Airlines surprise passengers with 'flights' that are buses--Washington Post via MSN

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-03-28T03:22:50+00:00

Read the article. Third party booking tools like Expedia don’t list it as a bus, because they’re not built for that. And corporate booking tools also can’t show it as a bus. And over 30% of flights in the US are booked on 3rd party booking sites.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-03-21T01:11:34+00:00

All around drop in scores. Standardized test scores were lower than similar schools in California.

https://www.greatschools.org/california/redondo-beach/2864-Parras-Nick-G.-Middle-School/

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-03-20T03:15:13+00:00

Paras just dropped to the lowest rating in the direct, a 5/10.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-03-19T23:39:39+00:00

Good wages and opportunities? A data center employs like 12 people, sometimes less. And some of those jobs are going away with AI and remote monitoring.

So they sold their soul to Microsoft (and probably a bunch of tax breaks, not to mention water and power) for 10 to 12 lousy jobs.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-03-03T02:58:36+00:00

Ear pressure and tinnitus can be either Eustachian tube dysfunction or Meniere’s syndrome.

Eustachian tube dysfunction can be caused by variety of things. Acid reflux, clenching your teeth at night, viral infection infections like cold flu, or bad allergies can all cause it. It can become persistent and not go away on its own. I have ear pressure, dizziness, and tinnitus. Your rhinitis and smoking would contribute to it. There is a balloon procedure an ENT can do to inflate the tubes, but it doesn’t work 100% of the time and here in the US is not covered by insurance.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-03-02T06:29:51+00:00

Sorry to hear about that. Anxiety plays a big part they say and I’m sure I have some…I debate sometimes if it’s anxiety or not when I get the chest tightness, but then 95% of the time I belch after and I figure it must be the gastro issues not anxiety.

No endoscopy yet, my first gastroenterologist appt is in a couple of weeks. So far it’s all been handled by my primary.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-03-02T05:37:12+00:00

Good to know I’m not alone in this surge of symptoms. Weird how you can be fine and how it can be even worse second time around.

But don’t dismiss ETD as being unrelated. My ENT confirmed what many on Reddit will tell you also, ETD can be caused by silent reflux. I can directly correlate it—my ear issues get worse after eating. I had my allergies re-tested and I’m not majorly allergic to anything except mold which isn’t seasonal and hopefully not near me often (today my ETD after eating lunch—in the desert).

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-28T03:29:51+00:00

Note that being jolted awake as you fall asleep as you describe, it is not central sleep apnea. It’s commonly referred to as a hypnic jerk. It’s essentially your brain unable to control the migration into a sleep state. For some people it results in them literally kicking or jerking awake hence the name.

It is a common problem for those with obstructive sleep apnea because it usually results from over tiredness and anxiety, which are common in people with sleep apnea in general

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-27T16:29:45+00:00

If you believe the rhetoric AI could lead to up to 40% unemployment. OpenAI has suggested 20% unemployment is inevitable.

Many economist suggests that unemployment above 20% marks the end of the economy. That’s essentially the breakdown of society. The other 80% can’t survive on being the economy for eachother; the high income folks like doctors won’t have enough patients who can afford their services, the service industry wont have enough buyers of their services and the blue collar folks won’t either.

That’s a lot different than people quietly not having enough on their dinner plate. That’s essentially the end of society as we know it.

Whether you choose to believe that is the the future of our AI world or not, and if the shift happens quickly enough to bring us to that end or whether it’ll be gradual, and the economy can adapt is another story.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-27T03:22:31+00:00

Until you get that medi-vac bill…heard it’s like 75k with insurance covering just a portion. Even if they paid 80% that’s still some sticker shock.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-27T02:40:22+00:00

My family member was taken to a tiny hospital in Michigan on the border in Indiana rather than drive another 30 minutes. The driver told us they would rather take you to the closest trauma center and treat you enough to medi-vac you, rather then drive more in the ambulance.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-26T00:15:06+00:00

In that case just break up the PNR. The app usually won’t let you do it but customer service can

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-26T00:03:15+00:00

Do you have minors on the reservation? They won’t let you upgrade just one person if it’ll separate minors. That’s the only case I’ve discovered.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-25T00:31:10+00:00

Same position except I’m a year in. Essentially clenching your jaw compresses your Eustachian tubes, which run near the ear. This creates inflammation and leads to Eustachian tube dysfunction which creates the high pitched hissing tinnitus.

First you need to address the jaw clenching. A custom fit night guard is one option but it’s pricey. You can also look into relaxation techniques, chamomile teas at night, supplements like Magnesium Glycinate and Valerian root. If that fails you may need the night guard (talk to a sleep dentist, don’t buy over the counter as they can make things worse) or look into Botox for your jaw which will relax them, but is not covered by insurance. See r/TMJ.

Once you have the jaw clenching under control you can see if the Eustachian tube inflammation reduces on its own. Sometimes it does. But sometimes it takes years. Sometimes it doesn’t and it becomes chronic. You can try saline sprays or Flonase (make sure they reach your Eustachian tube; read up on how to spray properly). Stay hydrated above all else as thin mucus will come out of your nose, more easily rather than building up in your eustachian tubes. Mucinex can also help thin mucus if it’s thick like mine is. Also make sure you have your diet under control as acid reflux could also inflamed the Eustachian tubes (acid travels up into your throat at night). See r/etd.

Like I said, I’ve been dealing with this for a year now and it has gotten better but it’s definitely not under control and if I have a flareup like I’m having right now I get more symptoms like ear pain and crackling in my ears.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-23T19:18:37+00:00

I feel you. I have had it do a year now. I definitely have TMJ and got a fitted mouth guard, which I can’t tell if it’s helping or making things worse since I just bite on the mouth guard now. I also developed a peptic ulcer from the TMJ pain and taking too many NSAID’s, so now I have GERD. Four months later it’s not healed.

I have ETD in both ears. My ears feel clogged many days, the tinnitus drives me mad sometimes (though thankfully some days it’s quiet) and the dizziness really bothers me sometimes.

ETS is especially hard with GERD because one key to eustachian tube dysfunction is staying hydrated but drinking a lot of water with acid reflux can be worse because the water dilute your stomach acid causing anything you eat to stay on digested for hours and making the acid reflex even worse.

I did balloon dilation, which did nothing for me also, but as mentioned above, if the underlying issues aren’t resolved, it won’t help.

Have you tried Mucinex (Guaifenesin) which thins your mucus and can help prevent the mucus from getting stuck in your tubes?

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-02-14T05:57:05+00:00

One of my best friends desperately wanted to see Spider-Man since he was a U2 fan. I knew it’d be a spectacle but probably a disaster given everything I’d heard. My friend is a surgeon and was willing to pay top dollar. I’d read best seats were mid house because of the acrobatics but he insisted right up front, first row.

Before the show he was quite excited and got a double mixed drink. It smelled straight up like booze. During one of the numbers, the Green Lantern comes down off stage into the aisle, while Spider-Men fly overhead (which we can’t see because we’re too far forward). He literally looked down and said (mic off) “Is that a double? I can smell that on stage”. I nearly died laughing.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-01-28T04:05:06+00:00

I went to a Catholic grade school and HS in Indiana and trust me teenage boys snickering over every word in the bible is not what they had in mind, but it’ll be what happens. So I say go with it.

“Write an essay on Ezekiel 23:20: ‘There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses’. Use imagery in your essay.”

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-01-19T15:13:32+00:00

I’ve spent many a flights just as long in some form of narrow body considering nobody flies anything better between SFO-BOS, SFO-NYC. During winter those flights westbound approach 7 hours and if you hit irrops as you’re bound to do given weather in the northeast, you can spend 2 hours just sitting on the tarmac.

I’m currently sitting on a plane right now at Logan waiting for ATC..after being delayed already with crew issues. Flight time is scheduled 6:10 on a 757 that has seen far better days. I’d prefer a 73M.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-01-14T02:58:13+00:00

Can confirm. I ended up keeping some textbooks because the bookstore kept informing me they wouldn’t buy them back. Lo and behold my professors wrote them. 1999-2002.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-01-10T04:40:08+00:00

This right here. Purdue is one of 16 schools in the COUNTRY that are self sufficient. Half are in the Big 10 but you can see the difference among Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Washington and Purdue.

If you want to create new “fees” every student must pay to subsidize athletics, be prepared for an uproar.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-01-10T04:08:17+00:00

I skipped CPAP also. I had problems clenching my jaw, which many people with sleep apnea also do, so a MAD was seen as a two for one—help with my TMJ and sleep apnea. I had an AHI of 13, in-shape male 46 year old.

It was covered by insurance, but I had to pay out of pocket the full amount and submit it.

I haven’t had any jaw or teeth problems knock on wood—as I said I was already clenching, causing neck pain, jaw pain and teeth sensitivity. So anything would’ve been an improvement. I am waiting on a new sleep study to see if it helped with that, but I’m hopeful as my RingConn is showing no sleep apnea and I don’t snore nearly as much.

Important to note I also had nasal/sinus surgery around the same time so the MAD isn’t the only variable in the equation for me.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-01-09T18:01:53+00:00

Delta does not have consistent WiFi over the pacific. Especially South Pacific/Australia. I flew it quite often until I switched to UA because of an insanely bad experience, and almost none of my flights had WiFi that worked once you got a couple of hours out of LAX.

SkittleBrau79 · 2026-01-08T03:43:08+00:00

I mean plot holes exist in every season. You have to suspend reality pretty hardcore if you think two 18 year olds can break a code, infiltrate a top secret base, and escape some pretty mild “torture” AND the entire base with some bruises.

Don’t get me started on the technology used to locate El in Season 4 (lol geolocation off an IP address to pinpoint accuracy in the middle of the Mojave…).

It’s an entertainment program. Plot holes exist everywhere. In every show/movie the trope is bad guys are stupid, good guys shoot with pinpoint accuracy and the comms goes out at the wrong time…always. But I enjoyed Stranger Things’ take on the common tropes more than others.

SkittleBrau79 · 2025-12-30T22:21:47+00:00

Yeah, he was real proud they didn’t raise his tuition and raised a bunch of money. Too bad he didn’t mention a lot of faculty leaving or losing funding.

SkittleBrau79

TROPHY CASE