Tag: Business

Navigating the Airline Seat Dilemma: Equality and Passenger Size Policy Changes | December 30 2025, 20:21

As I sit on the plane, I ponder how airlines separate excessively obese people from those not obese enough, and how they make the former pay twice as much. And how does this align with the policy of universal equality and equal opportunities? The issue causes “anthropometric dissonance” – over the past decades, the average airplane seat width has narrowed from 47 to 43 cm, while the average passenger weight has significantly increased. As a result, there emerges a rigid classification of passengers into “regular” and officially recognized “Customers of Size” (CoS).

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The main technical criterion separating these categories is the “armrest rule.” If a person’s body extends beyond the outer boundary of the lowered armrest by more than 1 inch (2.5 cm), they are officially recognized as “oversized.” The inability to fully lower the armrest without pain or discomfort to oneself or a neighbor is grounds for requiring the purchase of a second seat.

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Until 2025, Southwest Airlines was considered the “gold standard” for large individuals, allowing them to occupy a second seat for free. However, as of January 27, 2025, the rules changed: such passengers are now required to purchase a second seat in advance when booking. If an individual fails to do this and the flight is full, they may simply be denied boarding and offered to rebook to another flight where two adjacent seats are available.

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The financial risks now almost entirely fall on the passenger. According to the new 2025 policy, a refund for an additionally purchased seat is only possible if the flight departs not fully booked. Considering that the average aircraft occupancy today is 85–90%, the likelihood that money paid for a “comfort seat” will not be refunded is extremely high.

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There exists a “geographical lottery” of passenger rights in the world. In Canada, a unique doctrine of “One Person, One Fare” (1P1F) is affirmed by court. There, obesity is recognized as a “functional disability,” therefore, airlines are required to provide a second seat for free on domestic flights if the passenger presents a medical certificate. In the USA and Europe, no such benefits exist, and comfort is considered a commercial service.

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Technically, there is also a “seatbelt rule,” which is the second most important (after the armrest rule) and serves as a kind of “legal and technical barrier.” Specifically, every passenger must be buckled during taxi, takeoff, and landing. If the belt does not fasten, the passenger physically cannot be seated. This isn’t a matter of comfort, but a question of legality aboard the aircraft. If the standard length of the belt is insufficient, the passenger has the right to request a seatbelt extender, which usually adds between 25 to 60 centimeters. The mere request for an extender often gets recorded by flight attendants as a marker of an “increased size passenger.” This is a critical moment. Most airlines globally explicitly forbid the use of two extenders simultaneously. If the length of one standard belt plus one extender is not enough, the passenger is recognized as “oversized” for that seat type. In this case, the airline has the full right to remove them from the flight or demand the purchase of a second seat, as safety cannot be ensured.

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Airlines’ main argument for imposing limitations is flight safety. According to EASA and FAA standards, a full airplane evacuation must take no more than 90 seconds. A large passenger, who physically does not fit in the seat, can block the aisle or slow the movement of others in an emergency, therefore they are prohibited from occupying seats near emergency exits. Personally, I think this is just a nice reason to avoid spending extra money.

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Identifying “too fat” passengers often happens right in the cabin. Flight attendants have the right to demand that a person undergo an “armrest test” in front of witnesses. If an “encroachment” into a neighbor’s space is discovered, priority is always given to those who fit in their own seat, and the CoS passenger may be removed from the flight for the comfort of others.

Decoding the Beast: Migrating from Excel to Code | December 17 2025, 18:56

We’ve all encountered it — the “Main Excel Spreadsheet Managing the Business.” The very one B2B companies use to calculate million dollar quotes. It has 12 tabs, 1000+ nested formulas, and zero documentation. For ten years, it had “quick fixes” slapped on and constants hidden away. It’s no longer just a file, but a living organism that no one fully understands except for the guy who quit years ago. That’s how puzzled I was. Moreover, there was uncertainty whether even half of the formulas were needed, or if they were vestiges of the past.

Typical cell:

=IF($D11=$D10,””, IF(ISNUMBER( INDEX(Data!$T$10:$U$17,

MATCH(TabCalc!$F11,Data!$T$10:$T$17,0),2)),

INDEX(Data!$T$10:$U$17, MATCH(TabCalc!$F11,Data!$T$10:$T$17,0),2),

INDEX(TabProd!$C$8:$U$112,TabCalc!$D11,I$1)))

I was tasked with transferring this logic into code so that it was all computed by software. The Excel file seemed to have everything it needed, but in reality — it was a complicated black box. 1069 formulas.

The challenge was in how to translate a thousand interdependent formulas into clean code without losing any edge cases.

Here’s what I ended up doing.

Instead of rewriting everything from scratch at once with uncertain prospects of bug proliferation, I used a strategy of lazy computations and mocks.

I built a structure on Groovy that mimicked Excel’s behavior. Each computation (from a cell) I defined as a function that executed only when it was called. And the functions were a multidimensional dictionary.

I started from the end of the computation graph: from results to inputs. If a formula depended on something I hadn’t yet written, I “mocked” it in the code, simply substituting the value from the Excel sheet.

Bit by bit I replaced these mocks with real logic. Comparing the output of my code to the Excel at each step, I could clearly see where my logic diverged.

In other words, I moved from the result to the input data. At each step, it was clear which mocks needed to be turned into code, and I could compare version +1 with version -1 — the result had to match. As soon as all mocks were replaced with calls — the task was done.

The real “secret ingredient” was the dynamic nature of Groovy for creating a multidimensional map of functions. Instead of static variables, I used a deeply nested structure, where each “leaf” was a closure. This allowed access to any part of the table — be it an input parameter, a config constant, or a complex intermediate result — through a simple, unified syntax, and some components were dynamic.

Here’s an example:

conf[“group”] = { x -> [“a”, “b”, “c”] }

conf[“group”]().each {

calculate[“Group”][“Subgroup”][it][“TotalQuantity”] =

{

x -> calculate[“Group”][“Subgroup”][it][“Someparameter”]() * conf[“someConstant”]()

}

}

Using dynamic keys and closures, I could iterate through product groups or data sets. Since these were dynamic functions, not stored values, the entire system worked like a living graph of dependencies.

Testing was possible right from the start of transferring the formulas. The charm was that you were kind of addressing a cell through syntax like calculate[“Totals”][“A”](), but in reality, you were launching an entire tree of calculations at that moment. And this was incredibly convenient for debugging.

In two weeks, the “Black Box” was transformed into a transparent, modular library with clear logic, which produced exactly the same result as the original table.

P.S. Of course, all the data in all the screenshots are thoroughly obfuscated, or rather, written from scratch for this text.

Hidden Costs in Restaurant Menus: The Reality of Operational Charges | November 23 2025, 23:33

The restaurant is very tasty, but I increasingly notice that establishments include a certain percentage on top of the menu prices in the bill. In this menu, the cost of a dish is listed as $30 per plate, plus a note like this. In this case, it’s a 4% operational charge. Then there are taxes on top of that, plus another 20% for tips. As a result, $30 from the menu turns into at least $40.

Navigating Comcast Deals: My Experience with Overpaying for Internet | November 23 2025, 16:02

Yesterday, we stopped by Comcast/XFinity to get Lisa set up in her new apartment. At the end, I asked, “guys, can you check something because it feels like I’ve been paying too much for internet for two years now. $131 a month for gigabit service.” The dude quickly pulled up my profile, said, “let’s reduce it by $25.” I said, “let’s do it.” Done, goodbye.

Service.

Cultural Expectations of Driving for Work: USA vs Russia | November 22 2025, 16:21

Here’s what I’ve noticed. In the USA, there’s an expectation that an employee drives themselves if their job involves traveling. Companies often issue a company car or provide compensation for using a personal vehicle. This is commonly considered a regular part of job responsibilities, and having a driver’s license is often implicitly assumed. For example, Nadia, a volleyball coach, occasionally drives a small bus for us.

As I recall, the tradition in Russia is different: in organizations, especially in government, large corporations, or among managerial staff, it is more logical to expect a designated driver.

Am I mistaken?

Decoding Insane Prices in the Art Market | November 20 2025, 19:03

Let’s be honest about the art market (and why the prices there are insane).

Actually, there’s no mystery to it. It works somewhat like NFTs, only with a longer history and a better reputation.

The scheme is simple:

You take an item that hasn’t been on the market in this form yet (a painting, sculpture, installation — doesn’t matter). You call it an “important artifact”. It helps if you have connections — galleries, auction houses, billionaire collectors. If you don’t have connections, then find someone who does and sell the cow to them. Since uniqueness is required, there will be no paintings of bears in a pine forest, no matter how brilliantly they are done. There will be something distinct.

The very notion of “this is a painting/sculpture” — is just a convenient formality. The main thing is that the object can be incorporated into the already established art trading system.

Art is such — one of the most convenient ways to “optimize” taxes and move large sums of money. Paid 18 million euros for someone else’s work, and then someone “on your side” bought some of your work for the same 18 million. Virtually no money was really lost (just taxes), and now in catalogs and rankings, two works are each priced at 18 million. The price can be pushed up by selling them cascadingly. Win-win. Auctions are just in on the deal. Further, if you donate this work to a museum for charity, you can even cut more taxes. But it can also be sold. And here’s why.

Currently, there are simply too many free funds in the world. The number of billionaires and their wealth is growing faster than the availability of truly rare assets (real estate, companies, gold, etc. have all been divided already).

Art is one of the few markets where “scarcity” can still be created literally out of nowhere.

If you have access to a hundred such wealthy simpletons and you can tell stories (“this is an investment for 20-30 years, it will only increase”), then selling is purely a technical matter. Two or three interested parties = bidding already starts, and already you see +50-100% to the price.

Over time, real cases appear: someone bought in 2000 for 2 million, sold in 2024 for 80 million.

These cases are used to convince the next buyers. New buyers with their money confirm and amplify these cases. The cycle is closed.

Result: the rise in prices in the top segment of art is directly tied to the increase in the number of super-rich and their capital. As soon as a serious global crisis occurs and the extra trillions stop being printed/earned, and the pyramid collapses, the market will very quickly show where there was real cultural value, and where it was just a beautiful financial scheme.

P.S. This doesn’t mean at all that all contemporary art is a bubble. There are works that are really important historically and culturally. It’s just that at the very top of the price pie, cultural value has long ceased to be the main driver.

But at the summit of Olympus of the most expensive paintings of classic genius solitaries, there will never be, because galleries and dealers need artists who can produce 20-50 works a year to satisfy demand, organize exhibitions in five capitals simultaneously, and maintain turnover. Artists like Lopez Garcia, Odd Nerdrum, or Ron Mueck make unique pieces that will become especially valuable only after the artist dies.

Gold and Gadgets: Tracing Global Influence and Metal Monopolies | October 14 2025, 03:13

Rajesh Exports states on their website that they process 35% of the gold mined on the planet. Of course, they are exaggerating, but overall, India and Rajesh do shape the market. It turns out that 11% of all the gold on the planet is adorned on Indian women. Additionally, it was found that in 1947, 70% of all mined gold was in the USA. From 1934 to 1970, it was legally prohibited for private individuals to own gold in the USA. Approximately 22% of all the gold ever accounted for on the surface of the Earth has been mined from a plateau in South Africa called the Witwatersrand. And if you consider all the gold mined throughout history, it would amount to less than an Olympic swimming pool.

China buys up silver, with India not far behind. Interestingly, platinum is significantly used in the production of catalytic converters for vehicles – almost 40% of the global production goes there. China, of course, holds much of this production.

Practically every smartphone, tablet, or touchscreen monitor that we use is coated with a thin layer of indium tin oxide (ITO). This material has a unique combination of properties: it is almost completely transparent while also conducting electricity excellently. This allows the screen to register your touches.

Although lithium is now strongly associated with batteries, historically and still today, a significant portion of it is used in the production of glass and ceramics.

From Opera to Oblivion: The Fascinating Journey of Lorenzo Da Ponte | September 22 2025, 18:53

We just finished watching Le Nozze di Figaro with Nadezhda in a serialized mode and today we’ll continue with Don Giovanni, also in a serialized mode, because no one has the time. So, both of these operas were written by an American 🙂 I mean the librettos. Turns out, Lorenzo Da Ponte, an Italian librettist, emigrated, naturalized in the U.S., lived here 33 years, taught Italian literature at Columbia University in New York, founded an opera theater in the USA, which became the precursor to the New York Academy of Music and the New York Metropolitan Opera. Really an interesting dude. His real name was Emanuel Conegliano. A Jew by birth, who became a Catholic priest, a friend of Casanova, and a supporter of Rousseau’s ideas. Before moving to the U.S., Da Ponte successfully juggled teaching and a small business, earning not so much from lectures as from owning a brothel for aristocrats which he maintained. In the U.S., he kept a grocery store in New Jersey and tried selling medicines in Pennsylvania. Lorenzo Da Ponte died on August 17, 1838, in humiliating poverty, a few blocks away from the boarded-up building of his theater. His grave in one of the New York cemeteries, which was not marked, eventually got lost. Essentially, the same post-mortem fate befell his friend Mozart.

Cycling for History: A Book and An Unexpected Glimpse into 1930s Migration Trends | August 24 2025, 18:27

I couldn’t resist and bought the book Great Depression in Perceville, VA, where I arrived by bike. I still don’t know how to carry it back for an hour in cycling clothing without a backpack. Interesting note on a random page

Translation:

AMTORG RECEIVES 100,000 APPLICATIONS FOR 6,000 QUALIFIED JOBS IN RUSSIA

(Business Week, October 7, 1931, pp. 32–33)

NEW YORKERS make up the bulk of Americans who have decided, at least for now, to tie their fates with the Russians. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Illinois contribute the highest number of applications for the new call for “6,000 qualified workers,” with Michigan, Ohio, California, and Massachusetts also being well represented.

The “Amtorg” office in New York received over 100,000 applications for these 6,000 job slots. Just one morning alone saw 280 applications. All states except ten were represented. Alaska and Panama also contributed one applicant each, and 18 Canadians wanted “to try their luck in Russia.”

Industrial states, naturally, provided the largest number of applications, but others were represented as well. Iowa, Texas, and Idaho also contributed some number of qualified workers.

Since it is widely known that Russia is “industrializing,” most applicants are skilled workers in machinery, railroads, metallurgy, automotive manufacturing, or the construction industry. A look at the qualifications of 280 applicants from one “typical” morning showed that specialists of all professions were looking for work, even if it meant moving to Russia and being paid in rubles. Among them were: 2 hairdressers, 1 funeral director, 2 plumbers, 5 painters, 2 cooks, 36 “clerical” workers, 1 lathe operator, 9 carpenters, 1 aviator, 58 engineers, 14 electricians, 5 salespeople, 2 printers, 2 chemists, 1 shoemaker, 1 librarian, 2 teachers, 1 cleaner and dyer, 11 auto mechanics, 1 dentist.

About 85% of the applicants are U.S. citizens, only 40% of whom were born in the country. 60% of the foreigners primarily come from Eastern Europe. A few African Americans applied, but their numbers are small, as most of them are unskilled workers.

Women constitute only a small portion of applicants, although many wives decided to accompany their husbands in this endeavor. Most workers applying are married and have children.

Three main reasons for wanting to get a placement are named: (1) unemployment; (2) dissatisfaction with conditions here; (3) interest in the Soviet experiment. Almost all foreign workers declare that they do not intend to stay in the USSR. Among engineers, only 10-20% plan to stay.

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This is 1931, one of the most challenging years of that period. Somewhere in the mid-thirties, it started to improve, and it must be said, WWII ultimately defeated it.