KingDon said:
CJQB.COM-35.50[...] one could say, the jet has left the runway.
Nice inspirational image KingDon! One question that comes to mind -> is there enough fuel ($$$ ready to come into the market) to carry this bird heavily loaded with 400,000+ passengers to a smooth landing in Hawaii ?? Or is it going to be running on fumes by the time we're about 90% there next October?
Well, sitting where I am in the back of the plane, I'm looking for a happy landing but am anticipating a bit of turbulence along the way! So - keeping an eye on the dudes sitting by the emergency exit fiddling with the ripcords on their parachutes - humbly suggest that they leave their wallets on the plane if they're going to bail, just to improve odds of a quick safe exit! (google "D. B. Cooper" for a laugh ...)
Just riffing a bit here though maybe some more sincere vibe underneath the humor - I won't mind losing a bit of money, can always get that back - much harder to regain credibility once that's gone though - so I tend to hedge a bit when it comes to making "sure thing" predictions. Still, to be clear - I think this is about as safe as any long-haul trip on a solid jumbo jet. Best thing to do in case of turbulence is fasten your seatbelts rather than jumping out the window!
Carrying the airplane analogy a bit further - I think the successful CCC.com journey a few years back may have been the equivalent of the Wright brothers test flight. A lot of people said it wouldn't get off the ground, even positing that man was not meant to fly. LLLL is about 10 times bigger than CCC (456,796 vs. 46,656) but it's been getting built up and prepared for takeoff for a few years now - with some pretty solid backing from well-financed "strong hands" to carry at least the first class + business class sections.
Still, I'm sitting way back here in the peanut gallery - tossing back a few gin and tonics to steady my nerves - hoping that the flight crew at least will remain sober for the long haul - unlike many of my fellow passengers, self included! Keeping my air-sickness bag handy and comforting myself by reading the emergency instruction pamphlet ... Always nice to be reminded that seat cushions may be used as floatation devices in case of an unplanned aquatic adventure.
ok, now I'm just babbling ... :yell:
Good times, good times ...
