Subtly, all aeroplanes are different

And subtly Qantas are using a different language from the rest of us.

So I've flown Qantas a few times recently. They have a video which runs through the safety procedures while the cabin crew wave arms and put on dummy life jackets in the aisles. The video does the commentary, which overcomes the incomprehensibility problem when the head steward would do it live into one of those telephone-y things.

To make the point that even people who travel all the time should pay attention, the video points out that procedures are different on different planes. Perhaps only slightly different; I think, since the video begins "Subtly, all aeroplanes are different..."

No, it's "all aeroplanes are subtly different". A tiny thing, I know, but it drives me crazy. It's like it's a DVD player instruction book translated from another language.

AND because, apparently, the New York Times couldn't find any business traveller bloggers, here's some things: the meals are crap...

I got a flight the other day, due-in to Canberra at 11.25 am. We got two biscuits. Morning tea, that seems okay you might say, except think of this. Due to daylight saving time, the flight left at 8.35. To get to the airport to check in the hour before the flight that they want and to take into account any potential first day back from the holidays traffic, I had to leave home at 6.45am. How about some breakfast?

On the way home it was a dinner flight (only one hour delayed, but at least I was travelling with a Qantas Club member, so we could go into their lounge.) Dinner was gelatinous steamed chicken with some kind of gooey yellow sauce. It had rice with it and flat white kinda crispy stuff cooked into it that I think was supposed to be bamboo shoots, so I think it was trying to be Asian food of some kind. But it was hard to tell.

At least it was better than one of the meals I got on a previous flight - 6 crackers and a tub of "nacho dip", a weirdly hot (I know chilis and this weren't they), runny, cheese and tomato based thing that you couldn't eat without getting all over your fingers.

But there was a Beef Ravioli that was nice, which might be no big achievement since I read in CJR Daily that the Beef Ravioli is even pretty good in military MRE meals, so it must be hard to screw up.

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