Spent the back half of the week visiting our families in Minnesota. Both flights were only slightly delayed and we did not poison a large group with undercooked turkey. Calling it a success.

That was my 14th flight of the year, which is nothing compared to serious business travelers, but a collection of pandemic exceptions and grace periods means I’m somehow still holding pretty high status on two different airlines. In practice, it just means that when things inevitably go sideways, you might get a bit of eye contact while they tell you there’s nothing they can do to help, but the small trappings of it (someone saying hello to you, not getting nickel and dimed for having the audacity to travel with luggage) do make things slightly more pleasant. One more trip this year to enjoy being a taupe warrior before the rules go back to normal and it all comes crumbling down.

Related: Airlines Are Just Banks Now. They’re logos on credit cards sitting on Scrooge McDuck vaults of made up points who only incidentally provide global transportation.

In tiny improvements news, the theme selector in the top right of this website now remembers your preference on subsequent navigations. There’s a bit of a flash if your preference doesn’t match what your system is already asking for. Will get around to that eventually.

Did the thing twice. Well on our way to a habit.