1,424 karma · joined October 24, 2012
Remarkably, FedEx has its own map of every airport it services, along with routes, flight times, operators, and aircraft types. https://fedexvirtual.crewsystem.net/route_map.php
I really quite enjoyed his 'Nine Things I Learned in 90 Years' essay: https://edwardpackard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Nine-Th...
As a pilot, it was eye opening to see first-hand what happens to me when experiencing hypoxia. The trainers were talking to me, and I was replying, but was unable to tell them what 17 minus 4.5 was. My pulse oximeter was in the low 70s. Two sips of oxygen from a mask and I was right back to normal. I learned that my first symptom (the clue that something is really going wrong in the cockpit) is tunnel vision.
I have felt similar to your sentiment as I raise my 2.5 year old, and as I investigate more, true failure was always insulated by my parent's anxiety preventing a true experience of outcomes. "Don't climb on that ledge because it's wet and you could fall" rather than a climb and tumble off a 2 inch curb with likely no consequence. "Don't eat that meat if it's still pink", etc.
I suspect it's because you do receive "one or two important" pieces per year and because you cannot anticipate when someone will send them to you. That's the value provided to all Americans by this beautiful system.
See NPR: https://niemanreports.org/articles/npr-twitter-musk/
During Covid in Bozeman, I spent too much time tracking inbound packages. With I-90 going through town, most quick-shipping packages either came in via truck from Billings (after the air freight to get it there) or direct on the morning Fedex feeder flight arriving to the airport at 8:15am.
citation needed, please!