Long times away and long travels

I have been traveling and sick recently (those are unrelated I am pretty sure).  I have to say 4 hours on a plane is getting pretty painful.  I did find someone to talk to on the way back.  He was studying C++ on the plane and I asked him why he was learning that (C++ is way more painful than Java for object oriented programming and C is way better for learning the internals of a computer).  So I got to talk to him for quite a while.  He is looking for a job as a quant after spending the last 5 years teaching as an assistant professor in math.  It was an interesting conversation, made me remember how good of a job I actually have most days.

I had a couple of interesting experiences while doing my usual green commute back home.  On the light rail (which is brand-new BTW) I watch 3 girls get on who had the biggest potty mouths and the poorest grasp of the english language I have seen in a long time.  We are talking bad language.  I can remember being that age and having  the same pointless conversations about who did what to whom and whose cousin could help in a fight (for reference none of my cousins could help).  But this made me feel really old.  All I could think was how uneducated they sounded and how much they will be disadvantaged in life.  Additionally, they had poor attitudes.  One girl was picking the decals off the window for the train.  The older lady behind them asked them not to do that because her tax dollars paid for that and someone would have to replace it.  Then I heard a conversation I could not believe where these young girls just dismissed and insulted this lady.  Incredible, their parents should get out the spanking paddle for this conversation.  The girl continued to do it insisting that the lady couldn't tell her what to do.  Then the lady mentioned something about her tax dollars paying for their education and the girls were like 'no, my mom pays'.  It was obvious the girls did not go to any private school because no private school would ever let their children act like that.  It was pretty amazing how disjoint from reality their perceptions of the world are.  Even if they went to a private school the state still sends tax payer dollars their way for a wealth of programs (that aren't helping these girls obviously).  It was just amazing, I really want to do something.  I know older people always complain about the younger generation but this was quite incredible.  These girls, if they continue on their course, will never amount to anything, no one with the attitude and language that they showed could ever go anywhere.  It just made me feel very old and sad for them.

Then when I was walking around downtown there was this kid on a skateboard who almost ran into me while he was trying to run a red walk signal (for reference he was completely wrong to even try).  To which I was of course at fault and he called me a 'fucking idiot'.  A completely ridiculous statement.  I wasn't the asshole who fell off my skateboard nor the idiot who thought I had the right of way when I didn't.

It was just a couple of incidents that made me feel old because I was complaining about the younger people, sad because I had acted similar though to a significantly smaller extent in my youth, and angry that these kids are acting this way.  The future is going to be full of a few smart people and a lot of dumb people and unfortunately the difference will be larger than it is today and these kids I saw will be on the wrong side of that with a high probability.  Just sad, parents should raise their kids better.

Island of Solitude

I love surfing the travel sites, knowing that I will never see many of these places unless I win the lotto.  (Come on 1-2-3-4-5-6-(7) make me rich.)  So I came across a really neat page which is the remotest islands you can get to and what is there.  So awesome.  Wish I didn't have to work so I could just explore this world while I am still young and could enjoy it.

Here is the slide show.

One carry-on please

So I am flying a lot in the next two weeks.  It is really easy to criticize airplane travel.  Airlines never seem to care, people are rude, I will probably be stuck in a middle seat which will suck major ass.  (My company didn't book the flights nor tell me until late on Friday.)  One of my biggest pet peeves is people's carry-ons.  No one ever carries on the appropriate amount onto flights.  I can remember flying back from Las Vegas and watching a couple put 5 bags in the overhead.  They were not like purses we are talking carry-ons, and they didn't even fit.

So I can actually understand Charles Schumer.  He wants to prevent airlines from charging for carry-ons.  I don't want to pay either (though I want people to follow the rules which they never do).  Recently I heard that representatives would like congress to enforce the carry-on policies of the airlines.

Well here is my take.  I don't fly airlines that charge baggage fees unless I have to and usually someone else is paying in that case (and reimbursing me for the charges).  However I would fly an airline that charged for carry-on luggage if the ticket was significantly cheaper than other airlines.  Here is the thing, if airlines would like to distinguish themselves by only having you pay for what you need then I say go for it.  If Spirit Airlines wants to charge 45$ for a carry-on but lower the ticket price by $40 then that is fine.  I am sure there are people who don't fly with carry-ons that would like a cheaper ticket.  Only pay for what you use, I like that.  I think the biggest problem is that most people think everything should be free.  Is this possible, no.  You don't have to fly one airline you can fly any of them so choose the ones you support instead of the ones you don't.  Southwest is doing well because of exactly this.  I don't think I should have to subsidize other people's perks while flying.  Paying for carry-ons actually make sense in this respect (however the airline should reduce the cost of the base ticket which they never do but that is the post for another day).  Also I feel like ticket prices quoted should always reflect all fees and surcharges.  I mean it isn't like I can buy the ticket without paying those fees.

Also, congressmen stop flapping your pie holes about fairness.  Government has no place in this discussion besides to make sure all of the fees are disclosed at purchase time and easily readable.  Even then the reasons are dicey because people could just not fly airlines with hidden fees.  However I will allow the government to step in and make sure the fees are disclosed.