I saw the headline and thought, " A-ha! Here's the origin story of how Barry's ancestry acquired their surname -- Gander airfield in N&L with a storied history from WWII, and the kindness-that-shall-not-be-forgotten from 9/11, etc -- but, alas, it was an engaging tale of journey and geography in modern times. It was a delightful travel log, hopscotching across the Great Smokey North mired in all of the frustrating little airline failures that were perfected by your Yankee Cuzzins and propagated to the world with capitalistic abandon.
I shall eagerly await the transcontinental E. Jean Carroll article as I craft my own dog-ate-my-homework story for the next deadline I miss.
Shades of John Candy and Steve Martin in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles". I think in your case, I would have pulled a John Madden and stuck to the asphalt for my trip. Although in the thousands and thousands of airline aircraft I have ridden in over the years my bags were only delayed twice. The first time, I was 4 days waiting on my bag that got waylaid in the morass of Detroit's Metropolitan Airport. The second time, the flight from Dallas to San Francisco was full and some bags didn't make it onto the plane due to weight considerations. Mine was one. The airline assured me it would be on the next flight. I went for dinner and when I returned to my room, there was my bag. The airline made good on it's promise. There's hope for you yet!
I really enjoyed your story Barry Gander! Such grand humour and equanimity in the face of travel woes..
In my 87 years, I have travelled the world, cris-crossed continents and oceans by air, sailed oceans on ships, enjoyed comfortable and reliable train routes...
The age of predictably reliable travel appears to be coming to an end!
What a heartwarming story of travel woes. I used to work for the airlines for 15 years so I feel your pain (Air Canada then Swissair). I'm glad to hear you took it in stride and met some pleasant airline people along the way. It was not our fault that the weather did what it did, but sometimes people need to vent and they take it out on the airline staff, unfortunately.
One of these days I plan to get up to Nova Scotia to visit the Swissair 111 memorial. Although I had left the airline by then, we always felt like a close team because I worked at Boston airport and interacted with the crews all the time. Anyhow, yes, I plan to get up there, maybe this fall for a long weekend.
I look forward to reading your E Jean Carroll story. I'm so glad she is smacking down our fuhrer!
It is good to hear of your connection with the Swissair tragedy - and great to hear of your determination to visit the site. If you are interested, I could join you in a visit to the graveyard where the victims of the Titanic are interred...
It is aB wonderful gesture that you will make, to go to the site of the Swissair flight. As you say, working in Boston, you would have been intimately involved in that tragedy..
I saw the headline and thought, " A-ha! Here's the origin story of how Barry's ancestry acquired their surname -- Gander airfield in N&L with a storied history from WWII, and the kindness-that-shall-not-be-forgotten from 9/11, etc -- but, alas, it was an engaging tale of journey and geography in modern times. It was a delightful travel log, hopscotching across the Great Smokey North mired in all of the frustrating little airline failures that were perfected by your Yankee Cuzzins and propagated to the world with capitalistic abandon.
I shall eagerly await the transcontinental E. Jean Carroll article as I craft my own dog-ate-my-homework story for the next deadline I miss.
Hilarious, as always, Barry! 😂
Thank you very much!! The origin story for the 'Gander' name is even funnier...but needs a longer telling...
Shades of John Candy and Steve Martin in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles". I think in your case, I would have pulled a John Madden and stuck to the asphalt for my trip. Although in the thousands and thousands of airline aircraft I have ridden in over the years my bags were only delayed twice. The first time, I was 4 days waiting on my bag that got waylaid in the morass of Detroit's Metropolitan Airport. The second time, the flight from Dallas to San Francisco was full and some bags didn't make it onto the plane due to weight considerations. Mine was one. The airline assured me it would be on the next flight. I went for dinner and when I returned to my room, there was my bag. The airline made good on it's promise. There's hope for you yet!
Good to hear that there is good, here.
I really enjoyed your story Barry Gander! Such grand humour and equanimity in the face of travel woes..
In my 87 years, I have travelled the world, cris-crossed continents and oceans by air, sailed oceans on ships, enjoyed comfortable and reliable train routes...
The age of predictably reliable travel appears to be coming to an end!
That is sadly true - extremely bad for us more senior travelers...
Insightful wriring, Barry. Thank you. Keep fighting!
Thank you for your kind comment.
Will be looking forward for the book review. Thanks Barry
What a heartwarming story of travel woes. I used to work for the airlines for 15 years so I feel your pain (Air Canada then Swissair). I'm glad to hear you took it in stride and met some pleasant airline people along the way. It was not our fault that the weather did what it did, but sometimes people need to vent and they take it out on the airline staff, unfortunately.
One of these days I plan to get up to Nova Scotia to visit the Swissair 111 memorial. Although I had left the airline by then, we always felt like a close team because I worked at Boston airport and interacted with the crews all the time. Anyhow, yes, I plan to get up there, maybe this fall for a long weekend.
I look forward to reading your E Jean Carroll story. I'm so glad she is smacking down our fuhrer!
It is good to hear of your connection with the Swissair tragedy - and great to hear of your determination to visit the site. If you are interested, I could join you in a visit to the graveyard where the victims of the Titanic are interred...
It is aB wonderful gesture that you will make, to go to the site of the Swissair flight. As you say, working in Boston, you would have been intimately involved in that tragedy..
🍁 Elbows UP! 🏒
In THREE days, the next big action for democracy happens:
Good Trouble Lives On
Thursday July 17th 2025
https://goodtroubleliveson.org/
This song is about refusing to be broken, no matter how grinning MAGAs try to cut you down.
It was written by Son House in 1965
Jade Bird - Grinnin' In Your Face (Son House Cover)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rsJDdy1So6c
Indivisible
https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/
American Civil Liberties Union
https://www.aclu.org/action
No Kings
https://www.nokings.org/next
Women's March
https://action.womensmarch.com/calendars/free-america-weekend
50501
https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events
MoveOn
https://www.mobilize.us/moveon/
Public Citizen
https://www.mobilize.us/publiccitizeninitiative/
🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁
Juzzie Smith - SUPERHEROS Offical Video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=37J2vb81Z8o
🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁
Here are resistance related guides from around the world:
🇺🇸 Fundamentals of physical surveillance: a guide for uniformed and plainclothes personnel
https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofph0000silj
The RCMP has its own publications including:
🇨🇦 GCPSG-022 (2025) - Threat and Risk Assessment Guide
GCPSG-010 (2022) - Operational Physical Security Guide
🇨🇦 GCPSG-019 (2023) - Protection, Detection, Response, and Recovery Guide
https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/physec-secmat/pubs/index-eng.htm
The non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation also has excellent guides on:
🇺🇸 Street Level Surveillance
https://sls.eff.org
🇺🇸 Surveillance Self-Defense
https://ssd.eff.org/
🇪🇺 🇸🇪⚠️ Resistance Operating Concept
https://jsou.edu/Press/PublicationDashboard/25
🇺🇦 🇺🇲 Radio Free Ukraine Resistance Manual
https://radiofreeukraine.com/3d-flip-book/resistance-manual/
⚠️ John Hopkins University:
Assessing Revolutionary And Insurgent Strategies (ARIS) Studies
This one is used a lot by ICE, so the Trump Regime keeps suppressing it. Here are alternate links as it keeps getting moved around by the good guys:
Small Wars Journal
Assessing Revolutionary and Insurgent Strategies (ARIS) Project
https://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/blog/assessing-revolutionary-and-insurgent-strategies-aris-project
Author's website:
On Resistance, Revolutions, and Insurgencies
https://zimmerer.typepad.com/resistance/
Free PDF download of the book from the original author:
Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare, Volume II 1962 - 2009
http://zimmerer.typepad.com/Documents/ARIS%20Casebook%20Vol%202%202012%20s.pdf
⚠️ Civilian-Based Defense: A Post-Military Weapons System
https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/civilian-based-defense-a-post-military-weapons-system/
🏁 Simple Sabotage Field Manual by United States Office of Strategic Services
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184?ref=404media.co
⚠️ Library of Congress
Revelations from the Russian archives: documents in English translation
https://www.loc.gov/item/96024752
🏁 Robert Reich/Resistance School
Communicating Across Difference
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaT8gjnOmQl3dguy0_E0vVCL5ZYEyCTzu
🏁 Bernie Sanders:
https://m.youtube.com/@BernieSanders
🏁 CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists:
Safety Kit
https://cpj.org/safety-kit/
🏁 Activist Handbook:
https://activisthandbook.org/introduction
(⚠️ These are USA sponsered websites. Some publications may have been removed by the Trump regime)