United Airlines: Worst Customer Experience Award

Today I'd like to hand out the Worst Customer Experience award to United Airlines for their utter lack of compassion the last two times I've flown with them.

Today I spent more than 6 hours in the Vancouver airport while getting a connecting flight to the US of A. As soon as we arrived at the airport our flight was delayed by 2 hours. We eventually made our way to the gate and it was now saying it was delayed by 3.5 hours.

There was nobody at the desk and no explanation of why it was delayed. So after waiting more than 6 hours from the time we arrived in Vancouver, somebody finally showed up and they started boarding the plane. I asked the desk clerk what the explanation was for the delay and he said he doesn't know because he had "just arrived". So up to this point there hasn't been even a single apology for the delay.

I get on the plane and I'm expecting that the captain or a flight attendent would apologize for the delay, but still nothing. So I asked the flight attendant if they are giving out free drinks for our inconveniences and she gave me a look like that is the most ridiculous idea ever (I've had airlines give out free drinks several times in the past for delays incurred in Canada)

So after trying just to get a simple apology, I've received nothing but attitude. Customer Service is obviously not a high priority for United. Not to mention the US Customs officer was the biggest dick I've ever met when we were passing through customs.

Maybe I've just been spoiled by the 2 major airlines in Canada (WestJet and Air Canada). But to me this level of service is unacceptable. Maybe the US economic woes are affecting everyone. With the current gas prices, the airline industry will likely be the first to be hit with sweeping layoffs.

Or maybe I'm just grumpy because I left home 18 hours ago and I finally just arrived at my hotel in Beverly Hills. But how grumpy can I be? I'm in California now baby!!

Two-bit Congressman: Patrick McHenry

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this video of this two-bit Congressman, Patrick McHenry. In this video he mocks the democrats for suggesting that encouraging Americans to ride their bicycles will help get through the current energy crisis.

I have to give some credit to this guy for being the youngest congressman in the United States; he was born in 1975 (Though when I first saw him I thought he was 45 years old). The video was taken in August of 2007, so he would have been 31 at the time. But his credibility disappears pretty quickly after watching this video.

In case you can't watch the video, here is the transcript:

"A major component of the Democrats' energy legislation and the Democrats' answer to our energy crisis is, hold on, wait one minute, wait one minute, it is promoting the use of the bicycle. Oh, I cannot make this stuff up. Yes, the American people have heard this. Their answer to our fuel crisis, the crisis at the pumps, is: Ride a bike. Democrats believe that using taxpayer funds in this bill to the tune of $1 million a year should be devoted to the principle of: "Save energy, ride a bike." Some might argue that depending on bicycles to solve our energy crisis is naive, perhaps ridiculous. Some might even say Congress should use this energy legislation to create new energy, bring new nuclear power plants on line, use clean coal technology, energy exploration, but no, no. They want to tell the American people, stop driving, ride a bike. This is absolutely amazing. Apparently the Democrats believe that the miracle on two wheels; that we know as a bicycle; will end our dependence on foreign oil. I cannot make this stuff up. It's absolutely amazing. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the Democrats. Promoting 19th Century solutions to 21st Century problems. If you don't like it, ride a bike. If you don't like the price at the pumps, ride a bike. Stay tuned for the next BIG IDEA from the Democrats improving fuel efficiency by the horse and buggy."

I guess our friend Patrick has never been to Amsterdam, where there are far more bicycles than cars. Suggesting that bicycles are a "19th century solution to a 21st century problem" only illustrates McHenry's ignorance to the problems his country faces. In the days of $10/gallon gas prices, I promise you that you'll see a lot of people riding their bikes.

Urban Dwelling for Suburban Folk

A co-worker brought a new concept to my attention today. It's a luxury condo that is planned to be built in Charlotte, North Carolina that includes an elevator where residents can drive their car literally right into their unit. The web site boasts that residents can park 2 to 4 cars in their unit so that they can "unload groceries right into your kitchen. Load up for a trip without any hassle. Avoid carts and dollies and the long walk from a typical parking garage".

The units range from 3,000 square feet to 6,300 square feet with the 6300 square foot units taking up the entire floor. The 6300 square feet is the living space, and doesn't include the 700 square foot, 4-car garage. The prices range from 1.7 million for the 3,000 square foot unit to $5 million for the 6300 square feet units. When designing the elevator capacity, they used a fully loaded H2 Hummer, so the elevator will support a 8,600lbs Hummer H2.

Here are some quotes about the car elevator system:

• "The car elevator system provides the ultimate in privacy. If you so desire, you can live at Encore and never come across your neighbors. Just right drive into your home."
• A BMW dealer on the 95th floor of the world's tallest building in Shanghai, China, uses this same elevator system"
• "Travel time via elevator from the 1st to the 20th floor is less than one minute"

To me, this project symbolizes everything that is wrong with America. I don't even know where to begin with this one. There are projects happening all over the world that encourage people to make more out of less and not live beyond their means and to reduce their ecological footprint. You see this happening in New York City, Germany, Japan, China, the UK, etc. But down in Carolina they're encouraging people to a) be anti-social b) be lazy c) Own 4 SUVs d) Have more space then you'll ever know what to do with.

Only in America would you ever see a condo floor plan that includes parking for 4 cars; it's actually quite hysterical to me. The next idea will be a mobile bed where people won't even have to get out of the bed. The bed will whisk them away to their work, then it will make a stop at Wal Mart, then to McDonalds before returning home. You wouldn't even have to stand up!

Now that's what I call the American dream!

Where do NASCAR drivers go pee?

This question came up when Bob and I were chatting at work about kayaking across the lake and having to urinate in a water bottle. We wondered how NASCAR drivers go pee since they're in the car for 3 or 4 hours at a time.

I just assumed they would hold it in until after the race, but apparently there's the odd time when the drivers can't hold it in, so they just do it. That's the unofficial consensus online anyway via Yahoo Answers.

It's funny to me to think about grown men peeing in their own pants. I guess if you get paid enough it's worth it, and nobody will ever know about it because the fireproof suits would conceal the evidence nicely. "So how does it feel to win the Daytona 500 Dale Jr?" "Well, it was a good one, the car was in tip-top condition, the pit crew was amazing, and with only 5 laps to go, I couldn't hold it in anymore so I pissed in my seat. They don't call it a bucket seat for nothin'!"

Measures productivity by how few people are working

I'm reading a really great book right now that my brother Tom thoughtfully gave me for my birthday. It's called "Cradle to Cradle - Remaking the Way We Make Things". Amazon has labelled it as a "Paperback", but it's not your typical "Paperback". The book is printed on synthetic "paper" and it's made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers. The book is waterproof and extremely durable and it is recyclable by conventional means. It is also a prototype for the book as a "technical nutrient". In other words, it's a product that can be broken down and circulated infinitely in industrial cycles.

The book is written by William McDonough and Michael Braungart: an architect and a chemist by trade, whom met in New York City in 1991. In the book, they are suggesting a revolutionary way of making products that are harmful to neither humans nor the environment. "Products can be conceived as "biological nutrients" that will easily re-enter the water or soil without depositing synthetic materials and toxins. Or they can be "technical nutrients" that will continually circulate as pure and valuable materials within closed-loop industrial cycles, rather than being "recycled" -- really, downcycled - into low-grade materials and uses."

In the first chapter, they ask you to imagine you were given an assignment to design the Industrial revolution; except you would be doing it retrospectively. With respect to its negative consequences, the assignment would read something like this:

Design a system of production that:

• puts billions of pounds of toxic material into the air, water and soil every year
• produces some materials so dangerous they will require constant vigilance by future generations
• results in gigantic amounts of waste
• puts valuable materials in holes all over the planet, where they can never be retrieved
• requires thousands of complex regulations - not to keep people and natural systems safe, but rather to keep them from being poisoned too quickly
• measures productivity by how few people are working
• creates prosperity by digging up or cutting down natural resources and then burying or burning them
• erodes the diversity of species and cultural practices

These guys have some great ideas, so I strongly urge you to read the book to enlighten yourself with an entirely different perspective on the environmental issues we face today. Reducing and recycling will not be enough, so these guys have appealed to manufacturers to look at alternative designs for their products that make them truly sustainable.

Where the hell is Matt?

This is a neat story about Matt, a "31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut" who quit his job in 2003 and traveled around Asia until he ran out of money. A couple years later, he made a video of a silly dance he does (the only dance he does) and it made him semi-famous when it got passed around on the Internet.

Stride Gum got the word about Matt and in 2006, they offered to pay for him to take a 6-month trip through 39 countries in all 7 contintents and record his dance. Just last year, Matt had a better idea. Instead of dancing by himself, he would respond to people who had e-mailed him as a result of his 2006 video and ask them if they'd like to join him in his dancing. So he traveled the world again, covering 42 countries in 14 months.

The amazing thing to me about the video is not only the scenery, but also the people and how people from all different cultures and languages can come together in the universal language of dancing.

This is truly an amazing video. Props to Matt.