AOL WELCOMES YOUI have a

AOL WELCOMES YOU


I have a free AOL account, which I was talked into keeping when I went to cancel and go with my Yahoo account. AOL welcomes me with 4 or 5 varying welcome screens that cycle through so that if I see a headline that interests me, I can click on the link and read the article or information. A couple of those articles have particularly interested me in the last few days.

Although I don't plan to fly in the near future, I did a fair amount of that in early January, especially in and out of Salt Lake City, so a story about a pilot there who told passengers he was too upset to fly and canceled the flight on June 20th interested me. This pilot was with United, however, while I had flown Delta, and he was headed for Denver.

In his announcement, he said that perhaps some passengers had witnessed an incident with some of his colleagues as he was leaving the gate to board the plane, and it was this which had upset him so badly. In the article I read on AOL, (and this information isn't included in the USA Today link above), it said that pilots -- who are required to wear their hats when on duty -- had been instructed by the union to leave their heads bare in protest of United cutbacks due to the bankruptcy. Apparently, this pilot was wearing his hat, which his colleagues at the gate didn't appreciate.

As a business owner, I understand that perhaps United had no option but to declare bankruptcy, but I can see where the pilots would be concerned about their own financial survival. Interesting.

The other article, which I saw yesterday, was about the 20 most hated foods. I was most surprised to find that #20 was blueberries. I love love love blueberries (unless I happen to eat one that is older and tastes moldy -- ewwww!)

Foods included (and I didn't write down the numbers they were in the order of dislike; I was a bit skeptical as I wondered where AOL got their information from) mushrooms, cilantro, and mayonnaise, all of which I like a lot. Where I agreed was in brussels sprouts and oysters. I have to confess that I've never tasted oysters but any slimy seafood that is swallowed whole, raw, definitely does not appeal to me! ;-)

I think that some of the AOL welcome screen information indulges in scaremongering, especially regarding health issues, and I once more get a bit suspicious of where they are getting their information from when I see prescription drugs sponsoring the pages, but I think I have learned some things from them. They sure do get some lame comments about their articles, though. LOL!