If you thought that airline seats and flying in general couldn’t get more uncomfortable, especially on a discount airline or in coach, the Cranky Flier blog along with the Telegraph have recently noted the latest airline industry’s innovation: Saddle seats for high density seating arrangements. Just be sure you are only of average height should you decide to book one of these seats!
A transmission worker/climber's view of going up a 1,768 foot transmission tower for repair work.
Airline Blogger has recently noted an interesting story about Lucie R, a 47-year old Air France flight attendant who has been dubbed the “Mile High Pickpocket.” Apparently, Lucie R is facing ten years in prison after she admitted stealing from business class passengers as they slept on long-haul flights – usually from France to far east countries. You can read more about Lucie in the Daily Mail or on Mizozo.com.
An almost invisible tree house (the Mirrorcube) has been by Tham & Videgard as one of six units in a "Treehotel" that was recently opened 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Sweden. You can read or see more pictures about the tree house here or book a night in it here.
David Parker Brown has noted on his Airline Reporter blog that should you be traveling to the land down under, you should expect an additional question from customes:
“Do you have any firearms? Any illegal drugs? Carrying any items for someone else?” These are all questions that if asked while flying, wouldn’t make you think twice. How about “do you have any porn in your bags? Yes? Well we need to view it” That would make me do a second take.
Apparently, Customs in Australia started asking the question in September 2009. Hence and when filling our your Passenger Card, you are asked if you are carrying any pornography. And if you say yes, then your porn will likely need to be viewed by a customs bureaucrat. Only in Australia I suppose!
A couple who wanted to enter the Scarborough UK housing market decided to purchase a public restroom and convert it into their dream house. Not a bad idea considering they purchased the home for only 15,000 pounds! You can watch the video here or on Yahoo.
The AirlineReporter blog has recently done an interesting five part series that follows flight attendant trainees with Air Tran. After reading the series, you might be surprised to learn just how complex flight attendant training is, even with Air Tran, and earn a new respect for flight attendants.
A recent Associated Press article (“Rampant cheating hurts China's research ambitions”) has noted how plagiarizing and faking results has become so rampant in Chinese academia that some now worry it could hinder China's efforts to become a global leader in science - although it should be pointed out that “plagiarizing” and “fakes” have not hindered China’s ability to become a manufacturing powerhouse. The article is well worth a quick read.
Forbes.com has recently profiled the world’s most unusual tree houses. However, these are not your typical backyard tree houses but “a new generation of luxury tree houses is elevating the dream, with designs and prices no sidewalk lemonade stand could finance.” The article also includes a slideshow of tree houses.
The AirlineReporter blog has reported an unusual incident where a passenger on Qantas flight QF31 from Sydney to Singapore, who appeared to be drunk or high on drugs, thought he could crash the plane using his mind. Taking no chances, flight attendants cuffed the man’s arms and legs for the rest of the flight to Singapore where he was met by police.
The Airliner Blog has recently noted an odd story of a sleeping passenger who woke up in the aircraft hanger 90 minutes after the plane had landed! Apparently, the “heavy sleeping” passenger was in the backseat and no one noticed he was still there after all the other passengers disembarked (a hangar mechanic found him). You can read more about the incident on the Airliner Blog. Mizozo.com or in the Montreal Gazette.
If you plan to visit Dubai soon, it would be a good idea to know what the rules are for public behavior there. Hence, a recent Christian Science Monitor article entitled: “In Dubai, public kissing can land you in jail” - is well worth reading along with an additional article (“What are the rules for public behavior in Dubai?”) that covers public etiquette. In other words, when in Dubai, do as the Dubaians would.
Breitbart.tv recently posted an interesting video entitled: “Off-the-Hook Hypocrisy: Rep. Waters Used to Love ‘Vulgar’ & ‘Outlandish’ Protest Rallies” Now, if only tea party rallies could get this exciting!
If you think airline travel has gotten bad, read The Lunatic Express by Carl Hoffman. According to a Wall Street Journal book review about the book (“Planes, Trains And Miseries: Planes, The hugger-mugger squalor endured by the planet's traveling billions"), Hoffman will show you what travel is like for the Planet’s poor:
“…which means the vast majority of humanity—the simple business of getting from place to place is almost invariably a savage and insufferable nightmare, unsafe and unsanitary, run by incompetents and regulated by crooks.”
After reading the book, you will never again complain about Amtrak or budget airlines!
In case you found that much of Australia is still in a 1980s time warp, a recent article in the Asia Wall Street Journal ('I Am Big in Australia') will confirm your suspicions as it noted an interesting phenomena of stars long past their prime who are still big in the land down under. These stars include Whitney Houston, Leo Sayer, Deep Purple and the list goes on and on…. So in case you missed the 1980s or simply can’t get enough 80s music, go to the land down under!
The Asian Wall Street Journal recently had an interesting article (“A Banker Wades Into New Markets by Floating Loans From a Boat”) about a banker who floats loans from a boat that plies the Amazon River. However, I think we can assume that the only bailout this banker may need would be to occasionally bail water! The article is definitely an interesting read.
Talk about unfriendly competition, the Airline Reporter blog is reporting that when Norwegian Air Shuttle offered US$.19 fares to celebrate a new route between Copenhagen and Karup, the employees of Danish airline Cimber Sterling bought more than 650 tickets with one employee purchasing 458 tickets and two board members purchasing 18. The CEO of Cimber Sterling later called the CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle to apologize... 
Livescience.com has noted that the recent and massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile has moved the city of Concepción at least 10 feet (3 meters) to the west. It even shifted other parts of South America and was rated as the fifth most powerful quake ever measured. Luckily, total fatalities were only in the 500 person range.
Slate magazine has recently published an interesting article (“The Big Red Word vs. the Little Green Man”) about exit signs and sign standardization in general. While Americans prefer an EXIT sign in red, many other countries use some version of the ISO standard – that is, a “running man.” Hence and due to the fact that the sign is a pictogram and it's green (the color of safety), it can be understood by everyone – including non-English speakers. You can read more about the history of the EXIT sign on Slate.
The Airline Reporter blog has recently noted a story of a lawyer who was flying from Houston to Las Vegas back and had gone to the food court in Terminal C where he accidentally left his US$800 black leather jacket (which someone naturally ended up stealing). Apparently this is the fault of the city of Houston, Continental Airlines and the food court and hence, one or all of these parties should pay for the lawyer to get a new coat. No word on the outcome of the case or cases.
Popular Mechanics magazine has recently featured eighteen of the world’s strangest airports. As the magazine noted, there are many challenges to building an airport as there are often few places to build that are ideal. Moreover, they must ensure what they build is as safe as possible in a variety of situations. Hence, Popular Mechanics survey of airports includes those that range from being dangerous to just plain unique and hence is well worth a quick read.
The Airline Biz blog has recently noted that Endless Vacation Rentals, a Wyndham Worldwide unit, is in the final stage of its Laugh Out Loud Vacation Contest and has already put the stories of 25 finalists up on its web site.
EVR will be awarding a week's vacation and US$5,000 cash to the grand prize winners with the first place winner getting a week and US$2,000 and the second place winner will get a week and US$1,000. Winners will be announced during the week of April 19.
Japan is a country known for having women only trains, but now All Nippon Airways (ANA) has introduced women-only lavatories. According to the Airline Reporter blog along with other blogs, women-only lavatories are now available on ANA’s international planes, except the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320, and they have a pink logo on their doors…
![ana_thumb[2]](http://hemingwayneveratehere.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/ana_thumb2.png "ana_thumb[2]")
The Rocketboom Institute for Internet Studies explains the phenomenon of Om Nom Nom!
Back in February, the Christian Science Monitor reported that former Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney had asked a passenger in front of him to to raise his seat back before take-off and ended up getting swung at.
In a follow-up story, the Christian Science Monitor reported on some options for passengers – including knee defenders which are shown in this video:
With nearly 10% official unemployment, the Wall Street Journal has reported that President Obama plans to help put a dent in this figure by hiring an official Twitterer. Apparently, they are looking for someone who is available immediately – which should not be a problem in today’s job market. For interested applicants, the online application can be found here.
