JERSEY GLASS ART

Everyone goes on holidays at some time, what do you do? Search the net for cheap flights?

It takes hours, I know I did it all the time, switching from one site to the other, comparing prices, times, etc.

Then there’s all those ‘add ons’! You know what I mean : Extra for luggage, Extra for paying by credit card, Extra for runway charges, fuel charges, it goes on and on.

By the time you’ve added all these on you may think the flight on the site you went to before was cheaper?

Now which site was that other flight on?

Search again! get calculator out! start adding it all up again!!! SCREAM! Yes, I’ve done it.

But now I may have found the answer to our problems, YES, Really!

This guy Henry Rustkirk, who was a reservations agent, has decided

to reveal all the scams that go on and how we can ‘Get Cheaper Flights‘! Yippee!

I’m going to check it out, If you want to ‘Save lots of Cash‘ on your next flight too, check it out for yourself.

This is an excerpt from his site:

‘The Shamefully Greedy Airlines…

It doesn’t matter if you call on the phone, go online to a discount travel site or use your local travel agent, the whole system is designed to get you to pay more for your flights than is fair.

The airlines work tirelessly to come up with new ways to extract the most money they can from you.  The schemes they employ against their own customers sound like they were designed by organized crime.

With so many new fees, horrible service and no extras, you are paying way more and getting way less. Now they even want you to pay for your bags to come with you! There is not limit to how far the airlines will reach into your pocket.

I am ashamed to say that I know all of this because I used to be a part of the airline’s crooked system…’

Turn space into multipurpose family area

Editor, The Times:

In The Times’ article “Glass vs. Grass” [page one, March 10], there only seems to be a description of the positive effects of building the glass museum. The article does not mention that Dale Chihuly already has a glass museum in Tacoma. Taking public space for an additional glass museum from the same artist does not seem logical. The public space around the Seattle Center does not need another attraction that requires an admission.

The demolition of the Fun Forest is an opportunity for a more open-space design that would prove ideal for the many festivals and events that Seattle Center hosts each year. This simpler, more open design may not generate revenue, but it would require less to maintain and promote a friendly community atmosphere. If Chihuly wants another glass museum, he doesn’t need to take up the already fairly limited public space at Seattle Center.

The idea for the glass museum may be well-intended, but I think its predicted success is overambitious. Seattle citizens need a more open central area that they can believe would not cost them money.

In the current economy, what sounds more likely for a middle-class family of four on a sunny day: a picnic at Seattle Center, or spending $50 or more just for admission to a museum of glass art?

— Quinn Mazure, Lake Forest Park

Other suggestions for space

What a shame it would be if we take away this wonderful, casual, seemingly public and fun space and turn it into just another commercial space. While I do so appreciate Chihuly as nearly an icon, do we then need to devote this huge space to him? I say the whole world has done that already.

The Center is already filled with so much concrete and so many buildings — but I do love the fountain with the benches all around it. I would like to see green trees and grass and have tables and benches within the area — some under cover as well.

This could come along with a multicultural, varied and almost deli-type food area and there would be no charge to enter the area. Or how about a Ferris wheel a la Paris and London? At least it would be something more welcoming to the whole public with some whimsy and personality.

— Carol Cotter, Edmonds

Praise for Wright family and Chihuly

Hooray for the Wright family for proposing a glass museum honoring Dale Chihuly at Seattle Center! How generous too of Chihuly to offer to share his artistry.

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting the fabulous Phipps Botanical Gardens and Conservatory in Pittsburgh with its beautiful gardens and Chihuly art on display. How wonderful it would be to have a similar attraction in this area. I feel confident the museum will be a great addition to Seattle Center and certainly great consideration will be given to the surrounding environment as well.

Parks are great but do we really want another Central Park along with its crime-laden history, maintenance and security costs in Seattle? I don’t think so.

— Jan England, Renton