housten, please don't have a problem

You can't help but wonder if you're going to die when you step onto an airplane to fly across the water. You may not notice, but in the dark recesses of your mind, there's a tiny part of you that's going 'will I explode?'. Things you shouldn't do before a long plane ride: NUMBER ONE: Watch Final Destination. NUMBER TWO: Drink milk and eat curry.

When you're on a plane ride you expect a few things:
-the feeling of excitement from getting off the ground
-the feeling of excitement you get when you see a good movie on the t.v.
-the feeling of 'goddamn when will this end' when you get bored
-the feeling of 'what time of day is it right now?'

It seems as if when you're in that plane for those fifteen hours, the world outside has stopped and you're in a world of your own. It's just you, the headphones, the static-y blanket, and microwaved food that you might secretly enjoy.

For me, I always think about the possibility of meeting someone interesting. The possibility of making one of those cliche friendships and writing to each other when the plane ride is over.

I also think about where I'm landing.

Wherever you're going it's probably somewhere drastically different (or at least slightly different) from where you left. A different culture, lifestyle, and etc... Maybe it'll change your life?

Whenever I go somewhere I hope I get to see something amazing that can tug at my heartstrings and such, but then again I'm a girl.

What I love most about airports is that when you're there you can see pretty damn interesting things.

For example: A security guard walking his german shepards. Those dogs are trained well and they walk straight with their noses sniffing for drugs.
Then,
A mother walking her two toddlers who are running wild in circles. You can just tell she needs help with them.

The downside of airports is that the food their is freakin' expensive.

Well either way this is a hint that I'll be out of town for three weeks in destination across the water. I'm sorry for disappearing the past few weeks and I have a very crummy reason why that I'm sure you won't want to hear, so I'm not going to say why my absence is so apparent.

Look for me at the LAX.
Just ask for Karma Police.

A "Tire" Situation

(thanks to rc10.com for the image)

The theme poll is up early this month, by the way!

Thanks to a close friend of mine, I was given a heads up on a dire situation that should be noticed by everyone.

Car tires are usually neglected—unless it somehow popped, or had become too worn, and you had to go replace it. But, have you ever taken into account on how old your tire is?

Don't let appearances deceive you. Although your tire 'appears' to be brand new, it may actually be the oldest tire on your block.

Every year, many car accident deaths have been accounted to these old tires. But you ask yourself: how can an aged tire possibly kill you? Like in many cases, the old tire's tread (the part of the tire that comes into contact with the road—in other words, the outer layer of the tire) actually explodes off of the tire itself, leaving you with a deformed, wrecked tire. But the tire isn't the only one that's going to be wrecked. Soon after the tread is blown off, you will not be able to keep control of the car, and soon, you'll find yourself in a deadly situation.

To watch a more detailed investigation, please see this video:

Watch the video here; thanks to ABC news for the story!

So, what can you do to examine your tire, and determine how old it is? There's actually a small, serial code number imprinted onto the tire (although a majority of these codes are printed on the interior of the wheel--the side facing inwards towards the car, not actually 'inside'). This code will tell you what week (out of the year) it was made in, and what year. For example: 236. This code tells you that the tire was manufactured in the 23rd week of 1996. How do you know if it's 1996 or 2006? If it was made in 2006, the code would've been 2306.

Here is another example: 3104. This tells you that the tire was made in the 31st week of 2004.

Now, keep in mind that the average healthy life-span of a tire is 6 years. The "236" tire was way, way too old. "Alright, I'll just go replace it." Did you think it would be that easy? Some tire retailers might not be selling so-called "new" tires, as you may think. Again, be sure to inspect the tire before buying it (if it's possible).

Keep this information in mind. It's an unfortunate and difficult issue. I thought that I should share this so everyone can be more safe (better be safe than in DANGER).

-the clam.