CoasterBuzz Podcast #179 posted

As someone who has lived there his entire life, you're right, Toledo doesn't count. :)

I've parked at Universals garage once and it seemed to me like one of the best garages I've been in.Walk wasn't any longer than mid lot at CP. Maybe it has something to do with the moving walkways. You can even stand in line as you walk to the park!!

I went with some friends to Universal Hollywood a few years back, and we did the valet parking in the garage. We got out of the car right at the entrance to City Walk, and went on from there. I believe it was $20, and we got a car wash. That, IMO, is a return on investment.

Jeff, a somewhat bizarre question, but why not put the CoasterBuzz Podcast on YouTube for greater circulation and sound quality? Not necessarily suggesting that you personally should do it, but is there any opposition or thoughts about Podcast on YouTube in general?

Isn't there a 10 minute limit on YouTube?

Right, it would have to be in segments like many shows do, but given the amount of time you guys put into the Podcast, it just seemed as if it'd be worth the increased viewership.

Better sound quality? For a podcast?

YouTube? For an AUDIO program?

--Dave Althoff, Jr. <-- Has not listened to 178 yet, let alone 179!

A mono 64k MP3 is more than adequate for a podcast. It's probably overkill for that matter. Putting things on YouTube (the wrong thing to do for an audio show) doesn't grant you instant audience.

With it's current set up, I'm able to download the show to my phone instantly. Which, I do every week.

Jeff said:
Putting things on YouTube (the wrong thing to do for an audio show) doesn't grant you instant audience.

It does if you include kittens.

A few weeks ago I traveled from Ohio to Alabama for work. We flew out of Akron/Canton airport, which has 11 gates, the smallest airport I have ever flown out of before. Security there required us to remove all of our liquids and place in the a clear plastic bag (1 quart in size I believe). They were so thorough that they confiscated my traveling partner’s shaving gel because it was too big. Very good to see.

A few days later, we're at Huntsville Airport flying to return home. That whole plastic bag rule? Nope. They didn’t care. Huntsville is a larger airport than Akron/Canton too. What’s up with that? Way to be consistent TSA!

^What's worse...I inadvertently got huge sewing shears though security at the Scranton airport last year! But that's what happens when you wake up late for a flight and shove everything on the dresser in your bag in a mad dash...

I've flown through CAK a few times, and yes they enforce the normal rules (I'm kind of surprised you weren't already aware of the "3-1-1" rule), but they were always reasonably friendly about it.

Jeff said:
I'm kind of surprised you weren't already aware of the "3-1-1" rule

Every time I fly I seem to get stuck behind people with an excess of liquids or creams in their carry-on luggage. Just a month ago, I commented to the screener at Hopkins about it and the screener said it goes on all day everyday. What cave have these people been living in?

Why isn't anyone complaining about how stupid some of those rules are? They should build a Walmart in the parking lot of every major airport, so that people can immediately go buy the everyday item that they weren''t allowed to take on their flight.

I'd be happier to hear that items were being donated to charity. But, I assume that it all gets thrown away or destroyed.

I think the rules are incredibly stupid myself. It's not that you can't have these items, mind you, it's that they have to be crammed into a 1 quart clear plastic bag. So in the story I shared on the podcast, when they threw my little bottle of hand sanitizer away, it wasn't because I wasn't allowed to have it. It was because it wasn't in a clear one quart bag. That's ridiculous.

Are the rules ridiculous? Probably. My sense is that TSA is really more "security theater" than actual security. Their original role seemed to be to provide the illusion that flying was safe to keep the airlines from dying off in a travel-panic. They probably wouldn't stop a competent "evildoer".

I attribute the lack of serious attempts to the fact that most evidoers understand that airplanes can no longer be used as weapons. Passengers on a hijacked plane now know that they are likely to die no matter what happens, and will take down the plane rather than allow it to be used to create more damage. See: United Flight 93.

But, the fact that the rules are probably pointless doesn't absolve you from knowing what they are and following them. So, were lives saved by the destruction of Carrie's sanitizer? No, but if she'd put it in a quart (or smaller) bag first, she'd still have it.

Likewise, there has been solid growth in the market for sample sizes of most toiletries. I never have to buy something at my destination unless I just forgot to pack something. If you really need more of something than the allowable 300ml, put it in checked luggage. I never fly less than 20K airmiles in a year---usually closer to 40-50K---and it's not that hard to get through quickly once you know what you are doing.