Editor’s note: I am spending most of June 2024 in Great Britain and when possible, I’ll journal by hand and some of that journaling will be transferred here, with minimal edits.
Steve Jobs is famous for many reasons. One of those reasons, for me, is because of an email he sent himself.1 Email found here. He, a prolific inventor and innovator had considered how much he did not make, but had the good fortune to enjoy. For me, there’s perhaps no better opportunity to savor his words than sitting aboard this Singapore Airlines A380 headed for London with a current ground speed of 922 km/h at 40,000 ft. Where do I begin?
Singapore Airlines was created in part with the help of the Singapore government.2 While fact checking this, I found out that Singapore Airlines launched their first transcontinental service in 1971, from Singapore to London on 2 June. As for the fact check, it does look like the government was involved in its creation because civil servant JY Pillay was put as chairman of the new company. Were it not for the bold leadership and competence of those people, this airline might not even exist today (much less a world-class airline). I was told there are four pilots onboard, to guide us on this 14 hour flight. I may like planes, but there’s no doubt that I cannot do what they do. And all the airspaces we have passed through, India, Turkey, and currently Germany — the international framework that undergirds this flight I do not see nor understand. Yet I get to sit here comfortably and write about it.
The machine I’m aboard is the largest passenger jet ever built. It took years of planning and involved tends of thousands of people. From the ideation, to the engineering, to the physical routing of hundreds of kilometers of wiring that enables the inflight entertainment system to respond in front of me.3 According to this, it’s 530 kilometers long. And more importantly, the wires that allow the gentle shift of the captain’s left hand to move this flying building. If I do complain about the cramped toilets or how one was out of order when I needed it after meal service, it’s still a feat to have an entire system of tanks and tubes that store all the water (clean and not-so-clean) onboard.
And that fact that I can pause my writing here to check my text messages is yet another reminder of the same point. Satellites that orbit the globe help me stay connected. I have no how idea how one gets satellites to continue orbiting Earth in a safe and predictable manner nor do I understand how information can be transmitted over waves of light that cannot be seen by the human eye. I could go on and on. Like how I don’t need a visa to enter the United Kingdom. That certainly didn’t happen by itself.
I’m belaboring the point now. So let me end here and maybe get a chance to finish my movie before we land. It’s Up in the Air.
Written at 3:15PM on June 3, 2024.
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First published: June 4, 2024
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Footnotes
- 1Email found here.
- 2While fact checking this, I found out that Singapore Airlines launched their first transcontinental service in 1971, from Singapore to London on 2 June. As for the fact check, it does look like the government was involved in its creation because civil servant JY Pillay was put as chairman of the new company.
- 3According to this, it’s 530 kilometers long.