Matthew Gast

I like to learn stuff (and fly airplanes)

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

@MonorailHandles Even I might have trouble finding a copy of the first edition around my house these days...

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

Also, fun observation: the evening opened with Keisuke Nakagoshi playing Rachmaninoff on the piano, and he had the score on an iPad with a bluetooth page-turning foot pedal. It was cool being close enough to the stage to be able to see the use of modern technology up close.

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

I went to the SF Philharmonic concert last night. I'd forgotten how much I love the dynamic range of Tchaikovsky's works.

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

Or, you know, you could just issue refunds in Euros. The credit card I used to make the purchase would happily convert for me, and it's clearly much less work for them, since they can do it for less than 14% of the total amount!

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

@PlanetPayment is a great business. I did some tax-free shopping in Europe, and between the reduced refund amount (21% of the total) and unnecessary currency conversion (another 14% to give me back dollars), I can see why so many people call it a "scam"!

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

I was quite surprised that on a day when the official rate was 1 EUR = 1.06 USD, you were able to issue a refund at 1 EUR = 0.92 USD.

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

@Visita_Madrid your tax-free shopping web site should be more honest about how big a cut the paper-pushing companies take

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

As somebody who is old enough to remember Branson painting Virgin America planes with "No Way BA/AA," this amuses me.

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

Flying home from Europe today, and I'm in the British Airways lounge. They provide Wi-Fi, with a captive portal. I'm probably one of the few people in the world who'd notice that the captive portal is hosted at https://t.co/MApeVDOzxp.

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

Weird experience today. @sofi sent me a marketing offer for a credit card and bank account. They opened the bank account, but couldn't verify my identity for the credit card, and pointed me at ... my Experian credit report that showed they pulled my credit?

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

@ciscoemerge My favorite place to visit - All Parts of Italy!

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

5. Because there was no propeller slipstream, takeoff resembled gliders - no right rudder, and don't have the stick fully deflected when you reach the speed at which the controls are effective. (Pilot training is said to have taken care of most of this difference.)

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

In World War 2, Germany had a rocket plane, the Me-163 Komet. I knew about it, and have even seen an example in a museum, and today I learned a few fun things about it

[Matthew Gast @MatthewSGast]

4a. The fuel was so toxic that if it leaked it was deadly. Apparently one pilot dissolved in a fuel leak. (eeeeew)