|
Viewing 1 - 9 out of 9 Blogs.
I found this article on Yahoo! Enjoy... New travel neurosis: Fear of not flying By BETH J. HARPAZ, AP Travel Editor Mon Jul 2, 10:04 AM ET I know plenty of people with fear of flying. They agonize for weeks before takeoff, they go to doctors for prescriptions, they read books about their condition and ask their therapists for help. But all the stories floating around about how awful air travel is this summer has given me a new neurosis: Fear of not flying. You see, we have round-trip tickets for our family of four to fly from the East Coast to the West this summer. When we land, we'll have a busy itinerary of tours, hikes and activities. On the way back, we're getting home just in time for the first day of school. But what if our planes are delayed for hours on the ground and we miss our connecting flights? What if our flights are cancelled? What if our planes are overbooked and our reservations suddenly disappear off someone's computer screen, leaving us ticketless? Our vacation will be ruined, precious days off from work wasted, money down the drain, and everyone in a bad mood. See that? My flights are seven weeks away and I'm already freaking out. Do they make prescription drugs for people who are afraid that they'll never get off the ground? Because that's what I really need. Virtually every person I know who has flown in the last month has encountered situations that used to be rare but are now routine. Showing up for your flight with a seat assignment in hand, only to get to your seat and find it occupied by someone who has an identical ticket. Flights cancelled for no apparent reason, with no word on rescheduling. Hundreds of people sitting in sweltering airplanes at the gate for hours with no information and no amenities. Leaving two hours to get through security and then just barely making the flight because the line was so long. I'm a travel editor and I'm supposed to know how to deal with these sorts of things. But I'm afraid I've done everything wrong. Our flights are at the end of the day, just in time for late afternoon summer storms. The terminals will be crowded with lots of angry people whose earlier flights were delayed and cancelled, and they'll all have been rebooked on our flights, no doubt. I imagine sitting in the airport terminal for hours, only to finally be boarded and sit on the runway for hours. My kids are too old for little toys to keep them occupied; I'm thinking the best I can do is bring all the homework schools now assign over the summer and get them to do all of it while we wait. I expect we'll be there long enough so that my older son will be able to plough through "The Iliad" no problem. Of course I know the rules. We'll buy our drinks after we go through security, and refrain from telling jokes about bombs at the gate. I think with a 14-year-old and a 9-year-old I'm safe from the type of tantrum that got a family escorted off a flight last winter. But I'll be sure to buy cough drops if either of my children has a cold, knowing that a teenager on a class trip from Hawaii was kicked off a flight in New York because she had a coughing fit. I don't usually get paranoid about the possibility of hijackers taking over the plane, but these days I'm thinking I might just be held hostage by the pilot - stuck on a tarmac for hours with no toilet paper or ice. But I will have a cell phone, and I figure if things get really bad, I'll make two phone calls. The first will be to a Chinese restaurant in the terminal. I'm going to see if they'll deliver to the runway that I'm stuck on. If that doesn't work, I think I may just call 911. If they won't send the cops to free us, maybe they'll send an ambulance. Surely by then I'll need one.
F-15 Accident, This is amazing
A simulated dogfight training took place between two F-15D's and four A-4N
Skyhawks over the skies of the Negev,Israel...
"At some point I collided with one of the Skyhawks, at first I didn't
realize it. I felt a big strike and I thought we passed through the jet
stream of one of the other aircraft. Before I could react, I saw the big
fireball created by the explosion of the Skyhawk. The radio started to
deliver calls saying that the Skyhawk pilot has ejected, and I understood
that the fireball was the Skyhawk that exploded, and the pilot was ejected
automatically.
There was a tremendous fuel stream going out of my wing and I understood
it was badly damaged. The aircraft flew without control in a strange
spiral. I reconnected the electric control to the control surfaces, and
slowly gained control of the aircraft until I was straight and level
again. It was clear to me that I had to eject. When I gained control I
said: "Hey, wait, don't eject yet!" No warning light was on and the
navigation computer worked as usual; (I just needed a warning light in my
panel to indicate that I was missing a wing...)."
My instructor pilot ordered me to eject. The wing is a fuel tank, and the
fuel indicator showed 0.000 so I assumed that the jet stream sucked all
the fuel out of the other tanks. However, I remembered that the valves
operate only in one direction, so that I might have enough fuel to get to
the nearest airfield and land. I worked like a machine, I wasn't scared
and didn't worry. All I knew was as long as the sucker flies, I'm gonna
stay inside.
I started to decrease the airspeed, but at that point one wing was not
enough So I went into a spin down and to the right. A second before I
decided to eject, I pushed the throttle and lit the afterburner. I gained
speed and thus got control of the aircraft again. Next thing I did was
lower the arresting hook. A few seconds later I touched the runway at 260
knots, about twice the recommended speed, and called the tower to erect
the emergency recovery net. The hook was torn away from the fuselage
because of the high speed, but I managed to stop 10 meters before the net.
I turned back to shake the hand of my instructor, who had urged me to
eject, and then I saw it for the first time - no wing!" 
The Lawnchair Pilot Larry Walters was a truck driver, but his lifelong dream was to fly. When he graduated from high school,he joined the Air Force in hopes of becoming a pilot.
Unfortunately, poor eyesight disqualified him. So when he finally left the service, he had to satisfy himself with watching others fly the fighter jets that criss-crossed the skies over his backyard. As he sat there in his lawn chair, he dreamed about the magic of flying. Then one day, Larry Walters got an idea. He went down to the local army-navy surplus store and bought a tank of helium and forty-five weather balloons. These were not your brightly colored party balloons; these were heave-duty spheres measuring more than four feet across when fully inflated. Back in his yard, Larry used straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair, the kind you might have in your own back yard. He anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep and inflated the balloons with helium. Then he packed some sandwiches and drinks and loaded a BB gun, figuring he could pop a few of those balloons when it was time to return to earth. His preparations complete, Larry Walters sat in his chair and cut the anchoring cord. His plan was to lazily float back down to terra firma. But things didn't quite work out that way.
When Larry cut the cord, he didn't float lazily up; he shot up as if fired from a cannon! Nor did he go up a couple hundred feet. He climbed and climbed until he finally leveled off at eleven thousand feet! At that height, he could hardly risk deflating any of the balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really experience flying! So he stayed up there, sailing around for fourteen hours, totally at a loss as to how to get down. Eventually, Larry drifted into the approach corridor for Los Angeles International Airport. A Pan Am pilot radioed the tower about passing a guy in a lawn chair at eleven thousand feet with a gun in his lap. (Now there's a conversation I'd have enjoyed hearing!) LAX is right on the ocean, and you may know that at nightfall, the winds on the coast begin to change. So, as dusk fell, Larry began drifting out to sea. At that point, the Navy dispatched a helicopter to rescue him. But the rescue team had a hard time getting to him, because the draft from their propeller kept pushing his homemade contraption farther and farther away. Eventually they were able to hover over him and drop a rescue line with which they gradually hauled him back to earth. As soon as Larry hit the ground, he was arrested. But as he was being led away in handcuffs, a television reported called out, "Mr. Walters, why'd you do it?" Larry stopped, eyed the man, then replied nonchalantly, "A man can't just sit around." 
This is from an Email I got recently, check this out. >> This is one bad ass airplane........
>>
>> Subject: B-52 Incident
>>
>>
>> PHOTO AT BOTTOM...
>>
>>
>> January 10, 1964, started out as a typical day for the flight test group
>> at Boeing's Wichita plant. Pilot Chuck Fisher took off in a B-52H with a
>> three-man Boeing crew, flying a low-level profile to obtain structural
>> data.
>>
>> Over Colorado, cruising 500 feet above the mountainous terrain, the B-52
>> encountered some turbulence. Fisher climbed to 14,300 feet looking for
>> smoother air. At this point the typical day ended. The bomber flew into
>> clear-air turbulence. It felt as if the plane had been placed in a giant
>> high-speed elevator, shoved up and down, and hit by a heavy blow on its
>> right side.
>>
>> Fisher told the crew to prepare to abandon the plane.
>> He slowed the aircraft and dropped to about 5,000 feet to make it easier
>> to bail out.
>>
>> But then Fisher regained some control. He climbed slowly to 16,000 feet
>> to put some safety room between the plane and the ground. He informed
>> Wichita about what was happening. Although control was difficult, Fisher
>> said he believed he could get the plane back in one piece.
>>
>> Response to the situation at Wichita, and elsewhere, was immediate. An
>> emergency control center was set up in the office of Wichita's director
>> of flight test.
>> Key Boeing engineers and other specialists were summoned to provide
>> their expertise. Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control
>> centers at Denver and Kansas City cleared the air around the troubled
>> plane. A Strategic Air Command B-52 in the area maintained radio contact
>> with the crew of the Wichita B-52.
>>
>> As Fisher got closer to Wichita, a Boeing chase plane flew up to meet
>> him and to visually report the damage.
>> When Dale Felix, flying an F-100 fighter, came alongside Fisher's B-52,
>> he couldn't believe what he
>> saw: The B-52's vertical tail was gone.
>>
>> Felix broke the news to Fisher and those gathered in the control center.
>> There was no panic. Everyone on the plane and in the control center knew
>> they could be called upon at any time for just such a situation. In the
>> emergency control center, the engineers began making calculations and
>> suggesting the best way to get the plane down safely.
>>
>> The Air Force was also lending assistance. A B-52, just taking off for a
>> routine flight, was used to test the various flight configurations
>> suggested by the specialists before Fisher had to try them.
>>
>> As high gusty winds rolled into Wichita, the decision was made to divert
>> the B-52 to Blytheville Air Force Base in Northeastern Arkansas.
>>
>> Boeing specialists from the emergency control center took off in a
>> KC-135 and accompanied Fisher to Blytheville, serving as an airborne
>> control center.
>> Six hours after the incident first occurred, Fisher and his crew brought
>> in the damaged B-52 for a safe landing.
>>
>> "I'm very proud of this crew and this airplane,"
>> Fisher said. "Also we had a lot people helping us, and we're very
>> thankful for that." The B-52, Fisher said, "Its the finest airplane I
>> ever flew."
>> 
This is an Essay Written By Jay Leno Wow!! Definitely worth the read and an eye opener for many...
Subject: Jay Leno essay on Americans
There must be a sermon in this!!!
----
Subject: Jay Leno "Hits the Nail on the Head"
I think this is really good...Wake up Americans!
"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?
The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.
So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''
Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.
Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods
where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.
How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.
Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?
The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?
Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.
Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a 'general' discharge, an 'other than honorable' discharge or, worst case scenario, a 'dishonorable' discharge after a few days in the brig.
So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!
Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.
We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative."
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"
Jay Leno
|
|
TAX
Posted On 04/18/2007 09:12:48
|
This is too true to be very funny
TAX
Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.
Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.
If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.
Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!"
And when he's gone,
We won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.
COMMENTS: Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago
And there was prosperity, absolutely no national debt, the largest middle class in the world and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What the hell happened?????
The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion"in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending your tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division . . .
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?
A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.
B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.
C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D.C. ... HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??
This is too true to be very funny
|
Logging In......
Favorites
Digg
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Furl
Magnolia
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo MyWeb
