Some people call them "the Duckies", some call them "The Friendly Floatees". In 1992, 29,000 plastic bath toys 'escape' in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Where did they go? Amazing!
1992: "In the Democratic primaries, Paul Tsongas leads the field of candidates. Bill Clinton (dubbed ‘Pander Bear’ by Tsongas) still has to earn the moniker ‘The Comeback Kid’ in the New Hampshire primary that saved his candidacy. Slovenia and Croatia break away from Yugoslavia, setting in motion events that will lead to all-out war on the Balkans. In the small Dutch town of Maastricht, European leaders sign the treaty that will transform the European Economic Community into a much more political European Union.
Another event from early 1992, still reverberating today: On January 10, a container holding almost 29,000 plastic bath toys spills off a cargo ship into the middle of the Pacific Ocean and breaks open. The unsinkable toys, which were en route from Hong Kong to Tacoma (Washington), include a lot of iconic yellow rubber ducks that have since been caught up in the world’s ocean currents and continue turning up on the most improbable shores. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, a retired oceanographer, saw from the beginning how valuable the rubber duckies could be in tracing ocean currents, and correctly predicted their trip through the Northwest Passage.
Jetlag by Chris
Wills. The vast
array of destinations available these days has led
to more and more travelers venturing further a field and whether you
are flying for business or pleasure, long-haul flying and jet lag often
go hand in hand.
Jet lag occurs when
the body's
rhythms are out of sync with your destination time - the body operates
on a 24-hour cycle, and traveling to a different time zone alters the
body's natural rhythm causing jet lag. The more time zones you cross
the worse it can be - traveling east has a greater affect on jet lag
than traveling west. It is easier on the body's biorhythms to add a
few extra hours to the day, as in traveling west, than reducing the
number of hours in a day when traveling east. The speed with which
your body can realign itself to your new time zone, adjusting its body
rhythm to daylight, darkness, eating and sleeping in the new time zone,
affects the length of time you experience jet lag for.
Tips For Safe, Warm-Weather Road Trips by Stacey Moore. Warm weather means an increase in travel and busier roads and highways. But before you hit the road with friends and family, it's important to be certain your car is in good running order.
Keeping Cars Safe: AAA reports receiving 29 million roadside assistance calls every year, with 13 million of those requiring towing, usually to a repair shop.
"Before you take that warm-weather road trip, it's critical to pay attention to a few very crucial items-tire and batteries are very important," said Robert Sinclair, of AAA. "Batteries don't last forever, so they need to be checked to make sure that they are clean, and if the battery is more than three years old, have a load check performed. Also make sure tires are properly inflated."
How To Find Budget Airlines Worldwide By Susan Kohlback. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of low cost airlines. With Southwest Airlines leading the way, new entrants RyanAir and EasyJet quickly attracted mainstream travelers in Europe and brought low cost airlines out of the shadows.
The European low fare airlines have become so popular in fact that airline rates are often substantially lower than train tickets for travel between European capitals. In the US, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airways, Air Tran, Jet Blue and now Virgin America have all made a name for themselves as low fare carriers. Recently there has also been low fare expansion with routes between major US gateways and cities in Europe. Eurofly Airlines for instance flies popular routes between the United States and Italy at about half the fare as the legacy carriers.
But here's where it gets tricky. There are fees involved to have tickets distributed through online booking sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Kayak, etc. Many low fare airlines refuse to pay those fees and all tickets must be purchased directly through their site. This makes it very difficult to comparison shop and/or even find the right lowcost airline for the route you'll be traveling. Luckily, a new breed of airline search engines have popped onto the marketplace to address just this need. Each of these sites scan both major legacy airlines AND low cost airlines to deliver the lowest airfare back to you. Have a look:
Culture Shock: From Third World to First World in One Long Day By Jack Deal. The day begins before dawn; starting the fire and getting some hot
water on for baths and coffee. Even though we are staying in our
palapas in town, the stars are amazingly bright and the air is
amazingly clear. Our town is a Maya village.
Even before the east begins to brighten; the roosters are crowing like
crazy. The roosters are crazy of course; all chickens are neurotic
messes. The crickets are cricketing and the east slowly begins to
brighten. Coffee is made, baths are taken, the car is packed and it's
goodbye time to the jungle.
But parting is such sweet sorrow. While the bug bites and dysentery
will not be missed, the pristine environment and many Maya friends
will. Neighbor's tears abound but alas there is an afternoon fight from
Cancun to Phoenix that simply cannot be missed. Besides, the jungle can
take care of itself and hopefully another hurricane won't hit. God
forbid, we lost so many big trees.
