The captain is the last to leave the ship

Or the airplane.

Flight 1549 was obliged to land in the Hudson River earlier today, after an unfortunate encounter with a flock of geese. Everyone survived.

At a press conference soon after the incident, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the plane's pilot Chesley Sullenberger, 57, who used to fly F-4 aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, walked up and down the aisle twice to make sure no one was left on the plane.

His airplane is floating in the middle of a river on one of the coldest days of the year, and Sullenberger checks the plane not once, but twice, to make sure everyone got out safely.

Tell me again why I'm not justified in holding on to a little idealism? There are demonstrably people who still know - and live - the meaning of the words duty, responsibility, and selflessness.


Technorati tags: Flight 1549, Heroism, Good news

Do Not Call!

That's it! I've had it. I signed up on the Canadian Do Not Call List. I am so sick of getting umpteen calls a day from telemarketers - half of them fraudulent - that I could scream. Registering on the DNCL was the first proactive step I have taken. Unfortunately it was just a small one.

The problem is that most of the telemarketers are calling me from the US, and the American DNCL won't let me register. I know, I tried. It keeps telling me to correct my area code.

I used to see advertisements on TV, back when I still watched TV, for a doohickey that would detect computer-dialed phone calls and automatically block them, sending back a message that your phone number is invalid, which would delete you from their database. Are those gadgets still on the market? What are they called and where do I find them?

I've tried a google search, but all I'm finding is the machines to MAKE those annoying calls.

Or do you have any other tips for me, other than systematically asking every telemarketer to remove me from their call lists? And how do you ask a recording to do that?


Technorati tags: Telemarketers, Do Not Call