01/09/24

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, January 9th. National Apricot Day.

In January?

Alright.

And now, the news.

Boeing 737 Max 9

-via Washington Post

Folks – they found the door! Remember when I mentioned that the door plug that flew off the Alaska flight over the weekend hadn’t been found? Well the door has been found (as have a few iPhones that flew out of the gaping hole in the plane and still, after falling from miles above the sky, were working!).

Also found? A few loose bolts! As a reminder, United and Alaska grounded their 737 Max 9s for inspection. And upon inspection, United Airlines found that some of the panels on their planes had loose bolts on panels similar to what went flying off that Alaska flight.

We also learned on Monday that Alaska had been warned three times about cabin pressure issues on its plane. Warnings significant enough for Alaska to decide not to use that plane on flights to Hawaii.

You know what we’re not taking often enough? Trains. Trains are great!

Take more trains!

Winter Storms

-via Yahoo! News

Traffic and weather on the tens and twos.

The National Weather Service has issued a few serious warnings about “ferocious blizzards” from the Pacific Northwest and into the Plains and Midwest, as well as “widespread and potentially significant” flooding across the central Gulf Coast, the East Coast and Hawaii.

For my Washingtonian friends and family - The Washington State Department of Transportation officials said this in a tweet. “PLEASE take this seriously. Our crews will be out, but we lack the ability to stop heavy snow and high winds. It's going to be REALLY challenging in the passes.”

So heed their warning and please be very careful. Thanks.

Fort Worth Explosion

-via CNN

At least 21 people were injured, with some outlets also reporting one person is missing, after an explosion at a downtown Fort Worth, Texas hotel. The explosion happened at the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel, which is near city hall and the Fort Worth convention center. Officials don’t have an exact cause for the explosion as of this recording, but a gas smell was noted prior to the explosion.

Moon Landing Attempt Appears Doomed

-via AP News

The first attempt in more than fifty years to land on the moon appears to be doomed after a private company’s spacecraft developed what is being called a “critical” fuel leak just hours after launch.

Is it wrong that I was hoping the company that was failing was Elon Musk’s company?

Alas, it’s not. It’s a Pittsburgh-based company that was hoping to be the first private business to land on the moon.

I don’t know… I don’t really have anything else to add to this story.

No one’s on it, so that’s good.

The last time the US launched a moon-landing mission was in 1972. I remember it well…

Lauren Boebert

-via CNN

Police are investigating an incident that happened on Saturday night at a restaurant in Colorado between Lauren Boebert, who is still, somehow, a for-real elected member of Congress (more on that in a minute) and her ex-husband.

Details are sparce but it sounds like they got into a heated argument. Her ex gave this quote: “I don’t want nothing to happen. Her and I were working through a difficult conversation.”

And then there’s Boebert’s quote… “I didn’t punch Jayson in the face and no one was arrested.” And any time you need to clarify that you didn’t punch someone, it’s usually not a sign that the rest of the conversation was great.

Boebert also said this: “This is a sad situation for all that keeps escalating and another reason I’m moving.” Which reminds me of something else that happened over the three week break: as polling continued to show Boebert was in for a very tough election in Colorado’s third district, where she currently lives and represents, she recently announced that she’s moving to a different district. Where there are already multiple Republicans running for the seat, so we’ll see how that goes.

I can tell you this much… I hope she loses.

Hey, did you know there’s a buncha elections this year?!

And that’s it. That’s the news.

Not much after “oh no we found some loose bolts on planes that used to be in the air and hold people,” ya know?

Road trips. Road trips are also nice.

I’m proud of trains and road trips and honestly I’m not that worried about the planes. But more than all of that, more than every single type of transit that has ever, or will ever, be invented. Because hey – you’re going places… I’m proud of you.