We went to the Real Madrid vs. DC United game tonight and I have to say, the civil engineers or city planners around here just don't have a real clue when it comes to handling traffic flows which generally creates situations where traffic completely sucks here.  I used to live 90 miles outside of LA and I could get to events faster than I can get to them from Redmond to Seattle (~16miles).  We left for the 8:00 game at 5:30 and manage to get there for the last few minutes of the first half.  Once you finally get there the way they run the parking garage kills me.  This garage has a good 8% grade that you go up when you enter and they collect peoples money right at the top of the ramp.  The garage has a profuse smell of burned clutch.  It all made me realize that Disney should be in the city planning business for all major venues like stadiums.  They realize that:

I have flown on Alaska Airlines on a moderately frequent amount over the last 10 years.  Unlike the east, the west coast is plagged with a small selection of point to point connections up and down the coast so often Alaska and Southwest are the only options.  Alaska used to the "fancy" choice serving meals etc.  Now the airlines are basically the same in what they offer though if you want to choose your seat (unlikely to get what you really want on most of the currently crowded flights) you can do so in advance with Alaska. 

I understand the competitive pressure and cost cutting and am willing to give this to Alaska but their on-time rate is absolutely abysmal.  I have flown ONT to SEA route round trip 5.5 times this year and every single flight has been at least 1/2 hour late out of the gate.  I have to say that Southwest is beating them soundly in this reguard and that doesn't leave Alsaka with a lot to compete with on these flights. 

 

Maybe the real parallel is deliverying software is about as predictable as when your flight will depart...during the Winter, from Chicago.