Random thoughts on a trans-Atlantic flight

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/...entry_id=55571

Bad Latitude
Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Transatlantic flight: Is it possible the guy next to me is dead?

Everything I needed to know I learned on a transatlantic flight -- including
a few random thoughts while counting the sleepless minutes, trying to
remember the name of the obscure islands between Norway and Iceland.

1. On a plane, any toddler old enough to make full sentences in between
wailing sobs, is old enough to be fitted for a muzzle. I have no doubt that
all but two people on my flight would agree. (I also found I support
corporal punishment, but for the parent not the child. If the
sentence-speaking toddler wails for more than 5 minutes on a plane, hit the
parents repeatedly until they do something about their child. Share the pain.)

2. It's probably best to not disturb the guy sitting next to you after he
pulls the blanket up over his head like a shroud. Stick with this policy,
even if he doesn't move for 8 hours and might be dead, because: a) you can
nick the brownie off his dinner tray, and; b) if he's dead, he can't spend
the 8 hours telling you about his vacation in Boca Raton.

3. From 33,000 feet on a cloudy day, Europe looks like everywhere else. Even
more so at night.

4. The invention of shot-size energy drinks -- which, at less than 3 ounces,
can go in the quart-size baggie with hotel shampoo and the Visine -- is an
absolute sign of a higher power and intelligent design. (Vendors in many
airports don't stock Red Bull because they're under the thumb of Coke and
Pepsi's evil corporate tyranny. Or so I'm told.)

5. While generalizations about nationalities are best avoided, let's just
say it: Germans must like creamed spinach. During dinner, breakfast and
lunch on two connecting Lufthansa flights, we had salmon, an omelet and
pasta -- all with creamed spinach. It was like a "Mad Men," but with less
steak and no cigarettes.

6. In the A Terminal of Frankfurt's airport, just about the only place to
charge gadgets is (I'm not making this up) inside the Camel Smoking Zones,
glass-sided cubicles about the size of a freight elevator that resemble zoo
exhibits. While charging gadgets is allowed (even for non-smokers,
apparently), it's unclear if you have to only smoke Camels.

7. Culture is a great reminder that it's a small world, but flights are the
best reminder that it's a big world -- especially when a 12-hour flight only
gets you a quarter of the way around. Damn.

8. Forget leading snakes out of Ireland or turning bath water into scotch,
the folks who should be up for sainthood are the flight attendants who
maintain a positive attitude on a 12-hour (or longer) flight. Canonize
Mother Theresa if you like, but the attendants on my flight put up with
stuff that would have King Solomon beating people with a club and, possible,
cutting children in half -- but only if they can form complete sentences.

Posted By: Spud Hilton (San Francisco Chronicle)

On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:24:51 -0800, Peter Lawrence
wrote:

8. Forget leading snakes out of Ireland or turning bath water into scotch,
the folks who should be up for sainthood are the flight attendants who
maintain a positive attitude on a 12-hour (or longer) flight.

Yeah, but they have sleeping quarters hidden away on jumbo planes
like 747s and can nip away for some decent sleep.



--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On 1/20/2010 4:27 PM, Hatunen wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:24:51 -0800, Peter Lawrence
wrote:

8. Forget leading snakes out of Ireland or turning bath water into scotch,
the folks who should be up for sainthood are the flight attendants who
maintain a positive attitude on a 12-hour (or longer) flight.

Yeah, but they have sleeping quarters hidden away on jumbo planes
like 747s and can nip away for some decent sleep.


Or even just take a nip...

Marsha

Peter Lawrence wrote:
From the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/...entry_id=55571

Bad Latitude
Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Transatlantic flight: Is it possible the guy next to me is dead?

Everything I needed to know I learned on a transatlantic flight --
including a few random thoughts while counting the sleepless minutes,
trying to remember the name of the obscure islands between Norway and
Iceland.

1. On a plane, any toddler old enough to make full sentences in between
wailing sobs, is old enough to be fitted for a muzzle. I have no doubt
that all but two people on my flight would agree. (I also found I
support corporal punishment, but for the parent not the child. If the
sentence-speaking toddler wails for more than 5 minutes on a plane, hit
the parents repeatedly until they do something about their child. Share
the pain.)

2. It's probably best to not disturb the guy sitting next to you after
he pulls the blanket up over his head like a shroud. Stick with this
policy, even if he doesn't move for 8 hours and might be dead, because:
a) you can nick the brownie off his dinner tray, and; b) if he's dead,
he can't spend the 8 hours telling you about his vacation in Boca Raton.

3. From 33,000 feet on a cloudy day, Europe looks like everywhere else.
Even more so at night.

4. The invention of shot-size energy drinks -- which, at less than 3
ounces, can go in the quart-size baggie with hotel shampoo and the
Visine -- is an absolute sign of a higher power and intelligent design.
(Vendors in many airports don't stock Red Bull because they're under the
thumb of Coke and Pepsi's evil corporate tyranny. Or so I'm told.)

5. While generalizations about nationalities are best avoided, let's
just say it: Germans must like creamed spinach. During dinner, breakfast
and lunch on two connecting Lufthansa flights, we had salmon, an omelet
and pasta -- all with creamed spinach. It was like a "Mad Men," but with
less steak and no cigarettes.

6. In the A Terminal of Frankfurt's airport, just about the only place
to charge gadgets is (I'm not making this up) inside the Camel Smoking
Zones, glass-sided cubicles about the size of a freight elevator that
resemble zoo exhibits. While charging gadgets is allowed (even for
non-smokers, apparently), it's unclear if you have to only smoke Camels.

Have you looked carefully? The cleaners need power sockets to operate
their machines. You can usually spot someone huddled in a corner on the
floor somewhere with their laptop plugged into the only power socket for
miles. Perhaps the solution is to pack a power strip so that you can
both plug into the same socket.

7. Culture is a great reminder that it's a small world, but flights are
the best reminder that it's a big world -- especially when a 12-hour
flight only gets you a quarter of the way around. Damn.

8. Forget leading snakes out of Ireland or turning bath water into
scotch, the folks who should be up for sainthood are the flight
attendants who maintain a positive attitude on a 12-hour (or longer)
flight. Canonize Mother Theresa if you like, but the attendants on my
flight put up with stuff that would have King Solomon beating people
with a club and, possible, cutting children in half -- but only if they
can form complete sentences.

Posted By: Spud Hilton (San Francisco Chronicle)

Tom P wrote:

Have you looked carefully? The cleaners need power sockets to operate
their machines. You can usually spot someone huddled in a corner on the
floor somewhere with their laptop plugged into the only power socket for
miles. Perhaps the solution is to pack a power strip so that you can
both plug into the same socket.

One thing I've begun carrying with me in my computer bag is a triple tap
and an extension cord for this exact purpose. Often there is a very
limited number of outlets. No one objects to sharing the outlet with the
triple tap, but often it's a little far away so the extension cord helps
(plus it has three outlets as well. You want a triple tap like
"http://www.qsradio.com/Triple%20Tap.JPG" where it's easy to actually
plug in three plugs.

There's a store near me that sells international power strips very
inexpensively as well, which can accept most different kinds of plugs
without any adapters.