One of most amazing things about nearly all of Europe is their vast railroad infrastructure.  I took a high speed train from Frankfurt to Seigburg, Germany, topping out at a breathtaking 300 km/hr, or about 180 miles per hour.

To top it all off, their rail infrastructure is almost completely electric.  No diesel is sacrificed as it is here in the United States.

So why can’t we do that?

In the Midwest, there are light rail proposals being thrown around annually, gaining marginal traction with taxpayers. The problem typically revolves around ‘who ends up paying how much for what’.  And I can see the point.

I surely don’t want to pay for a local rail system I don’t use and can’t foresee any return on.

In my opinion, we need a national high speed rail system implemented from coast to coast, boarder to boarder.  Unfortunately the government would have to get involved to help define the standards (you don’t want one system on one gauge of track and another on a different gauge).  Ideally though, the infrastructure would be privately developed with government subsidies.

Think about it, going from New York to Chicago, or Chicago to Dallas via Kansas City or St. Louis.  Make that a day trip!

I believe that once such a system is defined, more local, light rail systems can take shape with much less risk to the bottom line.

If you live in a city with light rail, or even a country with high speed rail, do you see the system as an asset?

Yesterday I was sitting on the beach drinking coffee in Athens, Greece when upon paying the bill the Greek waiter inquired as to whether my father and I were American.  Never disputing the markedly obvious, I affirmed we were, and the ensuing discussion left me appreciating my country and every opportunity that’s presented to me.

This waiter, in his very broken English, with every word carefully chosen, explained to my father and I that he dreams to go to America to talk with someone about some ideas he has.  He wanted nothing more than to supply someone with money and ability nothing more than four or five entrepreneurial possibilities he’s dreamed up.

Upon further explanation, he revealed that it is common knowledge in Greece that there are ultimately 5 families that control all the money in the country.  They also control businesses, government and ultimately the people of his country.

It is those families that dictate who starts a business, who benefits from the risk of sticking your neck out and who succeeds in financial and entrepreneurial endeavors.

If one were to set out and independently form his own business, the families would step in and by way of taxes bankrupt the company.  Hence, the desire to make his pitch to someone, anyone, in the United States.

To any extent possible he wanted to make his own way, and more apparent, get away from pouring coffee in that beach side cafe in Greece.

I must say, the beaches of Athens are exquisite.  But it is these experiences gained while traveling in foreign lands that make the otherwise desolate plains of the United States look so much more beautiful than any painting the sunset over the mountains of Greece could ever inspire.

Our government here in the United States is as corrupt as ever. Never before has money has such a visible influence in politics, and yesterday on the beach I realized that despite all that, living in the United States is still pretty damned… good.

Another part of “people watching” I enjoy is pondering how times have so changed, particularly at the airport.

I can’t recall if I’ve written about this before, but I can’t help but notice the change in attire on passengers at the airport over the last 10 years or so. I suppose I haven’t yet accepted the true power of competition in the airline industry, but I can’t help but wonder how some people can afford a plane ticket.

Any more, business suits, button down shirts and dresses have given way to short shorts, tank tops and flip flops.  In fact, the two-piece suit is now the minority in the terminal building.

I’m not sure why I’m bothered by this, perhaps its a lack of respect for the industry, lack of leadership in the industry as a whole, or maybe I’m completely out of touch with the real world.

Two years ago, I was in Miami when an American Airlines 767 rolled in from New York, and you’d think a Greyhound buss had become lost and pulled into the gate.  What’s tragic is that a bus ticket was more expensive than a ride on a jet.

My how times have changed.

I’m sitting in the Kansas City International Airport waiting for a flight to Chicago that connects to Frankfurt, Germany for a week long stint in Europe.

I love airports. Mostly because I’m a pilot and I’m at home around airplanes, but partly because airports are a great place to watch people.  Passing through, going home, setting out on vacation; an airport receives all kinds.

If you’re a frequent traveler, you see people you know, either from real life or the fantasy land of television.

Just today, I had a quick chat with Kansas City Chiefs ex-General Manager Carl Peterson. Seems like a nice guy, and while some believe and relent that Peterson was run out of town, you can tell that up front, he’s a business man.  He understands.

Most fascinating though, are those in uniform. A segment of the Armed Cavalry division is heading home for an extended weekend with their families, which is pretty cool.

You have to get deep into a conversation with any one of them to find out they’re heading back to Afghanistan in 6 to 12 months. It’s not at the forefront of their life right now, and let’s face it; they’re going home.  Little else matters now.

I always try and show some appreciation for a soldiers service anytime I run into them, and the regard seems much appreciated.  I also selfishly try to gain a bit of information from them in our closing remarks.

How are things going over there?

Let’s face it, if you want the truth about how our soldiers are doing overseas, you go straight to the horses mouth.

What’s interesting is that a recurring theme with any one of them is that I shouldn’t be getting my information from the news.

Completely unprovoked, Major Chaparral told me not to listen to the news. In fact, he loves his work, because “we’re doing great things over there”.

Sitting next to me at the boarding gate, Major Dixon told me that while the work in Afghanistan is hard due to the terrain (primarily in the Southern part of the country), he says it’s worth it and actually looks forward to going back.  Again, he urged me not to believe everything you hear on T.V.

That’s frustrating, as it’s as though our guys in the sand aren’t getting a fair shake.

With that, the Major’s cell phone rang, and from the context of the conversation, it was his wife.

I quickly excused myself, because let’s face it, that conversation would be far more important than any he could have with me.

A long time ago, someone once told me that you can monitor the health of your car through the gas mileage.  Not knowing if that was true or not, I started recording all the pertinent data during each fill up: gallons, dollars per gallon, miles driven, etc.  I started this practice when I first bought my Ford F150, and continue the routine today.

I can’t say whether or not monitoring this information can tip a driver off about degrading health of the vehicle, but it does give me some good data to look at for other reasons.

There has been a lot of gum-flapping on the television about the rising cost of gas.  The average in my area is still below $4, but that’s not the case everywhere.  The television anchors will lead you to believe that gas prices alone are forcing people into foreclosure on their home, forcing them to quit buying milk and break, and forcing them to decide which body part or child they’re going to trade in on the next fill up.

Somehow I don’t think it’s that bad.

The data will set you free.

Using my mileage log, I determined exactly how many gallons of gas I burned in 2006 and 2007.    Unfortunately this data is a bit skewed since in 2006 I was doing a lot of over the road travel for the oil business, but I’ll throw it in there anyway.

I suspect that my driving for 2008 will be similar to that of 2007 (I’m not having to drive as much for business these days).  I’ll assume my average mileage will stay the same in 2008 as it was in 2007; on average it was about 16 miles/gallon.

Now, figure the average price per gallon in 2008 is $4 per gallon, vs. $2.71 per gallon in 2007.

If I burn the same number of gallons in 2008, at $4 per gallon, I’ll end up spending $2,948 in 2008 on gasoline for my truck.  Basically an extra $1,000 for the entire year.

I can handle that, and I have enough disposable cash flow to absorb the increase in cost without having to cut costs elsewhere.  I honestly can’t say that the extra $1,000 per year is going to force me to drive any less.

But what if…

But what if I did have to maintain my current costs of $1,994 per year in gas expenses?  Good question.

Obviously I’d have to drive less.  Divide $1,994 by $4 per gallon, and you have the new total gallons burned in 2008 of 498 gallons.  Multiply by the 16 mi/gal average and you end up with 7,976 miles, or a reduction of 32%.

I calculated out that I drive 3,640 miles per year to work, round trip, just under half the 7,976 mile figure to maintain the 2007 gas cost.

Doable, but until the increase in gas price really hits me in the wallet, I probably won’t cut back.

So where’s the tipping point?

Given the numbers above, gasoline is going to cost me an extra $83 per month this year as compared to last year.

That isn’t much considering my entire paycheck goes into savings.  However, I would guess that if I had to pay an extra $200 per month for gas, it would sting a bit, and I might be influenced financially to cut back on my driving.

So that’s an extra $2,400 per year compared to 2007.  What does that mean in terms of price at the pump?

Sparing you the expense of writing out my math, it’s $5.68 per gallon.

So where’s your tipping point?

I’ve had a poll running for the last several weeks, asking readers of The Corner Office Blog at what price they’d actually considering cutting back on their driving.

So far, 42% of the 24 people answering the poll say that we’ve already reached the threshold for pain at the pump.  17% have said that $6 is the threshold, and another 17% say that they’ll pay whatever it takes.

I’ll let that poll run a little longer, but I’d like to ask you:  What price will it take for you to cut back on driving?

I’m on my way to Reno this weekend for the annual Reno Air Races.  Since the new ban on anything liquid in a carry-on, I figured I better check and see what I can bring.

Permitted in a carry-on:

Scissors, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, knitting needles, nail files, nail clippers, toy weapons, walking canes, tweezers.  Oh, and “personal lubricant“.

NOT Permitted in a carry-on:

Toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo, chap stick, liquid soap, eye drops, saline solution, deodorant, sun tan lotion, bug spray, mascara.

Does anyone else find this a bit odd?

Oh what a tangled web we weave.

According to an AP news story, a record 40 million people will be traveling this 4th of July weekend, and of those, 34 million will travel by car.

Evidently the high prices at the pump are not high enough to curtail many travel plans, which leads me to believe that the recently softened demand for unleaded gasoline will make a u-turn during peak driving season.

This doesn’t bode well for my plans to short Valero Energy (VLO: chart) for a quick couple points, however it will remain to be seen if there is enough volume in the markets on Monday to keep the price above $66.

Happy 4th of July!

I just tallied up all my cash withdrawals from our trip to Europe, and compared the transaction and ATM fees to the fees that my local bank was trying to charge me just to convert currency.

The overall fee was 3% of the total currency withdrawn from the ATM, as compared to the 7% that my bank wanted to hit me up for to convert $100 USD to Euros…

So it turns out that using plastic does save you in the long run.  In addition, I found that both Visa and MasterCard have prepaid travel cards.  They work like travelers checks, but have a preset limit so that if the card gets stolen, you’re only out however much you have on the card at the time.  Of course, they also have a “Zero Liability” policy such that you are not liable for fraudulent charges if the card is stolen, much like the card I already carry.  So I’m not sure of the real benefit of using the card over my existing card…

Check out Visa’s TravelMoney Card if you are traveling abroad in the future…

Overall, our trip to Europe was a pleasant one, despite sleeping in the train station in Italy.  However, our dealings with airlines were not so great.

Expectations were high for Alitalia.  Past experiences on British Airways were positive, and I’ve heard rave reviews from friends concerning foreign air carriers in general.  So maybe it was the hype that let me down, or maybe it was the terrible customer service, along with the fact that not a single flight on Alitalia left or arrived on time.

The beauty of the internet is that you can gather opinions and experiences in the blink of an eye.  While I didn’t think to check on reviews from Alitalia customers, I will for the next airline I fly (it will not be Alitalia).

Skytrax has a 5 start ranking system for both airports and airlines; however the airline rankings are more extensive.  They even have a list of the best seats on different airplanes.  Based on a few of the reviews at the site, it seems that I’m in good company with a poor experience with Alitalia.

AirlinesReviewed.com is another site (more of a forum) for passengers to tell of their experiences.  The reviews are mixed, however it’s evident that some people have had terrible experiences as well.

AirlineReviews.net is yet another sounding board for airline passengers, however the reviews are quite thin. 

Based on my overall interpretation of many review sites, I fully expect to see more negative reviews on products or services than positive.  After all, we’ve come to expect great service and products, but when disappointed, we’ll tell the world!  So it’s tough to make a well informed judgment on service and quality based on an internet sounding board.

Live and learn, you get what you pay for!

Nothing makes you appreciate your home more than being away from it. Nothing makes you appreciate your culture more than being shocked by another. Nothing makes you appreciate the value of the dollar than when you trade X dollars for even fewer Euros, only to pay more for goods and services.

Our recent trip through Greece and Italy was a good experience.  While I’ve been overseas before (France and England), evidently I forgot how sheltered our American culture has made me.

Greece has beautiful country.  Notice I said they have beautiful country. The Southern Greek isles are absolutely wonderful, with stellar views in 360 degrees.  Black and red beaches adorn the coast line, as a remnant to volcanic activity.

The people in the islands are very friendly, ever aware that it’s tourists (mostly Americans) that help stimulate their tiny, isolated economy.

Athens is a different story.  While the culture and history beams from the city, it is a very dirty and congested city to navigate your way through.

Our trek through Italy started with a whirlwind escapade by the most prominent ancient Roman sites.  The Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, the ancient Roman forum.  All seen at during a brisk walk through the city.  With full intention to take more time to fully take in the sites, our time was spent looking for shelter for the weekend.

Take note: If you plan on taking a trip to Italy over a national Italian holiday, make sure you have hotel reservations. Otherwise you will find yourself sleeping in a cold, dirty train station with all the other homeless American tourists. (The voice of experience.)

You are guaranteed to blow your budget in Italy as well.  Wine, while as abundant in Italy as in France, will cost you dearly.  A good Italian wine will cost you as much as 5 Euros per glass.  Opt for the local table wine and you can spend 10 Euros for a half liter.

Overall, our trek through Greece and Italy was a good (learning) experience.  What ever your budget, double it.  Find hotel rooms well in advance with decent beds so you are refreshed to tackle your vacation the next day.

Oh, and make sure you take a few days off work after your return. 

Jet lag will determine when you’re ready to head back to the office!

Starting tomorrow, my wife and I venture across the pond to the Greek Islands for a two week stint in Europe.  Needless to say, my posting will be scarce during this time…

Interestingly enough, I went to my local bank to convert $100 in U.S. currency to Euros.  The exchange rate was about 0.778, which means I’d get roughly 78 Euros for my $100 bill.

But wait!  There’s a catch!

The bank was going to charge me a $11 processing fee for the exchange.  Considering this would effectively lower the exchange rate by about 7%, I politely declined…

Surely there must be a better way.