Like many folks this past holiday season, I found myself traveling the sky-lanes of America in the cattle car that we like to call the modern airliner. When it comes to heights, I tend to demonstrate a standard fare of caution that has kept me alive at least this long. Sure I enjoy the occasional Florida tourist-trap bungee jump or Appalachian mountain climb, and I even plan on skydiving sometime this year, but there’s just something about flying in an airliner that never allows me to be fully comfortable.
I do understand the basic physics behind the process that allows a huge aircraft loaded with people and luggage to stay in the air for hours at a time at rapid speeds. Technology is my profession in a sense, and I have learned to trust in many a man-made device. This experience, however, has also taught me that things do fail. In a way it’s amazing that we put so much trust in those two (or more) massive jet engines common to most commercial aircraft. They go through so much abuse on a daily basis. Every time I board an aircraft I only hope that the mechanics did their job, because if those jet monsters stop humming for any reason, there really isn’t much hope to live another day. Gravity doesn’t care that I paid $500+ for a quick trip and a bag of pretzels.
I suppose I should take comfort in the fact that the companies that own the things have a vested economic interest in keeping them running well, if only to save their reputation and not lose an expensive piece of equipment!
Don’t even get me started on how cram-packed most airplanes are on any given flight. With so many people sardined into a tiny space, I really wonder if any set of emergency procedures could possibly unload an aircraft in an orderly fashion during some sort of emergency (that is assuming anyone survives the impact, of course). Recently I flew on a little commuter jet that really had no headroom or aisle to speak of, even for me, and I’m less than average height! Yeah I know, gas is expensive and the economy is bad. But come on, it is pretty apparent that airliner seating arrangements are a real hazard!
And no, the smile on the shining face of the kind TSA agent (yeah, right) during the super-convenient security screening process does not make up for any of this. Ah well, I guess it beats driving 2,000 miles by myself.
Posted by N. Palmer 
At last, I have a real computer again! After months of research, I finally retired my borrowed netbook for a high-performance computer. I decided on the Sager NP8690 laptop because of its awesome hardware and warranty for a reasonable price.
