Live from 34,000 Feet

OK, my head is spinning. Not just because I had two glasses of wine, but because I am sitting here right now in a
plane at 34,000 feet writing this post. Is this the first blog post from an airborne jet? I doubt it, but in the
overall shceme of things…it’s close.

I am aboard the Lufthansa flight to Munich; we just passed over Halifax, Nova Scotia, and beneath me is nothing but
the deepest black. Open sea, nothingness, virtual unconsciousness. We are but a soaring metal husk in the sky, and I am
here surfing the Internet. Holy sh*t.

The guy I am sitting next to has been chatting endlessly. It took me two hours just to attempt to access the net
because he was telling me about his job and his family and where he vacations (the Bahamas) and his dog. Oh man. His
daughter is a big…and I mean BIG, she’s 6’4″, he says…volleyball player; his dog is a Golden Retriver who shesd all
over the new sofa; and he hates living in the New York area and wants to move to Denver or Salt Lake, but his wife
doesn’t want to move. But the money is better there and he wants to get away from the East Coast and always dreamed of
living in the West and yadda yadda yadda. This is what I’ve been listening to here for two hours. I tried the “hey, can
you see I’m picking up my book now, so please be quiet” technique, but he didn’t seem to get it.

But he had four glasses of wine a double Bailey and is now napping, so I’m free to surf the Web. Did I mention I was
surfing the Web in a plane at 34,000 feet? Amazing! This will change flying as we know it. The dreariness and drudgery
of sitting for hours reading bad paperback novels. Apparently the signal comes from a satellite to an antennae on the
plane, and then distributes via Wi-Fi within the plane. Yup, I just opened my Powerbook, and voila, there was the
signal. Of course, the b*stards at Lufthansa aren’t giving this away for free. I just paid $10 for a half hour, almost
hooker rates, but I HAD to do it. How could I possibly be on a plane and NOT use the Internet the first time I had the
opportunity?