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EXPAT and Charlie PSP- You hit it on the head. The "real" reason to fly, either passenger or pilot, is to get away from it all. The plane I mostly fly does not have cell phone or internet service on it and, in fact, generally our pax don't even want a newspaper on board. It is a moment of brief respite from the rude world and a chance for all of us to really relax for a little while. The pax can go into a Zen trance for all I know or care while I concentrate on delivering them safely to their intended destination. I have no worries about house upkeep, car repair, assorted bills or even relationship problems while airborne. It takes skill and concentration to be safe and that is my intention and goal. It is wonderful for removing the cares of everyday life. Best regards, RA1

This isn't a condescension list, is it? (Not by you.) Best regards, RA1

Amazing. Best regards, RA1

Also check out http://www.airbnb.com. A friend of mine plans to be in Rio in August and has booked a very, very, very welll-appointed apartment through this firm. I used it last fall when I was in Berlin and Barcelona. Both apartments were great, and the prices were definitely right! Rio might be a tinge different since you plan to be there during the high season!

I am in Prague August 13 to 17

One reason it is so expensive is basically the same reason it took so long to become available and that is so many different agencies have control of various aspects of international travel and communication. An airline cannot just decide to fly between two airports. IATA, the state department, the FAA and several others are involved with the US part of such. For communication there is ARINC, the satellite owner, various government agencies, etc. SATCOM became available for the airlines to transmit position reports over the vast Pacific many years ago but for at least a year or two, they still had to officially use the HF for clearances. HF is potentially very unreliable and the Pacific traffic really tied up the frequencies. During this interval the airliner would get his clearance over SATCOM and the "verify" it over HF. Silly, but true. The bottom line is the technology for pax internet service has existed for years but all the politics kept it from happening. Best regards, RA1

Many folks with a stutter can sing w/o any problem. Theory has it that when one is singing the brain recruits different &/or additional circuits than when one is speaking and this recruitment eliminates the stutter. It's not so much that the guy controls his stutter better while singing as he doesn't have a stutter to control when he sings.