TheBeerObserver

I'm flying home from San Francisco after attending the Open Source Business Conference this week and I've got to rave about flying Virgin America. They've got TVs, leather seats, power at every seat and, best of all, wifi on board!

I've spent many hours this month working on planes, but my two cross country flights between Boston & SF have been super productive because I've been online the whole time. What a concept - why has this taken so long?

Even better, as I went through security at the airport, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling was standing in front of my in line. I said hello, told him that I like him on the radio in his new gig on WEEI and we briefly discussed what conferences we were headed out to San Francisco. He was going to the Game Developers Conference.

I get on the plane, settle in and start working via Wifi while watching ESPN. About an hour into the flight, the news comes across the World Leader that Curt Schilling just announced on his blog that he's retiring. My first thought - he's on the wifi and just posted it from the first row in first class. And, he's a genius for doing so, because no one can get in touch with him - his cell phone is off. Over the next few hours, Peter Gammons, Sean MacAdam and others weigh in on Schill and his hall of fame credentials. And no word from Curt. I emailed my father and brother and shared the coincidence them and guessed that this was a strategic ploy to blog the announcement from the plane. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to his blog, 38 Pitches on WEEI.com because the site couldn't handle the spike in traffic. They need to start using Drupal asap.

Given my grunt (ie. coach) status, Curt looked to be long gone by the time I got off the plane. But a few minutes later, as I walked to baggage claim, I spotted him ahead. I congratulated him on his career and asked if he blogged it from the plane - he did. "Did you do it on purpose?," I asked. He said he did and gave me a wry smile. I congratulated him again and headed on, no need to be a bother. I didn't ask for an autograph, not my thing and Ben's too young to understand.

Now, I'm flying home and doing my own blog post. I'm sure it won't get 1200+ comments like Curt's, but that's what happens when you win three World Series rings.  However, the Future of Open Source keynote deck I created for OSBC has been viewed 1000 times and hit the technology front page on slideshare.net.

In addition, with all my travel, Kevin turned me on to the Beer Lovers Airport Guide on cheapflights.com. Worth a look, check it out. This is an iPhone app waiting to happen - post a link if it already exists.

And fly Virgin America - it rocks.