I’ve now flown Air Canada both domestically and overseas. For some reason, their domestic planes have an on demand entertainment system yet their international planes which actually really need them, lack them. Instead, their screens literally carpeted over with seat material instead. Bizarre? Yes, not to mention what a taunt.
Making Sense
Is it me, or does everyone also struggle to find the right coin combination for exact change, with the usual result a quick draw from the wallet to find a note for payment instead?
Strangely I don’t have any problems with money from the US, yet when I find myself in front of a cashier, the hunt for Canadian quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies is a stressful event. Like the US, it also doesn’t help that tax is also added at the cashier, making any prior preparation a fruitless endeavour.
I’m sure that by the time I leave, I’ll have worked out the system. Until then, it’ll be a handful of change and a cheeky smile to tide me over.
Flights
I’m normally exceptionally tolerant of flying, especially of very long distances. I stock up on books, watch a couple of movies and listen to lots of music. Coupled with the meals, walking around, a bit of sleep and the trip, regardless of how long it is, seems to go by pretty quickly. I found out that having decent passengers sharing the same block of seats makes a huge difference, and as a result, my flight to Calgary had to be one of the worst ever.
I had the window seat and the misfortune of sitting next to one of the least respectful passengers I’ve ever flown with. Firstly, he smelt real bad to the point where I wanted to offer him some deoderant. Secondly, he was extremely wide, often invading what little space I already had. He was so big that his belly touched the table when it folded down and constantly squirmed at different angles to sit comfortably. The final straw was how he took it upon himself to use both arm rests to their fullest, and this will sound childish, crossing over into my chair space. Without knowing it, twice he changed my video channel (it was definitely on the wrong armrest), and once, triggered the attendant call.
Let’s just say that I was one happy bloke to get off into the fresh Calgary air.
Worst Long Haul Flight Ever
Although a trip to the West Coast of the States isn’t as bad as it can be flying home to Australia from the UK, it’s amazing how little things can make the trip a lot more painful. How’s this sound for a not-very-ideal trip:
- An hour by train
- Two hours at the Gatwick airport
- A ten and a half hour flight into Dallas
- Two hours standing in queue to get through immigration
- You miss your connecting flight to Vegas by ten minutes
- Another two hour wait in the airport for the next flight
- Another three hour flight to Las Vegas
- A half hour waiting for luggage only to discover it never made it on your flight
My only consolation was that my hotel had only one room left by the time I got there and it just so happened it was a Jacuzzi suite (click more to see the picture) Read more “Worst Long Haul Flight Ever”
It’s Only Been Just One Week On Holidays
I’ve been away for a week of skiing in Andorra and I’ve just spent the last hour or two fishing through the 120 built up emails in my gmail box, deleted the 150 or so spam emails in my work one, and then filtered another 200 or so work ones to determine which ones are worth catching up on. I haven’t even had a chance to hit my regular must read blogs, let alone catching up on my own entries. More to come though…
New York Subways
One big difference I’ve noticed since coming to New York after living in London is how upfront people asking for money are. In one day alone I think I had about five different groups of people go through my subway car asking for money. Some of the more memorable ones since being here include:
- A Mexican guy that played his guitar who never spoke a word of English, singing in Spanish, tipping his hat as a suggestion and saying thank you in Spanish.
- A group of young kids (12 or 13 years old) who went outright and admitted they were trying to make money for themselves accepting donations and selling Starburst lollies (or candies as they say here)
- A guy who had had his legs amputated sitting in a wheelchair who moved down a carriage at a time at each subway stop asking for donations.
- A normal homeless guy rattling his cup as he walks through all the carriages.
- Another homeless guy asking for anything (food, clothing or money to spare) using a story that he just had an operation on his leg.
A Great Install Option
I really like the language choice given to me!
It’s Pays to Really Check
Or rather, you don’t have to pay (or something like that).
This weekend I booked a cheap flight with E@syj3t (no linking for your today!), one of those discount airline. Admittedly I was in a hurry and I thought I got a real bargain until I got two emails from them – one for the flight and one for the insurance! Though I checked my flight details very carefully as I don’t want to fly out of the wrong airport or dates and times, I had neglected to notice they had added insurance by default and I had to remove it. Very sneaky indeed.
Although I paid only £8 of insurance, I already have travel insurance and it added another 20% to the total cost!