Telling it like it is

I feel so giddy. For the first time in probably two years I risked it all and traveled without a wash kit and change of clothes in my carry-on today. I felt reasonably confident - after all I was flying American, not Delta, but even so. Flying without needing to carry a two day emergency pack in my carry-on is so liberating! Is this what traveling used to be like? It's been so long I actually can't remember. Truth be told, I did have a spare toothbrush and a pair of shorts in my carry-on, but the spare undercrackers, shirt and wash kit - all gone. Trusted, perhaps foolishly, to my hold luggage. But here it is - sitting on the bed behind me - my suitcase!

The news channels have all been asking the wrong questions today about the Delta / Northwest merger. They've been banging on about how good it will be for Salt Lake City, and asking if it means cheaper ticket prices and such. The real question, or questions, are: 1. Will they increase their seat pitch from the industry-bottom 31" we're forced into at the moment? (Even American give us 34") 2. Will they actually be able to deliver baggage with the passenger? Because frankly, flying your passengers bent up like pretzels whilst losing their luggage every flight isn't really an ideal way to run an airline.

Here's someone with a niche market. It seems some American dog owners are so lazy that they'll let their dog crap on their lawn, then pay someone to come and pick it up. For $8 a week, this guy is that man. Lazy, lazy, lazy. If you can't be bothered to tend to your pet, perhaps you shouldn't have a pet in the first place.

The transatlantic part of the homeward journey went without a hitch. The flight I was on was the last American Airlines flight out of Gatwick though - they've moved to Stansted and Heathrow (ugh!). Because of the status of the flight, we got a 2-alarm water gun salute on the way out to the runway. Basically, two airport fire vehicles created a water arch as we left. I took this video from my window :

The cockpit doors on MD80s aren't the most soundproof things in the world. On the last leg of my trip home last night, as the wheels left the ground, there was a warning siren in the cockpit, we dipped to the right and the cockpit voice alert started piping up about us being too low. We went around, landed, and then sat on the ramp for a while whilst the tech guys came out and fixed whatever had broken in the right engine as we took off. As a result, I didn't get home until about 1am this morning. So in all, the travel on this last trip was about the worst experience I've ever had whilst flying. The only thing that would have been the icing on the cake would have been if we'd been diverted to Heathrow last week instead of Manchester. If that had happened I think the whole aircraft would have communally topped itself. Having said that, I'm travelling again this weekend, but it's in-country this time.