Hittin' the Road, and Checking Pulses

It’s a weekend that will be filled with emotions in my world and the world that I observe. I am in Fresno, California for the funeral of my Jayne’s aunt. She was the last surviving aunt of many in the family. Prior to her passing at the age of the 97, she had requested that Jayne sing at her funeral. Jayne will perform several operatic numbers during the service, something that she loves, however somber the occasion. She is honored at the request and will be great. I know, I have heard the numbers numerous times in the weeks leading up to the trip, and they were of course brilliant.

Of course we flew here, and that meant we departed out of the new KCI terminal. I have heard some negative noise about the new spot, but whoever is saying that must just be someone who doesn’t care about the image of the city, or just hasn’t worked hard enough at it. We parked at the Parking Spot, were dropped off, took a little bit of time figuring out where to go, and were at the Southwest desk in about four minutes. We had TSA pre-check, so it was no more than eight minutes later that we were past security. Our gate was actually the furthest away it could be, but it still wasn’t very long to get there. There were moving sidewalks, which are one of my life’s little pleasures. I walk along and look back and forth at how I am breezing along at three times the real rate.

There are numerous full restaurants and quick shops, several bearing the names of Kansas City franchises or locations which aren’t really related to the products, but give it a local flavor. I bought a snack and Coke at the Sporting KC shop. It was modernly cool. You put your credit card in to enter, pick up your items that are automatically charged, and just walk out.

Nothing is groundbreaking or mind blowing, it just looks like a fresher, newly minted, smaller version of other major city airports, which is what it should be. The ceiling art freshens up what is a fairly spare, utilitarian space. There are a couple of large unisex restrooms, and they are fabulous, They are all stalls, of course, and unless for whatever reason you are troubled by seeing women and kids in the same space at the sink or mirror, it is excellent. The spacing, lighting, design, and amenities are top shelf.

Now the trip from a personal standpoint was screwball comedy stuff. First boarding, we are headed down the cool KC glass sided entry into the plane, and my wife frantically announces that she left her coat somewhere. So I scramble back and talk my way back in after finding the coat on the seats we were waiting in. On to Denver, where we have a fairly short layover. We get to the gate area. I watch all our stuff as she grabs some lunch, and I say I’ll get mine after and eat om the plane. I have a few minutes, so I do something that I often did when I travelled a bunch. Which is get a delightful shoe shine. I rarely even wear actual shoes any more, Hell, you can go on TV in fancy duds with sneakers on. But since I am going to a funeral, and I have respect for such occasions, I always have a travel fashion plan. I wear dress clothes on the plane to preserve the look of the clothes, which can get wrinkled to death in the luggage.

So we board this plane and after sitting for a few minutes my wife frantically announces that she has now left her laptop somewhere. We were on Southwest and were kind of at the front of the boarding line so a lot of people were still boarding. I had to, also frantically, squirm against the flow back out the aisle as I repeatedly said “Emergency!”. After a few people looked as if they thought I was going to throw up on them. I changed it to “Emergency…not me”. An attendant accompanied me out, and thankfully the laptop bag was merely right outside on the seats we were waiting in. Jayne wasn’t sure where she had left it, since she had made two bathroom stops and gotten food also, so in the end it was lucky. Unbeknownst to me, Jayne had had a mini-meltdown while I was gone, so when from the front of the plane in the boarding line, I gave thumbs up, there was applause from the people surrounding her.

But in the end all was well, and we have arrived in Fresno, where we have quite a few events throughout the next three days, so NCAA tournament viewing will be a dodgy affair. The weekend kind of boils down to how many games our locals play. If it’s three, it’s a disaster, and if it’s four, five, or six, it just depends. Here’s how I feel about the success scale. I believe that for both Missouri and K-State, one win is just fine. Mizzou perhaps with less urgency, since as a seven-seed and underdog in their first game, it will not be a calamity if they lose, but it sure would be nice to stop a tournament losing streak that sits at six, tied for highest in the nation. K-State is seeded to the Sweet Sixteen, but I still feel like one win is passable, but a loss WOULD be a disaster. A 3 versus 14 upset would be big news, and sour a great first season under Jerome Tang. And even though Kansas is a one seed, I think with the nature of their overachieving season, and the challenges at present with injury and the status of Bill Self, a second weekend would be an okay result. I have games staring at 9:30A this weekend out here, so that will help in catching much of the action.

The Chiefs are quietly going about their business while the free agent madness is bubbling all around the league. They don’t have to worry about any QB drama, and they have paid pretty big money for tackle Juwaan Taylor, and made a nice, more minor move, in getting a young pass rusher in the former 49er Charles Omenihu. Meanwhile, now former Chief Orlando Brown Jr. has opted to try and steal the Chiefs lunch money as a member of the Bengals.

Sporting Kansas City heads to Dallas looking for two things on Saturday night. A goal and a result. They have actually managed two draws without scoring yet, but they have looked quite good in doing it. But, all that being said, popping a couple in the old onion basket would be a mighty big relief for Peter Vermes and company as they await the trickle of reinforcements returning from injury to bolster what looks like at full strength will be quite formidable.

It’s arguable what it mattered when the Royals went 14-2 to start the spring, so now that they have lost three in a row, that’s not really a big deal either. Of course the Royals have ten players away at the World Baseball classic, a couple, in Brady Singer and Bobby Witt Jr. representing the United States. The U.S. qualified out of pool play by beating Columbia last night 3-2, and I actually watched most of the game, and enjoyed it very much. I love Jon Smoltz as an analyst, and the general baseball banter with partner Joe Davis is excellent.

Here is hoping for a great tournament weekend, or whatever you indulge in, as I enjoy a little warmer California weather, and meet many strangers at various events honoring a woman who spent 97 fulfilling years on the planet. Hey, here’s hoping for the same for you!