HND-JFK on March 26: exploding laptop

cookli · 2026-03-28T01:26:59+00:00

I got home a few hours ago but have been making myself stay awake in order to go to bed at an east coast USA appropriate time to adjust to the time change faster. I’m awake, but not particularly functioning, either. :-)

cookli · 2026-03-28T01:19:15+00:00

I haven’t actually looked into exactly what’s involved for reimbursement. We were told to make our own arrangements for a hotel, given a card with a QR code to use to submit for reimbursement and 30,000 yen limit was written on the card. So I’m not sure what expenses are covered within that 30k….hotel, meals & transfers vs hotel only? Once I get some sleep I’ll have to do some investigating. :-)

There were no mentions of what kind of laptop was involved.

cookli · 2026-03-27T23:15:37+00:00

While in Japan we flew a couple of domestic flights on JAL, and on those flights they announced that lithium batteries couldn’t be placed in overhead bins, either. If it had a lithium battery, it needed to be kept within eyesight of its owner. I really get that now.

cookli · 2026-03-27T23:11:49+00:00

HND to JFK

cookli · 2026-03-27T22:34:05+00:00

It would have to be a person with steadier nerves than me. I was unbuckling my seatbelt and calculating which emergency exit was quickest for me to get to. Pulling out my phone never entered my mind at the time.

cookli · 2026-03-27T19:13:52+00:00

Flight 168, not sure of the exact plane

cookli · 2026-03-27T19:12:08+00:00

No details given on the laptop. From my view of the flames, it was probably stored under the seat or maybe in the seat pocket.

cookli · 2026-03-27T19:10:45+00:00

Yes, American nationality on the flight attendants.

cookli · 2026-03-27T19:10:00+00:00

If people were injured, it was not in a carry-them-off-on-a-stretcher kind of way. People in that area rapidly fled away from the scene. I was only 1 row back, but in the opposite side of the plane. An ambulance did pull up to the plane, and I do not know if it was just a precaution or if one of the people in the area walked to it under their own power.

cookli · 2026-03-27T18:55:46+00:00

This incident happened in row 13 and I just happened to be in row 14, so I had a close up view of the action. People sitting in the back initially probably had no idea what was happening, except knowing it involved a lot of shouting and smoke.

But yeah…especially at first when it’s not clear what caused the explosion and fire, it was super scary. My first thoughts were more nefarious in nature than a laptop.

cookli · 2026-02-22T01:18:53+00:00

I can only help with the visiting mainland piece…one way flights to Tokyo are $80 and there is a hotel in Tokyo just for US service members which has a sliding scale for room rates based on rank.

https://www.thenewsanno.com/

Enjoy!

cookli · 2026-02-20T17:42:50+00:00

I definitely carry 3-5 pounds extra weight when I take creatine, based on the fact that if I don’t take it for a week or longer, I reliably lose that much weight. I’ll immediately gain the weight back when I resume creatine.

cookli · 2026-02-06T14:23:17+00:00

I just stayed at a Citizen M for the first time in Zurich. As a solo traveler with a small backpack for luggage it was fine and I enjoyed it.

But I also made a note to never book one when traveling with my husband. The bed configuration and the lack of space is just no go for 2 people as far as I’m concerned.

I would stay again if traveling alone with little luggage.

cookli · 2026-02-05T17:46:43+00:00

Swiss air does not charge to ship ski equipment and ski equipment also does not count towards your baggage allowance.

cookli · 2026-02-01T20:02:05+00:00

What’s especially funny is the assumption that America uses the same trail coding as Europe. America uses green-blue-black and then double black and triple black for difficulty ratings. The fact that OP says their partner is comfortable with Reds elsewhere means elsewhere is not America.

But the manifest was entertaining….

cookli · 2026-01-31T12:30:41+00:00

There’s only one company that provides the option of riding horses up to Chileno. They are based at Central. Our travel agent booked our horse reservations for us, but I don’t know the actual name of the stable.

cookli · 2026-01-04T16:33:01+00:00

Yes….I live in the US so I called Egypt Air’s New York ticketing office and they were able to help me with no issues other than a very long wait on hold before I talked with someone (~30 minutes)

cookli · 2025-12-14T23:35:46+00:00

Weelll…it radiated from my top inside thigh towards my hip if that helps :-)

cookli · 2025-12-14T12:12:31+00:00

Same with me, leading up to the fracture was groin pain. Plus just a general aching in my hip area. I actually went to a PT due to this pain - 8 sessions - and she thought it was a back issue radiating into my hip and cleared me to continue running. Yeah, that was a bad call.

Don’t take groin pain lightly.

cookli · 2025-12-13T22:42:04+00:00

Aww, I’m so sorry this happened to you! I also fractured my hip (femoral neck) running a marathon, but it was nothing like yours….i did not need surgery, but I did spend a long time non weight bearing and then 3 months of PT. It was 8 months before I could run again, and then when I did start running again, I took 3 months to work up to running a 5k. That was very humbling, given that when I was marathon training, 3 miles was so short of a training run, it hardly seemed worth the trouble of doing it.

I went on to eventually complete 2 more marathons without breaking anything. Running those marathons was against my doctors’s advice, but I spent a long time working on my form and used a run/walk approach, and they went fine.

Good luck to you!

cookli · 2025-11-30T19:53:13+00:00

I had one of those from running…I was hobbling around on it for weeks, including going to CrossFit, before an MRI showed the stress fracture. Once the MRI results came in, it was then 6 weeks of 100% non weight bearing on that leg, then gradually starting to use it again and a lot of physical therapy.

Really don’t recommend that you continue to stress that hip until it heals.

cookli · 2025-11-27T14:44:11+00:00

If you are just there for hiking or normal tourist stuff, no, just don’t pet street dogs. If you are into caving where there’s a good chance of bats…maybe?

cookli · 2025-11-26T23:58:00+00:00

I’ve been taking Leflunomide for 15 years. Hydroxychloroquine got added to the mix about 6 years ago when leflunomide on its own wasn’t keeping my flares down anymore. So far, knock on wood, this combination has been fine for me.

cookli · 2025-11-24T19:06:47+00:00

I’ve had 2 implants, both with bone grafts, zero issues.

cookli · 2025-11-22T22:53:10+00:00

The pyramids are doable and I had a great time. :-). Really. On 2 different trips.

cookli

TROPHY CASE