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Garbage Airline Safety?

I recently took a transcontinental flight on Continental/United, and overall the flight was a great experience – awesome seat with nobody in the middle seat next to me to spill over into my space, only a slight delay, and a smooth ride.

Airline Safety

One of the apparent many uses for the plane exit door at 30,000 feet.

However, one thing that caught me off guard, was how the safety apparatuses were used as “helpers” for garbage collection.  Take a look at the picture, and realize that the emergency door handles were used to hold garbage and garbage bags.  Also, understand that it was that way for the majority of the flight, and that both the airline attendants and passengers would go up, and put garbage in these bags.

I would think that United or Continental or UnitedContinental or ContinentalUnited would want to keep that area free and clear in case of an emergency.  Moreover, I would imagine that they would not want people playing around with the exit doors at 30,000 feet.  But then again, maybe they don’t care, I mean if it was that important, they would make sure that the airline attendants understand the importance of maintaining a safe evacuation area.

Just one of my many airport/travel observations, but certainly not very reassuring.

Quick Thoughts…Terminator and CD Inventor

A couple of quick thoughts about this weekend, in addition to wishing everyone a Happy Easter…

1.  According to The Terminator – Skynet became self-aware on April 19th, 2011.  How time flies, but interesting that the Playstation Network and Amazon’s cloud computing services went offline around this date.

 

 

 

2.  Norio Ogha – The man who worked at Sony and invented the CD has died.  Just think about how this man changed society – from how we listen to music to how we store data (remember the 3.5″ diskettes could only hold about 1.4MB).  It’s sad when people don’t appreciate genius, but instead appreciate the genius of people like Khloe Kardashian! 

The Airport – A Microcosm of Life

Well I’m at SFO now and it reminds me of what I like about the airport, in fact it reminded me of the only thing I like about the airport.

At the airport you see every emotion possible. I mean you see happiness when people arrive and families are reunited, you see sadness when people leave, and grumpy businessmen traveling to Cincinnati.

If you really think about it, it’s impossible to come to the airport and NOT feel any emotion, even if it’s just anxiousness or excitement about a final destination.

And isn’t that what life is about – emotion. Aside from the frustration I feel about going through security, and long cross continental flights, generally I did the airport vibe. Plus you meet interesting people at the bar, if you are so inclined to start up a conversation or entertain one.

Now lets pray I dont get a middle seat!!

Coffee Competition: The Roastery

The next contestant is The Roastery on New Montgomery.  I’ve been here before, and generally like the place.  It’s down the street the from the Starbucks I previously reviewed, but it’s not a mega-chain, and they serve Cafe Trieste coffee.  Generally, I like my coffee shops to have a little more character, and be a little less “sanitized” by a big corporation.

I ordered my coffee at around 11am today, as usual a large black coffee, but ordered a chocolate croissant as well.  The barista didn’t ask if I wanted to leave room for milk, which would have been nice, but whatever I still received my coffee.

I took a seat by the window, in a comfortable chair, but accompanied by a rickety table.  It’s such a pain to have an open coffee, a laptop, and a rickety table!  Needless to say, I discovered the rickety-ness aspect the hard way, as I leaned over to type on my laptop.  POOF!  the coffee, filled to the brim, managed a bit of acrobatics and listed  to the side like a boat, and spilled some precious coffee on the table – centimeters away from my laptop.  Unlike the government’s response to the BP spill in the Gulf, I quickly managed to contain the spill, and saved the day.  For the rest of my time at The Roastery, I perched my foot on the leg of the table to prevent other accidents.  Onto the coffee…

I found the coffee to be quite good.  It had the right temperature, the right flavor, and the right aftertaste.  All in all a good cup of joe.  You won’t be disappointed in the coffee if you come to The Roastery.

You won’t be disappointed with the vibe either, if you make the trek there for a cup of coffee.  The shop is located directly in front of the Academy of Arts, meaning you get a lot of artistic types.  Even the people who work there, seem to work at the academy. 

What you will be disappointed in is the fact that the staff does not do a good job cleaning tables after people leave, or cleaning the fixin’s station, which are a mess.  You really have to be a scout for a good table, and even then bring some extra napkins to make the table somewhat clean. 

You will also be disappointed in the WiFi access, which is a HUGE miss.  I love me some WiFi, and when I can’t get it, especially at a coffee shop, it’s a disappointment.  I mean, a coffee shop should get several things right – coffee, music, atmosphere, and WiFi.  A miss on either of those four items, and you are not doing the basics right. 

On a scale of 1-10 of nerdiness (as it relates to computers), I give myself a 9, and I kept getting kicked off the network, even with the right password, and even after doing a whole host of advanced manuevers and configurations to stay on.  It’s totally annoying to have access for 3-4 minutes, only to lose access.  Try sending a coherent email or surf the web in 3-4 minute spurts – a total pain in the butt. 

For that, I can recommend the coffee (and the pastries), but cannot recommending spending any amount of time at The Roastery.  I would love to support them over Starbucks, but given Starbucks, fast reliable WiFi access, I cannot see why you would want to spend time in the shop.

Grades:

Coffee: B+ [Generally satisfying, better than Starbucks.]

Service: C [Service at the counter was great, but when you get to your table, want to put sugar in your coffee, or use the WiFi, you will see the service fall flat].

Atmosphere: B [I like the atmosphere of this location.  They have a communal piano and guitar for crying out loud, and the people who both frequent this location and who work there, seem to define their own style.  However, I give a demerit for the intermittent internet access in this category as well.]

Price: $4.95 (with awesome chocolate croissant)

Speaking of McNuggets – They are made of pink goo…

I will never eat another McNugget…not after learning they are made from pink goo…

This is mechanically separated chicken. Chickens are turned into this goop so we can create delicious chicken nuggets and juicy chicken patties.  Apparently there’s more…”because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.”

Here is the link to the article which explains more – Article

Imagine how the other fast food stuff is made!! Sorry Ronald, but you have to do better….

The TSA Sucks

…well at least the majority in my opinion, especially the so-called leadership.

Let me explain.   On January 5th, a guy went to kiss his girlfriend goodbye, but did so in a “passengers only” section of the airport.  The TSA agent who was supposed to watching that section, was off dilly-dadlying, and the guy snuck in.

The closed the airport down for 6 hours, resulting in canceled flights, etc. (I just made it out on the last plane before it was shut down).

The TSA agent, was put under leave for administrative review – but he still got paid – for 2 months!  That means he/she sat at home or was on vacation or was working another job for 2 months, with pay.  Was he/she fired?  No, he/she got her job back.

The guy who went to kiss his girlfriend goodbye, got 100 hours of community service, a $500 fine, and had to pay $158 in court fees.  Again, the TSA agent got 2 months of paid vacation!!!

I am platinum status on almost every airline, and travel more than anyone should, and I have seen my fair amount of TSA screeners, checkers, fools.  80% of them couldn’t even catch me in a race.  The majority have no idea of whats going on – at all.  The rest are probably good, but they are probably so diluted by the idiocy of the others, that they go unnoticed.  The TSA Sucks.

Here is the story.