Insight and amusement for tomorrow's flight delays

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Rapid Travel Chai headquarters was spared ill effects from Hurricane Irene, but The Rapid Traveler sends out his thoughts to all those not so fortunate. Grounded, The Rapid Traveler has felt a bit like Ziggy in this cartoon, fighting with flickr in his photo archive.

Those planning to take to the skies have further ordeal ahead of them. The Rapid Traveler’s Monday 6 am flight was scrubbed and he is trying for the 19:30 pm. Delta cancels flights two days ahead of a predicted light drizzle, but this case is understandable. Here are a few items to pass the time:

Everything You Know About Taking a Vacation is Wrong, by über-road warrior Joe Brancatelli (his pay site and Portfolio column archive) has good advice about taking vacations, sometimes not traveling on vacations, and scoffing at those who advocate totally disconnecting (as if that is possible for most people). The Rapid Traveler (though not his employer) is a big advocate of working trips, setting aside ‘work from home’ hours while being out on the road.

Getting Bin Laden is a gripping narrative from the New Yorker of the manhunt’s denouement.

When eyes are too tired to read, listen to EconTalk’s O’Donohoe on Potato Chips and Salty Snacks. The business and manufacture of potato chips turns out to be riveting.

Keeping on the food theme, and with many stranded eating chain restaurant meals, From China, The Future of Fish, BusinessWeek’s expose on tilapia, the junk food of the sea, illustrates how American tastes and the economy work to undermine any effort to get proper nutrition.

Photo by nate steiner

For some laughs, the Rudest Airport Award thread on FlyerTalk has some good lines and provocation, including:

Flgrr: “But don’t get me too started on CLT. Southern hospitality is nothing more than two words for lazy.”
lobster7: “EWR (Sewark)”
DesertNomad: “JFK. I had just arrived from Istanbul, walking toward immigration behind
a 60-ish Turkish woman who speaks no English. There was a woman
directing people to the right queues and when the Turkish woman stopped
for a moment to figure out where to go the customs agent walked up to
her, stood close by and yelled “Are you American? I – DON’T – THINK –
SO. Go stand over there. Welcome to the USA I guess.”
chx 1975: “Really? LAX? EWR? No one goes to Heathrow anymore?”
Supersonic Swinger recommends Prague’s Franz Kafka International Airport. Some of the jokes drop like lead but there are some great laughs: