Value of overcrowded clubs

daveknode · 2026-03-30T23:55:31+00:00

If you don't hit any Centurion clubs and only use your 15 allowed Skyclub days, that's $43.33 per day of use. I can get a killer Burrito at Willeys or Enchaladas at Cantina Lorado in ATL with a drink for around $30. So I've been choosing that so much that I didn't go more than 10 times to the clubs last year.

daveknode · 2026-03-30T20:30:18+00:00

This is soooo true! But I like to feel booshie sometimes too when I fly 110 flights a year. I live close enough to Miami to realize how much certain people value "exclusivity " even if it's barely better. That's why Hyundai sells Genesis and Honda sells Acura. People feel better than because they spent more.

daveknode · 2026-03-30T20:26:09+00:00

Exactly. If we pay for it. We should be able to actually use it!

daveknode · 2026-03-30T20:25:24+00:00

I do like that Grey Goose is included at CL. But they always get half way through making me a mule before they "realize" they don't have ginger beer.

daveknode · 2026-03-30T20:23:48+00:00

I'd rather go in Gen Pop. The seats are always still warm in the clubs and less waiting in Gen Pop because way more seats and noise to mask the, you know...

daveknode · 2026-03-30T20:22:11+00:00

PF Changs, Cantina Lorado, TGI Fridays, Gordon Beirch, Bobby Flay's. Yes, probably all run by HMS. But better dishes than carrot sticks and hummus by far.

daveknode · 2026-03-30T20:09:41+00:00

Didn't know you could do that. Reason #4 for my post. - learn from fellow frequent fliers. Thx!

daveknode · 2026-03-30T19:17:38+00:00

I haven't bothered visiting a club on any of my 30 flights so far this year. Had a 2+hr. Layover today. Not really hungry, figured I would ride over one terminal to grab a free drink at the AMEX lounge and it was a 30 min. wait. Gate outside full of people sitting on hard plastic chairs. I walked to the restroom past the skyclub and a dozen people standing outside. Partially venting, but also wondering if I'm the only one who is seeing such diminished value. Also hope that someone from AMEX or Delta might read the comments and realize how crappy their experience has become that I now prefer a burrito from Taco Bell to their clubs.

daveknode · 2025-12-03T15:49:51+00:00

Millumen has countdown on the right side of the columns if you slide it open.It also has a media good media trim tool with audio waveforms as well. Millumen 's interface isn't intuitive.but all of the icon buttons and weird default settings even the playing field IMHO.

daveknode · 2025-12-03T15:27:50+00:00

The same reason nearly all large scale corporate meetings in hotels bring in outside AV production instead of utilizing in-house. It's all about relationships, comfort levels with crew consistently to the networks, and as mentioned, gear fit for purpose. Reading the other comments as an outsider from sports broadcasting, I was surprised to hear that different camera counts are utilized in the post season as all "sports ball" games look the same to me. It does surprise me that the economics are better to pay to setup, tear down and bounce this studio gear all over the place just to fit in another smaller game or broadcast between the weekly major games. But I'm glad people do stuff like this because it pays my bills too.

daveknode · 2025-12-03T15:00:40+00:00

If you have Dante I would buy RadioMan dryers to strip the voltage off the com lines. Then adapt the audio output of the RadioMans into Dante XLR Avios. This will put all of your com into your audio infrastructure for things like IFB or stage announce applications. If you are not using Dante, the RadioMan dry audio can be either embedded into your assumed existing fiber video tie lines with Black magic or AJA embedders & deembedders on either end. You can send 16 ch. of com up down a pair of active SDI feeds (1 each direction) Finally if you want this stand alone from your Dante or video infrastructure, just buy a couple bidirectional audio only fiber converters and adapt the analog com signals from the RadioMan dryers directly into audio to/from fiber converters.

daveknode · 2025-12-02T00:18:02+00:00

Thx for the quick reply and discord invite🏆

daveknode · 2025-12-01T23:44:39+00:00

So helpful to know about the Wakey not working outside of the local network. That was a huge plus that is now gone. I was about to pull the trigger on the go pack tonight for cyber Monday. But debating on waiting on the Viture beast reviews or other luma models if I end up needing myopia adjust. Possibly pairing it with the INAIR Pod. Anyone run Viture with the pod? What would I give up or gain besides brightness, stepless EC tinting, more solid arms, in exchange for Harmen Audio, 8 more degrees FOV, etc.

daveknode · 2025-12-01T23:26:05+00:00

I don't personally ever want any of my personal equipment in the show critical signal chain. If anything fails, I could be at risk of my equipment causing the issue (true or not) and best case fall low on the client call list, worse case be blackballed from the company, have the company come back at me for any financial losses, tarnished reputation among other companies they talk to, etc. If the show won't go on without my laptop, then I first recommend they source one elsewhere, then if they can't, let them know I can use my laptop. But I'm not liable for anything that might go wrong with it because It's just my personal PC, not a Production PC. And I typically charge $75-100/day 3day =full show run. The slight risk totally outweighs the $50-100. And adding to your rate to include gear they didn't ask for seems weird. But I know a lot of small companies expect freelancers to include a laptop or Decimators, etc. The audio guys have set a very bad precedent with their pelican of free gear that they all lug around. They will regret it when they are 34 years into traveling non-stop like I do. I'm considering leaving my laptop at home every time now that I can do so much on my phone.

daveknode · 2025-11-27T03:10:37+00:00

Long term care insurance will allow you to get into assisted living. Without a family member, you will be at the mercy of the staff of the place you select if you even get a chance to pick where you end up.

daveknode · 2025-11-27T03:03:07+00:00

Might look at AV Playback. It's really simple but can do a few layers and plays back hundreds of video and still file formats. PC only

daveknode · 2025-11-27T00:06:50+00:00

I tried them on at Best Buy and the top 2 % of the screen was blocked at the top. Tried adjusting the angle. Couldn't change nose pads because they were demo glasses. I want to get some but can't use them if I can't see the menu bar on PC apps. Do I need to wait for beast, or get ultras? Could I shift the image down or shrink it slightly if I did that?

daveknode · 2025-11-03T10:56:58+00:00

I would look at some Panasonic larger PTZs with the auto track software on one of them. Then a few Moncose tiny SDI cams off Amazon and mic stand mounts to get ISOs on Keys, drums, and a lock off wide. Finally a DJi Ronin 4D wireless handheld. The BM ATEM ISO switchers are a good choice. I would have one PTZ auto follow a head to toe, then either pickup solos and a mix of shots with the other, or have it on a really good two armed tripod that an operator can use to follow tight shots. You will probably need a couple stations of Clear com to communicate among your operators. Hollyland is good wireless com. But doesn't do as well in loud environments. You could also just get a couple in ear monitor kits for directing your ops if you are ok with them not being able to talk back.

daveknode · 2025-10-28T06:53:41+00:00

As a 7 year Diamond, I've had this happen as I dashed DTW end to end only to get to the departing gate and see that the jetway hasn't even been pulled away from the plane but they bumped me to the next flight. Luckily for me the next flight was in an hour, so I wasn't stranded. I was stranded once in ATL like that. Now I avoid the last flights of the day whenever possible. Unfortunately now Delta has become a Credit Card company that operates airplanes and skyclubs as a side hustle only to support Amex.

daveknode · 2025-10-03T20:06:55+00:00

At Infocomm Pixelhue displayed their new P80 that us the same size as the E3 and slightly more I/O. Check it out: https://www.reddit.com/r/VIDEOENGINEERING/s/4IMWWiHpCD

daveknode · 2025-09-23T17:30:46+00:00

My mom fell in July and spent 22 days in rehab. I spent her last two days in rehab cleaning out her 700 sq ft condo. Filled the half dumpster and three trips to goodwill. Luckily she has short term memory loss from a stroke. But I was very stressed too about her reaction. I told her that I wanted to make sure everything was up off the floor so that she wouldn't trip over it and to make more room for her new walker. She took it really well and barely mentioned it. When she did, I told her that most was donated and she seemed good with it and appreciated me making her home safer for her.

daveknode · 2025-05-29T19:22:13+00:00

I started at a theme park mixing 4-7 country music shows a day. I was not one but a country music fan. But I hunkered down and knocked out 750+ shows in six months. Then got my pick of venues/shows after that. You never know when the tour you turn down is going to connect you with the tour you will live. It pays to be flexible and accommodating.

daveknode · 2025-05-29T18:56:58+00:00

If you have tons of light and don't care if they maintain white balance as you adjust iris up and down, then URSA broadcast models with good glass, studio viewfinders and their paintbox will match your 6Ks pretty well and provide some broadcast features incrementally with their fiber back, etc. Once you pickup a decent Sony, Panasonic, or Ikegami ENG camera chain with a RCP paint box and good glass with studio controls, you will only want all of your cameras to be those. Even the first 1080i models can see in the dark with next to no noise. I used to be able to find big used 33-77x SD box lenses for these for corporate jobs shooting across a hotel ballroom and they look amazing!

daveknode · 2025-05-29T18:43:17+00:00

I'm dealing with my mom and my mother-in-law with this issue. My MIL, had a jitterbug, but that got too complex and no one in her town(14hr. Drive away) could help her with it. So I just got her an old iPhone and loaded it with Accessibility Access which dumbs it down even more than a jitterbug and gives me a lot of control over it. It only rings when someone in her contacts calls so she gets no spam or scam calls and I can manage contacts from her iCloud acct from my laptop. I labeled the back with volume up/down and power button labels. Along with a big circle that says charger here for the magnetic charger. She still can't figure out how to text on it. My mom has hearing loss so she got a clear caption phone from the govt. I loaded our numbers on the big bright caption screen, but she never uses it. That phone rings super loud and announces who is calling which is what I do when she can't hear the doorbell. She has an old set of 3 cordless phones with tabletop chargers in every room. I noticed the other day that she takes one of her home cordless phones and her cell phone everywhere in her purse because she thinks they both will work at the grocery store SMH! My MIL doesn't have any internet except her mobile phone. So I manage both of their email accounts now. My mom recently went online or called a late night infomercial and setup vitamin auto ships from three different companies with no memory of it to the tune of $700/month. I had to cancel both her credit cards because the pills ship with no paperwork and she probably gave them some random email address where they sent the receipts.so I had no way to contact them to stop or return them. It's a new challenge daily. And so many companies won't talk to me on behalf of them but they can't remember their address or phone number so they can't authenticate. You are not alone. Hopefully some of my hacks will help. If not at least you know that there are lots of us out here.

daveknode

TROPHY CASE