Fun and Games Dept

So tonight we made it the farthest we’ve ever gone the first night on this trek to Florida. We are in Harrisburg, Pa. for the night. Tomorrow morning we’ll be making our way down US Route 15 into Maryland and finding our way over to Interstate 95, where we will undoubtedly join many others as they head south.

It is 20 degrees warmer than it was at home when we left this afternoon. This has already brightened my mood.

Tomorrow we have 11 hours of driving ahead of us. This keeps my mood bright. I’m looking forward to the drive.

For now, we sleep.

In four hours we will be on our way to a warmer climate. I haven’t started packing yet, but the pet food is in place and Tom has instructions on how to torment the house sitter.

Judging by the weather today, we need to get the hell out of here.

So I read in an online forum today that Sirius/XM is thinking about adding commercials to their political talk station, POTUS. One of the things I like about POTUS is that it doesn’t have ads every 30 minutes, especially since Sirius/XM seems to only be able to sell male enhancement ads and spots for Christian Mingle. (The two might be related). I have always wondered why God needed to run an ad to get Christians to hook up in the biblical sense, or why he even needs the Internet to accomplish his destiny. I mean, he/she is God, after all. I don’t see God as the point and click type.

I hate advertising more and more each day. And I struggle with the fact that as a Sirius/XM subscriber I still have to listen to commercials. I shouldn’t have to pay to listen to commercials, it just seems backwards to me. Well, actually more irritating than backwards. If I wanted to listen to commercials, I’d listen to terrestrial radio.

I understand that the talk show hosts need to take a break to pee and the like once in a while, but there’s no reason that Sirius/XM can’t just run promos during these periods instead of paid ads. The idea of putting ads on a currently ad-free site makes me wonder if Sirius/XM is going to be around in five years. Could they be going belly up? Maybe instead of renewing I should just use the money to beef up my data plan on my phone and just stream music or talk radio that way. My music or talk on my schedule without the ads.

Now that is something to ponder.

I was happy to see that Delta Airlines cared enough about my travel experience that they sent me a survey to complete for them. It was waiting for me in my work email this morning. I filled it out honestly and provided the feedback they were looking for.

Though the cynical side of me thinks that the surveys are for marketing purposes only, after all they just want to convince me to fly their airline more often, there’s part of me that hopes that this is a demonstration of concern for the wellbeing of the airline traveling individual. I know that I enjoyed my Delta experience to Texas and back and that I look forward to flying them again to North Carolina next month. Aside from the GoGo being a NoNo on the longest leg of my flight, the experience was flawless. Some passengers in Detroit tried to make the check-in counter attendant’s life hell, but that’s what passengers in sweat suits and velour do. They make everyone’s life a living hell.

I wonder what folks in Texas would say if they were surveyed about what life is like here in Central New York. I wonder if people in Central New York realise that there is life outside of this area. Everyone seems tuned into their own little world and only take very brief glimpses at anything that could resemble a bigger picture.

Perhaps there should be a survey on what’s in the big picture.

As many men have proclaimed loudly over the years, “Survey says!”. Were there a ding sound, the card would flip over and say, “needs a nap”. And that is what I shall do.

It’s good to be home.

Does anyone know why airline passengers are so defiant when it comes to the “seat belts required” sign? A few moments ago there was a pleasant chime, followed by an announcement, indicating that it was now safe to use portable electronics but that passengers should remain seated with their seat belts fastened as the informational sign was still lit. This is indicative that someone important on the flight deck feels there could be unexpected turbulence ahead. I respect that, I get that and no one has really instructed me in this, I suspect that it falls in the “common sense” category.

The passengers on this flight are jumping up and roaming around the cabin like it’s nobody’s business. With 50 passengers on this flight, the flight attendant (his name is Roy) has a bit of a chore with keeping everyone safe. Why do passengers feel it is appropriate to just do their own thing? Are they too good for rules? Do they know better than the trained and qualified crew on this flight? Have people become so arrogant and ridiculous that they think they know everything?

I don’t know how my friends that are Flight Attendants put up with this sort of behavior. There’s a spiteful side of me that would love to give the passengers a little bit of extra turbulence just to give them something to remember. I wouldn’t do anything drastic; I’d probably bank around a few clouds or something. Maybe something to jiggle the ice in their drinks and demeanor a little bit. I know I’m capable of such a thing, given the right aircraft.

People. Please. If you’re on a flight and you feel you know better than the flight crew, please do your fellow, respectful passengers a favor and when the need to walk around arises and you decide to defy the instructions of the crew, just get out and walk.

The Mississippi River. I think. At least it should be.

Location:Fourche A du Clos Creek,Bloomsdale,United States

So I’m sitting over the wing of an Airbus A320 calling itself Delta flight 408. The emergency exit door is making a creaky noise. Hopefully it isn’t the ejection system. I can still breathe and it’s giving me a little breeze so I’m just fine. I notice the little things. And thankfully, it’s not as breezy as this.

I’m not wearing purple and green, either.

It has been a good week in this adventure called life and I’m happy that work afforded me the opportunity for this trip. I’m ready to get home though. A brief stop in Detroit and then I should be home in time for lunch.

Food is always a good thing.

The wifi on the A320 is working brilliantly and I am happy about this. Someone wretched about a peanut allergy so no peanuts for us today. Sigh. I was in the mood for peanuts. If you’re allergic to peanuts, I’m sorry to hear that, but just don’t breathe my peanut dust. It’s not hard. Take a Benadryl if you’re nervous.

I am resisting the urge to write some code on this flight, primarily because I don’t have a lot of elbow room. Someday I’ll be able to fly first class. By then someone else will probably be writing the code, though.