Ben Blaney wrote:

[gratuitous selective snipping]

> And I take ~150 flights a year. Why?

A very good question!

--
Chris

On Saturday, 13 November 2021 at 11:04:11 UTC, siwilson wrote:
> On 12/11/2021 21:38, Ben Blaney wrote:

> > I consider myself a reasonably early adopter, and I consider myself adaptive and tech-friendly. But there are times when old-tech (paper) has many many advantages, and few disadvantages.
> >
> +100
>
> But I don't fly anymore[1], just the ferry now.
>
> [1] or really expect to

Ditto on the flying, although I suppose I may visit family in Australia again.

Used to do >100 flights a year, nothing like Ben since mostly European but I really don't miss it a bit. Can't think of anything worse, flying lost its attraction just after 911 when airport security was stepped up.

But I was firmly in the using a smartphone for boarding passes camp for the last few years. I suspect the people who were incapable of having the app/QR code loaded and ready are the same cunts that spend an age at the baggage scanning and would have similar issues with finding the right piece of paper for their boarding pass- blame the incompetents not the choice of technology.

On 11/12/2021 2:05 PM, YTC#1 wrote:
>
>
> I suspect the people taht can't work out where they saved it would also
> be rifeling through sheets of paper at the kiosk as well (which is what
> I witnessed at Santander).
>

This. I think it has more to do with IQ than mode of technology.

--
The erstwhile Thomas
FJR1300, R1200GS, ST1100 (in memoriam)

On 11/13/2021 3:04 AM, siwilson wrote:
>
>
> But I don't fly anymore[1], just the ferry now.
>
> [1] or really expect to

I'm glad I lived in the era* when flying was an adventure, something to
look forward to. With climate change, flying is not very green and in
the future will probably be restricted in some way.

(* Along with coming of age between the pill and aids.)

--
The erstwhile Thomas
FJR1300, R1200GS, ST1100 (in memoriam)

On Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 9:06:58 AM UTC-5, CT wrote:
> Ben Blaney wrote:
>
> [gratuitous selective snipping]
> > And I take ~150 flights a year. Why?
> A very good question!

Well, work, obviously. Customers, mainly, some internal meetings, some conferences and trade shows. Holidays. The occasional trip to see a friend, or a jazz gig. A few months ago I went to Florida to get a bagel.

I don't live in a hub city, so if I go anywhere but Chicago, New York or Washington DC, I have to get a connecting flight. So that's four flights in a week. And if I do two cities in one week, there'll be another in the middle somewhere. Five flights in a week, 25 weeks of the year, plus another ten weeks of little hops to my nearby places.

Ben Blaney <benblaney@gmail.com> wrote in
news:a5ae2568-ac7c-427c-bbc9-4de3f8def393n@googlegroups.com:

> On Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 9:06:58 AM UTC-5, CT wrote:
>> Ben Blaney wrote:
>>
>> [gratuitous selective snipping]
>> > And I take ~150 flights a year. Why?
>> A very good question!
>
> Well, work, obviously. Customers, mainly, some internal meetings,
> some conferences and trade shows. Holidays. The occasional trip to
> see a friend, or a jazz gig. A few months ago I went to Florida to
> get a bagel.
>
> I don't live in a hub city, so if I go anywhere but Chicago, New York
> or Washington DC, I have to get a connecting flight. So that's four
> flights in a week. And if I do two cities in one week, there'll be
> another in the middle somewhere. Five flights in a week, 25 weeks of
> the year, plus another ten weeks of little hops to my nearby places.
>
>

the BBC showed Up in the Air again yesterday. You're not as pretty as Mr
Clooney...

On 13/11/2021 21:37, Ben Blaney wrote:
> On Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 9:06:58 AM UTC-5, CT wrote:
>> Ben Blaney wrote:
>>
>> [gratuitous selective snipping]
>>> And I take ~150 flights a year. Why?
>> A very good question!
>
> Well, work, obviously. Customers, mainly, some internal meetings, some conferences and trade shows. Holidays. The occasional trip to see a friend, or a jazz gig. A few months ago I went to Florida to get a bagel.
>
> I don't live in a hub city, so if I go anywhere but Chicago, New York or Washington DC, I have to get a connecting flight. So that's four flights in a week. And if I do two cities in one week, there'll be another in the middle somewhere. Five flights in a week, 25 weeks of the year, plus another ten weeks of little hops to my nearby places.
>

Yeah, I used to have some weeks like that, not many. Sometimes 4 flights
in a day (Austria and back) but that really sucked.

Just a tiny little part of me misses it, but as I said extremely
unlikely to go back there. Maybe a trip or two to Serbia with my current
employer but we'll see.

--
/Simon

On 13/11/2021 18:46, Turby wrote:
> On 11/12/2021 2:05 PM, YTC#1 wrote:
>>
>>
>> I suspect the people taht can't work out where they saved it would
>> also be rifeling through sheets of paper at the kiosk as well (which
>> is what I witnessed at Santander).
>>
>
> This. I think it has more to do with IQ than mode of technology.
>

That, and the realisation that significant trips require a bit of
forward planning to get your documentary ducks in a row. Then once
'abroad' keeping them in a safe place until needed. Though that safe
place is better if reasonably accessible, if required to produce them by
an officer of the law. Under the folded down to create a cargo area of a
hatch back loaded with camping gear ticks the 'safe' box, but not the
accessible. BTDTGTTS.

On a smart phone in your pocket probably ticks both - until you lose the
phone. In these days of 'the cloud' however, with a bit of fore thought
and a memory for passwords, all should not be lost for too long.

Speaking of smart phones, using a bluetooth satnav (Beeline) and
'fitness band' at the same time don't half hammer the battery - of an
ageing Galaxy S6 Edge anyway.

--
Moto Morini 2C/375, Moto Morini 2C/350
Gilera 175 Sport, Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen
1937 Sunbeam Model 14 250 Sports
"Do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in the reality"

Pete Fisher <peter@ps-fisher.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> On 13/11/2021 18:46, Turby wrote:
>> On 11/12/2021 2:05 PM, YTC#1 wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> I suspect the people taht can't work out where they saved it would
>>> also be rifeling through sheets of paper at the kiosk as well (which
>>> is what I witnessed at Santander).
>>>
>>
>> This. I think it has more to do with IQ than mode of technology.
>
> That, and the realisation that significant trips require a bit of
> forward planning to get your documentary ducks in a row. Then once
> 'abroad' keeping them in a safe place until needed. Though that safe
> place is better if reasonably accessible, if required to produce them by
> an officer of the law. Under the folded down to create a cargo area of a
> hatch back loaded with camping gear ticks the 'safe' box, but not the
> accessible. BTDTGTTS.
>
> On a smart phone in your pocket probably ticks both - until you lose the
> phone. In these days of 'the cloud' however, with a bit of fore thought
> and a memory for passwords, all should not be lost for too long.

Sometimes, even when prepared, one can unwittingly, through no fault
of their own, become 'that guy' at the boarding gate. We presented our
passports at the ticket counter in MSP, along with our UK Passenger
Locator Forms, vaccination cards, where all were checked against our
previously submitted information. But when we got to the point of boarding
(after a 2 hour delay due to weather at BOS) , both our boarding passes
were flagged due to lack of passport details in the computer. Cue some
disgruntled folk behind us, naturally assuming it was our fault rather
than something wrong in the JetBlue / Icelandair data entryprocess.

I always put all of my printed docs in a folio which I carry in my
backpack at all times. The PDFs are stored in a Google Drive folder shared
with my wife and all the docs are marked for offline access on my phone
and Chromebook. But the paper is what comes out at checkpoints and for
boarding passes, the phone is the backup. Especially now when you don't
know in advance which document(s) will be needed at which checkpoint. I
do see a lot of fiddling about with phones, trying to get to the correct
screen, pinching to zoom, and so on. Not needed with paper. And I can
fold up a couple of A4/Letter size sheets and put them in my passport
carrier for easy access.

--
FJR1300A, GL1000, KLR650A6F, EX250J9A, DR200SE, Vespa Ciao

Mark Olson <olsonm@tiny.invalid> wrote:

> Sometimes, even when prepared, one can unwittingly, through no fault
> of their own, become 'that guy' at the boarding gate. We presented our
> passports at the ticket counter in MSP, along with our UK Passenger
> Locator Forms, vaccination cards, where all were checked against our
> previously submitted information. But when we got to the point of boarding
> (after a 2 hour delay due to weather at BOS) , both our boarding passes
> were flagged due to lack of passport details in the computer. Cue some
> disgruntled folk behind us, naturally assuming it was our fault rather
> than something wrong in the JetBlue / Icelandair data entryprocess.

Forgot to mention, that due to the aforementioned weather delay,
we missed out on some relaxing time in the BA lounge at BOS, which
I was rather looking forward to, having specifically upgraded that
section of our flight to SAGA class, partly on the strength of having
a long layover and lounge access there. We also had to come to the
gate counter to have our passports specially double-checked again,
presumably due to the same computer fault as previously encountered
at MSP.

On the positive side, it was nice not to have to go through security
twice, staying on the secure side of the system, simply walking
from Terminal C to Terminal E. Unlike at Riyadh where you have to be
screened twice on a connecting flight.

--
FJR1300A, GL1000, KLR650A6F, EX250J9A, DR200SE, Vespa Ciao

On Sat, 13 Nov 2021 11:39:57 -0000 (UTC), wessie
<willnotwork@tesco.net> wrote:

>siwilson <siwilson@nodamnspam.hotmail.com> wrote in
>news:iv9kd8FforuU2@mid.individual.net:
>
>
>> +100
>>
>> But I don't fly anymore[1], just the ferry now.
>>
>> [1] or really expect to
>
>AOL
>
>never being a frequent flyer, I hated airports on those occasional trips,
>usually with my son. Even before Covid I had given up on flying and now, I
>am even less inclined to fly.
>
>I have booked a couple of trips for next year, using ferries or tunnel.

Ditto. Flying to Austria in February should be the last time. Three
rail and ferry trips booked for next year, to France, Germany and
Corsica respectively.

--
Colin Irvine
FJR1300A

On 14/11/2021 09:58, Mark Olson wrote:
> Pete Fisher <peter@ps-fisher.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 13/11/2021 18:46, Turby wrote:
>>> On 11/12/2021 2:05 PM, YTC#1 wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I suspect the people taht can't work out where they saved it would
>>>> also be rifeling through sheets of paper at the kiosk as well (which
>>>> is what I witnessed at Santander).
>>>>
>>>
>>> This. I think it has more to do with IQ than mode of technology.
>>
>> That, and the realisation that significant trips require a bit of
>> forward planning to get your documentary ducks in a row. Then once
>> 'abroad' keeping them in a safe place until needed. Though that safe
>> place is better if reasonably accessible, if required to produce them by
>> an officer of the law. Under the folded down to create a cargo area of a
>> hatch back loaded with camping gear ticks the 'safe' box, but not the
>> accessible. BTDTGTTS.
>>
>> On a smart phone in your pocket probably ticks both - until you lose the
>> phone. In these days of 'the cloud' however, with a bit of fore thought
>> and a memory for passwords, all should not be lost for too long.
>
> Sometimes, even when prepared, one can unwittingly, through no fault
> of their own, become 'that guy' at the boarding gate. We presented our
> passports at the ticket counter in MSP, along with our UK Passenger
> Locator Forms, vaccination cards, where all were checked against our
> previously submitted information. But when we got to the point of boarding
> (after a 2 hour delay due to weather at BOS) , both our boarding passes
> were flagged due to lack of passport details in the computer. Cue some
> disgruntled folk behind us, naturally assuming it was our fault rather
> than something wrong in the JetBlue / Icelandair data entryprocess.
>
> I always put all of my printed docs in a folio which I carry in my
> backpack at all times. The PDFs are stored in a Google Drive folder shared
> with my wife and all the docs are marked for offline access on my phone
> and Chromebook. But the paper is what comes out at checkpoints and for
> boarding passes, the phone is the backup. Especially now when you don't
> know in advance which document(s) will be needed at which checkpoint. I
> do see a lot of fiddling about with phones, trying to get to the correct
> screen, pinching to zoom, and so on. Not needed with paper. And I can
> fold up a couple of A4/Letter size sheets and put them in my passport
> carrier for easy access.
>

All the above, except reverse the primary/backup. Paper is now backup.

And I store as little as possible in Google, my own NextCloud set uo is
fine (now with offsite backups and coming soon NC->NC duplication)

Also, some items cannot be filled in before departure (like locator
forms, and check-in for return), why waste time trying to get stuff
printed out by a friendly local?

--
Bruce Porter
"The internet is a huge and diverse community but mainly friendly"
http://ytc1.blogspot.co.uk/
There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/

YTC#1 <bdp@ytc1-spambin.co.uk> wrote:

> All the above, except reverse the primary/backup. Paper is now backup.
>
> And I store as little as possible in Google, my own NextCloud set uo is
> fine (now with offsite backups and coming soon NC->NC duplication)

I've got a QNAP NAS which I suppose could do some sort of private
cloud, but I'm just too lazy to bother setting it up. I actually
have two of them, the old one has the 2nd drive slot failed, so no
mirroring, but it would work fine as an offsite backup with a single
drive. But again, so many projects and not enough time.

> Also, some items cannot be filled in before departure (like locator >
forms, and check-in for return), why waste time trying to get stuff >
printed out by a friendly local?

I don't always go out of my way to get things printed out, but it's
usually not a problem at most hotels, and no big deal when it's a
work trip.

--
FJR1300A, GL1000, KLR650A6F, EX250J9A, DR200SE, Vespa Ciao

On Friday, 12 November 2021 at 21:38:22 UTC, Ben Blaney wrote:
> On a similar note, I still take a paper boarding pass when I fly. And I take ~150 flights a year. Why? Because the twats who hold up the boarding process are those who are multi-tasking, can't operate their telephone, have run out of battery, have their screen brightness turned down, can't zoom properly. I scan and go, first time, every time.
>
> I consider myself a reasonably early adopter, and I consider myself adaptive and tech-friendly. But there are times when old-tech (paper) has many many advantages, and few disadvantages.

One advantage a paper boarding pass has at the moment is it can be written on to indicate that other paperwork has already been checked before the gate, avoiding having to go through the whole thing twice and hold up the queue while doing so. But I'm sure those who've not travelled recently will know better.

On 14/11/2021 15:20, Mark Olson wrote:
> YTC#1 <bdp@ytc1-spambin.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> All the above, except reverse the primary/backup. Paper is now backup.
>>
>> And I store as little as possible in Google, my own NextCloud set uo is
>> fine (now with offsite backups and coming soon NC->NC duplication)
>
> I've got a QNAP NAS which I suppose could do some sort of private
> cloud, but I'm just too lazy to bother setting it up. I actually
> have two of them, the old one has the 2nd drive slot failed, so no
> mirroring, but it would work fine as an offsite backup with a single
> drive. But again, so many projects and not enough time.

Depends what you want I suppose. I had a server up 24/7 anyway, so just
added a zone (Solaris) with a NextCloud stack (very easy).

For the remote (kids) sites I have used RaspberryPis with 256Gb thumbdrives.
>
>> Also, some items cannot be filled in before departure (like locator >
> forms, and check-in for return), why waste time trying to get stuff >
> printed out by a friendly local?
>
> I don't always go out of my way to get things printed out, but it's
> usually not a problem at most hotels, and no big deal when it's a
> work trip.
>

You probably stay at a higher class establishment than I do :-)

--
Bruce Porter
"The internet is a huge and diverse community but mainly friendly"
http://ytc1.blogspot.co.uk/
There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/

On Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 9:45:34 PM UTC, siwilson wrote:
> On 13/11/2021 21:37, Ben Blaney wrote:
> > On Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 9:06:58 AM UTC-5, CT wrote:
> >> Ben Blaney wrote:
> >>
> >> [gratuitous selective snipping]
> >>> And I take ~150 flights a year. Why?
> >> A very good question!
> >
> > Well, work, obviously. Customers, mainly, some internal meetings, some conferences and trade shows. Holidays. The occasional trip to see a friend, or a jazz gig. A few months ago I went to Florida to get a bagel.
> >
> > I don't live in a hub city, so if I go anywhere but Chicago, New York or Washington DC, I have to get a connecting flight. So that's four flights in a week. And if I do two cities in one week, there'll be another in the middle somewhere. Five flights in a week, 25 weeks of the year, plus another ten weeks of little hops to my nearby places.
> >
> Yeah, I used to have some weeks like that, not many. Sometimes 4 flights
> in a day (Austria and back) but that really sucked.
>
> Just a tiny little part of me misses it, but as I said extremely
> unlikely to go back there. Maybe a trip or two to Serbia with my current
> employer but we'll see.
>
> --

Ditto, furthest I get to for work these days is Treviso (lovely), Litovel (interesting), Mistelbach (pretty) and Prešov (cold).

But again, that hasn't been for a while. I always liked the little hops around Europe, and didn't mind the long flights to the West Coast or Taiwan/China - but don't miss those in the slightest.

On Sun, 14 Nov 2021 10:55:16 +0000, Colin Irvine
<look@colinandpat.co.uk> wrote:

>>> But I don't fly anymore[1], just the ferry now.
>>>
>>> [1] or really expect to

>>AOL

>Ditto. Flying to Austria in February should be the last time.

<conundrum>

I'm happy not to fly much if at all, except...I really want to go to
Sri Lanka again. Not sure if climate-change guilt will let me, or not
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old

On Tuesday, 16 November 2021 at 11:45:22 UTC, Champ wrote:
<snip>
> I'm happy not to fly much if at all, except...I really want to go to
> Sri Lanka again. Not sure if climate-change guilt will let me, or not

Guilt for current/future behaviour or past?

How many laps of the TT Circuit is one return flight to Sri Lanka...?

I wonder about flying to Australia for the same reasons of guilt as you have
about Sri Lanka, then consider all the flights in the past 20 years plus the years
of riding two stroke motorcycles, the thousands of miles of bike touring etc.

Does my behaviour in the present and future make *that* much difference?
I think whatever I do in the next 20-40 years is fiddling in the margins of my
personal climate impact (which I regret- the flights mostly, the bikes least).

On Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 11:45:22 AM UTC, Champ wrote:

> I'm happy not to fly much if at all, except...I really want to go to
> Sri Lanka again. Not sure if climate-change guilt will let me, or not

I regard my personal off-setting contribution to be not
reproducing, so I'm fairly content to keep flying where
necessary.

--
WUN

On Tuesday, 16 November 2021 at 12:35:17 UTC, WUN wrote:
> On Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 11:45:22 AM UTC, Champ wrote:
>
> > I'm happy not to fly much if at all, except...I really want to go to
> > Sri Lanka again. Not sure if climate-change guilt will let me, or not
> I regard my personal off-setting contribution to be not
> reproducing, so I'm fairly content to keep flying where
> necessary.

Just so long as you don't expect any healthcare/whatever in your dotage.

On Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 12:44:31 PM UTC, stephen...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, 16 November 2021 at 12:35:17 UTC, WUN wrote:

> > I regard my personal off-setting contribution to be not
> > reproducing, so I'm fairly content to keep flying where
> > necessary.
> Just so long as you don't expect any healthcare/whatever in your dotage.

I have a niece for that. Bonus: She's a doctor and she'll get the house, so
I don't expect to suffer for long.

--
WUN

On Tue, 16 Nov 2021 04:07:49 -0800 (PST), Stephen Packer
<stephen.packer@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Tuesday, 16 November 2021 at 11:45:22 UTC, Champ wrote:
><snip>
>> I'm happy not to fly much if at all, except...I really want to go to
>> Sri Lanka again. Not sure if climate-change guilt will let me, or not
>
>Guilt for current/future behaviour or past?

Future, of course

>How many laps of the TT Circuit is one return flight to Sri Lanka...?
>
>I wonder about flying to Australia for the same reasons of guilt as you have
>about Sri Lanka, then consider all the flights in the past 20 years plus the years
>of riding two stroke motorcycles, the thousands of miles of bike touring etc.

Back in the day, we can, to some extent, say we didn't know. And then
the was a period of "What difference can I make?". But now I think
I've got to do what I can.
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old

On Tue, 16 Nov 2021 04:35:16 -0800 (PST), WUN <nigel.eaton@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 11:45:22 AM UTC, Champ wrote:
>
>> I'm happy not to fly much if at all, except...I really want to go to
>> Sri Lanka again. Not sure if climate-change guilt will let me, or not

>I regard my personal off-setting contribution to be not
>reproducing, so I'm fairly content to keep flying where
>necessary.

<scribbles furiously>

Ooh, thanks
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old

On Tue, 16 Nov 2021 07:23:54 -0800 (PST), WUN <nigel.eaton@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 12:44:31 PM UTC, stephen...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Tuesday, 16 November 2021 at 12:35:17 UTC, WUN wrote:
>
>> > I regard my personal off-setting contribution to be not
>> > reproducing, so I'm fairly content to keep flying where
>> > necessary.

>> Just so long as you don't expect any healthcare/whatever in your dotage.

>I have a niece for that. Bonus: She's a doctor and she'll get the house, so
>I don't expect to suffer for long.

heh
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old

On Sat, 13 Nov 2021 21:41:59 -0000 (UTC), wessie
<willnotwork@tesco.net> wrote:

>Ben Blaney <benblaney@gmail.com> wrote in

>>> [gratuitous selective snipping]
>>> > And I take ~150 flights a year. Why?

>>> A very good question!

>> So that's four flights in a week. And if I do two cities in one week, there'll be
>> another in the middle somewhere. Five flights in a week, 25 weeks of
>> the year, plus another ten weeks of little hops to my nearby places.

>the BBC showed Up in the Air again yesterday. You're not as pretty as Mr
>Clooney...

heh. I *love* that film. Probably seen it 4 or 5 times. And not just
for Vera Farmigia (who would make it worth repeated viewings alone)
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old