Inside of Tokyo's Cate Cafes

Best CAPTCHA evah? [link]

I do not like the American women's snowboard outfits. It looks like they're meant to look like jeans and plaid shirts, but they just look dorky.

They're dumping snow in the parking lot across from the Y. It's incredible. Dump trucks dump their load, then a front loader would take it and dump it on mountains higher than the trucks. Fuckload of snow.

Lifeguard talked my ear off, he had to vent because his day was so borked by the roads.

Awesome piece (IMHO) about the Kevin Smith/SWA debacle and flying fatties in general. It's by Kate Harding, who I adore.

It's public goddamn transport. You travel with other people, you end up touching them.

This is my feeling every time I see someone get pissy about a child crying or kicking or whatever on a plane. You are squeezed into a tiny space with total strangers. It's not a spa, you know? (ftr, I try hard to keep my kids entertained and not kicking on the plane, but when confined to such a tiny space, it's not all within my control.)

Another reason why Canada is awesome:

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Obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday.

I would love to have foot rests on planes. My legs are too short for my feet to reach the floor when I'm sitting in a plane seat, and sitting with my legs dangling like that is really painful for my hips and back. When I'm in a normal chair and have that problem, I just sit with my legs crossed. But airplane seats are way too narrow for that. Sometimes I can put my carryon right in front of me and rest my feet on that, but that's nearly impossible to do without the bag getting at least a little bit into the foot space of the person next to me.

Not up to a lengthy discussion of the rest, but I just wanted to say that I am Hil. I also hate that I have to ask for help if I want to bring a carry-on that won't fit under my seat. It's not a matter of weight--I just literally cannot get the leverage to get a suitcase up or down. I've had people grumble and give me dirty looks so often that I've just resigned myself to almost always having to check a bag. Not a huge deal, but annoying.

I always ask someone for help with getting my bag into the overhead compartment. I've found that the best strategy is to watch the other people and when I notice somebody swing his own bag up easily, immediately ask him for help before he sits down. I've also found that women are much more likely to grumble or give me a dirty look than men, and older men are much more likely to be helpful than younger ones.

I tend to put a bag under the seat and use it as a footrest.