Welcome to a new century of air travel, a world of cramped seats, canceled flights, angry passengers and flight attendants caught in the middle of it all

 * … AIR TRAVEL: I got a glimpse at the future of air travel and trust me, it's not pretty. On a flight from Denver to Chicago last week, I boarded a beautiful spanking new United Boeing 737 800/900, richly

trimmed with leather seats and adorned with soft blue lights. The problem: the seats were so cramped only a would-be dwarf king like Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones could possibly find them the least bit accomodating. A flight attendant told me that United squeezed four to five extra rows of seats into the new version of the aircraft. "Please write United," she told me. "This is going to be a nightmare and we are going to take all the heat."

 * … MORE UNITED: And it doesn't stop there. On the way home, I learned passengers on a United flight from Chicago to Denver suffered a nightmarish indignity. The flight was supposed to leave Chicago at 7:30 a.m. but because of mechanical issues the passengers were loaded and off loaded three different times until the flight was finally canceled at 5:30 p.m., a full 10 hours late. "People were furious," a flight attendant told me. "One guy was throwing F bombs and two families headed to Hawaii for vacation missed all their connections." And once United finally canceled the flight, everyone had to go to customer service to rebook their own flights. Welcome to commerical air travel in the 21st century.

 * … OVERHEARD: A waitress at a coffee shop is overheard telling a customer about some advice she received as a child from her great grand mother. "She always told me that men were like shoes," she said. "You have to find the exact right size. But also, remember that just because you put black polish on a brown shoe,  it will always be a brown shoe." Sounds like good advice to me.

 * … BAD FORM: Since when did spitting in public become acceptable? A middle aged woman told me the story of driving down Chester Avenue when a woman pushing a stroller let out a huge wad right in front of her car as she passed by. Then, later the same day, another woman accompanied by her small children did the exact same thing on Columbus. "In full public I am telling you," she said. "This was no small thing. The wads were so big they were clearly visible from inside my car. It was disgusting."

* … SCAMS: If it's a new day, it must be time for a new telephone scam. Kristin Moore has received more than six calls from a strongly accented woman claiming to be from Delta Air Lines.
"She stated that she was from Delta promoting their new reservation center 'here in Bakersfield '…  They offered me two free round trip tickets within the U.S. I said great, and I was then put through to her supervisor who then went through the whole line … she asked me if I was married I said no (I am married) and then asked me about my significant other. I said I did not have one, so she then told me that they would call back. The free tickets are couples only. I questioned the legitimacy of the call then CLICK. So weird. Not sure what they were going for. The ladies actually got really mad when I challenged them. Delta Air Lines….. Sure!"

  * … JAZZ: And don't forget the 29th annual Bakersfield Jazz Festival is coming up May 8-9 out at the CSUB amphitheather. This is always a terrific two days of jazz that benefits some worthy CSUB scholarships. And trust me: you don't have to be a jazz aficiando to appreciate the talented musicians and singers that will appear on stage.



I

Esquire, Crocs, Borders, Chrysler, United, Old Navy on endangered species list?

Came across a fascinating read that speculates on what brands may simply disappear in this devastating economy. It's amazing to think of so many brands once considered institutions that may not make the cut through this downturn. (Check out the full blog and the list here.)The blog 24/7 Wall Street speculates that these brands are "most likely to disappear by the end of 2010."

1) BUDGET: The same parent company owns Avis and Budget is the weaker sister.
2) BORDERS: Declining sales and tough competition from Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
3) CROCS: Stock has gone from $72 to $2 today. I love 'em but 24/7 Wall Street says they won't make it through the year.
4) SATURN: Owned by General Motors, this is an easy one to understand.
5) ESQUIRE MAGAZINE: Declining ad revenues in the crowded men's magazine space.
6) OLD NAVY: This Gap owned company will be dropped so Gap can concentrate on Gap and Banana Republic.
7) ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST MAGAZINE: Huge losses in ad pages. Conde Nast will dump it.
8) CHRYSLER: Investors will dump this one too.
9) EDDIE BAUER: Stock price languishing under $1, squeezed by other competitors.
10) PALM: The analyst says this brand "has been at death's door for some time" and faces tough competition from RIM and Apple.
11) AIG: This huge insurance giant is under the government's thumb and may disappear after its profitable operating units are spun off.
12) UNITED AIR LINES: Two large US carriers may need to merge to avoid bankruptcy and 24/7 Wall Street says United is the weakest.

Bako Bits: From CASA's "Light of Hope" event to warnings to keep your doors locked at night

Heading into what should be a splendid weekend, I'll leave you with a few nuggets from our town to chew on:
* CASA EVENT: April is national Child Abuse Prevention month so it's time for CASA of Kern County (Court Appointed Special Advocates)to hold its "Light of Hope" event, set for next Thursday (April 23) at the Marketplace grand fountain. CASA is a wonderful local organization headed by Coleen McGauley that does so much to help kids in need. The Light of Hope begins at 6:30 p.m. with the lighting of candles placed around the fountain recognizing child advocates. The names, which are placed on the candles, are purchased for $5 each. Call Nicole Stanford at 661-631-2272 for more information.
* LOCK YOUR DOORS: Not sure I would call it a "crime wave" yet but there sure have been a lot of reports of home burglaries across our city, regardless of neighborhood. Heard the other day about a homeowner being tied up and assaulted by two men who entered his house off White Lane near Seven Oaks at 3 p.m. They were arrested when the stolen car they were driving was found at the Motel 6 off Easton Drive. A couple weeks earlier a homeowner in my neighborhood was awakened in his own bed by someone shining a flashlight in his face. Turns out the "intruders" thought no one was home because there were two newspapers on the driveway. Guess these guys weren't smart enough to realize that some folks actually take two different newspapers every day. The homeowner and his wife chased the intruders out of the house before anything could be taken. Cops will tell you our city is teeming with opportunist criminals who spend the darkest hours checking cars and homes for unlocked doors. Keep your alarm on.
* GUN RUSH: The Wall Street Journal took notice of the surge in gun sales by Americans fearing that President Obama and the Democratic Congress will impose new restrictions. The Journal said four million background checks were performed in the first three months of this year, a 27 percent increase over last year. Walk into any gun store in Kern County (see previous post on this subject here.) and you will understand why. Weapons are flying off the shelves and you can hardly find ammunition for handguns
* WIDE BODY: The most overlooked story of the week was in the Los Angeles Times, which reported that United Airlines - after receiving more than 700 complaints - will now start forcing overweight people to buy two seats. The airline has been inundated from complaints about the discomfort of being seated next to the truly obese. This is particularly true in the small 50-passenger jets that serve Bakersfield with flights to Meadows Field.