Thursday, June 21, 2007

Aid for the fearful flyer

This past week I did something I really hate to do: flew in an airplane. For some reason known only to teams of psychologists, I have this completely illogical and paralyzing fear of flying. Well, ok, it's not that bad, but it's no fun. About a week before I'm due to fly, the unease arrives, and I get pretty jittery up until the moment that the plane takes off. While trolling around the internet the week before I flew, I found this nifty website, TurbulenceForecast.com, which does just what its name suggests: it gives forecasts for the country's turbulence. You can even post a message providing your flight plan, and they'll let you know what kind of turbulence to expect. Now, of course, you're probably asking: what if you get a horrible forecast, and they tell you to expect some severe turbulence? Ah, good question. I suppose in theory it would make things better because you'd be prepared for the bumps, no? In my case it would just add to my general paranoia the week beforehand, however. Anyway, here's a link to the site--it's pretty nifty.