Taking our talents to the FB

[dtb]

Originally Posted by taxwonk

Food insecure means that you will, on a regular basis, have to choose between food and getting your kid that check-up; you might have to choose between eating and paying the water bill or the rent. Little things like that. It also means that you live in a neighborhood where there is no grocery store for five miles in any direction, but there is a bodega selling pork rinds and Monster on every corner.

What's Monster?

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally Posted by dtb

What's Monster?

I think it's that energy drink, like Red Bull, but more caffeine.

[Gattigap]

Originally Posted by dtb

What's Monster?

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by dtb

What's Monster?

That's what she said.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

a jetblue flight attendant upset because a passenger refused to apologize after accidentally striking him with luggage, allegedly spewed obscenities over the pa system, then activated and slid down a plane’s emergency chute before disappearing into a terminal at john f. Kennedy airport monday, an airport official said.

Jetblue flight 1052 from pittsburgh had taxied to a stop at terminal 5, gate c around noon monday when flight attendant steven slater, 38, was struck in the head with luggage that a passenger was trying to unload from an overhead compartment, according to an airport official with knowledge of the incident.

Slater demanded an apology from the passenger, the official said, but the passenger refused. The two argued before the passenger told slater to “f— off”, the official said. The official said that slater then got on the plane’s pa system and directed that same obscenity at all the passengers and added that he especially meant it for the man who refused to apologize.

Slater is alleged to have then activated the plane’s inflatable emergency slide, grabbed two beers from the galley, then slid down the chute, the official said.

The attendant then ran from the tarmac into the terminal, the official said. He made his way to his car and drove to his residence in belle harbor, queens, the official said. The official said that jetblue officials waited until about 25 minutes after the chute was deployed before they notified port authority police. The wait enabled slater to make the getaway, the airport’s police force. Steve stampley, a jetblue spokesman, declined to comment on the alleged reporting delay.

Authorities picked the flight attendant up at his home on beach 128th street monday afternoon and brought him to the port authority police station at jfk airport for questioning. The official said that slater was calm when arrested and remained calm throughout his interrogation and the booking process. He was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. He was awaiting arraignment monday night. Attempts to reach slater’s relatives were not successful. (no word on whether the flight attendant was one of the many former nypd officers in jetblue’s employ.)

stampley said that jetblue’s corporate policy prohibits the company from divulging information about crewmembers.

“at this time, we are working with the faa (federal aviation administration) and the port authority of new york and new jersey to investigate this incident. At no time was the security or safety of our customers or crewmembers at risk,” stampley said.

Gawker unearthed what appears to be slater’s myspace page, which mentions overcoming alcohol and substance abuse, and includes comments about how he ‘loves to max it out with trips around the world, sometimes on a moment’s notice!’

wsj

[LessinSF]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

wsj quote

David Sedaris:

I met a flight attendant and she taught me a new phrase: She said, "Us flight attendants, we get so gassy on the airplane we end up farting as we're going up and down the aisles of the plane. We call that 'crop dusting.'" She also said a flight-attendant way of saying go fuck yourself is "I'll be right back." And then this male flight attendant told me that when he was angry with the way people on the plane were treating him, he'd go up and down the aisles saying, "You're trash, you're trash, you're trash." You can learn a lot from flight attendants.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=621684

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by LessinSF

David Sedaris:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=621684

I recently saw a flight attendant say that men in business class are like little boys -- if you don't take their jackets, they're completely at a loss, but otherwise they're happy to play with their toys.

[Hank Chinaski]

so I just saw a news story on credit card companies' charging more and more fees. they said lots of cards charge "foreign usage feees?" seriously? I didn't even look at my bills last time I was outside. so if that's true what is the smart way to pay for stuff outside the country?



(stuff that the men in business class worry about)

[Cletus Miller]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

so I just saw a news story on credit card companies' charging more and more fees. they said lots of cards charge "foreign usage feees?" seriously? I didn't even look at my bills last time I was outside. so if that's true what is the smart way to pay for stuff outside the country?



(stuff that the men in business class worry about)

This is news to you? Really? Did you opt out of every one of the class actions about foreign exchange fees? Or did you just cash the checks with no idea what they were for?

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

so I just saw a news story on credit card companies' charging more and more fees. they said lots of cards charge "foreign usage feees?" seriously? I didn't even look at my bills last time I was outside. so if that's true what is the smart way to pay for stuff outside the country?



(stuff that the men in business class worry about)

Capital One is the only major not to charge the foreign currency conversion fee, which Ty will tell you is not actually a fee. It is instead a markup of the interbank rate they get, typically 1% from V/MC + 2-3% from the issuing bank. Amex marks up 2.7%.

So pay with a Capital One card. And for cash, get a bank account where foreign ATM use is free.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Cletus Miller

Or did you just cash the checks with no idea what they were for?

Describes his partnership to a T.

[Fugee]

I've been cleaning out some files and found a page from a legal mystery by Paul Levine (it might be "To Speak for the Dead" but the title isn't on the photocopy).

One particular paragraph from this book cracked me up so I copied it and found it in one of my files. The protagonist is musing about the games lawyers play:

"scrivening abusive letters, insulting the other's client in increasingly harsh terms until one or the other files suit. Once, in a petty dispute over a property line, H.T. Patterson wrote a twelve-page letter, accusing my client of everything from deceit, deception and duplicity to being on the grassy knoll in Dallas. Pressed for time, I responded simply, 'Fuck you; strong reply to follow.'"

Yeah, I suppose this should have gone in the books thread. Too bad.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

so I just saw a news story on credit card companies' charging more and more fees. they said lots of cards charge "foreign usage feees?" seriously? I didn't even look at my bills last time I was outside. so if that's true what is the smart way to pay for stuff outside the country?



(stuff that the men in business class worry about)

Discover

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)

Capital One is the only major not to charge the foreign currency conversion fee, which Ty will tell you is not actually a fee. It is instead a markup of the interbank rate they get, typically 1% from V/MC + 2-3% from the issuing bank. Amex marks up 2.7%.

So pay with a Capital One card. And for cash, get a bank account where foreign ATM use is free.

Some of the banks double-dip, and hit you with a foreign-transaction fee on top of the currency-conversion fee.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Fugee

I've been cleaning out some files and found a page from a legal mystery by Paul Levine (it might be "To Speak for the Dead" but the title isn't on the photocopy).

One particular paragraph from this book cracked me up so I copied it and found it in one of my files. The protagonist is musing about the games lawyers play:

"scrivening abusive letters, insulting the other's client in increasingly harsh terms until one or the other files suit. Once, in a petty dispute over a property line, H.T. Patterson wrote a twelve-page letter, accusing my client of everything from deceit, deception and duplicity to being on the grassy knoll in Dallas. Pressed for time, I responded simply, 'Fuck you; strong reply to follow.'"

Yeah, I suppose this should have gone in the books thread. Too bad.

If you put it on the Big Board someone will appreciate the practice tip.