Not A Mystery
Travel
Wow, So I’m A “Guest”?
I’ve had glimpses of alternate reality before, but this morning’s peek was truly frightening. A spokesman for one of our major airlines referred to their customers as “guests“. All I can say is, I will have whatever he’s having…
It’s All In The Numbers, And They’re Hiding In Plain Sight
When I find something I like, once is never enough. Depending on your point of view this makes me either a connoisseur or incredibly boring. For example, it’s not that hard to locate a great restaurant, but to find yourself at a table you really enjoy is a stroke of luck and therefore something I’m determined … Continue reading
Just In Time For Towel Day, It’s Exoplanets
Today a serious scientific discussion of ‘exo-planets’, but first a quick reminder about Towel Day, which is just around the corner. Towel Day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans. On this day, fans carry a towel with them to demonstrate their appreciation for the … Continue reading
Airlines Will Run Out Of Fees, But Only When Pigs Can Fly
It is entirely possible that Airlines will soon revoke the law of diminishing returns. And I’m not talking about their profits, but instead their ability to come up with new ways to tack on charges. United Airlines has just begun to offer a new ‘service’, which they’ve dubbed Premier Line. Board the airplane sooner and get earlier … Continue reading
Missing Front License Plates, With Just A Tad Of Respectability
The careful observer will have noted that the Bentley we saw in Santa Barbara last week was not sporting a front license plate. Wassup with that? My (protected) sources tell me that this is a (well known) trick used to disguise cars in case they are photographed by a traffic camera. The risk of spending $25 … Continue reading
Supersized Seats, Coming To A Theater Near You
What do theatre owners and airline executives have in common? Nothing. Well, actually they do both provide their services to seated customers, which should imply some sort of similarity. But in practice nothing of the sort. While the airlines constantly shrink their seats and services, theatre owners at least have a different take on customer … Continue reading
Next We’ll Be Streaming The Big Mac Index
Talk about fast news cycles. It’s the Economist’s Big Mac Index for 2010 … again! In a sign of these unusually uncertain times The Economist has speeded up their news cycle, and in the process seems to be taking themselves and their index more seriously. Used to be we’d get annual updates to the index, … Continue reading
NYC Notes: Princes To The Left, Princes To The Right
We left NYC just before our invitations to the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic arrived. Drats. Who would’ve guessed, polo in the midst of the city, with fancy attendees acting out a great scene from Pretty Woman, by stomping-on-the-divots during half time. Plus a plethora of pretty faces, some of them Royal. And perhaps here’s an example … Continue reading
NYC Notes: Finally, A Wall Street Guy You Can Believe In
No trip to NYC would be complete without a Bagel Schmear. When I was a kid growing up in the Bronx, my Dad would take me to what he called “The Bagel Factory” early on Saturday mornings. I was too young to remember where exactly it was, but I do recall the noise of the ‘elevated’ … Continue reading
NYC Notes: It’s Getting Harder And Harder To Do What I’m Told
I always do what I’m told, as long as I can understand what’s expected. Which, during our week in NYC, was easier said than done. For example suppose you are on a NYC subway and have an emergency. What you are expected to do depends on what kind of emergency is in progress. If you stop … Continue reading
NYC Notes: I’m Not A Traveling Tool, Really
Back to our NYC Notes with a few more travel tools, for you traveling tools. Today we will talk restaurants. While I’ve used Zagat, Yelp and Open Table before we got to NYC, I must say that they really shine in a big city with a high density of good restaurants. And when you couple … Continue reading
Not A Mystery 