Good morning Happy 75th birthday to the Golden Gate Bridge, which opened in May 1937. It has become one of the world’s most instantly recognizable bridges, and is approaching its two billionth vehicle crossing sometime very soon. Although having the longest span in the world when built, it lost that title in 1964 to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, and nowadays is the ninth longest suspension bridge, with a 4,200 ft main span length. The longest [...]
Good morning I had another burst of intense self doubt earlier this week. Are airlines really as stupid as I say they are? Or am I missing something so thunderingly obvious as to imply I’m even more stupid than I suggest the airlines sometimes are? This was triggered by the confirmation that Delta is indeed buying an oil refinery, and was underscored by the near unanimous chorus of approval by the usual talking head commentators [...]
We wrote a month ago about Delta being rumored to buy a closed down loss making oil refinery in the Philadelphia area. Although we had no exact data on the claimed benefits to Delta or clear reasons why it might consider such a strange diversification, we were still able to reach a clear conclusion – it would make no sense at all for Delta to buy the refinery. The rumors have now been proven true, [...]
Good morning ‘Waste not, want not’ has been my motto for a long time now. It is amazing how many experiences can become Travel Insider articles – it seems a shame to waste an interesting or learning experience so I try to write about them whenever possible. Our feature article this week about in-car emergency kits arises from one such experience a week or so ago. Hopefully after reading the article you’ll be spared the [...]
Good morning Happy 60th birthday this week to the illustrious Boeing B-52, still operational as a heavy bomber, sixty years after it first took to the skies on 15 April, 1952. 744 of the planes were built, including 102 of the final B52-H model, of which 85 are still in active duty and another nine are in the Air Force Reserve. Current projections suggest the planes will continue in service until perhaps 2040. The plane [...]
Good morning I was excited to read about JK Rowling’s next book, ‘The Casual Vacancy’, being released in September – especially because it is a book for adults. But upon going to the information on Amazon, I saw that the book, with a recommended retail price of $35, is currently showing a street price of $21 for the hardcover book and $20 for the eBook. Furthermore, the $21 hardcover price is ‘only’ a 40% discount [...]
Okay, so we all know that airlines burn a lot of jet fuel, and that fuel competes with labor to be any airline’s number one greatest cost. And if there is one thing the airlines have focused single-mindedly on, it is the need to cut costs. Any costs, and all costs. But does that mean it makes sense for Delta to buy their own oil refinery? On the face of it (and this seems to [...]
Good morning Another week with quite a lot of additional content, and it is hard to know which of the other three blog entries I posted during the week to point you to first. And, in a totally different context, it was a busy weekend, with the first stirrings of spring causing me to spend part of both mornings mowing the lawn for the first time this year. I guess that is a good thing. [...]
North Korea has been in the news quite a bit this year, first with the death of their leader and the succession of his son; and more recently, when our leader went to South Korea and up to the DMZ where he gazed across to North Korea. This quick view from afar was enough for Mr Obama to issue a ritual condemnation of North Korea as a backward country 40 years behind the times and [...]
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