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Story time. In the last total eclipse, I was commuting from Boston to San Francisco a bunch and planned my flight to coincide with the path of totality. I broug
by mackman 3y ago
Story time. In the last total eclipse, I was commuting from Boston to San Francisco a bunch and planned my flight to coincide with the path of totality. I brought enough eclipse glasses for the entire flight. The flight attendants were kind enough to distribute them and even gave them to the pilot and copilot. The flight crew was excited about it and actually got approval a change to their flight plan so that they could bank the plane so that people on both sides of the plane could actually look out the window to see the eclipse. This is back in the days of Virgin America, and as a thank you they sent me a little desk statue of a Virgin America plane. I keep it on my desk in fond memory of my favorite airline. Also got some cool photos of the flight crew and passengers all wearing eclipse glasses. (https://mackman.net/va.jpg https://mackman.net/va.jpg)
- iLoveOncall 3y agoHow did you explain the hundreds of pairs of glasses to TSA?
- mackman 3y agoI explained what they were for :-)
- hunter2_ 3y agoAny worry about counterfeit glasses? I recall during the last eclipse it was a bit tricky: product detail pages would often list some ISO numbers or whatever, but no reason to trust that, so instead you could find a short list of manufacturer names on some highly reputable website (maybe a government or health site?) but then don't use Amazon due to the commingling problem...
- smashed 3y agohttps://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters And buy direct, don't use Amazon because of the counterfeit risks.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y agoI got these that purport to be from the company's official store. Am I dead? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZPRB7L https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZPRB7L
- DanAtC 3y agoCommingled inventory; maybe.
- wongarsu 3y agoBecause of commingling, anything shipped by amazon might be a fake, even if the seller is legit. Basically if two people (claim to) sell the same product, they get thrown in the same bin in Amazon's warehouse. When you order it you get whatever the worker happens to pick from that bin. Amazon can track it internally by the labels, but have little inclination to do so.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y agoAh hell. Good thing I have time to order different ones. These guys are legit, right? https://www.rainbowsymphony.com/ https://www.rainbowsymphony.com/
- mackman 3y agoYeah, I did worry. I told the flight crew people were at their own risk. I don't remember where I bought them from. Might have been B&H photo which sells their own branded ones in bags of 100 cheap. Maybe from aas.org. It's been a long time.
- bashinator 3y ago<3 B&H. Finding them was a breath of fresh air given how garbage Newegg has become.
- swozey 3y agoB&H absolutely has their own problems. About a decade+ ago I thought they were also my savior from newegg, whom I really dislike. They are often pulling stuff like this, tax evasion, LOTS of discrimination complaints, etc https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-owned-bh-photo-accused-of-cheating-ny-out-of-billions-in-sales-taxes/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-owned-bh-photo-accused-... Their return policy isn't great by any means. I buy a $2000 49" Monitor that arrives not working and I can't return it because I opened and tried to turn it on? Yeah, ok. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/ReturnExchange.jsp https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/ReturnExchange.... > Nonreturnable Items Opened TVs, combos and monitors 37" and larger — original packaging cannot be unsealed Opened computers and computer software — original packaging cannot be unsealed Electronic software downloads Opened consumable items (e.g., film, tapes, paper, bulbs, CD, DVDs, ink cartridges, etc.) Any computers built or modified by B&H to customer specifications Select special-order merchandise, or any item indicated on the website as nonreturnable Underwater equipment that has been submerged Opened or unwrapped educational tapes and books
- jen729w 3y ago> Their return policy isn't great by any means. I buy a $2000 49" Monitor that arrives not working and I can't return it because I opened and tried to turn it on? Yeah, ok. I know some consumer protection laws aren’t as strong as others – I’m blessed to live in Australia in this regard – but surely this just isn’t legal?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Cthulhu_ 3y agoDo you have to? They're legal products for a national flight, what would the TSA want with that?
- thfuran 3y agoYou might have to if they look sufficiently weird on the scan. But your end of the conversation is unlikely to be much more involved than "Yeah, that's my bag", "It's a bunch of eclipse viewing glasses".
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- flaminHotSpeedo 3y agoI once brought a carry on full of random electronics/cables, including a partially disassembled desktop power supply in a "custom made modular plastic enclosure" (read: box made out of Legos, complete with a Lego door for the cables to pass through). To make matters worse I was in a rush while packing so the cables were a huge tangled mess. They flagged it for further inspection, unsurprisingly, but the agent was pretty amicable, I didn't really get any grief
- stavros 3y agoI don't like how normalized it is to ask "how did you explain sunglasses in your luggage to the police?". Too totalitarian for me.
- wolverine876 3y agoIsn't it the reality that's too totalitarian? Should we deny the reality? That seems even more insidious.
- stavros 3y agoThat's my point, that the reality is too totalitarian.
- iLoveOncall 3y agoYou're misrepresenting the issue. Have one bottle of Sudafed in your luggage and nobody will care. Have 100 bottles of Sudafed and you're going to jail for drug manufacturing.
- stavros 3y agoOh sorry, you're right, I'm misrepresenting the issue. What's the LD50 for sunglasses again?
- eschneider 3y ago"I'm the sort of kid who brought enough chewing gum for everyone in the class."
- mackman 3y agoHah, well, yeah. I did learn in high school that if brought Starbucks to the front office staff and my first period teacher nobody ever marked me tardy :-P
- eschneider 3y agoThat was an important (and transferrable!) life lesson learned. :)
- bavent 3y agoThat having enough money lets you get away with things?
- reaperducer 3y agoThat being nice to people gets you farther than being a dickweed.
- renewiltord 3y agoYeah, you need the money, but you also have to do the thing. Useful lesson.
- nilamo 3y ago"Is it dangerous? Then mind your goddamn business."
- SkipperCat 3y agoThat's a great story. I was on a flight during the eclipse of 2021. It was hard to see the eclipse from the plane, you had to lie down on the floor and look up thru the window. You were very lucky for the pilot to bank the plane. Anyway, stories like this where strangers help everyone around them experience something great always warm my heart. Kudos to you!
- seper8 3y agoThat is so cool, honestly you have probably contributed to a core memory of everyone on that flight... Really no words.
- londons_explore 3y agoBanking the plane for people to see is a safety thing. If people think they won't get a chance to see, they might all crowd to one side of the plane, causing enough weight imbalance so as to cause a crash. It's a big problem on boats, and there are countless stories of someone on a crowded boat seeing a dolphin, shouting about it, everyone crowds to one side to get closer, and the whole boat capsizes. Regulations now require that boats stay afloat if everyone stands on one side, but the regulations aren't perfectly adhered to and that still doesn't prevent people crowding to one side enough to push/knock others overboard.
- 83457 3y agoThat explains why they had to get approval.
- dghlsakjg 3y agoFlight plan approval was because controllers and airlines are expecting you to travel on a straight line between points, and not fly circles unexpectedly in controlled airspace.
- IIAOPSW 3y ago>If people think they won't get a chance to see, they might all crowd to one side of the plane, causing enough weight imbalance so as to cause a crash. This gives me an idea. Introducing, the Brennan airplane (see: 7:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUYzuAJeg3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUYzuAJeg3M)
- sorenjan 3y agoThat's an even bigger issue if it's a Polish plane, you don't want too many poles on the right side of the plane.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
- qingcharles 3y agoRIP Virgin America :(
- VikingCoder 3y agoPaula Poundstone: Pshk - people on the left... We HATE the people on the right. We are purposefully flying so you guys see all the cool stuff out your window...