Saturday, October 22, 2011

Abandon Ship Bag

A few weeks before taking an Antarctic cruise, we read about the sinking of the
MS Explorer. Until that point, in spite of out many sailings, we had never thought about creating a grab and go bag, just in case we found ourselves in the same situation.

So when we got on board, we emptied one of our backpacks and put into it a plastic bag. Into the plastic bag we put:

money
credit cards
copy of passports (the ship held the originals)
medicines
emergency blankets - purchased in a camping store for $4.00 each
our backup photo device
change of underwear
extra pair of socks

We left the bag open so we could quickly throw in memory cards and cameras. It was kept at the foot of a bed, easy and quick to grab.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Bird Chasing Dogs Can Be a Good Thing

Contraband sniffing dogs aren't the only kinds of dogs found at airports.

With collisions occurring between plans and wildlife, some airports are getting creative in finding ways to keep wildlife away from the runways. At Tampa International, recordings of the sound of seagulls in distress helps keep the birds away.

Other airports are using dogs. You can watch this one in action on this USAToday page.