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PotD 20241030

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Obligatory Sam Elliot Up In The Air update

The fellow in the seat in front of me hit 1M miles on this trip, and while the pilot in no way resembled Sam Elliot in Up In The Air much to my disappointment, she (which did make me insanely pleased) did come out to give him congratulations, along with the bursar and the lead […]

Airplane Movies 2024 (so far)

As you could tell from Airplane Movies 2023, I spent a lot of time on planes last year. A. Lot. Of. Time. All I’ve got to say about that is that having Black Titanium Card status [1] on United ain’t worth much. Sam Elliott did not come out of the cockpit to give me The […]

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GS

    To my great disappointment, the only acknowledgement was the email. The linked video in the email was not… this:    

Airplane movie reviews September 2023

Wherein I review movies that I’ll watch on an international flight that I would be unlikely watch at home [1]:     Renfield: The perfect role for Nic Cage’s hammy overacting. Maybe this is all of his recent ones. Dunno, generally have a very low tolerance for NC, but a friend recommended. It was okay. […]

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DRL

When they first came out, I thought daytime running lights were stupid. Either turn them on or turn them off. People should be capable of judgement. But they aren’t. Americans anyways [1]. Dawn, cloudy, marine layer, drizzle, and every damn car on the road these days is gray, white, or black [2], and they all […]

Traditional

I keep running into self-designated “trad” [1] climbers at well-known sport crags. They make their disdain of this bastardization of their religion clear [2] but so many of their friends do it, and seem to have fun, they grit their teeth and give it a try. But never let you forget that this isn’t “real” […]

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Sally

I get to drive a lot of different cars. Whatever Hertz has to offer for zillion-mile Gold or whatever my status is called. These are typically nicer in Zurich than they are in Munich. Mercedes, Rover, BMW (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 – no 6 as yet), Audi, Jaguar, vs. Peugeot, Skoda, Citroen, etc. […]

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Jet lag

Everyone has a recipe for getting over jet lag. Food, timing of meals, entraining sleep before leaving [1], not eating on the plane, blah blah blah. And believe me, I have suffered from the jet lag. I have read a shitload of books at 3 am, and faceplanted uncontrollably more than once in the cleanroom […]

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The map is not the territory

I want smarter maps. Maps that work like I use them. Surely these use cases must be true for techbros too, even if they are taking the Apple bus [1]. Directions only if there’s traffic: I know where I’m going. I don’t need directions. Just tell me if I should change my route because of […]

Airplane movie reviews March 2017 Lufthansa

Arrival: Interesting enough movie based on a short story I would have thought unfilmable. Not that I generally think in those terms, but when I first read it years ago, I didn’t think “that’s shooting for a screenplay and an ‘adapted-by’”. Good cast – I always like watching Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams. Why is […]

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Airplane movie reviews, Spring 2016 Swiss

Swiss has gone to the 777 now. The seats are better than the old ones in the A340-300, and contrary to what SeatGuru said beforehand, they are lie-flat, not angle-flat. The seat controls are right where your elbow hits, so they’re always getting bumped by accident. You still want to get the seats at the […]

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What it should have been

You know what the funniest thing about Europe is? If you ask for a gin and tonic, you get a little bit of gin poured over a lot of crushed ice, and a small bottle of tonic water. You get the right proportion of gin-to-tonic exactly one moment; from then on, you’re drinking gin-flavored watered […]

Airplane movie reviews, December-February Swiss

Swiss hasn’t really changed their lineup in three months, so it’s been kinda boring. They seem to have made a deal with the Broccoli family, so they have all 26 James Bond movies, and who really needs to see any of those again? But they do clutter up the lineup and take up all the […]

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Away

I’ve been off climbing in one of my favorite places in the world. I might have some pix – I haven’t uploaded them yet to see, but given that it was pretty cloudy and wet and I was with someone who was completely and actively uninterested in my desire to make art, I didn’t take […]