Getting There
by Peter Baynes
When we travel by air on vacation, or for pleasure, our arrangements are usually pretty fluid. In fact, despite my wife’s panicky looks, I have been able to negotiate some great deals by volunteering to skip an overbooked flight. Even if a flight is delayed, I sometimes enjoy exploring airports. I think I wrote about this some time ago. I suggested that sleeping at airports could be quite comfortable, if fully prepared. In my life, I have become quite accustomed to floor sleeping.
Some judges have said that the hardest part of judging is getting to and from the show by air, and have related horror stories and anecdotes of troubled travel. I have never thought that this was the case until now. I usually leave early in the day in order to arrive at the destination at a reasonable time. This has always worked for me, except on the few occasions where Useless Air diverted my luggage. I can now relate where something went tragically wrong, maybe it was because my wife was traveling with me.
Choosing the cheapest flight to Philadelphia via United Airlines (to help the club) was a big mistake. We could have flown direct via US Air for twice the price, with only the possibility that they would misplace our luggage, as has happened on too many occasions. Our cheaper flight looked tempting, without knowing that Dulles Airport is probably the worst airport in the world to change planes. Because of the first flight’s delay, and the pilot probably getting lost, we had only three minutes to catch the next flight at 12:18.
Our local airport anticipated the fact that we may miss the connecting flight and assured us that they had booked us on the next flight to Philadelphia at 5:14. We should have made the agent take a polygraph test, as Dulles knew nothing of these arrangements, as the next assured flight was at 10:10 the following night.
We pleaded and begged for some other means of transport. “Don’t you know who I am?” didn’t work; I thought maybe I would be mistaken for Albert Finney. I remembered in New York, a passerby in Times Square looked at me and said, “You look like Albert Finney.” I replied, “I am Albert Finney.” He chased after me for a whole block asking for my autograph. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing my Albert Finney hat on this occasion. I even lied and said I was appearing on NBC television the next day – nothing worked. One of the agents did mention that her husband made frequent trips to Philadelphia and would be willing to take us. The price quoted by the company he worked for was $510. We wisely decided to hire a car.
We first had to make sure that our checked-in luggage did not go on to Philadelphia on the next flight, not an easy task apparently for United. It took them 90 minutes to find our luggage and, even then, it appeared on a carousel different to the one we had been watching.
Avis agents were not very helpful. We didn’t have a reservation, and they couldn’t find my Wizard number. We just had to take what they gave us. We finally stumbled into the hired car with assurances from Harry Booker, the helpful hospitality chair of Kennel Club of Philadelphia, that they would pay. Our problems, we thought, were over, even though it took us forever to get out of the Washington D.C. traffic. Hitting Interstate 95 north and passing by Baltimore seemed like a charm, UNTIL WE CAME TO A SCREECHING HALT. A big accident a couple miles ahead had us stuck for over an hour. The police then decided that our section could cross the median, and filter (dangerously) from the shoulder into the heavy southbound traffic.
Helga , my wife, was unusually quiet, but the (b)witch on the GPS system was going crazy with “Recalculating.” While we were on the I-95 parking lot, I had made the mistake of increasing the volume from whisper to loud on the device. After a couple of exits, we were able to leave the Interstate and have a meal at the local McDonalds in Aberdeen. There, much to my wife’s distaste, I took a seat next to a couple of rough looking locals. I was sure they would have a moonshine still somewhere, and would know the back roads to avoid the Interstate. They gave us wonderful directions, and we were on our happy way again until we realized that everyone had the same idea and Route 40 was bumper-to-bumper traffic for about 20 miles.
Washington D.C.
I was beginning to wish that we had obtained the directions to the still instead. It took us seven hours to reach our destination — a journey that should have taken just three hours. I won’t even mention how the GPS system misdirected us over the last two miles. My wife kept asking me to stop shouting at the idiot in the box. “She can’t hear you!” she said.
BEING THERE
Nevertheless, the friendly atmosphere at the Kennel Club of Philadelphia made up for all these frustrations. Wayne Ferguson and his team had everything under control at the show. This is the 11th year that Purina has sponsored the show that is televised by NBC after the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tuning in to watch the National Dog Show with co-hosts John O’Hurley and David Frei has become a Thanksgiving Day tradition for over 17 million households. Due to its popularity, it is claimed that it has double the rating of any other dog show. The telecast will obviously continue for many years to come.
Philadelphia
The two-hour telecast cannot show the examining of every breed in the groups, and John and David do explain the reason why. This is an edited program and not “live” like Westminster. I think they make a great team and, while watching the program, I noticed only a few mistakes. I was impressed how David reels off every breed in the group, as the cameraman marches down the row at too fast of a speed for me.
If you were watching on television, you probably wondered why there was no Reserve Best In Show. It seems that Purina and/or NBC had not prepared for such an award. To the close observers actually at the show, Vicki Abbott did award RBIS to the Affenpinscher. Even in the premium list, no monetary award was included for Reserve, although $6000 went to Best In Show and various other amounts to group winners and placers. Maybe the AKC will have to start rethinking the value of this award; it is still not clear how the presentation should take place.
For the record, for the second year in a row, a Wire Fox Terrier won the National Dog Show. GCh. Afterall Painting the Sky, handled by Gabriel Rangel, was selected Best In Show over more than 1,500 other exhibits. Gabriel has now won the National Dog Show three of the last four years with the Scottish Terrier, Sadie, in 2009, and the two Wire Fox Terriers – Eira in 2011, and now Sky.
Also, in my last column, I mentioned that small shows do not have the capability of attracting large crowds to their events, although it is an even better environment to meet the breeds. I should have pointed out that benched shows, in whatever guise they assume, have the propensity to attract the large crowds. Philadelphia, one of the oldest shows in the country, is one the few remaining shows to have some form of benching, and it certainly attracts huge crowds. I must admit that the filming of the groups on Saturday by NBC, must be a draw for some spectators, but Sunday without NBC getting involved was also packed with spectators. I believe the numbers were in the region of 10,000, but to me I would have thought more, because the three halls are quite large.
GCh. Kan Sing's Tenzin
The entry was not large, but the quality of the exhibits was very high. I don’t know whether they expected a much larger entry, but they had hired approximately 36 judges for the last two days. I have complained in the past that on some panels I hardly knew any of the arbiters. This was not the case at this show. Many of our friends were judging, and with light loads we were able to reminisce. Al Krause reminded us of the great times we had with Lang Skarda , and with Geir we discussed the judges and handlers we had encountered in England – some eccentric, some crooked, and some not. We could have discussed whether a knowledgeable crooked judge is better than an honest judge who hasn’t got a clue. It has often been said that a knowledgeable crooked judge wouldn’t ruin his reputation by decisions that were too far out of line.
It’s eerie when some of the flippant remarks I make in this column become factual. A couple of months ago I wrote that 45 minutes for lunch was a myth. Lo and behold, judging at this show, all my remarks sadly became true. The superintendent had squeezed in 28 dogs per hour in one segment. I know I finished in time for lunch, but then I had to satisfy exhibitors for whom I had promised photographs. Unfortunately, the photographer had to fight his way to the ring. I then had to fight my way to the superintendent’s table, find the restrooms and the lunchroom. To cut a long story short, I managed fifteen minutes for lunch.
GETTING BACK
I think someone must have been playing some kind of cruel joke on me. Trying to print my boarding pass at the hotel, only my wife’s information was available. I know that she is more important than I am, but how did they know that? No problem, I would call United on the phone, and get it sorted out. After an hour, they finally confirmed that I didn’t have a reservation on the return journey, despite the fact that I was holding a document to the contrary with a seat assignment. I suggested that maybe I could take the place of the flight attendant, as I was fully familiar with their procedure, and fit the job description of being old and overweight. Under the impression that I was dangerously insane, the agent finally rebooked us on a flight via Cleveland. What a wonderful airline. I wish that I could offer them some kind of award. Maybe a Reserve Worst of Airlines Award. Should I ask the AKC how to go about this? Loyal reader BF may know!
Reserve Worst of Airlines Award
We will definitely make it to New York . . . we travel by train.
Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=13923
Posted by subschron
on Jan 10 2013. Filed under Current Articles, Uncategorized.
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