These little notes from America’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) show up in my hold baggage every time I fly back home from the states. I don’t get it. They put my bag though a giant X-ray machine (I see that part), but then once the bag is out of my sight they open it up and mess around with my packing job? I’ve never had anything go missing or break, but certainly scared me when a laptop nestled between clothes showed up at the top of the bag wide open for damage. If they are going to poke through my stuff, when can’t they do it with me there? The anonymity of having a stranger dig through my personal belongings is just so invasive. Does that make anyone feel safer?

Since I ran a marathon the weekend before last, people have telling me that I’m a bit daft. That running that sort of distance is bad for your health and a one way ticket to life-long injury. A New York Times article today tells the tale how we have evolved to be the best long distance running animals on earth. Sure I should have trained for the race, but even without training we’re all built to go the distance. So even if you haven’t trained, might as well head out and try something ridiculous.

I admit that I have slight love affair with the Côte d’Azur‎. There is something magical in the air that makes even a rock beach and sun burn sound like great ideas. The last time I was there was this summer and thanks to the conveniently located miles and miles of beach, I managed to sneak in a little time lounging around in the sun. The picture here is after a breakfast of a giant pots of muscles and some chips. The only drawback of course being that I was salty and sticky for the rest of the day, including my flight to Berlin.

Time was that I would regularly change the background for this site. I let me love for the Queen Charlotte Track get the better of me and haven’t changed it in a long time. I’m going to get back into it, so if you have any nice pictures you are willing to share, please do send them along to weldon [at] questingforadventure.com.

Heathrow is the worst airport in the world according to a poll of airline lounge loving business travelers. This is then reported as people who fly all the time hate Heathrow. I think this is bull. Heathrow isn’t even the worst airport in London, that distinction clearly goes to Luton. It’s tiny and impossible to get to. But the folks who are flying on business likely aren’t using Luton, so they wouldn’t know.

Also, I’d wager that the folks that are paying up to £259 a year to use airport lounges aren’t super concerned with public transit access to the airport. With the tube and Heathrow express running to Heathrow, it is undoubtedly the most accessible airport in London. If you compare that to something like DC’s Dulles you realise just how nice we have it:

That’s a map of the 30 mile drive to Dulles. Or you can take a train and change to a bus. Any way you slice it, it’s a hard airport to. And once you’re there you have to deal the ridiculous security and the strange vehicles that drive you from the terminal to the gates.

So for us mere mortals that don’t have town cars that take us too and from the airport or a lounge to relax in before the flight, I’d say there are far worse airports than Heathrow. I’d put Luton near the top of that list. What’s your least favourite airport?

All the airline talk the last couple of days is about a couple of Northwest Airlines pilots that “weren’t asleep” when they overflew the destination by 150 odd miles. The guys were on a fairly short flight about half way across the US, and yet all signs other than their denials point to them nodding off at just the time their attention was needed most. It seems there is a pretty clear case for letting pilots take a nap at times while the planes are on cruise control:

International carriers including Air France, British Airways and Qantas allow pilots to nap, but sleeping while flying is prohibited at U.S. airlines by the Federal Aviation Administration. Just last month, the Air Transport Association again pressed the FAA to allow controlled cockpit napping, citing NASA research that found a mid-flight snooze significantly reduces the risks of overall pilot fatigue.
…
The NASA study begun in 1989 allowed one group of pilots flying across the Pacific to take a 25-minute nap while their co-pilots flew the planes, while a control group was required to remain awake for the entire flight. Those without the naps nodded off five times as much — including while on the approach to the airport — as those who got some sleep.

This seems a bit silly. While I don’t like the thought of my pilot sleeping while were in the air, it only makes sense that on long flights in a dark, quiet cockpit, there is a good chance that someone will doze off. You might as well plan it so that sleep when the plane is cruising along just fine rather than when it should be landing.

The whole incident leaves me wondering just how many times my pilots have fallen asleep on a flight. It is a bit unnerving to think about.