The mom-in-law (a.k.a. Herself v1.0) is getting set to jet home after visiting for the past few days, and how do she and Herself v2.0 spend the morning? Watching coverage of the disappearance of Air France Flight 477. This strikes me as not unlike preparing for surgery by reading stories about doctors absentmindedly leaving gloves and/or tools in body cavities or sawing off the wrong bits.
I hate to fly, myself. I’m not frightened by air travel — I just despise the procedure, which is reminiscent of a bad day at the Murmansk DMV. Take this off and that out, then sit down and shut up. We’ve oversold your flight, so you may be napping in the concourse for the next few days, and if we do have a seat for you you’ll find it and your plane at Gate X99. This is Gate A1. Run, you fat bastard, it’s wheels up in 30 seconds. Either that or we’ll be leaving when we’re good and ready. Have a peanut. That’ll be five bucks. Perhaps I was a feedlot cow in a previous life, being prodded down the long, shit-stained feedlot chute that eventually leads to McDonalds.
Mad Blog Media 
Patrick! Gawd, don’t remind me. I’m currently in Portland, Oregon, waiting for the afternoon flight back to Denver. Yes, flying is the pits. The only reason I do it is two hours cramped and uncomfortable in the bowels of the plane is better than two days driving. On second thought, maybe not….
Bruce
Flew back from a conference held in Kona on one of those Airbus things. Nice, supple ride, but worry about the newfangled technology.
As I told my wife this morning, there is something a lot more reassuring about cables and hydraulics going to wing control surfaces rather than computers that may suddenly turn into the Blue Screen of Death at 35,000 feet. Especially when the pilot finds out the ground crew was watching a virus-laden porn flick on the cockpit computer when they were supposed to be uploading Airbus Autopilot v. 3.1.
I hate those fly by wire things. Showing my age, I guess.
Actually, Patrick, the CEOs of some of these airline companies probably accrue enough bad karma that they will be reborn as feedlot cows headed down the chutes to the Golden Arches. Mooo….