News and notes from around the interweb:
- Skipped a flight from Berlin to New York to track down an iPhone with the help of a mercenary Serbian.
I tracked my stolen phone across Vienna for 24 hours, skipped my flight to New York, and hired a Serbian bodyguard named Milovan to help me confront the thief.
Here's how it went down: I went with friends to a public swimming pool in the mountains of one of Vienna's nicest… pic.twitter.com/DWPnnxOlOs
— Paul Bohm (@paulbohm) August 31, 2025
- Instacart Driver bought $1.3k in RedBull and Monster and stole it, Instacart refusing to refund.
On Sunday we ordered $1.3k of food for a family of 5. Rather than buying what we ordered, the shopper bought Redbulls and Monsters. He delivered a bag of carrots, one thing seltzer waters, and a bag of clementines.
Instacart is claiming he made the delivery and cancelled our account. They’re refusing to refund us. The manager of the Costco said she agreed it was obvious theft but can’t help. …Update: we filed a police report and sent it to our credit card and Instacart. About 2hr later they gave us a refund.
Proof of delivery for $1,250 worth of not what they ordered:
How is this for an egregious mandatory hotel add-on fee? The Hyattsville, Maryland Holiday Inn Express adds a $5 parking facility maintenance fee to guest reservations. There’s no plausible narrative where this belongs separately charged versus just something a hotel spends the money it takes in on. And if they are not actually spending $5 per room per night on parking facility maintenance there could be a lawsuit… if the pockets are worth suing. (HT: Joe R)
- Flying will never be a ‘premium’ experience as long as this happens every day.
@united I’m boarding group 3 out of 6 and was forced to check my carry-on bag…. Board the flight and this is what I see. ? Make this make sense pic.twitter.com/L8Fmr7gn1B
— pluto (@plutopapaya) August 31, 2025
Inevitably when your bags are confiscated, this happens:
Nothing like @FLLFlyer @AmericanAir leaving our luggage out in the pouring rain. pic.twitter.com/th4hMGu8Ab
— J O (@Jesse_O8) August 31, 2025
- Speaking of the most premium product on that self-delusionally most premium airline:
- Reviews of the ‘Next Gen’ Acela trains are.. not good. I was invited to a media preview trip of the new Acela, but sounds like it was good I could not go?
Seats are described as too hard, poorly tested ergonomically, Recline unreliable or absent. Footrest does not retract properly—snags bags and cords. Reading light is positioned awkwardly—hard plastic, passengers bang heads against it. Tray table has an overly tight latch tha tis difficult to deploy. Windows are misaligned with rows.
The seats are horrible… It’s as if they were never actually tested by real people.”
“The conductors… were having to pull the emergency handles… at EVERY STATION.”
“It has no recline at all, instead the seat bottom slides forward a bit to give the illusion of a recline…”
I copilote searched “Hyattesville MD Holiday Inn Express owner” (had to drill down a bit in the chat) and got useful information. I’ve done this before booking hotels ever since I referred a dear friend to a HIE 20 years ago and she got bedbugs. In their defense, junk fees like this are increasingly common even among non-cartel properties. In the modern era, before I contract any services, I google/copilot the provenance of the company/product not only for ethics, but also personal safety.
That’s really cool you were given the option to preview the Acela, Gary. I’ve heard mixed things but I (and I’m guessing @1990 as well) certainly am disappointed to hear the negatives. Re: the seats, hopefully they just need to be broken into. Given a heads up I personally don’t mind USB-A, but doesn’t exactly scream “NextGen” does it?
Anyway, best way to judge is to see for oneself. On my list. Choo-choo!
I’ve always assumed my checked luggage would be exposed to the elements.
@L737 — As the reviewer said, “it’s a train, and I like trains…” Hoping they sort out whatever issues they’re experiencing, because the upgrades are long-overdue.
That said, it is comical that Gary would have to fly from Texas to DC, BWI, PHL, NYC, or BOS, etc., just to ‘review’ a train. Like, maybe, just maybe, we shouldn’t have let auto manufacturers kill off high speed rail in our country… then, he might be able to just review it in Austin. Oh well. One can dream…
$1,300 worth of food? For a family of five?
Are the new Acela trains the X2000? They are a decent train, but it comes down to what the train operator orders for them.
@ 1990 Liking trains is in my opinion a character asset. As much as I liked Herb Kelleher and appreciated what he did for the culture and profit of SWA, if not for his involvement in derailing Texas High Speed Rail, I suspect it would be in place today.