John's Blog

Sometimes, the internet just makes "too much information" way too easy to find. I'll give you an example. I have to go on a business trip later this week which I'm dreading for a variety of reasons. Being sort of a "home-body" I'm not looking forward to jumping on a plane to spend several days working long hours and then having to stay in a strange hotel room in a city where I know nobody. And I'm sure my access to the web will be limited or non-existant, so I risk going through internet withdrawl.

My destination and my itinerary have changed several times and today I received the most recent update via e-mail. I'm scheduled to fly out on a short hop jet that I've never heard of called the Embraer 145, which sounds way too much like "The Embalmer 145" for my taste. A Google image search brings up a picture of the plane at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. This again; not a good sign. I've always thought these commuter airlines were pretty much like a Greyhound Bus with wings, so I hope that I'm wrong on this assumption.

Another web site, SeatGuru, lists ratings on which seats on the plane are good or bad. According to the site, there are three good seats on this plane, but two of those are drafty. There are three that are "kind-of" OK, except that they are close to the galley, which is a downside. My seat is described as being "considered uncomfortable compared to seats on other aircrafts". Great, I'm really stoked now! But at least they say that it is more comfortable than the "two-somes" on the other side of the isle, but due to the curvature of the plane my seat has decreased leg room. Well, I always say "it could be worse."

But I never considered just how much worse it might be until I saw the article in the morning paper that Airbus is pitching the concept of selling planes configured with standing-room-only "seats."! This probably won't catch on anytime soon, but I'm sure we CAN expect slimmer, thinner seats jammed in with minimal legroom instead.

At least, they didn't book my flight on this airline which uses a motto which seems a bit too laid back, "we'll get you there somehow"!