More Random!

[capri0mni]

Found this by following a trail from AOL's welcome page:

Companies That Vanished: Eastern Airlines

My father was a pilot for Eastern for 30 years (iirc; I think it was at least that). When he retired in 1987, he was the pilot with the single longest senority in all of Eastern's History. He got out just in time, because the company was being bought out by a single man whose sole mission was to break the union, and sell off the assets of the company for personal profit. If he'd stayed one more year, he would have lost his pension.

The blog post says the brand and logo may be revived as early as next year, but that won't bring the company back...

The comments following the post are the most interesting to read. Sure did bring back a lot of memories, both nice* and angry.

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Went to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicals) today, to register the van before my trip north for the Art Garden. Brought Dad's old compilation of Pogo along... Man, is that full of snarky Internets-worthy speach balloons.

The words in my last failed attempt were:

"It's the way of the world. I'm mere trying to be friendly, and I find myself in the mongst of a fight.

This morning, I read: "I points the finger-bone of Scorn at you!"

...

I'd say the humor in that strip is based at least as much on word-play as visuals, and more on word-play in general than actual punchlines to jokes. Father had introduced me to Pogo when I was a teen, and I remembered liking it, but I'd forgotten how much.

It was definitely the right book to bring to survive the soulless pit of government beaurocracy.

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You know, I've been wondering about this a lot, lately:

There has been a lot of talk about how food-based ethenol is contributing to the global spike in food prices. ... But how much does the cost of petroleum contribute to the cost of industrially-produced food (which relies heavily petroleum-based fertilizer)? How long will this trend of rising oil prices have to continue before it costs less to buy organic?

...I know it's already a lot less if you grow your own, but there are many people who don't have that option.

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I didn't want to cook, tonight. And I didn't want to order delivery... So my dinner was mozzerella cheese out of the bag, and salsa out of the jar. I may round it out with popcorn, later. ...I know. I'm tsking at myself

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*My dad had to fly a layover to Miami for my sixth birthday, so he arranged it so that my mom and I could come, too.... And we were invited to sit in the cockpit during the landing. That was cool. And even though we didn't get to go to any place special or touristy, we did get to play together in the dinky little playground at the motel by the airport. :-) Seesaw, FTW!!

Comments

[clamnebula.livejournal.com]

Sheesh... I didn't realize that's what had happened to Eastern. I didn't fly that much, but I remember them being a well respected airline. There was a local carrier around here called Piedmont Airlines that got absorbed into US Air (or whatever they're called now), and it wasn't a change for the better!

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that Lorenzo guy was a real sleaze. It was glossed over in the article ("Deteriorating labor relations" -- pfft!), but he used some underhanded tricks to break unions. I was in college at the time, and picked up a magazine in the library that had an article about him.

From what I remember, he specifically went after union companies, so that he could break them up, then they'd go bankrupt, and sell the different assets for his own profit. When I read that in the magazine, I was so outraged, I yelled "What?!" so loud that a fellow student across the room looked up...

...oops!

But flying before deregulation was fun, especially for families of airline employees. Didn't matter which airline you worked for, you got "professional courtesy" fares for your tickets. And on your own airline, you got standby tickets for almost free...

...Ah... sings:

"Those were the days, my friend!
We thought they'd never end.
We'd sing and dance forever and a day!
(mondegreen, mumble, mumble) choose;
We'd win and never lose.
For we were young and bound to have our way!"

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

I think you would really enjoy (or perhaps overread and get depressed by) The Ethicurean, which is a blog about environmental and social concerns of food production.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link (I love the blog's name). I'm feeling a bit emotionally tippy, right now, so I'll put it on my to-read-later list for now.

The pizzaria I buy from is locally own and run (non-chain), but they advertise as a "New York Style" and last night, I noticed a line on their new menu that they import their meats and vegies from Long Island (though they also say that all ingredients are organic). What I wonder is if the founders of the place are an Italian family who moved from Long Island, and are still sharing supplies with 'the folks' back home. They also say that all ingredients are organic....

I'm thinking of suggesting that they switch to local suppliers, especially for their sausages, since the pork center for Virginia (which is a pork-centered state) is right near here, in Suffolk.

One thing I love about the place is that they will make a custom pizza for you, and they ask you, on the menu, to "please be specific." And since they are local and non-chain, I trust that they'd be more open to the suggestion than Pizza Hut or Domino's.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

I adore local pizzerias. :) Gotta find a good one in my new neighborhood.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

It's gotten to the point, where the person answering the phone at this place knows it's me as soon as I say: "I'd like to place an order for delivery..." ;-)

(I need a *nom, nom* icon)