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Is it safe?

Yes, it’s safe.

Woeful experience with British Airways

I see that this traveler has had a bad experience with British Airways. My experience included such features as:

  • missed connection – because they wouldn’t let us peasants in economy off the plane or to the head of the line through customs
  • canceled second flight – that’s right, the new flight I was scheduled on was cancelled
  • lost bag – adding insult to injury, my bag didn’t ever show up and it still hasn’t.

But the worst thing about British Airways is their absolutely non-existent customer service. They have a web form with no confirmation for contacting their customer service.  I’ve sent them three requests and never received a single response. The have a fax number only (a freaking FAX number) for lost baggage, but no phone number. The phone numbers they do post aren’t answered as far as I can tell. I mailed them a claim but received no acknowledgment that they received it. In fact, in two months of trying to contact them, I have yet to interact with a single human being about this experience.

Their customer service is non-existent. Literally. Never fly with them ever.

Adventures in transporation

BUS PLUNGE!

Matt Sanchez is a douchebag

The sanctimony and bullshitting just keep coming, from his latest editorial:

If liberalism were a religion, Columbia University would be a sort of East Coast mecca where devotees flock to take part in the festivities of pro-revolutionary culture that flourishes on campus. It’s not hard to imagine protesters swarming counterclockwise around the sundial and fancying themselves as the protectors of the true faith against the banality of the American experience. If the academy were a bubble, the University is an air bag designed to protect the occupants from the impact of the outside world-the real world.

What a douchebag.

Molecular Gastronomy Supplies

Hungry in Hogtown has a cool round up on most common supplies for molecular gastronomy experiments. They also discuss sources for the supplies (L’Epicerie) and dealing with Canadian customs, which held an order up at the border.

Why high levels of home ownership isn’t necessarily a good thing

  1. Debt: Some kinds of debt are good and some are bad. Good debt is cheap and predictable. Bad debt is unpredictable for example, an Adjustable Rate Mortgage or a home equity loan taken out to cover current expenses.
  2. Poor Rental Market: Being able to reliably generate a stream of income from real estate is a good thing. If everybody owns, the rental market sags, which is bad for those who depend on it for income.
  3. Liquidity: Ownership means tying up a good deal of capital. It’s fine if you get a good return on it, but that depends on a lot of other factors, including timing. And investors have notoriously bad timing. Ownership is not a reliable way to fund your retirement.
  4. Mobility: People who own homes are less mobile. If you can’t move relatively quickly, you can’t exploit changes in the labor market. You’re stuck. Being stuck is not a good place to be.

More Matt Sanchez Dishonesty

Seems like after the heat got turned up on him, Sanchez isn’t quite so proud anymore. He knows the brass is monitoring his actions closely, so some of the more polemical posts have been taken down and he’s heavily moderating comments on his blog. That’s his right, naturally. But he hasn’t stopped misrepresenting the truth. He’s still claiming that ‘leftist bloggers’ ‘outed’ him when in fact it was gay porn fans. He’s still conflating porn and leftism, which is propaganda and horseshit — plenty of leftists hate porn.

How to write a fundable business plan

Brendon Wilson has a great piece on his blog summarizing VC Ann Winblad’s recommendations on getting your business plan written.

Thanking my lucky stars

That I don’t have this horrific skin disease that causes nail-like growths from the skin (warning: it really isn’t pretty.) However, if you have any idea what it is, it might help this guy out.

Who outed Matt Sanchez?

Columbia student, Matt Sanchez, aka “Rod Majors” and “Pierre LaBranche” claims to have been outed by left-wing bloggers. Unsurprisingly, it’s not only a self-serving claim tailored to Sanchez’s political agenda, it’s patently false. Matt Sanchez was in fact outed by gay porn fans who picked up on the Matt Sanchez/Rod Majors connection in December 17, 2006. This is a full two months before bloggers like Joe. My. God. and Tom Bacchus picked up on it.