Place: Pizza Ranch
Lunch: Buffet, Pibb XTRA
Mmmm. Pizza. Mmmm. BBQ chicken. Mmmm. Potato Salad. Mmmm. Bacon cheddar mashed potatoes. Mmmm. Peaches. Mmmm...oh forget it.
It's election day, which means we can go back to normal TV commercials tomorrow. Thank GOD.
I voted on the way to lunch. I've found that if I go in the morning, there's long lines. But arrive just before eleven, and practically nobody's there. This held true this morning. One guy was voting, and nobody was waiting. Went in, filled out everything, got my ballot, voted, headed across the road for lunch. Ten minutes, tops.
Spent the weekend hanging around Wichita with my brother, who flew in to see what all the fuss was about. I corrupted his healthy lifestyle by introducing him to Freddy's. We also found a local coffee and doughnut shop that is so cool they have a really old Gottlieb pinball machine. And I took him down to Pops in Oklahoma.
Wichita really needs that new airport terminal they're claiming is on the way. For a city steeped in the history of flight, they have one of the most rinky-dink airports of any city their size I've been in. Better buildings in lesser cities have been condemned just because they're eyesores.
The current facility opened in the mid-1950's. I've seen old pictures of it and it looked pretty cool back then. It's been remodeled a time or two since, of course, and none of that charm can be seen today. The current facility is a small cramped 80's looking box that you almost laugh at as you pull up to it. It looks like an outdated shopping mall. It's just dreadful. The wiring is outdated, it's full of asbestos, some of the gates don't even have jetways. Everything about it, from technology to ADA standards, is out of date and in many cases unadaptable. It's an embarrassment to a city that calls itself the 'air capital of the world'.
The money to build the new terminal (which on paper looks like they took Austin-Bergstrom's new terminal and stuck a "WICHITA" sign on it) is pretty much in place. The feds kicked in a bunch due to the existing facility's lack of ability to meet TSA standards. There's projected usage fees that get thrown in the mix. All of that is good to go.
But the city is dragging their feet because they're paranoid about ending up actually having to pay some of the costs if a worst-case scenario plays out. The negative seems to be concerns about projected new usage fees not ultimately covering costs.
Just build the stupid thing already. This is the first impression people get when they come to Wichita. And it's not a very good one. Imagine if the city's worst fears are realized and they're in a position of having to campaign businesses to relocate there.
Do they REALLY think the existing airport isn't going to worsen their cause?
