mike carey

I note you have typed Dominiking's handle in but there is no link. Rather than type the whole thing, type the @ then start to type the name (no space), and a pick list will appear under it. You can then select them from the list and that will link to their profile and create an alert for them that they have been mentioned.

Shops, even cafes and restaurants, tend to close here on Good Friday and Easter Day. Supermarkets are closed. Petrol stations and the convenience stores they have tend to be open. I wouldn't tip extra on those days, the staff are as likely as not to be atheist, Hindu, Muslim or someone else who doesn't care. Or even Orthodox, for whom Easter is next weekend. If I were inclined to tip for the occasion it would be for people who manifest their faith. Another point here is that the two days (and Easter Monday) are public holidays so staff working those days typically are paid double their normal rate. I realise that doesn't apply in the US.

My reading of this is that it's a chemical in coffee, and not related to caffeine so tea, cola and cacao are not affected. This is another one of those ridiculous cases where people confuse 'known carcinogen' that would require an almost infinite dose, with 'suspected carcinogen' for which even a small dose would be dangerous if the link were confirmed.

Basically, whatever it says on the package they aren't flushable. They were implicated in the London fat berg and our local sewage authority has warned against flushing them.

I think @westernsyd is talking in AUD, but to me $AU35 sounds a bit high. I typically have Maccas when I'm driving places and I would usually pay about $12 for a burger/wrap, chips and a large flat white [coffee] (which costs a bit more than having a coke). I haven't been to McDonalds in the US for a while, so I don't know how much their offerings have changed, but here they have gone a bit fancy (they still have the standard menu of course). Lately, I've been to several that have table service (after you order at the counter). Minimum wage is about $AU17 with loadings for holidays and late hours, and unlike some franchise operations here there has been no hint of owners cheating staff.

I suspect to make their advertisers aware of what was changing rather than leave the impression that they were making random edits of their ads.

I know, off topic. This comment in the thread broke me up (my emphasis): 'There's this one neighbourhood in Toronto where if you step on their foot, they don't say sorry.'

No, foreign ministries only provide travel advice for travel abroad. DFAT has no 'do not travel' alerts for Australians travelling to the US, although it does urge us to reconsider our need to visit the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The advice does warn that rates of crime are typically higher than in Australian cities. This is their advice for Mexico: http://smartraveller.gov.au/Maps/Mexico.gif The number of homicides in a city is not a direct measure of the overall danger levels there, especially for tourists. Crime is often concentrated in certain areas and among certain groups of people.

No subtitles for you!

Source Casper the Ghost is a cautionary tale about how Richie Rich's parents killed him for the insurance money. Thanks to @Abel Rey for retweeting this.

I have difficulty believing anyone could have an unsatisfactory experience with you, @Mikegaite, but I guess that's the thing about chemistry. But even so there's a world of difference between 'unsatisfactory' and 'bad'. My advice to anyone who is unsure, believe the good reviews.

Not that I'm in any position to comment on the veracity or otherwise of the comments!

Eric, you left this part out!

Osso bucco is a delight, I see it as melt in your mouth rather than 'stringy'. I have a good recipe from a Time Life cook book. On similar lines, braised lamb shanks are sublime. I had lamb shanks [lower half of lamb legs] in a restaurant in Perth with a gentleman, and I've also had them in restaurants in Sydney with official visitors from the US when I worked there. They have also become something that supermarkets sell as prepared meals these days.

Hate to admit it, found this on Joe.My.God's blog. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/25/first-non-stop-flight-australia-britain-lands-17-hours-qantas ... And a review of premium economy on the flight... https://www.ausbt.com.au/review-qantas-boeing-787-9-dreamliner-perth-london-premium-economy

Perhaps it was good that you said 'level or interaction' rather than 'depth if interaction', but what would I know about such things!

@trav05 I've only used Qantas PE, and it's ages since I've flown domestic US AA first, but I agree PE is great. I've chatted with AA flyers who use CX and JA to fly to Asia. I have looked for flights to the US from Australia and CX PE has been a good deal, even when I've looked at including connecting flights on domestic carriers at both ends (rather than buying those separately). It's years since I have flown CX, but I've chatted about them and I remember them as being great.

There are ways of doing it, but they are not easy and not cheap. There are cruise ships that do it as part of grand cruises, and there are cargo ships that offer cabins. It may be easier to go the other way. It's relatively easy to travel overland from the UK to southeast Asia (through South Asia or through Russia, China and Vietnam, and to travel by ferry through Indonesia. The last gap is not easy, from Timor to Australia. There was a time in the 90s when PELNI (the Indonesian state ferry company) went to Darwin but Timor ended that. [it's a short flight from Bali, Kupang or Timor Leste to Australia though.]

I suspect that route is AA (CX metal BKK-HKG). Emirates do it one stop via Dubai.

I agree, once you're on board for a long haul flight, you might as well stay there. I'm 1.87m and for me SYD-DFW was not much more onerous than SYD-SFO, although I can understand if, for whatever reason six hours is a hard limit to exceed. And, on QF anything above economy gives you enough space and comfort to manage it.

The Qantas Dreamliner to make the maiden journey from #Perth to #London is VH-ZND with Captain Lisa Norman, Captain Jeff Foote, First Officer Dave Summergreene and Second Officer Troy Lane. Source

Yes, that's an anomaly. It can be the longest flight if they fly eastwards (15,000km) rather than polar/westward (12,395km). The route it takes depends on tail winds (eastwards). That must be the one Qantas was referring to in their media release yesterday as well. [A quirk I should have mentioned to go with my comment about NYC-HNL and HNL-SYD is that SYD-SFO is shorter than SYD-LAX.]

It is listed as sixth longest (great circle route). The longest was, and still is Doha - Auckland, followed by PER-LHR, AKL-DBX (EQ), LAX-SIN (UA) and IAH-SYD (UA). Qantas claim PER-LHR is only the third longest. Qantas touts its seating on the 787s as less crowded than other carriers, and IIRC it has longer seat pitch in economy. Part of the reason for fewer seats is that they have 42 business and 28 premium economy, so there's less space for economy. Seventeen hours is a long haul. I've flown SYD-DFW in economy on the A380 and survived, it wasn't too bad but I'd prefer to avoid it if I can. I've been to the US twice in the last couple of years and the other three trans-Pacific flights were SYD-SFO, SFO-SYD and LAX-MEL (all B747), two of which were in premium economy (points upgrade not cash), and they were good. If you want a serious break Hawaii is the best bet (if you're flying from NYC, HNL-SYD is the longer flight). Fiji Airways (stop or stopover in Fiji) is also an option. If you just want a flight that lands so you can stretch your legs, there is also Air Tahiti Nui that flies LAX-Papeete-AKL, then QF or NZ on to Sydney or Melbourne.

Ok you may shoot me but, 'Also the thread should be titled "How Does . . ." not "How Do . . . " Spelling and Grammar do matter!' [i probably should have put some commas in there too.]