Buy an MTA Card for $19.05 or $22.30 after March 22nd, Trust Me

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Getting settled into the NYC life on reserve, you tend to have a lot of time to search and Google things. Toss in little bit of Yelp and various recommendations, it's easy to become inundated with awesomeness. But let's start off with a life little "hack." More specifically, don't give the MTA more money than you have to (leaving cash on a card) and load up a card with $19.05 or $22.30 after March 22, 2015.

Three quick options. But wait a minute. One button leaves you with the same $9.45 card, and gives a remainder of $1.95 after just three uses. The next one is even more frustrating: you end up with a $19.95 card, leaving a remainder after 7 uses of $2.45! That's right, the nickel we were talking about earlier. The last option does not leave you much better off. You'll get a $40.95 card, which leads to $0.95 on your card after you use 16 rides. So all three buttons presented leave quite a bit of "insufficient fare" on the card.

via I Quant NY

Now I just have to calculate how much to load on my card to zero it out since I was ignorant to this awesome information.

JetBlue Adds Apple Pay for InFlight Purchases

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With many airlines accepting only credit cards these days, I'm glad to see jetBlue getting onboard with Apple Pay. Bravo! And in a few months, we'll be paying with our Apple Watches! ^_^

Starting next week, passengers on select JetBlue Airways flights can use Apple Pay on their iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets to buy food, drinks and certain onboard amenities when the plane reaches cruising altitude. You'll be able to upgrade to available premium seats, too.

Update: Looks like a new app will go along the iPad minis too! Way to utilize tech jetBlue!

Apple Pay in the air, JetBlue will deploy iPad minis and NFC-enabled cases to more than 3,500 inflight crewmembers. In addition to the cases with Apple Pay compatibility, each iPad mini will be loaded with a custom-designed iOS app — The Inflight Service Assistant — which will give inflight crewmembers access to customer manifest and flight data to provide the best experience possible to JetBlue customers.

Sapporo Snow Festival Results in Amazing Star Wars Sculpture

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This is just one of many reasons to add Sapporo to the bucket list. You can always check out the Japan Guide too for a more formal introduction.

Geeks like to go all the way with their projects, and Japan is a country full of geeks. That‘s why they spent a month (and purportedly enlisted the help of the Army) building a giant Star Wars snow sculpture for the 66th Sapporo Snow Festival. And is truly enormous: 3,500 tons of snow went into making this 23 meter wide, 15 meter tall piece of geek art.The centerpiece of it all is a giant bust of Darth Vader, beckoning Luke to join the Dark Side. Vader is accompanied by three Stormtroopers and two TIE Fighters (one of them being his personal TIE Advanced).

via Demilked

Do You Actually Fly the Plane? →

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And a copilot becomes a captain not by virtue of skill or experience, but rather when his or her seniority standing allows it. And not every copilot wants to become a captain right away. Airline seniority bidding is a complicated thing, and a pilot can often have a more comfortable quality of life — salary, aircraft assignment, schedule and choice of destinations — as a senior copilot than as a junior captain. Thus, at a given airline, there are plenty of copilots who are older and more experienced than many captains.

One of the best paragraphs that sums up who the "co-pilot" of an airliner really is or can be. I had no choice whatsoever in my progression. It took me seven years to the day to where I was able to hold a Captain seat at my previous airline and now that I've moved on, I'm back to being a First Officer / Co-Pilot / Co-Captain / Right Seat by virtue of my hire date. It will take pilots above me leaving or retiring and / or the airline expanding with more aircraft and routes before I can hold the title of Captain again. Even at that point, it'll also depends on where I am in my life in terms of having to be away more since I'll be on reserve. More on that later.

Back to the topic, I've known Captains downgrade to First Officer due to a lifestyle change where they wanted more time at home. Some are able to afford to take the 35% pay cut but in all circumstances, their skills did NOT degrade just by switching seats or epaulets. The media needs to get this right and do a better story overall on a pilot's life. I'm starting to get rather annoying. Just my Tuesday rant.

Make sure to read the entire post via Patrick Smith's AskThePilot

Brenthaven Collins Tech Pack 60% off!

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For a cool $19.95 (down from $49.95) go grab a stylistic pack / satchel / murse or man bag to hold all your goods whilst traveling to the local coffee shop for a flat white. Brenthaven just slashed the price of their Collins Tech Pack by 60% and that makes it a wonderful steal!

The construction is beautiful and is sure to hold your Moleskine, pens and protect your iPad using their "High Density Foam Protection System"! Oh yeah, did I forget about Brenthaven's lifetime guarantee too! If this sale doesn't suit you, there are a few iPad cases and iPhone cases as well marked down by over 75%!

Mint Yourself and Lay Flat!

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I can't wait to welcome you aboard!  

Flying Mint felt like being courted. Virgin’s Main Cabin Select felt like a waning long-term relationship — the attendants on my flight (as we know it’s luck of the draw) didn’t try as hard. That said, Mint is a newer contender. Let’s hope the romance lasts.

via NYTimes or for more info, head directly to JetBlue's Mint Page!

My Life at Work... in HD

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The way it works here in the US is that rules disallow crewmembers from using an electronic device that is non-essential for duty while on the flight deck. Good thing another guy filmed it for me at his seat on his plane or his airline or made a compilation (read: it's not me) but a job has to be cool enough in order to be away from family right?

This is my life. (the music helps a lot too)

I still miss my family everyday I'm gone.

How much would you pay for a day pass to swim at Piscine Molitor?

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I don't think I can justify the price. Wait, hold. I can't justify the price especially when hot-spring day spas are cheaper for single day access. They have to have more to offer than just swimming, right? Maybe I'm thinking of this the wrong way. Why don't we build one right here in San Diego? Any investors? Looks like this one was refurbished for a mere $118 million.

But some politicians have raised concerns over the pool's pricey entrance fees, which they fear will create a more stilted, exclusive atmosphere. Molitor was never free to the public, and its renovation was financed entirely with private funds, but entry fees were never as high as they are now. Just one day of swimming there now costs up to €180 (about $245), with annual membership fees of €3,300 ($4,500).

Piscine Molitor

Okay fine, I might go for a two for one special or something. When in Paris right?

via The Verge