My new toy...

This new fuss of mine has grown out of discontent with commercial airlines and security procedures. Okay, it's not exactly “mine,” it's a timeshare aircraft, but perhaps the most cost-effective transportation solution when a guy like me needs to fly no more than 50 hours per year. It's ideal, because I love to fly on short notice, sometime during peak periods and want to go to very specific places. The program is known as the Marquis Jet Card and it's from NetJets. The card sold as a prepaid lease offering 25 hours of occupied flight time, gives me access to NetJets world-class fleet without the commitment and headaches of ownership. I know, it's pricey; a single year, 25-hour pre-paid lease starts at $132,900 in a Citation V Ultra not counting additional charges for Federal Excise Tax, fuel surcharge fee and insurance, but it should be fun. I will however need a Gulfstream 550/GV that might cost significantly more to take me non-stop to Nice, Tahiti as well as Argentina and Chile for summer skiing. Soon, I'll take you in one of my NetJets trips; oh yes, someone has already asked me what this would do to my carbon footprint and since I didn't quite get it, I answered there shouldn't be a large impact, I already wear a 11 ½ street shoe size!