The Travels of a Consumer - Wal-Mart Style

I'm on a roll. As I get ready to go to sleep, I'm taking off my pedometer. I happened to notice that nearly 1/3 of all of my "steps" accrued at a visit to our new Wal-Mart. I'm not sure what this says about me:

1) I'm not a very smart shopper and wander around a lot.
2) I don't get a lot of exercise.
3) Wal-Mart builds huge stores.

Our First Family Vacation

	We embarked on our first family vacation since having Ryan. Because he is standing and crawling now, we're not sure how he would deal with the multiple hour drive to Zion National Park. It turns out that with frequent stops, he maintained the cheery demeanor depicted by this picture for most of the trip. Hurray!
	We arrived at the Majestic View Lodge just before sunset. You can tell that this is one place that definitely lives up to it's name. Ryan was a little stir crazy and wanted to get out and explore his surroundings. They had a fabulous landscape and Tracy offered to help Ryan explore the rocks and man-made stream.
	It was good for the soul to see the blue sky against the red rock as captured in this panoramic picture.
	On day 2, we hit the trail. This is along the Emerald Pool Trail. All 10 of us were out on the trail enjoying the relatively good weather. It was warm but overcast which helped. You can tell the flowers were out as were the cameras too!
	It was a beautiful time of the year to visit Zion because so much was in blossom. This is a picture of some prickly pear cactus along the trail.
	Ryan finally fell asleep! He is such a curious boy that he had to experience all the new stuff. Everything from the sand eroding away from the sandstone to the colors and views of this delightful canyon. On the way down from the Emerald Pools he finally crashed for some much needed rest.
	We were confronted by some wildlife. Steve takes on this stuffed deer in a battle to death. Wait, maybe that battle has already been won. Oh well, it's a combat picture.
	Tracy and Ryan were chased by a dead bear. Notice the signs of distress and terror on their faces.
	On the last day we visited the old ghost town of Grafton. It was somewhat disappointing because many of the buildings were closed down for public access where they used to be open for wandering. The cemetary is one of the most interesting I have seen in a while.
	We went to Zion National Park last week. Ryan was inducted into the honorary club known as the Stretchy Lizard Club. Yes, Grandma and Grandpa inducted him into this club by purchasing this very green, but very flexible (and apparently tasty) lizard in one of the many Zion gift shops there in Spingdale, UT.

The UPS and downs of Airline Travel

We were talking about American Airlines decision to charge for every checked bag. I heard one comment from a passenger that hates to be nickled and dimed to death by banks, cell-phone companies, etc.

Well I have a (tounge-in-cheek) solution for the airline industry. Follow the UPS shipping model. Here's how it would work:

1) Declare how you want to travel:
a) CrazyFastExpress (^tm, ^sm, patent pending) (non-stop)
b) Overnight (red-eye)
c) Two-day
d) Three-day (real or simulated weather event included)

2) Weigh yourself and your baggage. Multiple that by some amount like $0.003 per mile pound. That is your ticket fare.

Simple. No 9/11 fees, airport landing fees, fuel surcharges, baggage charges, etc. Just ship yourself like you ship all of the rest of the packages.

Let's see it in action. To fly CrazyFastExpress from:

LAX -> NYC (2482 miles) = 2482 * 200 lb * $0.003 = $993
LAX -> DEN (865 miles) = 865 * 200 lb * $0.003 = $346

Children fly cheaper because they weigh less. If you don't like the price, lose some weight instead of gaining like the rest of the nation is.

Of course if you are willing to do 2-day service, then you could also save money:

LAX -> JFK (2482 miles) = 2482 * 200 lb * $0.001 = $496
LAX -> DEN (865 miles) = 865 * 200 lb * $0.001 = $173

It ends up being a pretty good deal. When I checked FedEx, they wanted $1,237 to ship 200 lbs same day LAX->JFK.

What do you think? Will this idea ever get off the ground? ;-)

Update 05-JUN-2008
...And then I read this news story about airlines actually considering charging passengers on weight.