You're on an airplane. You whip out your laptop to catch up on some work, to watch a movie, or to try out some of that new inflight WiFi. Of course, the second you pull out your computer, you begin doing some math in your head...

"This is a five-hour flight. My laptop battery is at 85%. That means I have about two-and-a-half hours of juice. So if I start using it now, I'll be out of power somewhere over Omaha, at which point I'll be stuck watching the last third of The Time ...

In the comments to a recent post about food (in which I wax philosophical about chili coconut shrimp), Mike and kd5mdk engaged me in a lively (7 comments long!) discussion about steak on domestic airplanes.

My position is that steak on domestic planes is disgusting. It's overcooked, difficult to eat with the not-sharp-enough knife they give you, and is never a decent cut of meat. For all those reasons, the meat tastes crappy and results in an unpleasant eating experience.

Mike ...

I'm on the tail end (sitting in the Admirals Club on the way home) of a long eight-day business trip to Stamford, CT, New Rochelle, NY, and Toronto, ON. So forgive me for the lack of timeliness on this post...

I left LAX on October 31, which happened to be Halloween. Before I go any further, I should provide full disclosure and tell you about my bias. I think Halloween is a stupid holiday. It has no real purpose, and is especially stupid when celebrated by adults. If ...

Earlier this year I nearly lost all my American Airlines miles due to account inactivity. With AA, your miles expire after 18 months of dormancy and to reinstate them, AA charges $50 for every 5,000 miles plus a 7.5% tax and a $30 fee. I avoided losing my miles by subscribing to the Wall Street Journal. Had I not had the impluse to check my account, I would have lost the miles.

That got me thinking about my other accounts that I rarely use--such as Starwood, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, ...

I'm sitting on an airplane right now, AA flt. 21 JFK-LAX.

Apparently it's very windy in Los Angeles right now, and my wife (thanks, a lot, my dear) just sent me this article from the LA Times:

Strong winds this evening forced one flight heading to Los Angeles International Airport to be diverted to another airfield,  said Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. He said the winds, gusting up to 35 knots, forced two other flights to use ...

I have eaten
the chili coconut shrimp
that were in
the service cart

and which
you were probably
saving
for the guy sitting next to me

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so spicy

(apologies to WC Williams)