I am flying Virgin America for the first time on a short visit to DC and thought it was generally pretty good. Here are a few of the more memorable features of the flight:

• Probably the most entertaining and funny safety video I have ever seen, featuring a man with a fish head, a matador, and a geeky-looking nun.

• Hip and casual crew. “Captain Chaz” made the pre-boarding announcement and invited us to see the cockpit of his cool new Airbus. The whole crew is “a team” (e.g. “inflight crew members, prepare for takeoff).

• Purple lighting reminiscent of a trendy lounge or nightclub. Trance techno music playing when you enter the cabin (and continually in the cabin).

• The inflight entertainment seems good, but I haven’t used it as I am working on my laptop using the nice 110VAC power in every seat.

A bonus is that some of the flights seem to be quite empty, probably because the airline is relatively new. On my flight to DC there were no more than 30 people and everyone had 3 rows to herself.

On July 3rd, 2007 my natural gas powered Ford Contour broke down beyond any hope of repair. I bought in 2002 at a government auction as a way to reduce my oil consumption and hopefully my emissions, too. In retrospect, I’d like to offer the following thoughts on natural gas as a gasoline alternative:

1. There is no reason to use ordinary gasoline (or petrol) other than that everyone already does and that we are all used to it. If you used natural gas you could fill up your house in your own home (it is the same gas used for a gas range), save money, cut maintenance costs, and reduce emissions.

2. Natural gas is probably not the best technology out there: electric cars and plug-in hybrids are now a realistic alternative. However, combining natural gas with a hybrid could be a great idea.

3. Regardless of innovative fuel technologies, Fords suck. After 120 thousand miles they will inevitably break.