Loyal Scaiaholics know I don’t like to fly.
Having said that, I’ve spent quite a bit of time on airplanes the past couple weeks. An associate was having his bachelor party in Nashville over Labor Day a few weeks ago.
We attended, naturally, a fiddlin’ contest and also saw Webb Pierce’s cadillac. When I moved to Texas ten years ago, associates suggested I’d fit in better if I got some longhorns for the front of my truck.
We had no idea we could better accessorize by adding a gun:
The longhorns are an afterthought!
I bring all this up because I planned on using frequent flier miles to pay for the trip. But when American notified me if I wanted to use miles for the 90 minute flight to Tennessee, I’d have to transfer Philadelphia approximately eight times, I muttered to myself, “Frequent flier my fanny,” in a family-friendly manner.
But then they did offer to bump me up to first class for just 40 dollars.
“That is affordable,” I said to myself.
Here’s how American is scamming me: They wouldn’t let me book with miles when I went to SuperOregon last weekend, either. The cheapest flight was also $600. 600 dollars! Then they offered to bump me up to first class for another $200.
“That is affordable,” I said to myself. “I mean, it’s such a small percentage increase. Sure, it’s a small percentage increase because the flight itself was unreasonably expensive, but still…” I did not know how to finish that thought to myself.
I mentioned that to my first boss at the rodeo, explaining the first class seat was much more comfortable, and it came with a free enchilada. Still a mentor, he explained, “That enchilada wasn’t free! You spent 200 bucks on that enchilada! That’ll take money out of your hat-steaming budget.”
“But we also were served drinks right away!”
“So you could smirk at everyone else boarding with disdain, sipping your 200 dollar champagne,” he responded.
“That’s crazy,” I replied. “It was early in the morning. It was a 200 dollar mimosa, you savage.”
We stuck on the topic of #TransportationAlternativesToCoach for some time.
A mutual associate couldn’t make it out this year. He was spending some time with family.
Naturally, we interrupted him with a series of texts. You see, JW and I have, 15 years after the discussion started, finally hashed out the borders of SuperOregon. You can see those borders in this excellent cartographed artist’s rendering we sent that morning:
The red outline intentionally juts to the right in the middle of the state. Bend, Oregon, you see, did not make the cut. Even though it’s on the Super side of the Cascades, it’s a little too Portland-y. Never mind that I enjoyed my time in Portland, too, and visit associates there before I leave for the rodeo. For the purposes of this discussion, that’s StandardOregon.
I also, it turns out, have a mountain in British Columbia! I couldn’t be more crestfallen to have missed Mount Scaia when I was in that neck of the woods a few years ago. Sure, I was a couple hundred miles away in Osoyoos, but I was only a couple hundred miles away. From Mount Scaia!
