They are. However consultants “don’t count” since they are not permanent employees. Loophole when you’re budgeting. :)

a culture that values newness and sees cars as status symbols, and part of that has to do with the fact that, in general, people who can afford cars in Hong Kong tend to be well-off enough to get new ones every couple of years.

The taxis in HK are almost all Toyota Crown Comforts, same as in Tokyo. While the model itself is old, they’re still being made. I rode in a brand new one as late as yesterday.

While Hong Kong is part of the People’s Republic of China, for most practical purposes HK is a separate entity. There are border controls between HK and the Mainland just as between two different countries.

The further north you go in Sweden, the more “Finnish” the character of the locals. :)

You should say neither. ;)

Pulse-jet! Awesome! That’s old school! I’m guessing he had to get it up to speed before starting the jet?

The all-encompassing bidding systems so pervasive in the US are less common, or at least less important, in the rest of the world. The narrowbody to widebody divide is much less apparent

CPL can indeed be done for less. However if you include travel and accommodation costs for those of us who don’t have affordable training in our home countries, the equation changes. Either way it isn’t a cheap endeavour

Don’t believe the hype about that accident. The pilots put the plane in an untenable low energy situation close to the ground. The outcome was inevitable regardless of type. They definitely did not do a proper job

Certainly this is an one option. However the major energy expenditure for an orbital launcher is accelerating to orbital speed, not getting up to orbital altitude. A subsonic aircraft only does 500knots or so. Not that big a dent in the grand scheme of things.

Very country dependent. The 1500 hour rule is a US thing. I was hired by a major airline with a CPL and 275 hours.

Fair dinkum. Then again if you take reasonable precautions to avoid the “piss everywhere” you shouldn’t contract anything nasty.

I do not sit on toilet seats covered in piss, but not because I’m worried about infection. I don’t want to get wet and I’d rather not smell of pee.

The rest of the Martini must count as a serving of fruit also, as the vermouth is made from grapes.

“Big Lemon”

If you use a Dyson dryer (either model) in the recommended fashion it is unlikely to spray you. You shouldn’t just shove your hands in there. You should move your hands slowly past the airstream in such a way that droplets are deflected away from you.

“Piss” is sterile when it comes out of the bladder. It typically also sterile “on exit” unless you have something like a urinary tract infection.

Does it have Admiral Ackbar Cereal? Your tongues can’t repel flavour of that magnitude!

On the subject of Pocket WiFi devices.