Posts by Bart Janssen
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Southerly: Getting There is Half the Fun, in reply to Danielle,
LAX is particularly bad
I almost get the feeling that LAX prides itself on being the most unfriendly airport in the US. It's weird but nowhere in the US have I found the same combination of ugly hostile buildings with staff that will do anything to make themselves less helpful than they could be.
I get that working in an airport has got to be a not fun job, but LAX seems to be better than anywhere at passing that work experience on to the customers.
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Southerly: Getting There is Half the Fun, in reply to Hilary Stace,
while the parents are several rows ahead
snort ... and you thought that was an accident
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Southerly: Getting There is Half the Fun, in reply to slarty,
go via SIN
+1
Everything about Singapore airlines and the hub at SIN is worth the extra money, especially if you are larger than the size other airlines decide is sufficient* for seat spacing.
*sufficient meaning unlikely to result in class action suits for inhumane treatment of animals
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On slightly practical note - a while ago I splashed out and bought Bose noise cancellation headphones - in the US because the NZ Bose agents seem to think doubling the price is just fine.
The difference in how I feel after a flight with or without the headphones is amazing. I find the constant loud drone (eliminated by the headphones) seems to tire me out completely out of proportion to the actual duration of the flight.
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Southerly: Getting There is Half the Fun, in reply to Jen Hay,
A longer stopover somewhere would’ve required an earlier departure, and would’ve thus required us to miss an important Pirate Party. As it was, the timing was perfect. Because hosting a band of 6 year old pirates in the rain was a ideal pre-departure activity, and prepared the house beautifully – ready for handover to our lovely housesitters.
Ah I see now - well that makes perfect sense - completely logical - besides how bad could it be?
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I do have to ask, you and Jen are both intelligent, you've both heard other peoples travel stories, what made you think 55 hours non-stop was feasible?
What made you consider experiencing that zombie like state when after 12 hours in a noisy cramped bus you have have to straight faced answer the world stupidest questions from men and women wearing uniforms who can and will make you life more miserable than it already is?
What made you want to experience the the deliberately confusing morass of flight information and airport information maps using a brain that had decided 3 hours ago to just go to sleep and leave your body to move around on it's own with no functional guidance?
Really all that AND wrangle children?
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Southerly: Getting There is Half the Fun, in reply to Paul Campbell,
I’d never ever get annoyed about other people’s kids on planes
You a better human than I. After 10 hours on a plane I struggle to let bureaucracy/security/queues just wash over me. My limit is children, at other times I can just be a grumpy old man about children, but after a 10 hour flight I start dreaming of evil scientific devices that automatically silence voices over a certain volume/pitch.
I also feel a kind of admiration for people who continue to breed after experiencing a toddler meltdown.
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Southerly: Getting There is Half the Fun, in reply to David Haywood,
I’m not a vegetarian
Huh? When did that change? Was it Bob deciding burnt meat was good?
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Southerly: Now I Am Permitted, in reply to Hebe,
I blame the ubiquitous MBA
I read a realy interesting study about MBAs. It looked at cohorts of Harvard MBAs, to be fair not an average sample. Basically it examined the success or otherwise of the graduates. What became rapidly apparent was that the success came not from the course content or the actual grades in the course, but rather from the network that formed amongst the group that graduated together. They became a tight knit network that went on to access each others skills and support each later in their careers regardless of the business in which they were employed. Those with the strongest networks were often the most successful.
Two things struck me about this study. First, it showed the value of small classes, even in university, these were classes of around 30-40 not 300-400.
Second, if you get an MBA by correspondance classes you miss out almost entirely on the value of the degree because it was the network that mattered not the content or grades.
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Southerly: Now I Am Permitted, in reply to BenWilson,
And we’re across the issue
I’ve always been confused by the imagery of that phrase
I've always imagined a group of while middle aged men in suits spawled over a boardroom table covered in documents. Somewhat like a centrefold pose but less pleasant.