Weekend Reading

After attending a terrific retirement party for four former teaching colleagues in Hope, B.C., we drove all the way back to Birch Bay last night and are catching up on a little travel reading this morning.

Want to find out about some nifty travel apps for your iPod that you can use offline? Read this.

A chef / restaurant owner discovers first class air travel and offers Confessions of a travel snob.

To test your own Schadenfreude meter, you can read about the Southwest pilot who went on a "trash talking" and "slur-filled rant" against flight attendants to his first officer during the flight.

Unfortunately for him, he'd pushed the wrong button and blocked the Air Traffic Control channel for several minutes with his diatribe.

He's been suspended and sent for "sensitivity training." Maybe after that he'll be able to get get dates with flight attendants.

Finally, for a pessimistic read, depending on your point of view, click here for an account of how "TSA conducts 8,000 unannounced security screenings every year," which may lead to your undergoing that invasive search at a bus terminal, a train station, or at a subway. Surprise!

In his most recent weekend column, The Travel Insider laments this development and draws a comparison.

"As I've observed before, the US is becoming more like the former USSR while Russia is becoming more like the former US. What's wrong with this picture?"