Update for Everyone VII: Insert Something Philosophical Sounding Here

[Santander]

Swiss - a great way to fly.

[Santander]

I would say something smartarse, but willkommen in Zürich!

This is the view from my apartment yesterday lunchtime. Gonna be honest, I like where I live

Thanks. Zürich is indeed spectacular, and far less boring than Geneva. Looking forward to making regular trips here over the next year.

[Santander]

Eid Mubarak!

[Santander]

In London for the World Cup.

Flew BA from Zurich to London City, in business class. Supper time flight, they didn't even load a meal for me, and didn't even serve me drinks until they'd served the rest of the business class cabin. Even the economy cabin had snacks and drinks before I was offered anything. Outrageous, especially considering I booked a D fare, which is a very expensive fare bucket. ($450 one-way for a 1.5 hr flight, which is a lot for a market where LCCs sell the same flight for 1/10 of the price.)

This is why the only European airlines I've grown to trust are Lufthansa, and to a lesser extent, Swiss. They're not the best, but the planes are clean, the food is okay, and the staff are professional, well-trained, and can be relied upon to deliver a consistent product. BA staff have personality, and I like the brand, but you sometimes get some terrible flights.

Hopefully the flight back to Switzerland (also on BA) in a couple days will be better.

[Santander]

Go Blackcaps.

[Santander]

Did some business with a Chechen today. What a psycho.

[Santander]

Speaking Urdu in London is amazing. Free meals at any Pakistani place. Reminds me of Islamabad.

[Santander]

Welcome to the alt-right Tom!

[Santander]

Back in Switzerland. Much better weather than earlier in the week.

[Santander]

LCY is a zoo during peak am business travel hours, not helped by the construction outside. Missed my flight. ☹️

[Santander]

A teenager I mentored has turned alt-right.

[Santander]

Between miles flown YTD and flights booked over the coming weeks, I should requalify for 1K on United. Now the question is if I should push for Global Services or spread the love in the second half of the year and get BA Gold or Singapore PPS.

[Santander]

Officially got our apartment today, so we'll be real Illinoisans August 2nd.  My avatar won't be 100% true yet, though, as I think you have to vote in the primary first in Illinois?  Haha, I'll miss closed registration a little bit, not gonna lie, but caucuses ... ick, peace out.

Yaaaas good news! What city will you be living in?

Chicago!  On North Dearborn ... don't want to get too specific on the open Internet.

You open yourself up to so much ridicule...

[Santander]

Been gaining 5 lbs a year for the past 4 years... getting old... and perhaps fat soon.

[Santander]

The moon landing was staged though.

[Santander]

Booked a table for 4 at Alinea next month. Been a few years since I've eaten there, so looking forward to it!

[Santander]

tfw the sky is actually on fire

What? That's just a normal summer day in South Texas, maybe a tad warmer than a normal summer day in North Texas, but still lmao.

Continental Europe is an actual civilized place, not Texas.

And yeah it's been a scorching month in Switzerland.

[Santander]

Planning on spending the weekend in Saxony, BRTD's least favorite part of Germany.

[Santander]

Beautiful day for a drive through the Czech countryside.

[Santander]

Had lunch with a friend at the Nordic Embassies today. Love how it's literally across the st from the Syrian embassy. 

[Santander]

Pre-departure IFE in American 767 biz consists of newspapers... (They do give out iPads in-flight but it's not the same thing) This is why I fly United.

[Santander]

United breaks guitars and doesn't let you do carry-ons on the cheap end.

Also, nice hitchhiker thumb you got there!

Yes, all of my joints are very flexible lol.

United is pretty terrible if you fly on basic fares, but at least they don't weigh your carry-ons on standard fares, which is not the case for European airlines, who are often very strict on weight limits. Lufthansa/Swiss, for example, have an 8kg hand baggage allowance and no free checked bags on Light fares, even for Gold/Senator, and they will actually weigh the bag. Both my Rimowa (ironically, a Lufthansa edition) and my Briggs & Riley carry-on bags weigh over 4kg empty. That leaves only ~3.5kg for actual stuff... so forget about bringing anything but the most basic summer clothes for a 1-3 day trip.

I guess for me as a road warrior who spends more nights on a plane than I do at home, I value route network (United has hubs in all the important business centers in America, and more international destinations than any other US airline) and lie-flat beds (United has the most by far). If I were to just fly occasionally, I would probably fly Delta or JetBlue, because they're the least bad of a sorry bunch.

[Santander]

He's also managed to somehow have six gay hookups in two weeks already, and all this while working part-time and taking classes.

Disgusting. Why are you talking about this?

[Santander]

Hungover...

[Santander]

Saw a girl wearing these in Germany the other day and really fancied them (the shoes), so I bought myself an identical pair.