Talked to two pilots and one flight attendant from Germany today.  They fly the LA/Germany route, but had a 48 hour layover.  Just a quick hop up to Portland to spend a day at the coast and a day in the wine country.  What a life!

Talked with a couple from South Carolina who admitted that it is unfortunate that their state has been in the news so much the past few months, between  Governor Sanford (the affair with his Brazilian mistress while he was supposed to be hiking the Appalachian Trail) and Representative Wilson (who shouted “liar” at the President of the United States during an address to Congress).  They would be happy if their state was in the news for better reasons.

Met three women from Brazil today.  Good thing their English is better than my Portuguese.  I asked about the JK  bridge in Brasilia that I had just seen on some tv show recently.  Like the Sundial Bridge in Redding, California, their bridge is a work of art.

…all in a day in the Tasting Room.  A former Aussie, and her husband, who now reside in Canada, and I had an interesting discussion about health care.  No, Oregon doesn’t have socialized medicine like they do.  Another guest from Down Under, this time New Zealand, talked about him being from the City of Sails, Auckland.  It would be a great place to visit.

And on to the cryptologists–a group of people from around the country who were with us today,  were all connected with the U.S. Naval Cryptologist Veterans’ Association…veterans and spouses.  I found some of the information on their website interesting.

The NCVA is a unique organization of active, retired, and honorably discharged U.S. Naval Cryptologists, past and present, whose primary focus is the preservation of our rich cryptologic history. Our uniqueness is founded in the pioneering spirit of our oldest members who were trained in the 1930’s to intercept and decode Japanese Katakana transmissions, and in our youngest members who are singled out and recognized annually from the ranks of currently serving Naval Cryptologists as the best representatives of those early pioneers.

Known as the “On-the-Roof” Gang, members of that pioneering generation of Naval Cryptologists were trained on the roof of the old Navy Building in Washington, DC. Armed with no more than a typewriter and a sea bag, these founding fathers made their way singly to China where they erected crude antennas and established the Navy’s first listening outposts. Their fascinating successes have been captured in memoirs and oral histories and remain today as testimonials to the courage, determination and self-sacrifice of their generation…

Building on that foundation of excellence, Naval Cryptology played a decisive role in WWII, particularly in the Pacific where code-breaking served as a critical force-multiplier in the defeat of Japan. Naval Cryptologists made possible the “impossible victory” of Midway – the decisive battle of the Pacific War – and played a disproportionate role in the Navy’s cross-ocean strategic offensive that destroyed the Imperial Japanese Navy in its home waters by 1945. The successes of Naval Cryptology from 1941 to 1945 are legendary, from Joe Rochefort’s efforts in the War’s opening months to the shoot-down of Admiral Yamamoto.

Over the past two decades, such remarkable stories have been declassified and released regarding the cryptologic successes during World War II, in Europe and the Pacific that played a large role in winning the War. As time progresses and additional information is declassified, the professional achievements of the men and women of Naval Cryptology can be revealed to our nation, relatives and friends. The NCVA and its 3,363 members will continue to collect, document, preserve and maintain the history of our nation’s unsung heroes.

Sometimes, I need a reminder of the history that is behind the faces of people I pass on the street.  So many veterans, and so many stories that they will never  share with anyone.

The Oregon International Air Show is taking place this weekend in Hillsboro, which means that unusual aircraft can be seen in the skies in surrounding areas.  It wasn’t biplanes practicing maneuvers in the sky, as in previous years, but unusual guests in our tasting room.  We had the pleasure of being visited by three of the pilots and flight crew of the Golden Knights-an Army Parachute Team from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.  There are two teams that travel around the country to different air shows, and this Golden Team had dropped 8 skydivers out today for the Hillsboro show.  Their team can consist of 15, so they were traveling light today.  They assured us they were off-duty and on their own leisure time,  so were free to taste wine.  One  was taking wine and chocolate home to his wife.  Smart man.  My co-worker and I were recipients of the badges that are probably usually reserved for little kids, but we proudly wore our parachute pins the rest of the day.

Their website is:   http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/GoldenKnights/

Today, had a chat with a mother from Nova Scotia and her daughter, from Ottawa.  The daughter is living in Salem for a year as an Information Technology specialist, helping the state of Oregon condense all of the current programs for Children’s Welfare and Adoption into more techno-savy systems.  She described herself as the token Canadian on  the staff.

Other guests today included an employee of our local country club, showing off the area to his business associate from out of state.  ”Give ‘em your best”, he said..  Of course, that must mean the most expensive wine, doesn’t it?

Also, had a caterer from an  Asian-owned BBQ company in Portland who picked up 3 cases of juice (and a can of dark chocolate drops) from us today to be used at an upcoming wedding they will be doing (chocolate drops only for their ride back to the restaurant).  ”Oh, that traffic in Dundee!  Isn’t there another way to get back to Portland?”  Nope, or at least not one we tell people about.  We possessors- of-secrets-locals—we don’t tell all we know.

Talked with a couple from New Mexico who mentioned that they had recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica where they had stayed in a  swank, and unusual, hotel.  For only $300/night, it might be affordable for some-the only thing is getting there!

Here’s the website’s information on it:

Not all aircrafts are destined to be cut into pieces and melted for reuse in another life. Here is a unique example of one in Costa Rica — a fully-outfitted, meticulously detailed, two bedroom, Boeing 727 fuselage suite. 

This refurbished, vintage, 1965 Boeing 727 airframe once shuttled globetrotters on South Africa Air and Avianca Airlines (Colombia). Now the phoenix is ready for its future duty as the most exclusive hotel suite in Costa Rica.

The airframe was salvaged piece by piece from its San Jose airport resting place and carefully transported on five, big-rig trucks to the jungles of Manuel Antonio where it was resurrected into a unique jumbo hotel suite. 

This classic plane-hotel, nestled on the edge of the National Park in the Costa Verde area is perched on a 50-foot pedestal. At this height, guests can enjoy scenic ocean and jungle views from the hard wood deck built atop the plane’s former right wing. 

The plane’s interior is Costa Rican teak paneling from the cockpit to the tail. Furnishings are hand-carved, teak furniture from Java , Indonesia. This 727 home also features two air conditioned bedrooms — one with two queen sized beds and the other with one queen sized bed, each with its own private bath, a flat screen TV, a kitchenette, dining area foyer, an ocean view terrace, a private entrance up a river rock, spiral staircase, and 360 degrees of surrounding gardens. Enjoy an evening on the terrace, spying on tree top neighbors such as sloths, toucans and monkeys. 

The refurbished Boeing 727 home is not the only such dwelling in the world. This hotel suite was inspired by a Forbes Magazine article about a company offering hurricane-proof living via surplus Boeing 727 airframes. The hotel took it to the next level, though, by finding some new ways to introduce convenience and luxury to the plane’s aluminum scrap frame. 

Staying in this Costa Verde 72 fuselage home starts at $300 per night. To book what will certainly be a memorable stay in this plane-hotel, visit the Hotel Costa Verde website.

Two busloads of Blinded American Veterans, and spouses, came to enjoy the day with us.  It is always interesting to see guide dogs and their masters as there is such a working bond between them, one that transcends “work”.  I got to fill up a collapsible water bowl for a Golden Labrador, who became very exuberant in licking me once his harness was taken off.  With it off, it signals to him that he is not working, so he is free to be as friendly, and outgoing, as he wants to be.  My right hand  ended up being “clean” as a whistle in just seconds.  Only got to talk to the master of a big Labradoodle.  I didn’t get to hear any of the vets stories and I’m sure their histories don’t come up in idle conversation.  How neat that there is a group of them that can do fun things together.  Their website is www. bva.org, and I found their mission interesting, and admirable.

Our Mission…

“To promote the welfare of blinded veterans so that, notwithstanding their disabilities, they may take their rightful place in the community and work with their fellow citizens toward the creation of a peaceful world.

“To preserve and strengthen a spirit of fellowship among blinded veterans so that they may give mutual aid and assistance to one another.

“To maintain and extend the institution of American freedom and encourage loyalty to the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the states in which they reside.”

Other visitors today included a couple of travelers-the woman from the States and the man from New Zealand  They are traveling around the US for awhile, before heading to Central and South America before moving permanently to NZ. Although they will be in NZ at Christmas, they won’t be settling there until the end of their trip-November, 2010.  Quite a trip.

Recommended to a couple from Nashville, that they go see Vienna Teng perform there next week.  When I said she is a soulful jazz/pop/folk singer who plays the piano wonderfully, as well, the man pointed to his Nashville Opera hat to assure me that country isn’t really their thing.

Got a lead on some interesting-sounding books to read that combine the wine industry and mysteries:  Wine Country Mysteries:  The Bordeaux Betrayal: A Wine Country Mystery (Wine Country Mysteries), and The Merlot Murders ((Wine Country Mysteries, Book 1) by Ellen Crosby-both available through Amazon.

Increased my language skills today by learning a little Danish. ” Tak” is thank you and “mange tak”, thank you very much.  Met a couple from Denmark…oh, those Scandinavians and their beautiful complexions.

Just a quick note from the mother of one of a pilot. She wasn’t sure exactly where her son is at the moment, but most recently, he had been flying sheep in, or out of, Australia.  Now that would have been  an interesting flight to crew on.  Bah, bah.

I had an interesting, but brief, conversation with two men today about the war in the Delta region of Nigeria. It started when I asked one of them about the design on the t-shirt he was wearing. Even after I read it, I had to ask for an interpretation. Some of us, I’m afraid, are not as up-to-date on world politics as others are. These men are helicopter pilots who are on their way to Nigeria to fly supplies for oil companies.

According to these pilots, the southern part of the country has the oil fields, and the workers; whereas, the northern part has the power. He said it is the Christian people in the south who are tired of being victimized by the Muslims in the North who run the government. They take the profits from oil and do not use it for infrastructure projects.

I can’t imagine that it is a real safe place to be flying in helicopters when there are rebel groups trying to sabotage the oil production.

A couple from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, came in recently, and shared some interesting work history. The man had worked on electrifying the oil pipeline in Alaska. His Alyeska Pipeline Service jacket was the start of the conversation. It was from the project that his company had worked on in Alaska as they changed the power source to keep the pipeline heated from aircraft motors to electrical systems. I must admit that a lot of his technical explanations came at me more quickly, and at a more scientific level than I could comprehend, so the information I am giving is an approximation of what he said. According to the Alyeska Pipe website, there is this information:

Under the reconfigured system, Alyeska is optimizing its operations by configuring the pipeline to pump up to 1.14 million barrels per day. Alyeska will be able to increase capacity by adding additional pumping units at the electrified stations, using drag reducing agents to improve flow rates, and by bringing additional pump stations online…. Livett said the electrified pump stations will be less expensive to operate because they will be fully automated and standardized to the greatest extent possible…. Livett said that if the project stays on schedule, he anticipates starting some construction work this year. “Our goal is to have the new pump stations electrified and fully automated before the end of 2005,“ Livett said.”

He then went on to talk about more current oil pipeline work in Canada. For fear of messing up the information to an incomprehensible level, I will let you read what the University of Alberta’s website links to an article in the Wall Street Journal in 2005:

FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta — Canada, with its vast oil-sands resource, is gearing up to export more crude oil than ever before. But with Canada’s pipelines just about full, the burgeoning oil-sands industry is running into a bottleneck.

That has touched off a new race: to build massive, expensive pipelines that will carry expanding oil production from this isolated region in northern Alberta hundreds of miles over mountains and forests to the Pacific Coast and major oil-thirsty markets, especially China and the U.S. West Coast….Oil sands are gritty deposits of tar-like bitumen, and Canada’s deposits are now recognized as the biggest source of crude oil outside Saudi Arabia. Extracting and processing sticky bitumen is much more expensive than producing and refining conventional crude, but global supply concerns have pushed crude prices to about $50 a barrel and made bitumen projects more economically viable.

Producers have announced plans to invest some C$80 billion in development of Alberta’s oil sands, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers in Calgary, and they expect to double production to about two million barrels a day from oil sands by roughly the end of this decade. Some of the world’s biggest energy companies are involved, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

Enbridge wants to build a new pipeline from northern Alberta to a proposed deep-water tanker terminal at Prince Rupert or Kitimat, on the northern British Columbia coast. Either port could accommodate the massive oil tankers with capacities exceeding 250,000 metric tons, or roughly 1.6 million barrels, to ship to China.

One thing that this couple said that I found to be an interesting aside, is that while their American daughter-in-law is having to wait, and wait, to get a “green card” in Canada, Mexican workers are being flown in and fast-tracked to a working visa immediately. Obviously, lesser-paid worker bees are more important to a society than possibly more educated foreigners. When I googled bitunin most of the website listings were in Spanish. One other thing the couple told me was that this tar-like substance, bitunin, is being transported to Chicago to be used in the building industry. Small world-and a global economy.

There are also 450 golf courses in Alberta, so said the woman who is a scratch golfer. They were surprised to find that Oregon had so few (one count I found was just over 100, another included all sizes and said just over 200). I figure almost everyone in Alberta must be so glad when the snow melts, and the temperatures get warmer, that they take to the links, en masse.

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A group of 4 people, all of whom looked, and spoke, like Americans were visitors to the tasting room this week. Two turned out to be from the Portland area, and one from elsewhere in the U.S., but one of the guys said he was from Germany. He is actually currently living in Rwanda and working on hydroelectric plants there. I didn’t get any other details, unfortunately.

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I got into an interesting conversation with another man who has the newer version of the Sony Handycam video camera that I have. Of course, his is half the size, and weight, of mine. After discovering that he was a student at Louisiana State University, he quickly rattled off three things he does there. I heard fire ants in the middle of his words and asked him to back up and explain. Was it his graduate thesis? He laughed and said he is a mere undergraduate, and no, it is one of his jobs. They are studying ways to try and effectively eradicate fire ants as most “solutions” so far just seem to touch the surface of any actual decrease in their population, in general. They are an interesting phenomenon to those of us from the West Coast, so I found the following  information from Wikipedia interesting:

Although most fire ant species do not bother people and are not invasive due to biological factors, Solenopsis invicta, commonly known as the Red imported fire ant (or RIFA) is an invasive pest in many areas of the world, notably the United States, Australia, the Philippines, China and Taiwan. The RIFA was accidentally introduced into the United States due to a South American cargo ship coming to an Alabama port in 1918, but now infests the majority of the Southern and Southwestern United States.

In the US, the FDA estimates that more than US$5 billion is spent annually on medical treatment, damage, and control in RIFA-infested areas. Furthermore, the ants cause approximately US$750 million in damage annually to agricultural assets, including veterinarian bills and livestock loss as well as crop loss.^[2] Since September 2004, Taiwan has been seriously affected by the red fire ant.

The US, Taiwan and Australia all have ongoing national efforts to control or eradicate the species, but, other than Australia, none have been especially effective. In Australia an intensive program costing A$175 million has, at February 2007, eradicated 99% of fire ants from the sole infestation occurring in South East Queensland.