If it was only one flight why didn't management come out of their gilded tower and do it themselves. Events like these can't be good for the airline or the employees. Really, did they expect them to work for free.

They've already convinced the cabin crew to work unpaid 1 day a month. I'm sure the others won't fall for that trick.

I'm an outsider with good information. But the strike isn't about the cabin crew cuts. That is a part of it but it's only a component. The bigger problem is the company wants to institute radical changes without giving the crew a voice. It wasn't even a negotiation just an ultimatum.

While I'm not comfortable with unions, preferring to rely on the free market, they are doing their job and representing the interests of the crew. The decision isn't even in dispute 90% of the unionized crew agreed to the strike. That's how strong they feel about it.

After downloading Ustream I was thinking when was Qik going to update their app after the change in streaming. That didn't take long at all. Now, where is that Slingbox update...

This is a regular deal throughout Europe. While the US considers anything built in the last 100 years historic. For the old world you have to add a few centuries to be bestowed that title. While it's nice to look at, this is still a living city and it's gotta be used for something. Also, The monarchs owned most of the land in those days so it would be hard not to find a building from that era without a royal attachment.

For example, I lived in a beautiful haussmanien apartment in Paris. While the building itself was great the neighborhood wasn't. And since it was only 120 years old it would be considered just another haussmanien. It did get a little plaque with the year it was built and the architects. But their is nothing of historic value to note about it.

DJ, I apologize. I assumed when you said military you meant on base. Of the friends that I have on base, many are looking forward to going home. None of them have taken the opportunity to learn the culture and language even though the base provides this service.

I never claimed to know everything about military assignments. I am aware of military having presence in many dangerous places. But the entire world isn't out to take down the US nor its embassies or bases.

I've had the chance to live in some of these "hardship" places. Not as military but a regular guy working for an NGO. In almost all cases I was the only American for hundreds miles. I wasn't provided a fenced compound or armed guards. I was lucky to get a mosquito net.

And, based on my experience, if your friend got a chunk of bloody meat she's lucky. That meat is fresh and delicious, and the animal it came from was probably healthy. And most of the world prefers their meat that way.

DJ, my family and I wouldn't really call military living the same as living in another country. While they have done a great service to our country even they know they aren't "living" the life of an expat.

The base creates an illusion of a microcosm of American life. They get US networks beamed over there. Most of the food in the BX is the same they could find in any American grocery store. Except a brave few and the occassional lifer most do speak the local language. Rarely do they interact with the locals except on business reasons. On the occasion they do interact with the local populace it is generally with a superior attitude and mistrust on both sides.

Like you, my sister can't wait to go back to the US. Life hasn't changed all that much for her.

I on the other hand, I have to deal with issues other immigrants face when moving abroad. What I couldn't sell, give away, or throw away is packed up in my parents' garage. I deal directly with the bureaucracy of my host country and interact with the people because I have to and want to. I stopped being a tourist a long time ago. The lustre of the city is transparent for me. My life is Metro, boulot, dodo; subway, work, sleep.

I've been back to the US for visits and it's hard to readjust. The food isn't as good. When I go to Walmart I spend hours there because I can't find anything that really appeals to me. For me, there is no there there. I no longer have a home in the US, I have one in my new country. Unlike a few of the other immigrants I've met here. I have comfort in the knowledge that my papers are in order and I can go home in an instant. The country I left isn't war torn and broken. Like you, I do feel luck to be born American.

My other American expat friends are even further out then I am. They've been abroad for decades and I only a few years. They are, almost, completely cutoff from the US except a passport and the occasional call from family. Some have picked up the terrible habit of going native even more than the natives. i.e. will not speak their mother tongue, will not interact with others from their country.

Change is a certainty, but it's more difficult when it's so dramatic. When I come back I find some of my friends have moved, or died. The places I used to hangout don't exist anymore. The biggest expat complaint about going home is the ignorance. In a certain way, I have become an ambassador for my host country. Letting my friends know that: the people aren't unwashed masses, they don't hate you, and national healthcare can work if run right.

Good luck with that. I'm sure they are an inconvenience, but it's not the tourists that are driving out the venetians, it's the water. The houses and the land are sinking, even though the city has taken drastic measures to stop this, you still can't fight mother nature. Houses are expensive because they require a lot of upkeep. And not simple slap some paint on it upkeep.

They are crumbling from underneath. And to fix that type of problem requires an owner with deep pockets. Some (or most from my perspective) of the mansions and homes have been converted to hotels.

This is not true. Seats have been getting narrower on each generation of aircraft. For example a 727 seat is 34" wide. A 777 is 33". A A319, I believe is 28". A longhaul aircraft will certainly be more comfortable than a shuttle (airlines aren't immune to class action cases of DVT) . Boeing believes that 32" is the optimal width. But people are willing to put up with less if they can pay less.

Also keep in my mind that things can be perceived. More seats per per row "feels" more cramped even if the width hasn't changed. Manufacturers have lightened aircraft over time (thinner shells, thinner bulkheads) and the airlines have put more seats in the resulting space. Seat material has gotten lighter and thinner. So more room for more seats. Even though you're seat width hasn't changed much, you are sitting much closer together than 20 or 30 years ago.

Almost a decade ago I got really sick right before a flight and stayed with my friends. I showed up a few days later with my ticket and a physicians note. The agent waived the reticketing fee.

In the current climate I wouldn't chance it. Even if I was at death's door I still would try to get on the plane. I have no confidence the airline would show any sympathy this time around.

I've never seen loved and hated as much as durian. When I was in Thailand a lot of the people were eating it. Almost all the restaurants, business, and malls had signs in big letters that it was not welcome. Some restaurants did serve it. You just had to eat it outside.