Saturday, July 14, 2012

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

It's about 74 degrees ambient, my compass says I'm heading slightly south of west, and the guy on the intercom says I'm about 75 miles north of Saint Louis at 36,000 feet.

I'm sitting in a chair in the sky, and tooling along at something over 400 KIAS, and surfing the internets, which is pretty cool when you think about it, even if I can't use my wireless mouse on my laptop.

The plane's a A-319, which is bigger than a breadbox but smaller than the latest stretch 737. Still, it dwarfs the little ERJ Brazilian bottle rockets which are the only airliners I've been in since... has it been since 1994?

Cute little snack box Delta serves for six bucks; too bad you've got to be MacGuyver to get into the thing without tools. Were I smart, I'd have sharpened the corner of the little plastic thermometer/compass dangling off the zipper pull on my turse.

More later...

12 comments:

Bob said...

Or have a fingernail trimmed, Dracula-like, to a point.

Anonymous said...

Last time I flew I just carried one of my flintlock rifle flints. No metal, and it doesn't register to the burger-flippers that a square piece of rock is sharp.
It works for most things until I can get a $1 WallyWorld knife at my destination.

BobS

Tam said...

The thing that kills me is that normally I have enough crap in my turse to rebuild civilization after a thermonuclear war, but that's all in my checked baggage.

I have Charmin, Kleenex, Wet Ones, a small flashlight, my little Streamlight... but not so much as a keychain-size multitool...

Damn but that galls.

Panamared said...

Don't you just love flying in 21st century USA.

og said...

Utilikey. Never even had it questioned.

The Great and Powerful Oz said...

KIAS or KTAS? Over 400 KIAS is really booking along in terms of true airspeed at FL350.

Gerry N. said...

I sharpened the corner of one of my plastic ID cards from some Association or other. Took five minutes at home with an emery board belonging to the missus. Not much of a knife compared to my Benchmade 710, but..........

Gerry N.

doubletrouble said...

I throw a couple pocket-sized screwdrivers (flat & phillips) along with a 4" vise grip into my carry-on. Nobody said nuthin' (tools up to 7" are allowed).
Sharpen one side of the flat screwdriver; it's only about a 1/2" long "blade", but...

Rob K said...

Scissors are allowed to, and they are frequently better for opening thimgs than knives.

Rob K said...

Scissors are allowed to, and they are frequently better for opening thimgs than knives.

Anonymous said...

I have a full-sized Leatherman Fuse(no knife blade) that I can usually get through.

I did blunt the can opener after a "discussion" at one checkpoint. Still works as a bottle opener.

NotClauswitz said...

The Schroedinger Internet is everywhere - but not in the box 1,000 miles out over the Pacific, and you can't verify your iTunes account in order to watch the iMovie you bought instead of the dreck offered by United Airlines...