“The best, most effective medicine my soul has yet partaken—the grandest physical habitat and surroundings of land and water the globe affords—namely, Manhattan island and Brooklyn, which the future shall join in one city—city of superb democracy, amid superb surroundings.” The Poet, Walt Whitman 1878.
Coroner declares first case of aerotoxic syndrome
Airplane warning
An update to a prior story “Flying on fumes : Are aircraft leaks poisoning cabin crew?“.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Dorset Coroner declared “aerotoxic syndrome” as the cause of death for pilot Richard Westgate. From the article:
Toxic fumes in cabin air pose a health risk to frequent fliers and aircrew, a coroner has said in a landmark report.
Stanhope Payne, the senior coroner for Dorset, said people regularly exposed to fumes circulating in planes faced “consequential damage to their health”.
Mr Payne, who is inquiring into the death of Richard Westgate, a British Airways pilot, called on BA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to take “urgent action to prevent future deaths”. Most airline passengers, who fly only occasionally, will not be affected by the problem, but some frequent travellers who are genetically susceptible to the toxins could fall ill.
Mr Payne’s call for urgent action is likely to be welcomed by campaigners who have raised similar concerns for a number of years.
His report, obtained by the Telegraph, is the first official UK recognition of so-called “aerotoxic syndrome”, a phenomenon long denied by airlines but which is blamed by some for the deaths of at least two pilots and numerous other incidents where pilots have passed out in flight. Co-pilots can normally take over, but campaigners claim the syndrome is a suspected cause of some mid-air disasters.
At issue is the source of where the airplanes sources their compressed air to pressurize the cabin- the engines themselves which if it malfunctions, is a potential source for contamination from oil particles.
Trajan.
Knock Knock. Who’s there? Hazmat
Nice and Sneezey.
Dahlings, After sneezing on US Airways Flight 845 from Philedelphia to Punta Cana, a man allegedly joked to seatmates “I have Ebola. You’re all screwed”. Everybody laughed heartily and that was the end of that.
Oh wait a minute, I think I got something wrong.
What actually happened was that the plane was met in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic by a Hazmat crew. Everybody was delayed by about 2 hours while the four man Hazmat team inspected the plane. The man was led away for medical testing where it was captured on video.
As the health crews got to the joking passenger, he can be heard on the video saying: “I was just kidding. I ain’t from Africa.”
Passengers can be heard booing when the man was eventually escorted off the flight.
I agree. I would have booed also: “I ain’t from Africa” is a terrible punchline. Hasn’t he seen ‘The Aristocrats‘?
Ciao for now, Cleo.
Thumbs up : United and Intercontinental Boston
Earlier this week, a friend of Roam was checking onto a United plane to go to Boston. He was traveling with his wife for long awaited vacation.
Just before boarding, he got a call that told him that his mother in law was being rushed to hospital.
He explained it to United and due to the medical emergency, they fully credit both airfares. Similarly, so did their Hotel Intercontinental Boston.
No fuss, no drama. Good on you United and Intercontinental: A Roads-2-Roam thumbs up.
It is refreshing to hear about good customer service.
The Intercontinental Boston has a positive recommendation from Roads-2-Roam where Augustus stayed there in early June 2014. They allowed an early (l pm) check in.
The best thing about it was the fantastic views looking back over Boston. Highly memorable. So much so, we slept with the curtains open to take in the view.
The water taxi from the Hotel, is another recommendation. See our photographs.
The nighttime view of Boston harbor from Boston Intercontinental Hotel.
Photo of Boston taken from the River Taxi from Intercontinental Hotel
Brooklyn Bridge
View of Brooklyn Bridge : Wikipedia commons licence
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it spans the East River connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn which were at the time two seperate cities. It was the first steel-wire suspension bridge constructed. Today, the Brooklyn Bridge is well worth a visit for it’s panoramic views. It has a wide pedestrian walkway open to walkers and cyclists, in the center of the bridge and higher than the automobile lanes. In 1971, a center line was painted to separate cyclists from pedestrians, creating one of the City’s first dedicated bike lanes. Continue reading..
Misery Loves Company..Airline Companies that is.
Screen dump of Bloomberg Article on airline customer satisfaction
5/19/14: Bloomberg had an interesting editorial today that says that US air Travelers have never been more satisfied with their airlines.
What. The..
Yes, the story quotes a J.D. Powers and Associates 2014 North America Airline Satisfaction Study and that “overall passenger satisfaction with airlines is at a record high.”
Oh my. Time to sit down even though I am already sitting. However, expecting to see the unexpected piece of news that air travel was now a pleasurable experience, the writer brings me back to reality:
On their face, the data seem to contradict a prevailing sense that U.S. airline service standards have been in decline for years. But dig a little deeper into the data, and something else becomes clear: Americans have finally begun to accept the idea that in an age of cheap, deregulated airfares, they get what they pay for.
I believe sociologists called this the Stockholm Syndrome. From wikepedia
..These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.
Coaching 101
Dahlings, So the Prince Of Wales flew coach on his way from Memphis to Dallas.
It is a mistake any blue blooded person could make. The poor boy: a simple misunderstanding between American English and British English.
Let me explain:
- British: COACH: A means of luxurious transport attached to horses with a driver called a coachman. Often used for short distances between your Palace and the Abbey.
- American : COACH: A Compartment where the Colonials rustle animals in as small a place so they cannot rest comfortably, fed as little as possible and abused by their captors.
Ciao for now.
Cleo.
San Antonio : You Kid me not !
A friend of Roam, Saladin, asked us “What is there to do in San Antonio with Kids?”. They will be staying downtown during spring break / mid-March. We should have asked them how long they were going, but we presumed it is a long weekend.
For Kids, the key thing to do is the Riverwalk. While this is without doubt a tourist trap, it is a good one to see. Take a river trip and consider eating there. Food may not be great but it is for that atmosphere of it: Sitting at an outside table watching the river traffic go by is an experience especially for a young mind. Also note that there are river taxis that you can catch from the hotels situated near the riverbank. These are fun and a novelty. Continue reading..
Chinatown
Famous for it’s grocery stores, gift shops, fake Rolex and it’s many Chinese restaurants, it is also a great place to visit for the Oriental Festivals. The best time to visit is Chinese New Year in late January/ early February. Continue reading..
“Love shack”
I really didn’t see forsee I’d be posting about this. I had recently posted about B52’s and how I’d love ultimately to have ‘Roam’ as our theme tune, so since I was on youtube, I watched the video to “Love Shack”.
I realized, I’d never seen it before. While I love this song to bits, what is up with the goat twerking in the beginning of the video?
“Roam if you want to, Roam around the world.”
We have a vision that someday, ‘Roam’ will be a player on the main stage of travel information.
If we ever make it and we have 25 cents for the virtual record machine, we would like THIS song to be our theme tune.
Ever since Augustus was a spotty student oink learning the art of Electronic Engineering, he has been a fan of the B52’s after being introduced to “Rock Lobster”. Later on the the B52’s songs “Love Shack” and “Roam”, were very popular dance songs of many student parties.
After he left college and his immature youth behind, Augustus progressed into his immature mid 20’s where he listened to Ms Pierson singing on REM’s “Shinney happy people” in yet more parties.
So here I am today: No more student parties and their antics but have fond memories of them and the B52’s. Take it away Kate..
Legal Note:
1) Warner Bros, Rhino Entertainment, the B52s or REM DO NOT endorse Roads-2-Roam.com but we can continue to wish.
2) No animals were hurt during the making of that video or during the typing of this post.