Comment Re:It's an encyclopedia (Score 1) 256
Well I didn't create or edit this article, but I was disappointed that it was removed - and glad at least that it was allowed to be restored with userfication.
-- Pete.
Well I didn't create or edit this article, but I was disappointed that it was removed - and glad at least that it was allowed to be restored with userfication.
-- Pete.
switch to azerty. it is similar enough to be really irritating. Then, switch back. Hilarity ensues.
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-- Pete.
Yeah, because it isn't like the jet stream would allow a plane to make the reverse trip with tens of thousands of pounds less fuel, right?
I'm sorry, I didn't make myself clear - if I had been flying the reverse route B->A and then A->B then I would have had a 32Kg allowance in BOTH directions. But flying A->B and B->A I only had a 23Kg allowance in each direction. Hence my comment that there's no technical reason why they should not accept 1 bag of 27Kg.
I was actually asked if my flight was a return portion or an outward portion, and they stated that if it had been a return portion then I would have been allowed to check the bag.
-- Pete.
It's not about space or weight, it's about money.
I flew internationally with a baggage allowance of 2 checked in items of luggage at 23Kg each. I dared to bring just 1 piece of luggage that weighed 27Kg. They refused to check my case, so I had the choice of paying an excess luggage fee, or buying a new (overpriced) case in the airport and transferring some items across.
I bought the extra case, I wasn't giving that airline an extra cent for such a ridiculous policy. They also mentioned to me that if I had been flying in the opposite direction I would have had an allowance of 32Kg per case, so there was no technical reason for the weight limit.
Oh, and then when I was finally allowed to check-in with my two cases, the check-in staff raised an eyebrow at my 2 cases with a combined 30Kg weight. In retrospect it would have been great if I bought lots of bottles of water to take my second case up to the maximum 23Kg too - let them bear the extra cost due to their stupidity.
-- Pete.
Oh, the airline was TAP for anyone wondering.
Take your laptop, the freedom to transfer your photos locally, and ready internet access with wifi will make it worthwhile. There are internet cafes around, but it'll be more fuss to find one and time out of your vacation, rather than just packing a power convertor and changing your wifi settings.
Other things you might want to do in London could include:
Of course, there are many other things too as people will list below, London is a big place with lots to see and do, enjoy your trip!
-- Pete.
Umm. Allow cookies from google. Go to Search Settings. Set your language preferences. They stick. That's how I haven't seen Finnish version of Google except when browser sometimes decides to delete all cookies.
Sure it sticks for the search page, unless your go to it from an iPhone, and it doesn't stick for some of their other pages...like the dashboard. I have had it set for a long time, but it really isn't used sometimes.
-- Pete.
Belgium must be a particularly strange example...do the Walloons get Dutch too?
I have no idea what the Walloons get, but I actually live in Brussels, which is as multi-lingual as it gets, with both French and Dutch as official languages, but with a population that is statistically more likely to understand someone speaking English than any other language. And still Google thinks that Dutch (the minority language) is the best choice to use.
-- Pete.
Well that's annoying...one thing Google doesn't do intelligently is languages. I am logged into my account, they KNOW I speak English as a preferred language, but when I go to my iGoogle page on my iPhone whilst I'm in Belgium it insists on displaying everything in Dutch.
That was annoying enough...but now the dashboard is doing the same, even when I visit the page from my laptop.
Google, you KNOW I speak English, stop overriding my account setting for my language with demographic data based on my IP address. When I'm traveling it doesn't make me fluent in the local language...
*slaps the company on the nose with a rolled up newspaper* Bad Google, bad bad portal!
-- Pete.
...asks the guy who's clearly never been to Israel.
Well in my original post I mentioned I've penciled in Israel for next year, so that's something I can look forward to...
-- Pete.
I'm not judging the whole country by their border controls, but I am judging the border controls.
I don't agree with the process, and there is no way to enter the country without submitting to it.
Sure, the luggage restrictions can be annoying, but it does not require providing personal details and biometrics for permanent government records.
For similar reasons, I am against the DNA collection by the police on all arrests in the UK (but so far I have managed to visit the UK without being arrested), and the ID proposals in the UK (which I expect to be shelved with a change or government, or killed due to budget concerns). I watch all developments on both of these issues carefully and hope for change.
If I could visit USA without the oppressive border controls then I would happily do so! Not visiting is the only viable protest I have against those border controls, and as small a gesture as it is, it's the only one I can make.
-- Pete.
NB: Cameras don't scare me, because they're collecting so much information that can never be used - I sat in on a magistrate court a couple of times (when I was living in the UK I was planning to apply to become a magistrate) and I saw the frustrations there are in making CCTV records for court use, let alone any potential misuse. That's not to say that certain recent news doesn't disturb me though.
By immigration rules, I mean the hoops and jumps I need to go through just to go there to visit, not to stay - maybe I should have said "border control" rather than immigration.
How many Schengen countries demand travel itineraries from airlines well in advance do they can carefully screen the passenger list? How many fingerprint and photograph everyone on entry? How many have border security anywhere near as obnoxious as the USA?
I found it quite amusing to read news stories about Americans getting irate about the process when they visited Brazil. Brazil has a reciprocation agreement, they'll treat you as you treat them - so USA visitors need a visa, get photographed and fingerprinted, and think it's brutally unfair. One USA visitor thought it would be great to raise his middle finger to the camera when being photographed and got jailed for it. Heh.
I have been the USA before (pre-9-11), but I'll not be going back.
-- Pete.
Heh - good point. Although to be fair I covered a lot of those countries very briefly in a rally from Budapest to Bamako...except I started in Brussels and needed to get to Budapest, and I didn't really stop in Bamako, but went on to Burkina Faso.
The rest of the European trips were done at weekends or long weekends, as was Brazil.
Financing? Well, let's just say that freelance contracting can be a good thing to be into, as long as you can stomach the risks. I've taken a small hit in the downturn, but it's far from the end of the world.
-- Pete.
British here, but I live abroad...
Countries visited so far this year (including my country of residence):
Next year I've so far penciled in Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Greece - but we'll have to see how that goes.
Traveling is cool, do it!
-- Pete.
NB: Not visiting the USA on principle, boycotting them due to their ridiculous immigration rules and procedures.
You can get them in Europe, and they cost about EU 950.
I think you'll find they're significantly less...
-- Pete.
You don't use 600 SMS messages in 3 mos. I can hit 500 (mostly incoming from friends, calendar reminders, etc...) in 1/2 month and I consider my usage low.
It's worth noting that in Europe we don't count incoming SMS messages, only outgoing messages are paid for/deducted from our message allowance.
-- Pete.
Happiness is a hard disk.
