braintag: Completely useless notes on the flight back from Chicago.

July 25, 2005

Completely useless notes on the flight back from Chicago.

Taxi from O'Hare to Downtown Chicago. Time: 75min. Cost: $39.75
"L" train from Downtown Chicago to O'Hare. Time: 40min. Cost: $1.75
Note to self: examine above info for lesson to be learned.

8.09p We finally got on the 4pm flight at a quarter to 8. We've taxied back only to stop short of the runway. The pilot has shut down one of the engines. This bodes well.

8.20p They've shut down all air traffic east out of O'Hare. Turns out there's a bad thunderstorm. They let one plane through to see if they could "find a hole." Note to pilot: the right choice of words can mean so much to your audience.

8.21p We've just been informed that LaGuardia is closed for construction. We're flying into Newark instead.

8.23p. I don't like most peoples' ringtones.

8.24p Dude: why do you need to use your bluetooth headset here? Why?

8.47p My sidekick gets better GPRS service on the tarmac at O'Hare than it does anywhere else on earth.

8.48p Read Google News. It's official: Larry Brown has left Detroit. Thomas is going to make a $50m play to bring him to the Knicks. Still don't have an overwhelming desire to buy tix this year.

9.15p someone behind me has used the phrase "prior to 9-11" three times in the last five minutes. Someone in front of me has said "post 9-11" twice. I'm about three more away from introducing the both of them to the phrase "post-nosebleed."

9.37p If an airline is in bankruptcy, what is the effectiveness of cutting existing operating costs by decreasing the amount of fresh air pumped into the cabin? I would have thought cutting off the air conditioning would be enough.

9.41p I've officially added United to my list of airlines to avoid, joining American, and ATA. The only airline on my first option list? JetBlue.

9.42p Some advertiser should pull this stunt in the near future: 1) search Technorati for positive blog posts having to do with it's product. 2) Send each of these bloggers a thank you email with a $25 Amazon gift certificate. 3) Make sure one of those bloggers informs boing boing of Kthe good news". Links triple immediately.

10.09p We're still on the tarmac but we're moving. Slowly. There are three planes ahead of us and what looks to at least two dozen behind us, I see a UPS cargo plane behind us in queue.

10.17p I'm going to transcribe the next half hour of random playback off of the iPod. I'm in hour five of the O'Harrrowing O'Rdeal O'f O'Hare. I hope the batteries don't give out on me.

"A Year In A Minute" Fennesz - Endless Summer
"I Ain't No Joke" Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full
"Try A Little Tenderness" Otis Redding
"Snow" E*Vax - Parking Lot Music
"You Haven't Done Nothing" Stevie Wonder
"Let's Move" The Foreign Exchange - Connected
"Summer Clip" Casino Versus Japan - Whole Numbers play
"Susie-Q" Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Come Beta" Destra - Laventille
"Fix You" Coldplay - X&Y
"Method Man" Wu Tang Clan
"Eden 1" Tortoise Standards
"Off Minor" Thelonious Monk
"Baile Funk One" M.I.A./Diplo Piracy Funds Terrorism
"Rhiannon" Fleetwood Mac
"coming in for a landing, we're home" Wilfred Castillo (on that note, I'll stop.)

11.00p I need to get a sink catcher for my kitchen sink.

11.05p Guy in front of me has a Thinkpad T41. Each time they say we're about to take off, he puts it into "Hibernate" mode. No news here.

11.09p After our third trip around the tarmac in queue someone says, "What is this, NASCAR?" We all laugh. He's going to go home and tell his wife that he made a funny. I just know it.

11.17p What if all citizen journalism sites end up being just like this post -- a bunch of people posting complete non-stories? How will people react when the event that they think is "breaking news" is seen as but a blip to the editors? How much have the citizen journalism folks learned from indymedia? Have they even bothered to study the processes at existing community journalism sites? Will the citizen journalism world be made up of just out-of-work stringers looking to bolster their portfolios?

11.22p People don't use blinkers when driving in NYC b/c it gives away their strategic advantage.

1.42a We land in Newark. I call Tricia. According to the United website, it says we just landed... at JFK.

Posted by yatta at July 25, 2005 3:00 PM

Comments

Haha, great.

Posted by: Wilfred Castillo at July 28, 2005 3:22 PM