Dawn of the (Almost) Dead

@MCCCANM Hard agree with #1. 0500 sucks as a travel time for obvious reasons, but it has served us well for years, especially considering our layovers to GCM are only an hour (often less in ATL!). Worth it to be tired to hopefully avoid being stuck somewhere.

My Summer air travel advice: 1) Fly early. Later in the day storms brew, delays pile up & everyone who missed earlier flights are trying to get on yours. Overnight hours are a “reset” for the airlines. 2) At least 2 hours for international connections. At LEAST. 1 hour for domestic is a gamble, but usually works. More is better. 3) Assume the boarding door will close 10 minutes prior to departure time. Departure time is the time we push back from the gate, not the time the jet’s door closes…which must be earlier than departure time. 4) I still arrive 2 hours before departure when traveling on leisure. You can do less, but there is stress if something goes wrong. Get there, have a beer & be in boarding area 45 minutes before departure (60 for international). 5) Yelling at the Gate Agents will not help, and only hurt your cause. Be nice. They can’t do magic, but they try harder for nicer people. 6) It’s an extremely complex system. If you think you’ll outsmart it, you’re wrong. I’ve been kicked off a jet while non-reving after pushback because the winds changed & we were now too heavy. 7) The crews want to leave as badly as you do. They mostly don’t get paid for delays, and now their layover is shot…or they’ll get home late. They won’t leave until it’s safe, though, and ATC wouldn’t let them if they tried. It’s not really up to them. 8) The airlines are not making a ton of profit on your ticket. In some cases, your ticket was sold at a loss. Perspective. 9) It can get uncomfortable. Too hot, or just sitting around. Everyone else is uncomfortable, too, and we’ll go as soon as we can, but don’t be the person who complains loudly & adds to everyone’s misery. 10) Go to the bathroom before you board. It may be extra bumpy for a long time & the seatbelt sign will be on even after we reach cruise. Hope that helps. Safe flying!

@MCCCANM We normally go through ATL or CLT, so this was new to me - there were storms on the way down and a week later on the way back! I also usually do most travel in winter, so something I’m not used to in terms of air travel.

@DawnKeyHoTee Oh yeah, FL is well known for it!

Summer flying is around the corner, which often means thunderstorms & delays. A primer of what’s going on behind the scenes may help avoid some angst… To begin, the (U.S.) National Airspace (NAS) is divided into sections called “Flight Information Regions” (FIRs). Each one is under the control of an Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), a big building w/ lots of antennas, usually named for the city it’s in. It controls traffic flying through the FIR, but usually doesn’t give radar approach vectors – those are separate facilities at the airport. There are 22 of them, including Anchorage & Honolulu. Each FIR is further divided into “Sectors”. The FIR is divided both laterally & vertically…so one sector could look exactly like the other, just stacked on top & divided at some altitude, like 23,000’ or something. Each sector has an Air Traffic Controller. It’s not uncommon for one controller to control multiple sectors, though, especially during slow periods. Ok, so the jets fly around on “Routes” that transit all these sectors & FIRs, switching from sector to sector & less often, Center to the next Center. There are various types of routes, but they all have numbers, so you can file a flight plan saying where you will join the route & where you will leave it. Some routes go very long distances, others don’t. I posted an example map below of Western CO / Eastern UT. You can fly around outside of the routes, too, but most of us stay on them. Anyway, when thunderstorms build, it can block the routes. Or it can make the destination airport unsafe. There can be 5,000 aircraft in the air at a time. The Sector Controllers know everything happening in their sector, and usually what’s happening in a bordering sector, but Denver Center doesn’t know what’s happening in Jacksonville Center, nor do they care. So, a center for the centers is needed. This is the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC), located in Virginia. It takes data from all the centers & manages the whole NAS to keep traffic flowing & avoid breakdowns. To do this, they use “Traffic Management Initiatives” (TMIs). In effect, the airline asks to takeoff & head to destination, but the ATCSCC is who authorizes it. As long as the ATCSCC has not put a TMI in place, the local ATC gives permission to proceed. TMIs take a few forms. The most common is a “Ground Delay Program” (GDP). When an airport is about to be hit by a storm, a GDP is issued. Any jets headed to that airport that have not yet taken off are immediately delayed & given an “Estimated Departure Clearance Time” (EDCT). This is good; you don’t want them showing up out of fuel & diverting. The jets already in the air will probably do that, or hold, pretty soon the airspace is packed & the divert airports are overflowing. That’s bad. GDPs & EDCTs go out to nearby airports first, then later to further away airports. It’s possible to have them go across the whole country, but you don’t need to delay a flight from LAX to JFK if your storm will be over in an hour…it will take the jet 5 hours to get there anyway. Now, just because the storm passed doesn’t mean you can ditch the GDP. Airports have a capacity, a max number of jets that can land per hour. After a storm, all the jets that couldn’t get in will now try, combining with the jets that weren’t delayed – which can exceed capacity. So, a GDP may remain after the weather clears. Remember FIRs & Sectors? Sometimes the weather isn’t affecting the airport, but it’s blocking enough routes that they can’t squeeze everyone into the remaining routes. Now you’re “Flow Restricted” & need to slow down how many will come through. This is a tough one for passengers, because the weather is good at the origin & destination, so it doesn’t make sense to be delayed for weather. Sometimes they don’t have staffing to man all the sectors & get flow restricted that way. 1/2

@MCCCANM I flew yesterday (GCM -> MIA -> MCI) and as a sometime nervous flyer, it’s silly, but good PAs make a big difference for me. 2nd leg was a not great flight (delayed, bumpy, longer going around storms, etc) but hearing a smooth voice giving thorough updates was comforting!

I usually get a compliment on my announcements as I stand at the door & say goodbye to passengers. I appreciate it…I work on my PAs, as it’s most of the interaction I have w/ passengers. Flight Attendant asked me about it & I told her I’m trying to emulate Casey Kasem. Which I legitimately am…the way the man modulated his pace & tone was amazing. I was just a kid, but hearing his voice was mesmerizing. I think passengers can either be reassured or made nervous just by the quality & tone of the pilot PAs during a flight. If they sound dumb & nervous, that’s not going to inspire confidence. She had no idea who he was. I didn’t bother to try & explain, but man that hit right in the feels. Maybe I’ll have to start doing long-distance dedications.

@Fynnderella1 It was definitely not how I ever saw the “newborn bliss”, lol. It’s not the only reason, but certainly was a contributing factor to only having one child - and also, I should have requested sedation! 😬😂

@DawnKeyHoTee Omg!!! Not what you want with a newborn!

Be honest: What the most physically painful thing you’ve ever survived? For me, 2 babies with no meds, racing 5 stages in Belgium on a bicycle with 2 broken ribs and most recently, 13 weeks post op from rotator cuff & biceps tendon reattachment…., You?

@ItsGoneAwry Stahhhhhp! 😭 My 12 yo is almost my height, and I was telling him how I miss him fitting under my chin during hugs and how someday soon I’ll be fitting under HIS chin for hugs, and he said “don’t worry mom, I’ll always squat so I’ll fit under your chin.” 🥹

My 15-year-old son is 6’1” It’s so funny having such a tall child. He used to be curled up in my belly all cozy and small. 🥹🥹🥹

Following months of activism, 1,500 beagles are being released from the Ridglan Farms testing facility to animal rescue groups: the Beagle Freedom Project and Big Dog Ranch Rescue. To all the dogs being released, we wish you many years in loving homes. 14/10 for all

@Badjer_UK @MerriamWebster x.com/DawnKeyHoTee/s… Glad to see I’m not the only one that spellcheck has entirely abandoned with attempted spellings of this word!

@MerriamWebster Bureaucracy - every fucking time

What word is your spelling nemesis? This is a safe space.

@ItsGoneAwry @MerriamWebster I was just coming to say bureau and/or bureaucracy. Only time I’ve ever had to use voice-to-text because I couldn’t even figure it out enough to let spellcheck take over!

@MerriamWebster Bureau

@jhawk4life 😮 I don’t think I would have ever noticed that without it being pointed out. Also, that’s a great choice for a show to binge! And now I have the theme song in my head.

I’ve been binge watching ‘Cheers’ and am currently on Season 4. In forty plus years I’ve never noticed the guy under the table until now.

@JenniferSey I saw the news report and immediately thought of you - glad you’re okay!

I’m ok… that was terrifying.

@ItsGoneAwry Although it’s been years since I’ve had to buy a new one, my best luck with black dresses has been WHBM - in fact, my favorite LBD is from there. I never have occasions to wear them anymore, but that’s my first go-to for things like this!

I am looking for the most basic of dresses and can’t seem to find it!!! I just want a classy, little black dress (above the knee). Can be sleeveless, spaghetti strap, halter, etc. I’m open to a variety of necklines, but want to keep it classy. Not skankily short. Decent material. Slight flare/movement to the skirt. Doesn’t look like I bought it from a slave camp in China. Does this exist???????

The good news? People are catching on. The surveillance, the tracking, the data‑harvesting, folks are getting tired of being treated like products. If there’s one thing that can unite people, it's the shared desire to not be tracked 24/7. United Against Flock!

@MCCCANM We just spent the evening in the basement bc of 🌪️ in the area last night. As a lifelong KS girl, I’m pretty used to it. My first big 🌪️ was 4/26/91, watched from my front porch as McConnell AFB was destroyed before running to the basement, the ground shaking the whole house.

I experienced one tornado while stationed in Enid. It happened around 01:00 and I was asleep, but woke to the sound of wind on the windows of my second floor apartment. I got up to investigate. Rain, lightning and wind, with a strange whine. Tried to open my patio door & couldn’t…too much pressure. Went to the front door, which did open. Trees were moving all over, horrible wind & rain. The constant whine was weird…tried hard to figure it out, it was faint over all the wind noise. Then I realized it was a tornado siren. Got in the bathtub, but wasn’t optimistic that was going to help. Thankfully the tornado didn’t really “touch down”, but it did damage trees and blew out the windows of the control tower, allowing water to ruin the radios & such. The jets were all chained down at night. The night tornadoes are scarier. I never owned an emergency weather radio before that, but got one soon after & have had one since. I’m glad so far nobody appears to have lost their lives & damage is confined to a small area. A slight change in direction by this storm could have been a much bigger catastrophe.

So there is an online kerfuffle about melatonin. It is important to note that there are essentially two fractions of melatonin. One is pineal, only about 5% of overall melatonin. The other, 95% is intracellular, produced by the mitochondria and responsible for free radical mop up. One molecule of melatonin can neutralize up to 10 free radicals. Compared to glutathione only about 3. Intracellular melatonin production is absolutely dependent upon our red light and near infrared light exposure. Our indoor lifestyle and “junk light “, “ultra processed light“ environment is starving our cellular environment, antioxidation pathways and energy. “We are the only species smart enough to invent artificial light and dumb enough to live under it”. LED and fluorescent lighting are “the modern day scurvy” (-Bob Fosbury). Orally or exogenously dosing hormones of any sort can suppress our natural production for periods of time, long or short. The answer is good light hygiene. Set the circadian clock with sunrise light, which is rich in red and near infrared, as well as beneficial UVA. Morning light sets our evening sleep pressure. Late morning light is rich in UVA , good for so many things. The UVB portion obviously synthesizes natural vitamin D during many months of the year. A simple “light diet”consists of at least 15-20 minutes of early morning light and at least 15-20 minutes of mid day light. Ignoring these patterns is the root cause of myriad diseases. Americans spend 93% of their time indoors 6% in cars. We live under artificial, life sucking light behind life blocking windows. One does not need melatonin supplementation when natural light offers so much more. The darker the skin tone (melanin) and the further north one lives , the more natural light is needed. Sunglasses are also essentially hormonal, as well as, circadian poison. Modern medicine is too reductionist and we are too out of cycle with real life. Hospitals are a bath of energy draining toxic light. A triple blinded study showed patients treated with a red/near infrared light blanket were discharged 30% faster for any condition. That’s my 2 cents worth. More to come.

🔥 Peter Bence turning Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody into absolute classical piano FIRE! When a world-class concert pianist gets asked for the ultimate rock opera… this is what happens. Insane speed, perfect dynamics, and pure genius on the keys 🎹😎

@CoffeeBlackMD I don’t interact on here much bc of the crazy, but I respect the effort. I am a frmr statin-resister and sought help from a lipidologist (FH, Lp(a) almost 300). I’m on weekly statin (he doesn’t dig daily, he does multi-modal instead), and to many, even that’s just too much. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Tonight. I’m tired of talking about your lipids. Weary. I’ve been trying to care. And I’m going to stop now. If you don’t want to worry about them, then I won’t either. Unless you’re a client of mine. Then we’ll chat. I’ll bug you then. If I think I need to. I clearly grow exhausted of talking to many of you about real and true and actually factual health and medicine realities that you don’t or won’t believe. And I can’t understand it. Everyone a conspiracy theorist. Like flat earth bro. They don’t want to know about the ice wall level of conspiracy theory. But in medicine. I don’t even know how to begin addressing it. And every single time I do, in good faith, like four or five more friggin guys pop up saying the same eye rolling thing. Does anyone even read. Ever? And they are all the same guy. I think they could be. Not literally but basically interchangeable. I can’t this. And it makes me depressed a little. Idk. I know the stuff I know. And I don’t know what I don’t. You’ll never see me running my mouth about plumbing with absolute confidence and acting like every plumber is an asshole and part of a copper pipe conspiracy. Theres a reason YOU don’t either. But you’ll do it completely unironically when it comes to medicine and doctors. Maybe the algo is just serving me the fools I deserve for having the temerity to try here. Imagine!! This man wants to inform the knaves?!! Let’s let him!! *sounds of raucous laughter* This post is me giving up. At least for now. But I do think we a traveling quite briskly to a social evolutionary rubicon. A splitting point. Where the paranoid are going to end up sleeping in the beds they’ve made. And we’ll have to hear yes more paranoid bitching then too. Didn’t do enough to learn the idiots they were being idiots. Bah! Pride. Before the fall.

@CoffeeBlackMD Gah, and here I thought I was over the walking pneumonia - I’m laughing so hard I can’t stop coughing again! 😂

Read this. Laughing. I couldn’t breathe and my wife called me an “autistic weirdo” 🤣😂 Perfect

@MCCCANM Going to borrow your recipe for the marinated eggs - it’s my absolute favorite part of getting ramen! 😋

It’s been almost 2 weeks of Door Dash for the kids & I – and there is nothing wrong with that – but it’s time to get back to cooking. Starting w/ a new favorite: Build your own Miso-Peanut Ramen bar. The 24 hour marinated eggs are little beauties, I love them so!