26 March 2011
Remembered as a Fat Guy
Interesting phenomenon: despite being roughly stable weight for 2 years now, a lot of people who have seen me in the past two years, but only intermittently, will still remark that I've lost weight since they last saw me. Must take quite a few impressions to recalibrate the persisted mental model.
20 March 2011
Soon, Too Much Daylight
Equinoxy
But a few months from now the lack of dark will be driving me batty
But a few months from now the lack of dark will be driving me batty
13 March 2011
JFK-LCY
Return transatlantic trip into London City went well. It was a different crew, but equally cheery as on the outbound. Something about this flight just makes folks happy. Flight time was a bit longer than in the bigger planes, and the A318 had a lot more motion, frequently just smooth little bumps, but it was fine. The seats do recline flat with plenty of space, but are not quite as comfortable as the normal BA business class seats due to the fixed headrests which are relatively large and firm. I found mine to be a very poor substrate for the pillow and would much rather have been without it. But all was forgiven for the final stages.
The flight time put us into London an well ahead of schedule. With Heathrow, this could still mean you spend ages holding due to congestion once you get close. With our flight, it meant we landed well ahead of schedule. The pilots seemed rightly smug about this. Oddly, we had to take a bus after deplaning. The world's shortest airport bus ride. Nearly all of the gates at City stretch out to the east of the arrivals hall, but this flight's gate is on the other side, leaving no way to get to passport control except possibly walking the wrong way through baggage claim first. So the bus journeys a couple hundred meters east from the parking spot and unloads right into passport control. I would have preferred to walk it after the flight, but no such option. Passport went quickly, even though I was last in line, and just as I was getting out the bags came. Standard procedure at heathrow would have been: 10 minutes taxiing (or more), a few minutes getting off the plane, possibly a 10-minute bus ride, or a 10-minute escalator-fest getting from 5B to 5A, another 5-minute walk to wait in line, etc. If I'm exiting heathrow an hour after the wheels first touch ground, it's a good day. Normally from wheels first touching down to walking in my front door takes 2-3 hours, two being a very lucky combination of events. On this trip:
06:39 wheels touch down
06:58 I am getting in a cab
07:16 I am walking in my front door
Total of only 37 minutes from first contact with the ground to being home.
The flight time put us into London an well ahead of schedule. With Heathrow, this could still mean you spend ages holding due to congestion once you get close. With our flight, it meant we landed well ahead of schedule. The pilots seemed rightly smug about this. Oddly, we had to take a bus after deplaning. The world's shortest airport bus ride. Nearly all of the gates at City stretch out to the east of the arrivals hall, but this flight's gate is on the other side, leaving no way to get to passport control except possibly walking the wrong way through baggage claim first. So the bus journeys a couple hundred meters east from the parking spot and unloads right into passport control. I would have preferred to walk it after the flight, but no such option. Passport went quickly, even though I was last in line, and just as I was getting out the bags came. Standard procedure at heathrow would have been: 10 minutes taxiing (or more), a few minutes getting off the plane, possibly a 10-minute bus ride, or a 10-minute escalator-fest getting from 5B to 5A, another 5-minute walk to wait in line, etc. If I'm exiting heathrow an hour after the wheels first touch ground, it's a good day. Normally from wheels first touching down to walking in my front door takes 2-3 hours, two being a very lucky combination of events. On this trip:
06:39 wheels touch down
06:58 I am getting in a cab
07:16 I am walking in my front door
Total of only 37 minutes from first contact with the ground to being home.
Within Percentage Points of... Everyone Else
I view sports coverage, heavy on numbers and stats, as generally a good thing in the perpetual battle (that is being lost) against innumeracy, but still rife with examples from people who should know better. In coverage of Jazz-Bulls last night, ESPN notes "Chicago [performed impressive feats] while pulling within percentage points of Boston". Pulling within percentage points! What does that mean? Every team in the conference, unless they've been disqualified from the season, is "within percentage points" of Boston. Boston's record in terms of winning is 73%. Cleveland's record is a no-doubt disappointing 19%. But hey, Cleveland has pulled within percentage points of Boston! 54 of them!
Yes, it also bothers me that ESPN labels the winning percentage as a percentage yet displays what is clearly the value out of 1, not 100. E.g. Boston's "PCT" should be "73.0", not ".730".
Yes, it also bothers me that ESPN labels the winning percentage as a percentage yet displays what is clearly the value out of 1, not 100. E.g. Boston's "PCT" should be "73.0", not ".730".
09 March 2011
LCY-JFK
London City (LCY) is a small east end airport that mainly serves short-hop flights around europe. Very short runway. Makes it pretty fun with short takeoff rolls and fairly steep approaches. BA recently added a transatlantic route from LCY. It's a version of an A318 with a modification for steep approach capability and with the 100 econo-seats in its normal regional jet configuration replaced by 32 business class seats (which are not the same as the normal business class seats on BA's widebody jets).
Normally when I fly to New York I go from Heathrow, but I got lucky this time as the LCY route when I booked the trip was the same price as to/from LHR. Cab to LCY from my house: 19 minutes. Last time I went to LHR, cab was approximately 1hr19 minutes. BA recommends arriving at LCY 20 minutes before the flight if you've got luggage, 15 minutes with nothing to check in. That's arriving at the airport. I couldn't bring myself to test that out, so ended up breezing through checkin and security within moments of getting to the airport. Unlike the US, where security personnel tend to be shouty, aggressive, and posturing, screeners here in the UK tend to be calm, polite, and professional. That's good, no? As stupid as air travel security screening is, let's at least be polite and professional about it. Why this is not possible in the US, I don't know.
Anyway, I was through security and left wondering why I'd gotten to the airport so early. I had an hour to kill, so went to the lounge/gate. There is no dedicated BA business class lounge at LCY, but this "special" flight has its own dedicated gate which doubles as the lounge. It was pleasant enough and comfortable. The plane boarded quickly, as you'd expect with only 32 passengers, each with a giant seat and lots of floor space. The crew were very warm and enthusiastic. I like BA flight crews, almost invariably getting really good service no matter what class of travel or what route, but this crew seemed in especially good spirits. If I were paying attention, and I might not have been, I'd say there were two pilots up front and three flight attendants.
The single runway at LCY is less than a mile long, at just under 5000 feet [don't geek out on commercial aviation? that's very short]. The flight to JFK has a refueling stop as the A318 could not takeoff under a full fuel load from LCY. There is no refueling stop on the return route from JFK. It refuels in Shannon, which also provides pre-clearence for US immigration and customs. This worked out well. Those of us with checked baggage had to wait a few minutes before going through pre-clearance, those with only carryons could proceed right away. When we were called, it was an additional security scan of the checked bags, then a combined passport control/customs check. At this check, the baggage claim ticket was scanned and a video still of the corresponding bag from the hold was displayed. I was asked to confirm that was my bag, which indeed it was. Cool. From there it was straight to the gate and just as the last person was through the US clearance it was time to reboard.
The flight attendants were the same, but we had a new pair of pilots for the long leg from Shannon to JFK. The short hop over from LCY was about an hour, during which they served drinks and starters (a very nice chilled prawn dish). Once the long hop got under way, they broke out the media players and started prepping the full meals, which we ordered on the short hop. I assumed this meant they loaded the specific meal choices during the stopover, but forgot to ask if that was the case. The seats have media player mounts and plugs but no built-in screens and no plane-wide onboard entertainment system. Each person received a media player that slotted into the mount and plugged into the power outlets. The screens were small but relatively sharp and were pre-loaded with a variety of movies and tv shows and such (wmv files). They worked fine, unlike the normal BA onboard entertainment systems, which have required embarrassing system-wide reboots with 20-30 minutes downtime on at least one out of every three longhaul flights I've been on. The real downside was the absence of the moving map. The crew kept a paper map taped to the outside of one of the lavatories up front and would periodically update a green sticker showing our location. Very cute.
My dinner was quite good. I didn't have the "afternoon tea" later in the flight. Apparently sitting in a stupor for a couple hours watching movies was not enough to make me hungry again.
We were making decent time, originally scheduled to touch down more than thirty minutes ahead of schedule, but the weather was bad at JFK -- very windy, and some rain. We had to park in a holding pattern for quite a while, then were going to land but had to go back to a holding pattern. Apparently some planes had to divert. Strong winds and very gusty. We eventually did land at JFK instead of diverting, fortunately, but the ride down was quite interesting -- bouncing and yawing our way through the gusts. I get motion sick very easily. Fortunately I was dramamined to the gills so I didn't paint the cabin with gut contents. I was fine. Landings like that always make me nervous -- wind gusts trying to yank control away from the pilots and the nose coming down skew to the runway. But they know what they're doing and they wouldn't be landing if conditions weren't with tolerances for the plane. I did wonder, though, if it would have been noticeably less bumpy on a bigger airplane, or if it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Someone asked me later if I regretted not taking my usual 747 on that route. Heh. I'll answer that after the return trip.
Normally when I fly to New York I go from Heathrow, but I got lucky this time as the LCY route when I booked the trip was the same price as to/from LHR. Cab to LCY from my house: 19 minutes. Last time I went to LHR, cab was approximately 1hr19 minutes. BA recommends arriving at LCY 20 minutes before the flight if you've got luggage, 15 minutes with nothing to check in. That's arriving at the airport. I couldn't bring myself to test that out, so ended up breezing through checkin and security within moments of getting to the airport. Unlike the US, where security personnel tend to be shouty, aggressive, and posturing, screeners here in the UK tend to be calm, polite, and professional. That's good, no? As stupid as air travel security screening is, let's at least be polite and professional about it. Why this is not possible in the US, I don't know.
Anyway, I was through security and left wondering why I'd gotten to the airport so early. I had an hour to kill, so went to the lounge/gate. There is no dedicated BA business class lounge at LCY, but this "special" flight has its own dedicated gate which doubles as the lounge. It was pleasant enough and comfortable. The plane boarded quickly, as you'd expect with only 32 passengers, each with a giant seat and lots of floor space. The crew were very warm and enthusiastic. I like BA flight crews, almost invariably getting really good service no matter what class of travel or what route, but this crew seemed in especially good spirits. If I were paying attention, and I might not have been, I'd say there were two pilots up front and three flight attendants.
The single runway at LCY is less than a mile long, at just under 5000 feet [don't geek out on commercial aviation? that's very short]. The flight to JFK has a refueling stop as the A318 could not takeoff under a full fuel load from LCY. There is no refueling stop on the return route from JFK. It refuels in Shannon, which also provides pre-clearence for US immigration and customs. This worked out well. Those of us with checked baggage had to wait a few minutes before going through pre-clearance, those with only carryons could proceed right away. When we were called, it was an additional security scan of the checked bags, then a combined passport control/customs check. At this check, the baggage claim ticket was scanned and a video still of the corresponding bag from the hold was displayed. I was asked to confirm that was my bag, which indeed it was. Cool. From there it was straight to the gate and just as the last person was through the US clearance it was time to reboard.
The flight attendants were the same, but we had a new pair of pilots for the long leg from Shannon to JFK. The short hop over from LCY was about an hour, during which they served drinks and starters (a very nice chilled prawn dish). Once the long hop got under way, they broke out the media players and started prepping the full meals, which we ordered on the short hop. I assumed this meant they loaded the specific meal choices during the stopover, but forgot to ask if that was the case. The seats have media player mounts and plugs but no built-in screens and no plane-wide onboard entertainment system. Each person received a media player that slotted into the mount and plugged into the power outlets. The screens were small but relatively sharp and were pre-loaded with a variety of movies and tv shows and such (wmv files). They worked fine, unlike the normal BA onboard entertainment systems, which have required embarrassing system-wide reboots with 20-30 minutes downtime on at least one out of every three longhaul flights I've been on. The real downside was the absence of the moving map. The crew kept a paper map taped to the outside of one of the lavatories up front and would periodically update a green sticker showing our location. Very cute.
My dinner was quite good. I didn't have the "afternoon tea" later in the flight. Apparently sitting in a stupor for a couple hours watching movies was not enough to make me hungry again.
We were making decent time, originally scheduled to touch down more than thirty minutes ahead of schedule, but the weather was bad at JFK -- very windy, and some rain. We had to park in a holding pattern for quite a while, then were going to land but had to go back to a holding pattern. Apparently some planes had to divert. Strong winds and very gusty. We eventually did land at JFK instead of diverting, fortunately, but the ride down was quite interesting -- bouncing and yawing our way through the gusts. I get motion sick very easily. Fortunately I was dramamined to the gills so I didn't paint the cabin with gut contents. I was fine. Landings like that always make me nervous -- wind gusts trying to yank control away from the pilots and the nose coming down skew to the runway. But they know what they're doing and they wouldn't be landing if conditions weren't with tolerances for the plane. I did wonder, though, if it would have been noticeably less bumpy on a bigger airplane, or if it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Someone asked me later if I regretted not taking my usual 747 on that route. Heh. I'll answer that after the return trip.
05 March 2011
Easter Pricing
Local Tesco is selling 12-packs of cadbury eggs for £6.00. They have 3-packs as well, for £1.00.
20 February 2011
Best Small Wine Shop
East London rules: congratulations to Bottle Apostle on being awarded Best Small Wine Shop by the Telegraph. Well deserved.
The Magic of Outsourcing
This article on the 787 delays and costs won't be terribly surprising for anyone in a technical profession with large-company experience, but well worth a read anyway.
11 February 2011
My Credit Rating, According My Mobile Phone Service Provider
I recently got cut off in the middle of an international call from my mobile, with an automated message telling me I'd reached my credit limit. Hm. I checked online, and my charges to date were £19.47. £20 would make for an odd credit limit. I called. My credit limit is £50. Confirmed unbilled charges are only £19.47. Hm. Anyway, I asked to increase my credit limit. Certainly, sir, we can increase that by ... [3 minutes later] ... an additional £10. Hoo-boy! That is the max they will increase it for me, but after 30 days I can call and request another increase. "Um, ten pounds at a time?" That got a laugh out of her. She said she didn't know, but I could try back in 30 days. I suspect in 30 days I will no longer be using the Three Network for my mobile phone service.
29 January 2011
Fractal Contrarianism
The problem with contrarians is that if they attract enough agreement then whatever internal pressure demands a contrarian stance will push them to split with whatever consensus they've actually helped build in the first place. This leads to some good unintentional comedy in the blogosphere if you don't take things too seriously (e.g. the "paleo" ..uh.. "community").
And speaking of taking things too seriously -- I'm not sure if this is related to contrarian neurosis, but exercise and weight training people seem to get really emotional over nearly any aspect of their fitness regimes. Maybe there was a secret agreement years ago to go beyond self-parody as some sort of grand social performance art experiment or merely as a defense tactic, but they sure are easy to rile up.
My current favorite debate: whether deadlifts or squats are more authentically stone-age. Note the comments! "Wouldn't picking up the carcass require a posterior chain-centric movement?" Love it! Lucky for me, I've got an unfrozen caveman personal trainer, "Grok", who lives in my loft. I've asked him whether I should work on my lame goblet squats or my wobbly single-leg kettlebell deadlifts today, but the lazy fucker has parked himself in front of the flatscreen with a big bowl of popcorn and refuses to discuss the matter.
And speaking of taking things too seriously -- I'm not sure if this is related to contrarian neurosis, but exercise and weight training people seem to get really emotional over nearly any aspect of their fitness regimes. Maybe there was a secret agreement years ago to go beyond self-parody as some sort of grand social performance art experiment or merely as a defense tactic, but they sure are easy to rile up.
My current favorite debate: whether deadlifts or squats are more authentically stone-age. Note the comments! "Wouldn't picking up the carcass require a posterior chain-centric movement?" Love it! Lucky for me, I've got an unfrozen caveman personal trainer, "Grok", who lives in my loft. I've asked him whether I should work on my lame goblet squats or my wobbly single-leg kettlebell deadlifts today, but the lazy fucker has parked himself in front of the flatscreen with a big bowl of popcorn and refuses to discuss the matter.
Eat What?
some of this, all of that, less of that, more of this, and fucking plenty of this
Seriously, I think PaNu still has the best & most succinct summary. Well worth the 90-second investment it takes to read. This is not low-carb per se:
"
"
Seriously, I think PaNu still has the best & most succinct summary. Well worth the 90-second investment it takes to read. This is not low-carb per se:
"
- Note that "Fat" and "Carbohydrate" are macronutrient categories that each contain good and bad.
- Saturated and monounsaturated fat is generally good. More than 4% of calories from PUFA (whether n3 or n6) is bad.
- For healthy non-diabetics, starch (glucose polymers) is good. Excess fructose is bad.
- In wheat, the carbohydrate starch is not the major problem. It is the gluten proteins that come along with the starch.
- So forget "carbs vs fat". It is neolithic agents of disease versus everything else.
- [...]
- If you are not trying to lose weight and you like to eat potatoes and rice, EAT THEM.
- Sweet potatoes, white rice and white potatoes are well tolerated by most people and starchy vegetables per se are not neolithic agents of disease. Many active people without diabetes or metabolic syndrome feel and function better with a fair amount of starch in their diet . YMMV!
"
26 January 2011
Knife Sharpener
Initial impression of Minosharp 3 is quite good. Seems to work great with Global knives, and very easy to use. Much quicker and easier than using a whetstone, and better results so far (for me, anyway). Oddly, looks like they are way more expensive in the US [$74?] than in the UK [£35].
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