Through The Mist Darkly

Robert Orben

“Quit worrying about your health. It’ll go away.”

A fascinating series of pictures over at Dark Roasted Blend of the days when being a flight attendant (or stewardess for us Neandrathals) was considered glamorous.  I’m sure it wasn’t and the only way they got pictures like this was because the FAs’ union wasn’t as strong as it is now.

Today, most flight attendants are overworked, underpaid and just a trifle grumpy.

Went up to Wasaga Beach today to help Maxine set up her new computer.  Took a few minutes to wander around the backyard on a cold, incredibly clear late February afternoon.  If you want snow, this is the place to go.

This first picture shows deer tracks leading away from the house into the woods.  They love the cracked corn that she puts out for them and have started coming at all times of the day.  Unfortunately, they decided to play shy today.

This shot was taken from the same spot looking back at the house.  Lots of snow and, if you get off the path, it’s easy to sink almost to your knees.  Quite a load on the roof and David has been busy pulling some of it down.

A nice picture right?  Just an ordinary sunset.  Not quite.  This is what sunset looks like on Mars.

Picture taken on May 19th, 2005 by the intrepid little rover Spirit as the Sun sinks below the rim of the Gustev crater.  Time – 6:07pm, Martian time.  (click picture for a bigger version)

Lloyd Clemett, one of the last 3 Canadian World War 1 veterans, died in Toronto Wednesday night.  Mr. Clemett was 107.

Clemett enlisted in the army in 1916 just after turning 16. He and his 3 brothers all saw battle and all survived the war.

Mr. Clemett lived in his own home until 2 years ago when he entered the veteran’s ward at Sunnybrook Hospital.  His death leaves only Percy Wilson and John Babcock as living WWI veterans.

The federal government has stated that they intend to hold a state funeral for the last veteran but Clemett as well as the other 2 really didn’t care for the idea.  Lloyd Clemett will be buried after a private funeral service for his family and friends.

Rest in peace Sir, your country mourns your passing.

Mae West

“You’re never too old to become younger.”

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Peter Ustinov

“If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.”

I’m almost caught up on my sleep and I actually feel like my body is back in the right time zone.  The Switzerland trip was longer than normal and I really had trouble getting back into the swing of things.

I’ve uploaded a bunch of photos over at Flickr.  Most are from my visit to the Swiss Transportation Museum in Lucerne last Sunday.  It’s actually a number of buildings, each dedicated to a different mode of transportation.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had 2 airliners on display.  The first is a Convair CV-990, an aircraft that was widely used.  The other is a Douglas DC-3 “Skytrain”, beautifully preserved in Swiss Air Lines colours.

Huge thanks to Christian for acting as my tour guide.  I had no idea that this museum even existed and it was great fun walking back through time.

Passengers on a Cancun-bound JetBlue flight from JFK yesterday were forced to sit on the tarmac for 8 hours because of bad weather.

In what amounts to kidnapping (held against your will?), the cattle sat so long in the full aircraft that the wheels actually froze to the ground.  JetBlue officials apologized for the “unacceptable delays” and promised everyone full refunds plus a voucher for another trip.

Someone needs to kick some ass here.  The excuse that there were no available gates to unload the passengers is so lame as to be laughable.  Ever heard of buses?  Somehow they managed to get me from the departure lounge in Paris to the plane that sat about 3 kilometers away on Tuesday.  I know the weather conditions were bad but airports do a remarkable job of clearing runways and taxiways.

Time for the FAA to lay a pretty hefty fine against JetBlue and any other airline that treats the paying customer to such criminal treatment.