Not sure how my incoming emails wind up with some of the junk that comes in, but I do get some weird stuff and I guess, once I open a few, they think it's okay to keep sending them. Some I like. Like History Facts. This email comes about four times a day, loaded with so many odd facts or stories. The other day, it was about the milkman. Did you have one? We did. When I was growing up in North Bergen, we had that tin squared box that was lined with plastic insulation to keep the milk cold while sitting outside our front door .Every day, a guy would come, take the empty bottles out, which were quart sizes, and replace it with new bottles and fresh milk. And this younger generation thinks they are the cat's meow with their Uber Eats! My Mom was one up on that. Great system, until I got older. That milk delivery came with a cost. So, when my sister and I got a little older, we were trusted to walk a block, to the dairy that was right down the street. Hohneker's Dairy. I may be off on the spelling, but this big ass company was right there. Now it's all homes. What else did you think. Funny thing though, there is a factory diagonally across the street from the dairy lot, and it's still there. No clue what they make? Now, the gallon of milk we were entrusted to walk a full block with, as an 8 year old, was made of glass and had a plastic handle that wiggled. I'm 8! Sometimes I showed up at the house with just the plastic handle. Stuff happens! I was only 8. My reason to tell you about the milkman. Now that was in the early sixties. Sometime in the mid 90's we had a guy who was older than dirt, come work for us part time. His real job as they all like to say, was that of a "milkman". It brought me back to my childhood and that squared box. The milkman was very dependable. Hey, do you realize how important it was to get that milk delivered before the break of dawn. We had every walk of life come through that door looking to work. We took them all, even the milkman. Like the "water boy". Not Adam Sandler. We always thought we knew everything that was going on at Perfect Limo. Little did we know, chauffeurs are group of guys that, when at the airport or on jobs where they wait around, they have a lot extra time to talk about life. And the new guys that were hired. One day I was talking to a few guys about a wedding they just got done with. I forget how the conversation actually went, but I mentioned a particular chauffeur by his first name, about how he did on the job. The response, "yeah, the water boy was good, no problems with him. He wasn't wearing his jacket though." The water boy? Turns out he worked for Poland Springs full time, yep, another part timer. Good thing these chauffeurs weren't around with the milkman! The good news, he was no longer called the "newbie". Time Out magazine has their 'Coolest Street' in the world list out this week, and Orchard St. in NYC came in ninth place in the world and number one in America. Pretty cool! Now this is one more place I need to get to when visiting the city. Personally though, I always thought Mulberry Street was cool. Also, how excited are you that Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are getting married on June 13th, 2026? Yeah, me too! John A Sutich Just Another Story Blog

Thanksgiving Travel I say it's safe to say that if you are reading this email, like me, you have a lot to be thankful for, because every day is a blessing when you have your health. Thanksgiving is here, and I hope you enjoyed a wonderful time with your family and friends, eating a little turkey and sipping some fine wine, and talking about the weather! Because it is never a good thing to talk about anything else. Yeah, I know it can get boring, but at least you will all remain friends at the end of the evening. There are so many things I am grateful for, but first, it all begins with my health, because without that, I wouldn't be able to enjoy my beautiful wife, my wonderful boys, my fantastic daughters-in-law, and absolutely, my adorable and loving grandchildren. Yes, I am aware there are many more, like my siblings and dear friends, but I can only make a sentence so long. Definitely not the guy who cut me off Wednesday night; he didn't make the list. According to Google, AI now, 82 million Americans are expected to travel. 73 million of them will be by car, which is a good thing if you are going to fly, because that will be along with roughly 6 million. The rest are either taking a train, bus, or walking. Now, the kicker to this flying thing is, about the Real ID, which was first proposed in 2005 and finally put into law this past May. But, I just read an article in Travel and Leisure, that if you don't have a Real ID or passport when you get to the airport, you can pay $18 and get through TSA. That's it. Go figure. So, if everyone arrived for dinner on time, that means some people did some heavy-duty planning to be where they needed to be. Good for you. To be fair, those statistics cover the whole Thanksgiving week. Could you imagine if we all traveled on Wednesday night? I wouldn't have been the only guy getting cut off! Happy Thanksgiving. Be Safe. John A Sutich Just Another Story Blog

Good job, United Airlines. You got us out of EWR last Friday early and got us home Tuesday at least thirty minutes ahead of schedule. Not for nothing, but I didn't think there was an ice cube's chance in hell of that happening. And I even got an extra chocolate cookie snack. The flight attendant asked if I wanted two, so I obliged. When Doris and I travel, we very rarely do trips that require luggage for only a couple of days. Carry-on luggage. Nope, when we go away, our suitcases are loaded, and when I throw that sucker on the scale, I'm always a little concerned about staying under that 50 lb. limit. But, in reality, the most I ever got to was 48. Doris never tips the scale past 37 or 38. Little people, little clothes. Me, if I'm lugging that thing to the airport, I'm getting everything I can inside of that suitcase, without breaking the zipper, of course. It's the shoes! Sorry luggage handlers and chauffeurs. Now, about carry-on luggage and overhead bins. According to AI or Google, the standard size for carry-on luggage is 22 x 14 x 9, and that includes the wheels and handles. This is what you are allowed to take on the major airlines, United, Delta, American, etc. I know my ugly green regulated bag falls under those parameters, but when we are sitting in the waiting area before boarding, I begin to wonder if I got this whole size thing wrong. The gatekeeper who monitors you as you are boarding the plane usually makes continued announcements about your carry-on and how it has to meet the requirements to fit in the overhead bins. I'm thinking to myself that there finally will be justice, and that the guy with the 30 x 30 x 14 suitcase will be told this is not happening. Not on my plane. Am I so wrong? On the plane, it goes, and the monster suitcase, which should be down below in stowage, for $70, is taking up a whole section of the bin because it goes in sideways and not straight in. What is causing this issue is now one can pay an extra $29, which gives them priority boarding, not seating. Just the ability to get on before others in the number two lane. So, these slick travelers and their two carry-ons, oops, one carry-on and one personal item!, wink, wink, get on with no questions asked. Why upset someone who just paid an extra $29? Problem is, when that priority line is called up, it is now at least two-thirds of the passengers. Me? I just give up, and when the gatekeeper asks if there are volunteers to check the bag at the gate, yep, that's me. Take my bag because I do not want to be in the film, which is now out, as of this morning, from the Department of Transportation, on civility. I'm sharing the link, but if you don't want to open it, it is easy enough to find. DOT Civility Campaign This is not made up. It appears to be social media film directors capturing travelers in their finest hours. Think People's Express tenfold. Be safe. John A Sutich Just Another Story Blog

Airline Connections Friday, today, the FAA is mandating a 10% reduction in flights across 40 different airports this coming week. Hope you're not heading anywhere for a destination wedding? I'm sorry for whining, but next week we are planning on a quick trip to Florida for a big weekend party. Yeah, we can do this stuff now. Well, only if our flight isn't canceled! Apparently, long-haul flights should not be affected as much as domestic flights. What I think we need to do to get to Florida is book a flight from EWR to Paris, then a flight from Paris to Florida. Simple! Years ago, just like every other story I tell, (years ago) travel agents were a big part of the travel business. We relied a lot on them with their connections to the business traveler to provide us with their ground transportation needs. Yes, once in a while, they travelled themselves. Like the time we had a good guy, a great business source, travelling on a lousy, snowy day. Seasoned traveler as we thought he was, he couldn't pull the wool over our eyes at Perfect Limo. Turns out, when we went to pick him up at the scheduled time, we got to the door and he said he needed to cancel the limo because he just found out his flight was cancelled due to the current blizzard. Now, a few hours before, we did suggest he confirm that his flight was still leaving. Remember, this was way before any software programs giving us the ability to track flights. This was between you and the airline. You remember, !-800-da,da,da-da,da,da,da. When we told him he was going to be billed for the ride, because he cancelled, which he did after making the chauffeur sit in front of his house for over an hour waiting for him to decide what to do. He responded in amazement that he thought limousine companies and airlines were connected with each other, and we should have been made aware of the cancellation from our partners in the airlines, and they were responsible for paying us, not him. This was before the phrase LOL. Are you kidding me? Now, if I were getting a piece of an airline, I'd be giving out nuts, like in the good old days, and not those half-empty bags of pretzels, which, by the way, incredible enough, we enjoy receiving like we just got a five-star meal! Did you see the latest report about the two planes that contacted each other at LGA in October? Although they say November. AI report: A recent Delta pilot was involved in a ground collision at LaGuardia in November 2025 after not recalling instructions to yield to another aircraft. He stated he was focused on calculating landing performance numbers and looking down at the cockpit checklist when he looked up to see the other plane, according to an NTSB preliminary report. Is this similar to texting and driving? So, as soon as you blinked your eyes, we were already halfway through the professional football season. The NFL is in week ten. How's your team doing? I'm curious, did Major League Baseball have the World Series yet? Only kidding. The Toronto Blue Jays apparently lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yeah, I agree, who cares? Be safe. John A Sutich Just Another Story Blog

Halloween Weekend Big weekend. A lot of stuff happening. First, Happy Halloween to all, young and old. Although I enjoy dressing up, I would only do it to go to a party. I'm not dressing up in a costume just to walk around all day. No, for me, there needs to be a reason. Party, party! There is a company, Wallet Hub, that does a 'Top 20 Cities for Halloween' each year. Jersey City ranked number two, and Newark ranked number ten. Pretty cool. But personally, I always thought Montvale was the best. I know, it's not considered a city, but as Bruce sang, it's "My Home Town". We lived in a development that included 35 homes. We were adjacent to another area that had about the same number. So, when we had the kids out trick-or-treating, it was nice and easy. No main streets to cross and very little traffic. Someone would always have a party, in a garage, of course, for the adults to rest after the daunting tasks of chasing the little ones running from porch to porch in search of the good stuff. Until. Over the years, it became the hot spot for all. We started seeing many license plates from New York parked at the top of the hill, and people from other towns. It became overwhelming after a while, because it was an easy walk. Especially when someone had a case of beer in the storage area of a baby stroller. Who needs diapers anyway? Another study. I saw an AI Overview, which is now the answer after a Google search, in October 2025, like now, NY was identified as the most haunted State. This was based on data from Ghosts of America. The study claims there were 81 ghost sightings per 10,000 people. I'm scared! Stop it now with this stuff. Now, I'm not a marathoner, but this Sunday is the big New York City Marathon, which, once again, will have over 50,000 runners this year. The good part is we turn back the clocks (Fall back) the same morning at 2 AM, giving everybody that extra hour of sleep. Or maybe it's another hour of anxiety waiting for, "are you ready, set, go". I go over to the local track on the weekends, and I do eight times around. Four walking and four running. Well, it's not really running, not really jogging, it's just a pathetic version of walking faster! Hey, I'm trying. Have a great time, the weather should be better. Be safe. John A Sutich Just Another Story Blog

 

Travel Troubles & Dino Deals

Lousy time to be traveling this week.  There was an article from 'The Hill" newspaper that claimed on Monday and Tuesday, that at the major airports in the Northeast, there were 10,000 delays with an additional 3,000 on Wednesday. Now, some were due to weather, but the majority of them were because of Air Traffic Controllers calling in sick. Cough, sneeze, cough! With this government shutdown we are experiencing right now, there are certain jobs that require you to show up to work, even though you are not getting paid.  Yep, that's exactly who I want controlling the skies! An unpaid, not very happy air controller. First off, thank you for showing up, and I do understand why some are calling in sick. Oh, TSA agents fall under the law of having to work without pay, also. Just when I grumbled about the long lines before, I would imagine, because I'm here and not there, that the lines will be moving a wee bit slower these days. Also, have you noticed how long the pre-check lines are these days? I think the only benefit right now is that I get to keep my shoes on. Not sure if anyone has been to the Field Station, which is located in Bergen County's Overpeck Park. I haven't myself, but apparently they will be closing in a few weeks, and they are in the process of selling the life-size, realistic moving dinosaurs which roam around the woods and streams entertaining visitors. There are over thirty of them. I'm glad I was never stuck on 80 East in Leonia and peeking over my shoulder to see T-Rex roaming the fields. They are for sale if you want a new lawn decoration! Sad to see the Yankees lose. Happy to be a Giant fan. Go Blue. John A Sutich Just Another Story Blog

 

Are you part of the 97% or 3%?

Not sure about you, but I can't wait for November 5th to come. No more political commercials. Hopefully! Maybe we'll get more of the Stanley Steamer guy with the deep voice ready to mop up the bloody mess! Earlier this week, I saw on the news station I watch about another poll. This one claims that 97% of New Yorkers describe themselves as 'kind'. So, that must mean that the other 3% moved to New Jersey. Joking, don't get mad. But isn't it funny how we all view ourselves? Years ago, Perfect Limo had a customer who had this same philosophy about himself. He demanded everything and almost always at the worst times. He was the President of a small company that had their headquarters in the Midwest with an office in NJ. His company weren't the biggest travelers, but that is minor, because everyone who travels is important to us. But, if we ever had an issue accommodating him in a snowstorm, as an example, with his last minute call, the man would go on a mini rage. Then, one day, I went to drive him myself, because, in normal circumstances, our phone conversations were always good. Look, deep down he was a nice guy. Unfortunately, he must've had that 3% buried somewhere inside.  When he dropped the news on me he was moving out of the tri state area, I was curious to know why? He responded with, you ready for this, "People here are not very kind!" I may be paraphrasing, it was awhile ago, but I think you get the idea. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, not me, no 3% here. But let me ask you a simple question. Have you ever chuckled when you see someone walking down the sidewalk and they stumble and look silly! Yep, that's how it starts. Which leads me to an article from Travel and Leisure magazine I receive. Turns out there is a company called BookRetreats.com that released it's Holiday Happiness index. It's got a whole bunch of factors going into their survey and they came up with Orlando, Fl as the place that makes people the happiest when visiting on vacation. This I can understand, because the weather and sunshine are great to be in.  What surprised me though, is Chicago came in #2. Not sure what time of year they are talking about, but if it's in July, I definitely agree. Is possible there are a lot of 97%er's living there? Let's see how Phiily fans welcome the NY Giants this weekend! Be safe. John A Sutich Just Another Story Blog

 

Like I Was Saying

When Doris and I were in Dubrovnik, Croatia, while we were enjoying a little walking vacation, which is basically all you do in Europe, we decided to get away from the walls of that particular historical city, which there are many, and wander along the beautiful coastline. We did the tourist thing and got on a Hop On- Hop Off bus, which are pretty good, because after you make the first loop de loop around all the hot spots, you can then decide which location you want to return to and like the logo says, hop off. In Dubrovnik, there are only three stops. The one where you begin, the middle one you drive by because it is on the other side of the road, and the only things there are a bus stop and a rocky beach. I know, because the driver pointed it out on our return trip, and he basically said it was not worth getting off since we didn't pack our swim trunks! How's that for old school phraseology? So, we hopped off where the bus turns around, which was the last stop, but really the only stop. After two hours of 'walking', we hopped on at the same location we hopped off at and headed our way back to where the ship, that we were travelling on, was docked. There was only one other couple, and we were really tight on time. This is not the Garden State Parkway we're talking about. The only main road is a one lane in both directions for miles, and we are talking midtown Manhattan traffic at Christmas time. So, once we passed the bus stop/beach hop on, which there was no one to hop on, the driver took matters into his own hands and we went cruising off the beaten path up into the hills of Dubrovnik in our 40' long big red bus. Through the local neighborhoods we wandered, bypassing the standstill traffic and arriving at the one traffic light, which was about two blocks shy of the hop-on, hop-off starting location. You are the man! This is what a good driver does. Something else about this vacation was a cruise on a Celebrity Cruise ship called the Constellation. There were roughly 2,000 guests, so unless you constantly did the same routines, there was no chance you were going to meet everyone. Although I tried.  On the very first night of the cruise, at the Martini Bar, I met a couple from Northern Ireland, a couple from Southern Ireland, and in between them, a couple from England. These people had not met each other until this American got involved and started talking to all of them, which, in turn, they all became friends. Well, let's call it bar friends.  Now, the more and more I spoke to people as the days went on, it made it more fun when the nightlife came, and you're on the dance floor, and now you are bumping into people you already met. Like on the Silent Disco night. This was great. Let me explain if you have never heard of it. On the disco floor, there is no music to hear, unless you got your headphones from the DJ. There are three channels you have an option of listening to, and they are colored. Green, red, and blue. So, for example, I may be rocking to some "80s" disco, but the person next to me might be bopping to some "60s" tunes while someone else is strolling along to some country music. If you are on red, but it appears more people are on blue, and they look like they are having more fun than you, you switch over to blue. But then the green folks are really bouncing and waving, I need to go green! It's a lot of fun dancing now with a few of my new 2,000 friends from around the world. Hey, New Zealand, you're rocking, man. Always looking for a great time.  Be safe. John Sutich President Just Another Story

Excuse Me Please!

 Ciao. Like my Italian?

We got back last Friday afternoon from Italy. It was a great trip, but as I mentioned in the past, our departure two weeks ago, the outbound leg of our trip didn't start out too well because the flight was cancelled. One of the many reasons, was a computer software issue, which was discovered while we were number five for take off on the runway. On the runway, we were ready to go!

Now, the good news, we were still on the runway, rubber on the ground, when they became aware of this glitch and not at 35,000 feet somewhere over the ice cold North Atlantic just a little east of Newfoundland.

All was good, no emergencies other than trying to find something to eat at Newark Airport at midnight. This ain't Times Square. That Starbucks pepperoni stuffed bread hit the spot. 

I mention this, because of a report I heard on Monday, which was reported from numerous news outlets, "on the recurring issue of passengers delaying emergency plane evacuations by grabbing their carry-on luggage", which highlighted, "elevated injury and fatality risk" this behavior creates. You think?

Long sentence getting all that out, but are you freaking kidding me. This happened on two American Airlines flights, one in July of 2024 and the other happened to be July of 2025. There was video of passengers grabbing their luggage, when in one instance, there was a fire onboard from a laptop battery. My other issue, who took the time to film this documentary?

What is so important in that bag? Yor favorite boxers! I'm sure there is a Walmart somewhere near your landing zone.

Something else about being on a plane. Sitting in that emergency row does have responsibilities, it's not just a 'gimme'  you paid for to get the extra legroom! You better be able to move fast, because I ain't grabbing my carry-on and although I would love to run you over, I'll be as courteous as I can and push you in the general direction I am heading to get my ass off that plane. I'll be orderly, though, but I'm getting off along with my loved ones.

Now, if you happen to be sitting next to a Maria on the plane, don't mess with her because she has backups.

Have you seen this commercial from a company called Function, that say's there are 61 million Maria's in the world. Not sure what they are pushing, but I find it quite something that someone actually has taken the time to take a head count on this. 

So, I decided to see how many John's there are in this world. Now, keep in mind, when I Googled this, Juan wasn't considered a John, but there were different versions of John, like Jon for an example. I also don't think they are including Mr. Johns, Porto Johns or any fictitious John Doe. The bottom line, at the time I wrote this, there were 5.4 million plain old John's in this world.

What do think, Maria has us John's a little out numbered?

Be safe.

John A Sutich

Just Another Story Blog

Nightmare at EWR

 Flight: EWR to Venice 

Thursday 9-4-2025

This is being written on my cellphone with one finger. I apologize for all the errors.

640 pm flight. We boarded and everything is fine. A little delayed right now, it’s 730? We couldn’t get away from gate because they claim planes were in “alley” and we couldn’t pull out. 8 pm they said a passenger had to be removed from plane because of illness. Now they had to find the luggage in the cargo hold. 

9pm we are ready to roll. 5 planes from take, looking good. We were just told the airport had a closure. We will get back to you. 10 pm we are informed of a computer glitch and we need to go back to gate.

1040 , can’t get to gate because of lightning. Need to wait because workers aren’t allowed to work in lightning.

1050 they got a brave soul to come pull us to gate braving the lightning.

Now we wait. Problem is they are letting people get off. Will be a nightmare getting everyone back on.  Over an hour and no announcement. Maintenance guy was on the plane and did something in the back. Didn’t instill a lot of confidence for the remaining passengers.

1205 AM. Everybody off “de plane”. We need to do maintenance. Go enjoy your $15 voucher. 

No restaurants, just the Vanguard Market and a turkey on wheat sandwich. I ain’t that hungry, I had pretzels on the plane. 

Good news is, there is Starbucks just around the bend that not everyone knows about.

Ham and cheese on a croissant. Not the worst thing. Thank you Starbucks girl for manning the counter.

Good thing for the sandwich because they just made an announcement for meal on the plane we were suppose to get has to get off the plane also, but they are trying to scrounge up some boxed sandwiches. Any thing as long as it’s not turkey.

Also, new crew on the way. Now looking at 230 AM departure. Got everything crossed. Hope the crew has updated passports.

The rest of this is being written from home. The flight was canceled at 2 AM. Chaos, absolute chaos. Theses poor agents were bombarded and all they could was hand out business cards with a QR Code on it. I did get an agent on the phone, spoke to her for 40 minutes. She eventually hung up and never called back.

Now trying to rebook something!!

John A Sutich

Just Another Story Blog