Category Archives: News

An Update on Updates

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Happy Holidays to everyone – it’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to post an update, but in the mean time, we’ve taken a number of exciting trips.  You may have seen a few recent posts on Twitter or Facebook about the trip we just took to Hong Kong, Thailand, and India, which was a fantastic time.  We also had a great time down in South America, and I never finished our trip to Greece, so I have plenty to catch up on.  I’m planning to cover our Asia trip first, since that’s the freshest in my mind. Continue reading An Update on Updates→

Broadway Sing Off at LaGuardia Airport

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We’ve all experienced long flight delays at some point or another, and the ugly weather in the northeast over the past few days has certainly caused a pretty huge mess between Philadelphia, New York, and surrounding areas. Delays like these sometimes bring out the worst in us, but check out this video: during a 6 hour day at New York’s LaGuardia airport, 2 Disney Broadway Casts (The Lion King and Aladdin) had a sing off to pass the time. How cool is this?!

The TSA Will Pay You to Fix Its Inefficiencies

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Tired of long security lines at the airport?  How would you fix it?  The TSA is offering a total of $15,000 in rewards for the best ideas to improve airport security efficiency: The TSA will award one prize of at least $5,000 and others of at least $2,500 for the top ideas. Plus, the winner gets the satisfaction of knowing they’ve made the airline experience for those of the masses a little less of a headache. While everyone is quick to complain, it does take a complicated set of moving targets to factor into an idea: Contest participants must consider Continue reading The TSA Will Pay You to Fix Its Inefficiencies→

DC isn’t in the US Anymore, and Reminder of $30 Uber Promo Code

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I just came across this story and had to share:  apparently, a DC man flying out of Orlando recently was asked to provide additional identification to security because the TSA Agent didn’t know that the District of Columbia was part of the United States: Gray, who lives in Washington, D.C., was flying out of Orlando International Airport when a TSA agent said Gray’s District of Columbia driver’s license wasn’t a valid form of identification. Gray said his license is legal and up-to-date, but the TSA agent didn’t seem to know what the District of Columbia was when Gray arrived at Continue reading DC isn’t in the US Anymore, and Reminder of $30 Uber Promo Code→

Uber in Greensboro and Winston Salem: $30 + 5 Rides FREE

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As of November 23, 2014, the $30 Uber Sign Up Bonus has been lowered to $20.  The $30 bonus was a fantastic offer while it lasted, but $20 in free credit towards your first ride is still a great deal.  The steps below are still correct, except that you will earn $20 towards your first ride instead of $30. I know I just posted about Uber on Monday with details about their limited time best-ever sign up bonus of $30 (note that this sign up bonus is valid for new members anywhere, not just in North Carolina).  As of today, Continue reading Uber in Greensboro and Winston Salem: $30 + 5 Rides FREE→

Mike Rowe’s Entertaining Commentary on Flying on Small Planes

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The other day, Mike Rowe was traveling on a United flight from San Francisco to Kansas City.  The flight was on one of the small regional jets that most of us have experienced at one point or another, but at over 3 hours, this is one of the longest flights operated by a regional jet today: There’s only one bathroom on board, and it’s all the way in the back. One bathroom for 74 people. On a three-hour flight that was delayed on the tarmac for 35 minutes.

North, South Carolina

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The Mrs. Guru and I were in Charleston, SC this weekend for a much-needed getaway.  We stayed at the Doubletree Suites by Hilton, which was in a perfect location for exploring Charleston.  Stay tuned for a more detailed review of the hotel, but overall it was a great place to stay. On the drive, we passed by the rather hilariously named town of North, South Carolina. Yep, re-read that if you need to…there’s a town called North and it’s in the state of South Carolina.  What’s that?  You want to hear more about people from this town?  Well, look no Continue reading North, South Carolina→

First Hand Account from the Ethiopian Airlines Hijacking

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Most of you have probably heard about the hijacking of the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Rome on Sunday night.  The full news story is here, but the general story is that the co-pilot of the flight locked the captain out of the cockpit when he got up to go to the bathroom.  The 30 year old Ethiopian co-pilot apparently “wanted asylum in Switzerland,” and circled above Geneva, Switzerland before landing. A post was made on Reddit about 12 hours ago by a passenger who says he was on the flight and talks about the chilling details of Continue reading First Hand Account from the Ethiopian Airlines Hijacking→

A Very Interesting Article: TSA Agent Confessions

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We’ve all heard stories and rumors about TSA workers abusing their positions, full-body scanners that don’t work well (or really at all, apparently), and the like, but I came across this very well-written piece titled TSA Agent Confessions.  It is written by a former TSA employee who sheds a lot of light on the current state of the agency. Most TSA officers I talked to told me they felt the agency’s day-to-day operations represented an abuse of public trust and funds. It’s a tricky balance to decide how much of the blame falls on the front-line employees.  As long as I Continue reading A Very Interesting Article: TSA Agent Confessions→

Keyless Hotel Rooms – Use Your iPhone as your Room Key

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As both a tech geek and a travel geek, I think this story about keyless hotel rooms is really interesting.  Starwood Hotels (Westin, Sheraton, Aloft, W, etc.) is launching a pilot program at 2 hotels – the Aloft Hotel in Manhattan (Harlem) and the Aloft Hotel in Cupertino, CA – allowing guests to check in and unlock the door to their room using an app on their phone. They’ve put together a clever video to market the new technology: The full story is on Apple Insider: Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen told the publication that the company believes the new Continue reading Keyless Hotel Rooms – Use Your iPhone as your Room Key→