Category Archives: Holidays

Holidays, Lifestyle, Random, Travel

How to Find the Best Seat on the Airplane

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You’ve spent a wad of hard-earned cash on an airplane ticket. Now where to sit? Don’t leave it to the airline to decide because chances are you’ll end up in the middle of a row that doesn’t recline. There are several resources to to use that can help you land the best seat available.

There are two free web sites to visit for seat maps: seatguru.com and seatexpert.com. Seatguru’s graphical interface is slightly easier on the eyes, but both offer seat maps of individual aircrafts operated by most airlines. They show graphical layouts of the cabins and pros and cons for various seats on the plane as reported by passengers.

  • Tip #1: You’ll need to know which type of plane the airline will be using on your flight. You can generally find this information in your reservation.

To see seat maps on specific flights that show which seats are occupied or not, try expertflyer.com. This site is not free (they charge a $4.99/month subscription fee), but you can access the information the first time by using their 5-day free trial. Armed with one of the free seat maps, you can also call the airline directly.

  • Tip #2: Remember FEBO (Front Even Back Odd) — This is how several major carriers, including American Airlines, take meal orders in premium class based on flight number. For Even flight numbers, meal order is taken from the Front, and for Odd flight numbers, meal order is taken from the Back. Pick your seat accordingly if you want to ensure your meal choice.
Family, Holidays, Lifestyle, Random, Science

The Real Valentine’s Day

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Today, Friday, February 1, 2008, is the real Valentine’s Day. This is according to a dear friend and professional astrologer, Kelly Davidson, who specializes in universal timing. At 3AM PST, Venus and Jupiter met for their annual make-out session–a romantic conjunction that obscured both of them from earthly view. The afterglow of their rendez-vous makes the rest of today all about love.

Love is a mystery that some would say is neatly solved by the phrase “yes, dear” and a box of chocolates. I am not such a cynic, and quite frankly, entertain other possibilities. Serious attempts at explaining what love is have been made throughout human history by scientists, philosophers, politicians, monks, sages, prophets, poets and especially marketers. Understanding the mysteries of the universe–why things happen and when–seems fair game to all, including astrologers.

So while I don’t advocate that astrology has all the answers or is anything more than another possible explanation, I do appreciate the value of good timing and it’s positive impact on creating love. Take, for example, Susan Miller, who is a very successful astrologer and author the website astrologyzone.com. She writes monthly forecasts and offers a wealth of advice on how to use astrology to improve your love life. You can use her “Matchmaker By Sign” to figure out which signs are most and least compatible with yours. Once you have found a potential mate, you can then use her “Gift Guide by Sign” to figure out what would be the best present to give your beloved on Valentine’s Day. Apparently, not everyone loves chocolate–yet another mystery of the universe–but Susan guides us through it.

So if Valentine’s Day seems more like an annual romantic curse, celebrating on the true Valentine’s Day may change the outcome. At least for today, love is in the air. And if you find a compatible partner, shower them with gifts they’ll appreciate (for some signs, that means nothing material at all). However it works out, happy true Valentine’s Day.

An astute reader of this entry pointed out that the author of badastronomy.com, Phil Plait — scientist, writer, skeptic and friend — published about the Venus/Jupiter conjunction today on his blog . Thanks for mentioning it!