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Trader Joe’s Will Remove All Single-Ingredient Food From China From Their Stores By April 1

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Thanks for those that called, texted, emailed and facebooked me. It’s nice know that someone cares about you, especially when you are thousands of miles away. Yes I’m OK, no I don’t regularly go through the 35W bridge, or any other bridges.

Best of luck to those who are affected by the bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

From a friend that used to work for an international travel agency and my business travel experience over the years:

• Before the flight:
  • Cheapest tickets can be found on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday mornings
  • Book 2 weeks (ideally a month) in advance so you can get cheap tickets, even for holidays
  • Use sites like Expedia/Travelocity to find best prices, but book with airline websites to avoid $5~$10 booking fees (this is in the process of being eliminated)
  • Pack light, don’t bring liquids over 3 onces, check in online a day ahead, then you can avoid the long check-in lines and go straight to the security checkpoint (free/paper tickets cannot be checked in online)
  • If possible, wear comfy clothes (e.g. sweatpants); if you have to bring a suit, wear it so it doesn’t get wrinkled in luggage
  • If your flight gets delayed/canceled, there’s probably a long line at customer service at the airport with angry flyers; call the airline 1-800 number instead to get quicker service (although if you want to get on a different airline’s flight you’ll have to take to someone at the airport)
  • Get aisle seats if you want to get up often, get window seats if you want to sleep
  • If you want free WIFI and airport doesn’t offer any, ask another flyer that looks like a business traveler with a laptop to create an ad-hoc laptop-to-laptop network with internet sharing so you can mooch off his company-sponsored EVDO/EDGE wireless internet; takes 2 minutes
• During the flight:
  • Ever noticed all the people standing on the back of the plane just chilling? They aren’t weirdos, but rather may have back/leg problems; walk around often if you do
  • Don’t drink things with sugar and eat the salted peanuts, always ask for water instead to stay hydrated
  • You can use your ipod headphones for satellite radio/TV (found on AirTran, JetBlue, etc.), they sound MUCH better and helps to save the environment
  • If there aren’t many flyers and you flirt with the flight attendant you may get a business-class seat for free, or at least get a whole row for yourself to sleep on

If you wondered about what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks, here’s the short version: I’ve accepted a new job and am in the process of moving to Minneapolis, MN. But that’s not the only thing keeping me busy lately. Although things have been chaotic, I’ve been happier and am feeling like my life is on its right track.

And BTW, I still don’t think we are heading for a recession. As a matter of fact, inflation-combating rate hikes are still more of a concern for me.

More updates to follow…