LHookins

It probably also registers every time you point and laugh at someone driving a 20-30 year old junker. 😄 Maybe the Amish had it right all along. Hm. I wonder if the Amish have to do emissions tests. Hook

Ok, so I finally got curious and googled it. After watching the 4:30 clip from the movie I think I understand how it became a meme. 😄 Hook

"I may be slow, but I'm ahead of you!" 😄 Hook

I've decided our pronoun should be "we". Our doctor did this long ago: "How are we today?" Royalty has done it forever: "We are not amused." In reality, we're pretty laid back. Call us anything but late for dinner. Hooks (hehe)

I recently saw a video that explained this. China does indeed have standards for production quality, and as far as I can determine they are quite good. But there's a section of the Chinese economy that they call the Third Market, what we would probably call the black market. They are much cheaper, but do not adhere to the high standards set by the government. The video was called "Death By Chair" if you want to check it out, and can be found with a YouTube search. Hook

Driving in Germany is kinda special. Left lane for passing only, it's illegal to block the left lane from overtaking cars, even if YOU are passing. Germans follow orders strictly, and you always know what another driver is going to do. I loved driving in Germany. Not all American GIs could get used to it. Reminds me... we had an E6 (staff sergeant) in Germany who had shipped over his bright orange Super Bee. Germans wouldn't own a car like that, but loved that he did. He was single. 😄 The girls loved it. Hook

Ah, the old "Buy one for the price of two, get a second one absolutely free!" Hook

Never owned a muscle car, did you? 😄 Mine was a 1968 Chevelle SS 396. It's not that you'll use that much performance, it's that you can if you want to. And occasionally you do. And it's worth it. Think about driving on the Autobahn in Germany. I still remember a sign that marked the END of the 135 kph speed limit. That's 85 mph for those of us who still measure speed that way. But I doubt I'd be testing that car's 258 mph top speed. I got my Chevelle up to 115 mph once and could have gone somewhat faster. My son claims he got our Mercedes 500 SUV up to 140 mph once as a test. Not something you do every day. But you can if you want to. The 60s AA fuel dragsters would typically do 7.5 second quarter miles and 200 mph. I had a coworker who drove one. You rebuilt the engine after each run if I remember right. I watched the technology go from spinning the wheels to spinning the clutch instead and later they had a transmission; first time I saw one backing up under its own power I was shocked. Now, for a mere $2.4 million, you can have a docile street legal car, built in Croatia of all places, that can come very close to that. Buy one now before they become illegal. 😄 Hook

Zero to 250 to zero: under 30 seconds!? I mean... 250!?? At the end of his first acceleration run, while he was still trying to remember how to talk, my comment was exactly the same as his: "Holy ****." Quarter mile in 8.3 seconds (speed not specified), zero to 200 in 10 seconds. I remember when AA fuel dragsters were about that fast, back in the 60s. Ok, ok... color me impressed. Hook

"Flaps on five". Hook

I wasn't much of a fan of the TV show, but I first ran across Buffalo in the book "Buffalo Airways" by Darrell Knight, available for $3.99 on Kindle. Hook

For anyone who still cares, I think we have the explanation of what happened. "The guy in the green hoodie" posted on TicToc shortly after it happened just after the flight was finally over. I just saw the video tonight. Hoodie Guy has extensive facial tattooing, and had both hands almost completely tattooed including Freemason symbology and was wearing symbolic rings. Not Real Lady had been drinking according to him, although it had to be before she boarded the flight as they hadn't taken off yet, so no beverage service. She was quite upset at the Freemason symbology and started ragging on the guy about how Freemasons were satanic, and after he raised his hood and started ignoring her she got more and more animated. "You know they worship Lucifer at the top ranks?" He looked her in the eye and replied, "I AM Lucifer." This is when she started going up and down the aisle and basically going crazy. The video only captured a small part of what she said. So, she saw something disturbing, gave the guy a hard time, he responded and freaked her out. Might be true, might not, but is the most believable video I've seen about the incident. The other pictures of a guy in a green hoodie were from a different aircraft, the bins opened the wrong way. This has been a public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. Hook

You're both right. But what our grandparents worried about was school kids chewing gum and running in the hallways. We worry about much worse things. And that's just the schools. Our grandparent's grandparents worried about young people "seeking diversion". This was the worst thing they could possibly imagine. Somehow we got past all that. And we got computers, the Internet, and flight sims. We got space travel, landed on the moon and brought back rock samples. We've sent probes all over the solar system. We've got a space telescope that can see almost as far back as the Big Bang. Chewing gum and running in the hallways didn't end Civilization As We Know It. In some ways the future has never been brighter. And we've got problems that have never been... scarier, for lack of a better word. It is better, I think, to look on the bright side, and hope our current problems can be fixed. Hook

You've given me an idea for a short film. Imagine a grey alien trying to get through TSA. 😄 Coming soon to Omeleto. "Why, no, we don't do profiling. Why do you ask, man-with-a-beard-travelling-alone?" (No, I didn't actually ask this question. I just let them search my carry-on bag. I was able to make my flight.) Hook

Ok, let's consider the possibilities. What was the "not real" thing? 1. Lizard people. Can't be this, lizard people only fly first class and this was in the back of the aircraft, in coach. 2. Alien. Aliens don't fly commercial. They have their own aircraft. 3. Ghost. Ghosts don't need aircraft, and who would want to spend their afterlife in the back of an airliner? Heck, even a short flight can seem like eternity. How many flight simmers sit in front of their computer for an entire flight? 4. Carrot Top. Comedian. Real name Scott Thompson. Yes, he was on that flight. He says the whole thing started because she lost an earbud. This may be the most bizarre explanation. Yes, truth is indeed stranger than fiction: fiction has to make sense. 5. Bigfoot. Makes more sense than the "earbud" story from a comedian, but bigfoot wouldn't fit in a coach seat. Maybe a chupacabra... this was Texas after all, but they generally aren't confused with people [citation needed]. 6. Some guy in a green hoodie. When he winked, his eye closed sideways rather than down. This was a different aircraft (bins opened from the top where the "not real " lady aircraft bins opened from the bottom, and reports on the green hoodie video said it was from two years ago.) Don't believe everything you see on the Internet. To fit the narrative, we need something that actually exists, but can be accused of being "not real." Something that can make a person overreact. Maybe something like Dylan Mulvaney (of Bud Light fame) in a stewardess uniform. Wait... "ear bud"... "Bud Light"... maybe we misheard Carrot Top. Hook