transition from freezing rain to sleet and then to snow that we had been told to expect never occurred. Thus, no snow with which to build snowmen or have snowball fights.

As Channel 13's Tim Heller and the Chronicle's Eric Berger explain, temperatures in the atmosphere over Houston simply did not become cold enough at all levels for any snowflakes that might have formed in the upper elevations to remain in that state before they reached the ground.

The fact is, in spite of all of the advances our civilization has made in terms of monitoring (e.g. satellites and Doppler radar), modeling, and forecasting technology, we still cannot predict with absolute certainty something as complex and variable as weather. That's why when we speak of weather we speak in probabilities - a "60 percent" chance of rain, a "partly-cloudy to mostly-cloudy" sky, high temperatures "in the mid-60s," a "cone of uncertainty" for hurricane landfalls. Perhaps we should begin referring to meteorologists as "weather-guessers," because that's essentially what they do: they make educated guesses as to future weather events based on the past history, the current information and the forecasting methods of weather that are currently available. Sometimes they're right. Sometimes they're not.

Thar being said, meteorologists were absolutely correct in their prediction of icy precipitation this morning. As such, the decision to close the schools, shut down government services and tell people to take the day off or work from home was a good one. Driving conditions this morning were especially treacherous, as the freezing rain caused bridges and overpasses to ice over. Houstonians (myself included) are simply not accustomed to driving in these kinds of conditions, which is why there were an estimated 800 automobile accidents in the city between late last night and late morning today.

The simple fact is that snow is exceedingly rare in Houston because of the city's geographic location. Conditions have to be absolutely right for it to happen. Therefore, I've learned not to believe weather reports predicting snow until I actually see the flakes falling.