Smalltalk with James Robertson

Leaving Seattle and sitting on my flight, a few random thoughts popped up. I

t's nice that the new 737s American has have standard 110V power plugs - but did they have to be so hard to plug into from your seat when the seatbelt sign is lit?

Out jogging yesterday, the scar that is the interstate running through the heart of Seattle really struck me. It cuts the city clean in half, making areas that were formerly easy to walk in a long trip. Seems to me they should have tunneled, or just gone with a beltway.

I saw a brief tweet from Mathew Ingram just before we left - apparently, the new paywall the NY Times is building won't apply to any readers coming in from outside links (like from blogs, or, presumably, aggregators like Google News). So... the purpose is, what, exactly? To punish loyal readers who don't subscribe?

When is going to occur to the TSA that the huge waiting lines they create with the security theater screening process is itself a security problem? Will we have to wait for a someone with a strap on bomb to show up at a crowded airport for them to figure this out?

... I must be delayed. I haven't been on a plane since I returned from ESUG, and the first flight (BWI to Chicago) went off without a hitch. Now, however, I'm sitting in a lounge at ORD with a mechanical delay - which translates to "some random interval of time before you go, and possibly never".

Looks like I'll miss dinner with the crew in Seattle :/

My cab will be here to pick me up in a few minutes, and then it's off to Seattle. You can find out where I'll be in the next few weeks and months with the handy "Where in the World" link over in the sidebar. See you in Seattle!

Spotted in Engadget

Now, a very few of those lines are getting even more appealing with Amtrak announcing that Acela lines between Boston, New York, and Washington will be receiving WiFi upgrades in March. That the service will be free is great news -- that the word "initially" is inserted before the word "free" isn't so very great

So the next time I have to head to NYC, it looks like I'll be able to stay online. Cool!

I hadn't thought of this, but it makes a lot of sense:

As for not having luggage, many people (including me) ship it via Fedex ahead of time. [More...] United Airlines has an easy feature on their website where for $79., Fedex will come to your house or office, pick up your suitcase and deliver it to your hotel or other place in the destination city. Considering the airlines charge $25.00 or more to check the bag, and the requirement that you have to check it 45 minutes ahead of departure, the extra $50 is well worth it.

I try hard not to have to check anything, but some people have issues carrying heavy things - like, say, a person with knee or hip trouble. I can see it being well worth the time of someone with minor health issues to just ship everything to their destination.

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