America does worse than other developed countries for quality-of-life metrics, Amanda Shendruk writes: We spend more on health but don’t live as long, we put the most people in prison — by far (land of the free?! Ha!), we’re alone in not giving paid time off to new parents (family values?! Ha!).
The view from my hotel window, in one of the most ancient and beautiful cities in the world.
Barcelona really is all that — truly ancient and beautiful. However, my neighborhood does not partake of that legacy. It’s fine, though. Comfortable and reasonably close to Mobile World Congress.
The great thing about AirTags as you get instant reassurance when you get off the plane that your luggage is in the same airport that you are. The frustrating thing is you can see that your luggage is 3/10 of a mile away from you and hasn’t moved in a long time.
JFK airport is a shitshow, particularly if you are unused to flying through it and trying to make a connection from one side of the airport to the other. But the random people who work there that I asked for guidance were extremely helpful – and I’m not kidding about that.
Quest Bars are an exceptionally great travel snack to pack in your go bag. They’re satisfying when you don’t have time to get real food; they’re just tasty enough to enjoy while eating them, but not tasty enough that you’re ever tempted to eat them recreationally.
I got this recommendation years ago from a podcaster named CGP Grey on the Cortex podcast. 100% correct, extremely useful.
RIP Joseph Wambaugh, 88, ex-cop and writer, who wrote brilliant police procedurals and true crime, including "The Onion Field."
I loved his books. His cops were sometimes heroic, sometimes bad and dirty, sometimes both at once. He wrote lovingly about them and about cold-blooded murderers.
He had a remarkable life, continuing to work as a policeman years after his writing career took off, quitting only when he became too famous for police work.
Robert D. McFadden at the NY Times::
“I’m very interested in the concept of the sociopath, very interested, because my conscience has bothered me all my life,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1989. “Talk about regrets – I have about 20 every day. I was educated in Catholic schools, and they did that to me. So I have to cope with a conscience all the time. And I’m interested in a creature who has none of that.”
I’m at the airport at the gate waiting for a flight out. There’s a guy here sitting in a chair literally playing the trombone. I’m pretty sure he’s a passenger — I don’t think he works for the airline as an onboard trombonist.
At least it’s not a tuba.
How could they have named the company “Anker” when “Wanker” was right there?
I’m getting ready for a six-day business trip and I’m packing light .
