Post: #51

Quote:go travel and see the world, more money for me.

Horrible attitude. Money is not everything, it probably won't make you happy and you certainly can't take it with you when you kick the bucket. Life is to be enjoyed.

Post: #52

(05-03-2011 12:56 AM)Samseau Wrote:  formal education is a waste

Quote:mostly genetic, like a six pack

Don't believe that hype about diet and exercise.

(03-29-2010 12:07 AM)Samseau Wrote:  I want the leisure to write philosophy someday.

Better than being a fitness instructor or lawyer.

Post: #53

(05-03-2011 04:46 AM)Gringo Wrote:  Horrible attitude. Money is not everything, it probably won't make you happy and you certainly can't take it with you when you kick the bucket. Life is to be enjoyed.

Money is not something you should pile up and pray on, it is to make your life comfortable. Like getting a good apartment with AC instead of crappy dorm room, taking a flight instead of a crappy bus ride, and so on. This is part of "enjoying life" for me. Indeed, some people may live in a tent under the bridge and still enjoy life - but I am not one of them.

Didn't understand your death argument either - a lot of things become irrelevant when I die, and this includes travel memories as well. You're not taking anything with you, as there is no "you" anymore.

Post: #54

(05-03-2011 02:55 AM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

(05-03-2011 12:56 AM)Samseau Wrote:  Factually, you are wrong:
Education in chad is compulsory
Education in Djibouti is compulsory
education in mali is compulsory
I'm not going to look up the other places, because you should research your posts better.

You said that "a country that only made school mandatory up until age 12 would probably become one of the better/richer nations on the planet". Mandatory in this regard is same as compulsory, meaning it cannot be skipped. Which is the case in most countries around the world, including the USA. So what was your point?

point: no mandatory schooling = improved living for all

By the way. In anticipation of your next remark: if school wasn't mandatory, it does not mean people would not go to schools. Plenty still would, mainly those who would excel in a school environment. of course, without everyone rushing into schools, schools would be improved by a factor of 10, so those who do go to school would come out vastly superior human beings.

Quote:

Quote:children are only as good as their teachers.

This is a major logical fallacy. If every student was only as good as their teacher, this would mean the education level would in the best case stay the same (or slowly degrade) and we'd still live in caves.

such an uncharitable reading of my posts is just to create argument. give me a fucking break, man. obviously, i did not mean that children will become clones of their teachers, or that they cannot surpass their teachers. but a child can only learn as good as the teacher shows him, unless the child is a genius. in which case, it is questionable if such a child needs a teacher.

Quote:

Quote:cultures are what produces high quality children, and to a lesser extent, their IQ. smart children are bred by educated parents. education does not come from schools, it comes from hard work and a burning desire to learn. formal education destroys this drive.

The obvious problem here is that most parents have no idea how to educate kids. You know, teaching is a skill people actually study for several years. And AFAIR homeschooling in the USA at least in half cases includes reading them the bible and other crap which has nothing to do with education.

like i said, children are only as good as their teachers. give them a sucky teacher and the child isn't given much room to improve.

additionally, homeschooled children, while not perfect, are usually much better off than their public/private school peers in terms of a healthy self-esteem. home schooled daughters are less like to be slutty, and home schooled sons are less likely to get into trouble. less vanities and insecurities develop in home school children in virtue of avoiding the social cutthroat atmosphere that is public (or private) school system.

Quote:

Quote:hell, european thinkers of 100 years ago blows away anything modern europe can offer. and this was all before the rise of modern education, aka the death of creativity.

So you disregard nuclear energy, plastics, superconducting, computers, satellites, Internet? You disregard genome and drug research? You disregard research in physics (LHC), chemistry, medicine (vaccines)? Do you actually read about Nobel prize nominees?

notice, all you do is list scientific achievements of specific engineering feats. all of our science today is built on the back of former theoretical heavy-weights of the 19th/early 20th century (whose names i'm too lazy to look up... try einstein, bohr, godel, bertrand russell, darwin, for starters...).

and yet even these former scientific thinkers are still lightweights compared to the 18th century thinkers and enlightenment thinkers who proceeded them (possible exceptions go to einstein and bohr).

this is why our age is dying today, we have no new ideas that break outside the current molds that were established over 200 years ago by genuine thinkers.

the death of this age should help usher in a new one of exciting new possibilities and configurations not yet considered... but its death is too slow for my taste.

Quote:Really, Samseau, were you homeschooled? I'm serious. At least in a few cases you made some logical or practical mistakes which are so obvious, so I start wondering if you got any formal education.

i wasn't homeschooled, although i wish I could have had the kind of upbringing a homeschooled child does. i do very well in logic, by the way, i even managed to study Gödel's incompleteness theorems in college (fucking tough, only got a C+). I guess Dartmouth thought my paper's were also really illogical when they selected me to present in front of them

Quote:

Quote:way to prove my point. shithole nations are filling up the world while civilized ones are disappearing.

This question pops up frequently during discussions, and actually I found an interesting correlation. So far everyone who complained about "civilized nations disappearing" had zero kids, and when asked why, they typically came up with a bunch of crappy excuses. Note that a couple needs at least 2.2 kids to just keep the population steady. So what is your personal contribution to reverse the situation, besides complaining?

i like your ad-hominem. like me having 2 kids is going to change shit. how about we fix society first so we don't need to feed our children to the state?

Quote:

Quote:Not once did I say to skip education, only that formal education is a waste of our time and youth. Instead of concerning ourselves with learning about this world, we wrap ourselves around a fruitless pursuit of money and place everything else in ancillary to it.

Formal education is exactly that - learning about this world. Chemistry, physics, biology, history, geography, even foreign languages - it is all learning about this world. The main advantage is that it gives you the platform to continue the self-study. Maybe you're one of those rare people who can learn quantum physics just by getting a book in the library and reading it, but most people aren't that bright. At least I don't know a single recent Nobel laureate who got there just by reading books, without any formal study.

formal education is fine if people willingly enlist to it, and do so at more advanced ages - say 16 and up.

i also do not understand why you list nobel winners as examples of great thinkers; vast majority of the past's great thinkers and innovators had nothing to do with following the establishment.

Quote:

Quote:Poor OldNemesis is so trapped in today's time period he cannot understand the distinction between education and making money; probably a fault of 95% of today's population.

Poor oldnemesis just paid over $100K in taxes for 2010 and is doing very well. I'd speculate, much better than 98% of the world. And I can indeed attribute most of my success to the formal school education. So I stand my opinion - go travel and see the world, more money for me.

good for you - your money must prove you are wise.

Post: #55

(05-03-2011 07:11 AM)kimleebj Wrote:  

(05-03-2011 12:56 AM)Samseau Wrote:  formal education is a waste

Quote:mostly genetic, like a six pack

Don't believe that hype about diet and exercise.

Come on, that's hyperbole. "Mostly" does not mean "all".

(03-29-2010 12:07 AM)Samseau Wrote:  

Quote:I want the leisure to write philosophy someday.

Better than being a fitness instructor or lawyer.

too bad I can't turn philosophy into a vocation

Post: #56

(05-03-2011 08:22 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  Money is not something you should pile up and pray on, it is to make your life comfortable. Like getting a good apartment with AC instead of crappy dorm room, taking a flight instead of a crappy bus ride, and so on. This is part of "enjoying life" for me. Indeed, some people may live in a tent under the bridge and still enjoy life - but I am not one of them.

Didn't understand your death argument either - a lot of things become irrelevant when I die, and this includes travel memories as well. You're not taking anything with you, as there is no "you" anymore.

I actually prefer to stay in a dorm room and take buses when travelling than having private rooms and flights. I go travelling to meet new people and see the country. You don't meet so many people if your holed up in your own room and you see nothing but airports and clouds using flights.

Post: #57

This thread makes me slightly happier I went to culinary school instead of the traditional route. Everything I learned in school had real world application and I've only built onto my repertoire of abilities as everything compounds rather then branching out. This might just be the nature of a trade school though.

I will say that the massive tuition attached to culinary is definitely a downside though

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #58

(05-03-2011 09:11 PM)Samseau Wrote:  point: no mandatory schooling = improved living for all

But you said it yourself in #49 that "a country that only made school mandatory up until age 12 would probably become one of the better/richer nations on the planet". You were shown the countries which make the school mandatory exactly to this age. So did you change your point now?

Quote:but a child can only learn as good as the teacher shows him, unless the child is a genius. in which case, it is questionable if such a child needs a teacher.

This is what I'm talking about. A teacher taught you foreign language. Does it mean you can only learn as good as teacher shows you? Of course not. You use what you learned as a base, and progress from there.

Quote:additionally, homeschooled children, while not perfect, are usually much better off than their public/private school peers in terms of a healthy self-esteem. home schooled daughters are less like to be slutty, and home schooled sons are less likely to get into trouble. less vanities and insecurities develop in home school children in virtue of avoiding the social cutthroat atmosphere that is public (or private) school system.

Do you have the evidence to back this claim up? I'd like to see that the cause was shown to be in home schooling, and not for example in the families being extremely religious. It would be also interesting to see how they do later, when they finally join the society they avoided for so long. "Social cutthroat atmosphere" is not just part of public school - it is part of University, Army, and pretty much every employment. So unless they gonna stay at home till the rest of their lives, their parents do them a disservice.

And please don't forget that school system is about education, not self-esteem. And it should be evaluated using educational criteria, not "sluttiness" or other completely irrelevant things.

Quote:notice, all you do is list scientific achievements of specific engineering feats. all of our science today is built on the back of former theoretical heavy-weights of the 19th/early 20th century (whose names i'm too lazy to look up... try einstein, bohr, godel, bertrand russell, darwin, for starters...).

Of course nobody invented the wheel again and again, this is our power as humanity as we're able to learn from our ancestors. In this case scientists of 19th century weren't different from scientists of 21st century. However there were more significant achievements in science in 20th century than in 19th. You just have no idea.

Quote:and yet even these former scientific thinkers are still lightweights compared to the 18th century thinkers and enlightenment thinkers who proceeded them (possible exceptions go to einstein and bohr).

this is why our age is dying today, we have no new ideas that break outside the current molds that were established over 200 years ago by genuine thinkers.

"Enlightenment thinkers" actually did very little to help the science - barely more then fiction science writers who have been describing space flights for ages. The scientific value of such description is virtually zero. It doesn't take any effort to "think" about HIV vaccine or cancer cure - but it takes decades of research to develop one, and we still aren't sure it is even possible.

Quote:i like your ad-hominem. like me having 2 kids is going to change shit. how about we fix society first so we don't need to feed our children to the state?

It is not ad-hominem. You seem to be concerned about something you have an ability to fix. Note that we're not talking about finding a Holy Grail here, making kids is something almost every human being can do. This is why I asked whether you personally do anything to fix the problem, i.e. whether you are willing to put your money where your mouth is, or you just think it is someone else's responsibility and for you complaining is just good enough. As I stated above, everyone so far who complained about this had done nothing to fix it - just like you - and if they all did, the problem would be fixed. Speaking again about hypocrisy...

Quote:formal education is fine if people willingly enlist to it, and do so at more advanced ages - say 16 and up.

So what they gonna do before they're 16? Read bible, learn to write and play video games?

Quote:i also do not understand why you list nobel winners as examples of great thinkers; vast majority of the past's great thinkers and innovators had nothing to do with following the establishment.

I put as much value in "thinkers" as I do into science fiction writers, i.e. zero. This is because I've got the education and I know how much difference is between describing a parachute like Da Vinci did, and developing a modern parachute I'm jumping with. You do understand that you cannot treat diseases with ideas - no matter how good - you need actual drugs?

Post: #59

(05-03-2011 09:20 PM)Samseau Wrote:  Come on, that's hyperbole. "Mostly" does not mean "all".

I haven't seen a single fat soldier in Russian military. There were some fat recruits, but once they went through special PE training, they weren't anymore.

Quote:too bad I can't turn philosophy into a vocation

You better not.

Post: #60

getting a trade makes a good choice too. culinary is awesome and you can easily get a job anywhere

Post: #61

(05-04-2011 08:55 AM)Gringo Wrote:  I actually prefer to stay in a dorm room and take buses when travelling than having private rooms and flights.

But do you have an option to? From your earlier posts I made an impression that it isn't really an option in your case, is it?

Quote:I go travelling to meet new people and see the country. You don't meet so many people if your holed up in your own room and you see nothing but airports and clouds using flights.

Well, I'd guess you'd see more places in a country if you take a flight, and you'll meet more people in your airplane than you would in your bus
And maybe this is just me, but I prefer to meet people NOT in the line to use the bathroom.

Post: #62

Quote:But do you have an option to? From your earlier posts I made an impression that it isn't really an option in your case, is it?

Of course I have the option to. I go away travelling for 6 months at a time, I could easily cut that down to 3 months and stay in hotels and take flights everywhere but I wouldn't want to. I like the way I travel, it's much more rewarding and fun.

Quote:Well, I'd guess you'd see more places in a country if you take a flight

Don't know how you work out you'll see more places in a country if you take a flight. Flights are limited as to where they go, if I travel overland I can stop at all sorts of places that don't have an airport. I'd never want to go on a trip where I only visited destinations where a flight can land. I'd rather jump on a local bus and go to some smaller places.

Quote:and you'll meet more people in your airplane than you would in your bus

You've completely missed the point. I wasn't talking about using buses over flights to meet people. What I said was if you stay in dorm rooms you'll meet many more fellow travellers than if you stay in hotels / private rooms. I'm not taking a bus because I think it helps me meet more people. I'm taking it because I want to see the scenery of the country I'm in, not just various airports.

Post: #63

(05-03-2011 09:20 PM)Samseau Wrote:  too bad I can't turn philosophy into a vocation

Actually this was one of the top professions in Occupations Rated Almanac. We should start a thread about best and worst schools and careers.

Post: #64

(05-05-2011 09:24 AM)Gringo Wrote:  Of course I have the option to. I go away travelling for 6 months at a time, I could easily cut that down to 3 months and stay in hotels and take flights everywhere but I wouldn't want to. I like the way I travel, it's much more rewarding and fun.

What you're essentially saying is that you're trying to save money to travel longer. ANd this actually means you do NOT have such option.
Think of it this way: if you had a $1M a year travel allowance, would you still travel and stay the same way?

Quote:Don't know how you work out you'll see more places in a country if you take a flight. Flights are limited as to where they go, if I travel overland I can stop at all sorts of places that don't have an airport. I'd never want to go on a trip where I only visited destinations where a flight can land. I'd rather jump on a local bus and go to some smaller places.

Typically they build airports at those places which are worth visiting. They don't just build it in the middle of nowhere. But, to each their own.

Quote:You've completely missed the point. I wasn't talking about using buses over flights to meet people. What I said was if you stay in dorm rooms you'll meet many more fellow travellers than if you stay in hotels / private rooms.

Yes, you'll meet one more person who stays in the same room. Worse, you'll meet him no matter if you like it or not.
Personally I don't even understand why someone would be interested in meet "fellow travelers", but maybe this is just me.

Post: #65

Quote:if you had a $1M a year travel allowance, would you still travel and stay the same way?

I've considered this many times and I actually think I would MOST of the time. I'd probably fly first class from home to my destination because it's much better than sitting in economy but once there I would still want to have the hostel experience (love it!) and travel overland because to me that's real travelling and actually good fun. Whilst I could hit an expensive hotel whenever I wanted if money is no object there's not many other aspects of my travels I'd change. I don't care for fancy & expensive restaurants, bars and clubs. I don't like taking internal flights. So I don't see how it would change much. I like the way I travel it's not something that's done out of neccessity of being broke.

Quote:Typically they build airports at those places which are worth visiting. They don't just build it in the middle of nowhere. But, to each their own.

Most ridicolous comment I've read on here. Absolute nonsense. Said by someone who only goes on package tours to big 'must see' destinations and has no idea about actual travelling. Airports tend to be confined to cities & beach resorts (not always but mostly) and those are certainly not the only places worth visiting.

Quote:Yes, you'll meet one more person who stays in the same room. Worse, you'll meet him no matter if you like it or not.
Personally I don't even understand why someone would be interested in meet "fellow travelers", but maybe this is just me.

One more person? Usually there's about 6-12 people in the same room actually so you've got a choice and if you don't like someone they are easily avoided, you just got speak to some other people who are staying in one of the other dorm rooms of the same hostel.

I don't understand why you wouldn't be interested in meeting 'fellow travellers'. If someone is in the same country as you, doing a similar trip they're probably of a similar nature to you or at least have some shared interests. You've both decided to visit a certain country / place that has to count for something. I like meeting people from all over, regardless of whether they live in the country or are a fellow tourist as long as they are a good person.

Post: #66

(05-05-2011 07:52 PM)Gringo Wrote:  I've considered this many times and I actually think I would MOST of the time. I'd probably fly first class from home to my destination because it's much better than sitting in economy but once there I would still want to have the hostel experience (love it!) and travel overland because to me that's real travelling and actually good fun. Whilst I could hit an expensive hotel whenever I wanted if money is no object there's not many other aspects of my travels I'd change. I don't care for fancy & expensive restaurants, bars and clubs. I don't like taking internal flights. So I don't see how it would change much. I like the way I travel it's not something that's done out of neccessity of being broke.

Interesting. I could care less about the first class (I have even skipped the free upgrade a few times as I'm sleeping the whole flight anyway, and I prefer the window seat in an exit row to an isle seat in business class), but I would definitely stay in a decent place. It doesn't have to be Marriott, but it must be something with a private room and private bath. And I'd rather not go at all than stay in a hostel, as my idea of fun completely excludes sharing a room with a bunch of drunk Brits.

Quote:Most ridicolous comment I've read on here. Absolute nonsense. Said by someone who only goes on package tours to big 'must see' destinations and has no idea about actual travelling. Airports tend to be confined to cities & beach resorts (not always but mostly) and those are certainly not the only places worth visiting.

With a few exceptions, airports are built to serve the local population, not just tourists. So they tend to be confined to the places where passenger traffic goes. I guess you're talking more about the situation in Thailand or Jamaica, where the majority of the population cannot really afford to fly and as a result it mostly serves visitors. But this is definitely not the case in USA, Europe or Russia.

And of course it depends what you want to see. Indeed if you're climbing Everest or go through jungle it would be naive to expect the airport at your destination. But in Europe it is typically much more convenient to catch a flight or TGV than use a local bus. Especially if you consider that vast majority of people does not travel for six months a year, and values the time much more.

Quote:One more person? Usually there's about 6-12 people in the same room actually so you've got a choice and if you don't like someone they are easily avoided, you just got speak to some other people who are staying in one of the other dorm rooms of the same hostel.

So it is even worse than I thought. Makes me really happy I avoided this kind of experience.

Quote:I don't understand why you wouldn't be interested in meeting 'fellow travellers'. If someone is in the same country as you, doing a similar trip they're probably of a similar nature to you or at least have some shared interests.

Because I am not a Westerner. I feel very comfortable on my own and I don't need a company of other tourists. This is where I have really high standards for someone to accompany me - I'd rather be alone than with just someone, and in vast majority of cases I am alone. A "fellow traveler" company is basically a burden for me, mostly because of the Western "conversation for the sake of conversation" phenomena (when people talk to each other not because they have something to share or learn but because they simply cannot stand up the silence), is something I find annoying.

You obviously have different interests, so our traveling goals, methods and do's/dont's would be different. Which is fine. It doesn't mean you're wrong and I'm right or vice versa, it is like pepsi and coke. Everyone has their preferences.

Post: #67

Quote:Interesting. I could care less about the first class (I have even skipped the free upgrade a few times as I'm sleeping the whole flight anyway, and I prefer the window seat in an exit row to an isle seat in business class),

Find it hard to beleive anyone would skip a free upgrade even if they do sleep the whole flight. Sleeping in business class is much better than sleeping in economy class because in business. Not only do you have much more personal service, champagne, better food etc but you've also a lot more space and your seat will recline all the way back to horizontal so you can get a much better sleep, better quality of chair too so it's more comfortable.

Quote:And I'd rather not go at all than stay in a hostel, as my idea of fun completely excludes sharing a room with a bunch of drunk Brits.

Hostels have private rooms too and there's a much bigger variety of people than drunk Brits. People of all ages stay in hostels these days, from 18year olds to retirement age and not everyone is there to party. You'd be surprised who you find.

Quote:But in Europe it is typically much more convenient to catch a flight or TGV than use a local bus

It's easy enough to catch a train or a bus in Europe too and in some instances flying probably isn't much quicker due to waiting around in aports etc. Depends how far you're going really.

Quote:Makes me really happy I avoided this kind of experience.

You sound too old and miserable for it anyway.

Quote:I feel very comfortable on my own and I don't need a company of other tourist

Yeah I can be happy on my own too but most things in life are better with company, usually a shared experience is a much richer one. You can be in paradise but if you've no one to share it with it's not quite the same.

Post: #68

This is unrelated to where the thread is heading but an interesting issue that I've recently come across.

I know a lot of families who sort of straddle the US and different Asian countries. Most of them come from Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Singaporean, Malaysian, and Mainland Chinese conglomerates - overwhelmingly they are in the shipping, mining, and real estate area.

I've noticed that increasingly the kids in these families are starting to go to schools like the "Ivy League of China", which consists of Tsinghua, Beijing University, Fudan University, Jiaotong University, Zhejiang....and I think two more, possibly Nanjing as well.

On line with the whole "self-internationalization" theme that I so often discuss on roosvhv, I wonder if it makes sense for an American recent high school grad or recently discharged soldier to pursue his secondary studies abroad. Traditionally these kids went to places like the actual ivy league and I was shocked that they would choose otherwise, given that they were academically qualified and their parents could easily pay their tuition. Moreover, the network they would have gotten from the actual ivy league would have been far better than that of any Asian school they could have gone to.

This school is interesting: http://www.ceibs.edu/

It's actually ranked as one of the top MBA programs in the world and is based in Shanghai.

After doing graduate studies in Europe and Asia, I can say this for sure: you can get a degree from these countries for way cheaper than you would in the US.

Post: #69

(05-07-2011 11:33 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  http://www.ceibs.edu/ ranked as one of the top MBA programs in the world and is based in Shanghai.

I do not know why Financial Times ranked this school highly. I would prefer HKST. But you need to ask why you want the degree. A Chinese school will obviously have better Asian connections. But American schools dominate finance, and I cannot imagine Chinese schools being good at marketing. Accounting has specialized degrees and certifications. Maybe Chinese schools can be competitive in manufacturing? The top American brands will be recognized worldwide.

Post: #70

(05-07-2011 08:12 AM)Gringo Wrote:  Find it hard to beleive anyone would skip a free upgrade even if they do sleep the whole flight. Sleeping in business class is much better than sleeping in economy class because in business. Not only do you have much more personal service, champagne, better food etc but you've also a lot more space and your seat will recline all the way back to horizontal so you can get a much better sleep, better quality of chair too so it's more comfortable.

I always take it if I'm staying awake on a flight - just for free alcohol. But if I'm sleeping, I take sleeping pill which means I cannot drink alcohol anyway, so food, drinks and service doesn't matter. The airplane food is always crap and I do not eat there even on 12 hour flights. And I'm short, so chair reclining and legroom matters much less to me than to most of people.

Then I always put myself into emergency exit row near window. On most Delta/KLM flights regular people have to pay to get into exit row unless the plane is full, and the chance someone would pay for a middle seat in exit row is virtually zero. It is MUCH cooler near exits, so while the whole plane is suffering from +25C (esp. Lufthansa - I hate it!), I sleep comfortably at +18C. No such option in business class.

Quote:Hostels have private rooms too and there's a much bigger variety of people than drunk Brits. People of all ages stay in hostels these days, from 18year olds to retirement age and not everyone is there to party. You'd be surprised who you find.

Probably. It is always possible to find a gem in mud, but you have a much better chance in a jewelry store. Let's just say I do not click with the personality types who prefer to stay in hostels. And if you're staying in a private room with private bath, what's the difference then?

Quote:It's easy enough to catch a train or a bus in Europe too and in some instances flying probably isn't much quicker due to waiting around in aports etc. Depends how far you're going really.

It depends. In Western Europe trains are good alternative to the planes. In Eastern Europe the train service is much less appealing. I just took a train from Ukraine to Romania two months ago - something I haven't done in a while - and I wish I didn't.

Quote:Yeah I can be happy on my own too but most things in life are better with company, usually a shared experience is a much richer one.

I prefer to be alone than with a company of random people.

Post: #71

Quote:I always take it if I'm staying awake on a flight - just for free alcohol. But if I'm sleeping, I take sleeping pill which means I cannot drink alcohol anyway, so food, drinks and service doesn't matter. The airplane food is always crap and I do not eat there even on 12 hour flights. And I'm short, so chair reclining and legroom matters much less to me than to most of people.

The international airlines I fly with EVERYONE gets free alcohol, even those in cattle class (economy). In business class you get some champagne before you've even left the run way which is a nice touch and the staff are more forthcoming with topping up your drink where as in economy you need to hassle them more for a beer.

I also take sleeping pills on every flight and I mix them with alcohol, not a problem for me. Few drinks then a couple valium is perfect for any flight but I'd much rather be sitting in business class than in economy anytime.

In business class the food is usually not too bad, had some great 3 course meals with BA and Emirates, all served on proper crockery and with real cutlery instead of the usual slop in a plastic container that comes with a plastic fork. I've enjoyed it. I'll still eat the shit they serve in economy though, can't go 12hrs without eating.

Quote:Then I always put myself into emergency exit row near window. On most Delta/KLM flights regular people have to pay to get into exit row unless the plane is full, and the chance someone would pay for a middle seat in exit row is virtually zero. It is MUCH cooler near exits, so while the whole plane is suffering from +25C (esp. Lufthansa - I hate it!), I sleep comfortably at +18C. No such option in business class.

Paying to get into the exit row? Never heard of that, definitely no the case on any airlines I frequent. If your quick enough at booking a seat online or get to the airport early enough you can have any seat you want.

Quote:Let's just say I do not click with the personality types who prefer to stay in hostels. And if you're staying in a private room with private bath, what's the difference then?

Considering the types of people who stay in hostels range from young to old to families and span every nationality and type of person I don't see how you can tar everyone with the same brush and say you don't click with them. Do you click with anyone? You seem like you might be quite miserable and lonely.

Personally I don't stay in a private room and many wouldn't have a private bath, you'd still be sharing the shower facilities anyway. What's this obsession with baths ? The point is if you wanted some privacy in a hostel the option is there, for me sleeping in a dorm and having shared facilities isn't much of a problem.

Quote:Eastern Europe the train service is much less appealing. I just took a train from Ukraine to Romania two months ago - something I haven't done in a while - and I wish I didn't.

Nothing wrong with most of the trains in Eastern Europe, used them many times and absolutely fine.

Quote:I prefer to be alone than with a company of random people.

Why are you so adverse to company, do you have any friends?

Post: #72

(04-25-2011 05:51 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  So far my degree has never come into use either. I tell employers I have it, not one has ever checked into, they just nod and ask me about my experience

This is very common. Nowadays, employers do not even call Universities to actually verify credentials of candidates they hire.

Unless you are an attorney, a doctor (medicine, science or psychology), finance or any law enforcement branch your college creds are not verified.

Usually corporate companies that actually check your degree are big 4 audit firms, and fortune 100 companies who ONLY hire inexperienced employees. And, why would you want to work for a red-tape company to slave you for 60hrs a week for 50KUSD per year out of college?

By the time you wake up (if you wake up) from this nightmare, you're in debt up to your neck: house, 2 cars, (fat) wife, kids....and it's too late.

Any other profession, it's your field experience and references that are verified - followed by a personal background check to make sure you are not an axe murderer, ex-con or sexual predator.

I've never had any client ask me for a copy of my degree. My mother has it stored in a family album somewhere...for over 10 years now.

Mixx

Post: #73

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Post: #74

(05-08-2011 09:25 AM)Gringo Wrote:  The international airlines I fly with EVERYONE gets free alcohol, even those in cattle class (economy). In business class you get some champagne before you've even left the run way which is a nice touch and the staff are more forthcoming with topping up your drink where as in economy you need to hassle them more for a beer.

I also take sleeping pills on every flight and I mix them with alcohol, not a problem for me. Few drinks then a couple valium is perfect for any flight but I'd much rather be sitting in business class than in economy anytime.

The airlines I mostly fly are Delta/KLM/Air France/Aeroflot as I've got high status on Skyteam alliance. Gives me a good choice in US, Europe and ex-USSR, but not so good in Asia. They're more tight on alcohol, and while in business/first you can ask for black label Johnny Walker, the economy might not have any scotch at all.

I never mix alcohol and sleeping pills. The risks are there, and they are obvious, and I don't see any benefits which would justify the risks.

Quote:Paying to get into the exit row? Never heard of that, definitely no the case on any airlines I frequent. If your quick enough at booking a seat online or get to the airport early enough you can have any seat you want.

Interesting. Probably this is OneWorld-specific thing, as I've seen the same "premium seat" feature on United as well. However even there you definitely cannot get any seat you want, as those who book online/check in online often have an option to choose the seat, and somehow they're not all choosing aft middles seats. So even if you're checking in early, you might have to choose between different middle seats, and definitely have no options for exit row. This became an issue since 2009, as before the flights were half-empty. Nowadays they're packed.

Quote:Considering the types of people who stay in hostels range from young to old to families and span every nationality and type of person I don't see how you can tar everyone with the same brush and say you don't click with them. Do you click with anyone? You seem like you might be quite miserable and lonely.

It is funny that you're mixing together "lonely" and "miserable". Are you that kind of person who feels miserable every second he isn't talking to someone, and is afraid to be alone with your thoughts? You seem to be very defensive about it.

Despite what you said, there are very people who stay in hostels are doing so for a reason. Either they are because they're dirt cheap travelers (in this case it is unlikely we'd find anything to talk about), or because they're the kind of people who feel uneasy on their own and must constantly communicate with others to maintain their mental homeostasis. This is kind of people I'd like to avoid.

Quote:Nothing wrong with most of the trains in Eastern Europe, used them many times and absolutely fine.

Yeah, we're definitely talking about different kind of comfort here.

Quote:Why are you so adverse to company, do you have any friends?

You probably missed the "random people" part. Which should have been more correctly read as "random tourists".

Post: #75

Quote:the economy might not have any scotch at all.

I never mix alcohol and sleeping pills. The risks are there, and they are obvious, and I don't see any benefits which would justify the risks

I usually fly long haul with BA or Emirates and with both you can have scotch or any other drink you like, it might not be Johnny Walker Black Label but I wouldn't drink JW anyway, I prefer proper good Scottish whisky and not shitty blends made for foreigners who just buy it for the label. I've also flew with TAM / Lan in South America and was surprised to find I could drink as much free drinks as I liked.

The risk of mixing alcohol with valium is pretty much non existant especially when using low doses of valiu, even in high doses of both booze and valium you priobably won't die.

Quote:It is funny that you're mixing together "lonely" and "miserable". Are you that kind of person who feels miserable every second he isn't talking to someone, and is afraid to be alone with your thoughts? You seem to be very defensive about it.

Considering I travel to the otherside of the world continually alone I don't think being by myself is a problem for me but I've never known anyone who doesn't like company at some point. Being alone can be great but as I've said before almost everything in life is better when it's a shared experience.

Quote:Either they are because they're dirt cheap travelers (in this case it is unlikely we'd find anything to talk about), or because they're the kind of people who feel uneasy on their own and must constantly communicate with others to maintain their mental homeostasis. This is kind of people I'd like to avoid.

You really don't understand hostels at all, many people stay in them not just because they are cheap but because they love the atmosphere, the communal feeling and sociable aspect of them. There's nothing wrong with wanting to travel on a budget, some people couldn't afford to do it otherwise, some people simply want to travel longer term so ahve to keep the costs down.

Quote:Yeah, we're definitely talking about different kind of comfort here.

Maybe you need to man up?

Quote:You probably missed the "random people" part. Which should have been more correctly read as "random tourists".

If you gave them a chance maybe you'd find out you actually liked some of these 'random people', they might even become friends, it happens. Don't be so closed off and judgemental.