Many pet owners when planning a trip, worry about what to do with their four-pawed friends. Pet sitting and pet boarding facilities are available but a new type of service is entering the market place. Would you believe - an airline that flies pets exclusively?
The new airline company, Pet Airways working out of Delray Beach, Florida, is aimed exclusively at pet travel. Like their human counterparts, pets get to travel in the main cabin and their owners aren't permitted to join them. What's more, the airline claims to be the first of its kind designed specifically for the safe and comfortable transportation of pets.
Seats normally for human pasengers will be removed to make room for pet carriers. The first departure for cats and dogs is scheduled for July 14 and the carrier will serve 5 U.S. cities including New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.
There is no mention of expansion plans to include other species/pets like gerbils, mice, birds, snakes, etc. etc.
The pawsengers, as the new airline calls them, can be booked in online and are checked in to a Pet Lounge at the airport. Does this mean that there will be catering services that offer bones or a steak before departure? Do you see another $$ lucrative$$ market here?
The pawsengers will get a "potty break" before departure and will be monitored during the flight. Presumably, this will be in the hands of the pet attendant who is on standby to cater to the travellers.
Owners or Pet Parents can follow their travel progress using an online "pet tracker".
The flights will be made in 19-seat turbo-prop planes operated by Suburban Air Freight, which have their seats removed to make space for the pet carriers.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Finger length an omen of future earning success
One has to ponder how much money was allotted to the group conducting this study. More to the point it strikes me that British researchers seem to have access to a cache of funds for - how shall we say - unusual studies.
In this case scientists at Cambridge University, presumably through close-up studies, have deduced that a man's fingers could predict his future success. The researchers who studied the forefingers of financial traders, concluded that those whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers make the most money.
Say what?
The link could be down to testosterone exposure in the womb, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says.
This exposure may improve rapid decision-making skills and has been linked with aggression.
The same ring-to-index finger ratio, which is determined in the womb, has previously been
associated with success in competitive sports.
Researcher John Coates and his team reported last year that testosterone seemed to boost short term success at finance after they found City traders with higher levels of the male hormone in the morning were more likely to make an unusually big profit that day.
He said studies suggested similar associations with finger length are also seen in women.
The article on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7825890.stm states that "when the researchers looked only at the experienced traders, those with longer ring fingers earned far more than those with shorter ring fingers - £838,000 compared to £154,000 on average, respectively."
Seems that Belgian researchers, not to be outdone by the Brits, have discovered that "men with longer ring fingers become less "socially minded" - less willing to give money to a fellow participant - after watching aggressive movies."
Who cares? Gimme a break!
I dunno. Given the current state of the economy around the world with people starving, becoming homeless and the loss of employment, why on earth would someone waste/conduct a study that focuses on fingers and their potential for whatever?
In this case scientists at Cambridge University, presumably through close-up studies, have deduced that a man's fingers could predict his future success. The researchers who studied the forefingers of financial traders, concluded that those whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers make the most money.
Say what?
The link could be down to testosterone exposure in the womb, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says.
This exposure may improve rapid decision-making skills and has been linked with aggression.
The same ring-to-index finger ratio, which is determined in the womb, has previously been
associated with success in competitive sports.
Researcher John Coates and his team reported last year that testosterone seemed to boost short term success at finance after they found City traders with higher levels of the male hormone in the morning were more likely to make an unusually big profit that day.
He said studies suggested similar associations with finger length are also seen in women.
The article on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7825890.stm states that "when the researchers looked only at the experienced traders, those with longer ring fingers earned far more than those with shorter ring fingers - £838,000 compared to £154,000 on average, respectively."
Seems that Belgian researchers, not to be outdone by the Brits, have discovered that "men with longer ring fingers become less "socially minded" - less willing to give money to a fellow participant - after watching aggressive movies."
Who cares? Gimme a break!
I dunno. Given the current state of the economy around the world with people starving, becoming homeless and the loss of employment, why on earth would someone waste/conduct a study that focuses on fingers and their potential for whatever?
Sunday, October 05, 2008
No iffs or butts - filtering out the bad smells of life with Subtle Butt
We've all had those embarrassing moments after eating something gaseous like raw onions, chili, garlic, etc., which have causes - how shall we say - some smelly moments. No matter how hard we try to repress the odor with various physicial contortions, chances are somebody will get the drift. What's a person supposed to do?
Enter Subtle Butt, a garment filter that one places inside one's underwear or wherever (different strokes for different folks!) and worry now more, so claims the manufacturer.
According to the blurb, each 3.25" square filter is made of a soft fabric with an antimicrobial treatment on the side that touches the skin. The fibre is impregnated with activated carbon, which faces the underwear or the pants and has a large surface in which bad odors will get neutralized.
What's more, the people behind the product (excuse the bad pun) have taken to YouTube to promote their product with a video, replete with sound effects. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXp53Dk48Y
However, the noises remain. Oh well...
Enter Subtle Butt, a garment filter that one places inside one's underwear or wherever (different strokes for different folks!) and worry now more, so claims the manufacturer.
According to the blurb, each 3.25" square filter is made of a soft fabric with an antimicrobial treatment on the side that touches the skin. The fibre is impregnated with activated carbon, which faces the underwear or the pants and has a large surface in which bad odors will get neutralized.
What's more, the people behind the product (excuse the bad pun) have taken to YouTube to promote their product with a video, replete with sound effects. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXp53Dk48Y
However, the noises remain. Oh well...
Monday, September 01, 2008
No swat - flies know when they're being stalked
by Eleanor Tylbor
One can hear them flitting around the room, the drone of their buzz reaching human hearing range. The "normal" reaction is to grab the nearest object and wait until they are within swatting range in an attempt to rid the source of the annoying noise. The end result, however, for the most part is the fly lives to fly another day.
Once again and all in the name of important scientific research, U.S. scientists think they have solved the mystery of why flies are difficult to swat.
Given the scientific and medical issues and questions requiring their attention, one would think that there are more pressing issues than studying why harrassed humans miss swatting flies. Be that as it may...
They think - presumably unproven - that the fly's ability to sustain its life cycle is due to its fast acting brain and ability to plan ahead. Go figure that flies can plan ahead!
The study includes high speed, high resolution video recordings revealing that the insects quickly work out where a threat is coming from and prepare an escape route. Furthermore,
the research suggests that the best way of swatting a fly is to creep up slowly and aim ahead of its location.
So, the swat-er being the human, must anticipate the landing spot of the swat-ee being the fly, and wait and hope that the fly will at some point land in the vicinity of the waiting newspaper/ fly swatter/whatever, to hit the mark.
Read the entire story for hints on more effective fly-swatting and an explanation on how the research was conducted here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7586868.stm
The study has been published in the journal Current Biology. One wonders how much money was involved in this important scientific research.
For those who care, see a close up of a fly's head here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8463947@N08/701598636/
One can hear them flitting around the room, the drone of their buzz reaching human hearing range. The "normal" reaction is to grab the nearest object and wait until they are within swatting range in an attempt to rid the source of the annoying noise. The end result, however, for the most part is the fly lives to fly another day.
Once again and all in the name of important scientific research, U.S. scientists think they have solved the mystery of why flies are difficult to swat.
Given the scientific and medical issues and questions requiring their attention, one would think that there are more pressing issues than studying why harrassed humans miss swatting flies. Be that as it may...
They think - presumably unproven - that the fly's ability to sustain its life cycle is due to its fast acting brain and ability to plan ahead. Go figure that flies can plan ahead!
The study includes high speed, high resolution video recordings revealing that the insects quickly work out where a threat is coming from and prepare an escape route. Furthermore,
the research suggests that the best way of swatting a fly is to creep up slowly and aim ahead of its location.
So, the swat-er being the human, must anticipate the landing spot of the swat-ee being the fly, and wait and hope that the fly will at some point land in the vicinity of the waiting newspaper/ fly swatter/whatever, to hit the mark.
Read the entire story for hints on more effective fly-swatting and an explanation on how the research was conducted here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7586868.stm
The study has been published in the journal Current Biology. One wonders how much money was involved in this important scientific research.
For those who care, see a close up of a fly's head here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8463947@N08/701598636/
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Wanted: naked cleaning person. Experience optional
If you happen to be vacationing or perhaps back-packing in England and looking for a job that has a loose - very loose - dress code, then perhaps this would be of interest to you.
A job vacancy for a naked cleaner is being advertised at a Jobcentre, the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed today.
The advertisement, placed in Southampton, Hampshire, by a company called Knobs 'n' Knockers, is looking for applicants of both sexes to do washing-up and ironing in the nude.
Why? According to the ad, it wants to make the tasks more erotic for customers in the South East.
"Required for household cleaning duties in the nude. Pinny provided. Must have pleasant nature." the ad states.
A "pinny" for those people unaware of the term according to Wikipedia, "A pinafore (colloquially pinny in British English) is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron."
Successful applicants will make £10 per hour compared to £6 for regular clothed cleaners. I suppose this could be considered unfair hiring practice but I digress.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said it could not legally refuse to carry the advertisement.
"Jobcentre Plus has a duty to advertise any legal job. Legal vacancies within the adult industry come within this, a requirement which was confirmed in a legal test case brought by the Ann Summers company in 2003. The High Court overturned Jobcentre Plus's policy which did not accept certain types of adverts connected with the sex and personal services industries. We have safeguards in place to ensure customers are fully aware of the nature of these jobs."
So? Anybody planning to apply?
A job vacancy for a naked cleaner is being advertised at a Jobcentre, the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed today.
The advertisement, placed in Southampton, Hampshire, by a company called Knobs 'n' Knockers, is looking for applicants of both sexes to do washing-up and ironing in the nude.
Why? According to the ad, it wants to make the tasks more erotic for customers in the South East.
"Required for household cleaning duties in the nude. Pinny provided. Must have pleasant nature." the ad states.
A "pinny" for those people unaware of the term according to Wikipedia, "A pinafore (colloquially pinny in British English) is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron."
Successful applicants will make £10 per hour compared to £6 for regular clothed cleaners. I suppose this could be considered unfair hiring practice but I digress.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said it could not legally refuse to carry the advertisement.
"Jobcentre Plus has a duty to advertise any legal job. Legal vacancies within the adult industry come within this, a requirement which was confirmed in a legal test case brought by the Ann Summers company in 2003. The High Court overturned Jobcentre Plus's policy which did not accept certain types of adverts connected with the sex and personal services industries. We have safeguards in place to ensure customers are fully aware of the nature of these jobs."
So? Anybody planning to apply?
Monday, May 26, 2008
There's gold in them thar California hills...again
Price of gas got you bloated? Running a little short of cash? You might consider visiting or even moving to California where there's a new Gold Rush, 160 years after gold fever struck.
It hit a new high of in excess of US$1000 per ounce earlier in the year and some believe there is money to be made from this precious mineral once more.
"You can pay your bills, if you live meagrely," says John Gurney, who gave up his job six months ago to become a full-time gold prospector.
John is standing in a shallow river in Jamestown, California, in the heart of Gold Country: in 1849, the same dream brought hundreds of thousands of people to towns like this.
He is panning for gold: he shovels rocks and dirt from the river bed into a bucket, sifts out the bigger pieces, transfers what's left into a ridged plastic panning bowl, and then, using a light movement back and forth, shakes the bowl, separating the lighter material from the heavier, including gold.
Each 20-minute session usually turns up a few tiny flecks.
"It's not a lot of money," John says, "but it adds up quite a bit... But you never know - you may hit the jackpot sometime."
This is the simplest way of gold prospecting.
The original 49ers - as they've become known - used this technique, as well as mining. Fortunes were made - and lost - in the wild towns that sprang up almost overnight along 200 miles of central California, an area they called the Motherlode.
Tourism is big business in the former gold-mining areas. Places like Jamestown and Columbia - which, in its heyday, nearly became California's state capital - have been mining tourists ever since. But now these ghost towns are stirring again, as more and more amateur prospectors try their luck.
Read the full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7378281.stm
Given the precarious financial situation with people losing homes and no income, perhaps gold fever will strike again.
Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum
It hit a new high of in excess of US$1000 per ounce earlier in the year and some believe there is money to be made from this precious mineral once more.
"You can pay your bills, if you live meagrely," says John Gurney, who gave up his job six months ago to become a full-time gold prospector.
John is standing in a shallow river in Jamestown, California, in the heart of Gold Country: in 1849, the same dream brought hundreds of thousands of people to towns like this.
He is panning for gold: he shovels rocks and dirt from the river bed into a bucket, sifts out the bigger pieces, transfers what's left into a ridged plastic panning bowl, and then, using a light movement back and forth, shakes the bowl, separating the lighter material from the heavier, including gold.
Each 20-minute session usually turns up a few tiny flecks.
"It's not a lot of money," John says, "but it adds up quite a bit... But you never know - you may hit the jackpot sometime."
This is the simplest way of gold prospecting.
The original 49ers - as they've become known - used this technique, as well as mining. Fortunes were made - and lost - in the wild towns that sprang up almost overnight along 200 miles of central California, an area they called the Motherlode.
Tourism is big business in the former gold-mining areas. Places like Jamestown and Columbia - which, in its heyday, nearly became California's state capital - have been mining tourists ever since. But now these ghost towns are stirring again, as more and more amateur prospectors try their luck.
Read the full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7378281.stm
Given the precarious financial situation with people losing homes and no income, perhaps gold fever will strike again.
Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
HOLD THE SALT
If ever there was a news item that fit into this category - this is it. I mean - c'mon - gimme a break!
Get this... An employee who works for McDonalds, ended up spending the night in jail and what's more is facing criminal charges for - wait for it - a police officer's burger was too salty! What's more the cop is claiming that it made him sick. Some would say that fast food in general sometimes has that effect on people but I digress.
The McDonald's server was arrested last Friday and charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct and freed on a $1000 bail.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-09-09-mcdonaldsburger_N.htm
In the way of an explanation the McD's server admits to accidentally spilling some salt on hamburger meat and informed her supervisior and a co-worker, who handled the problem by trying to remove the salt by "thumping it" whatever that entails.
Read the salty details here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-09-09-mcdonaldsburger_N.htm
Next thing you know somebody is going to claim that ketchup served was too tomato-y or the fries were the wrong color or the coffee was to hot... Hang on - somebody already sued for that. I mean, really...
Get this... An employee who works for McDonalds, ended up spending the night in jail and what's more is facing criminal charges for - wait for it - a police officer's burger was too salty! What's more the cop is claiming that it made him sick. Some would say that fast food in general sometimes has that effect on people but I digress.
The McDonald's server was arrested last Friday and charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct and freed on a $1000 bail.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-09-09-mcdonaldsburger_N.htm
In the way of an explanation the McD's server admits to accidentally spilling some salt on hamburger meat and informed her supervisior and a co-worker, who handled the problem by trying to remove the salt by "thumping it" whatever that entails.
Read the salty details here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-09-09-mcdonaldsburger_N.htm
Next thing you know somebody is going to claim that ketchup served was too tomato-y or the fries were the wrong color or the coffee was to hot... Hang on - somebody already sued for that. I mean, really...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)