TITAM - Technical issues that affected me

So your gadgets have disappeared?  It seemed to happen to me after a Windows update, though since I wasn't really paying attention I can't be sure.  It might have been installing Steam that did it, but evidently the gadgets can just disappear for no discernible reason, so who knows. In my case, UAC was still on, and desktop items were not hidden.  These are apparently the two most common reasons for gadgets to disappear. Anyway, this BAT file fixed my problem.  I did not bother going through it to see just what it does, but it seems to kill any existing process and reset the gadget settings.

(OK, so this is not technically a technical issue.  So sue me.) I had the good fortune of going to Japan recently, with somebody else paying the bills.  As a Fortune 500, it was their policy to fly business class on any flight over 6 hours, and I was not going to complain. On a whim, I upgraded myself on the outbound flight to first class.  It was about $650 for the upgrade as a last-chance, while-you-are-checking-in sort of thing.  I figured that I'd never get another chance to fly first class for 12 hours for $700, so I took it. As it happened, the flight back was full so I was demoted to "only" business class.  As the two flights were five days apart, I can now say for sure what the differences are: Not much, but some. Both flights were Boeing 777-200s, with 8 first-class seats and 40 business class.  The following probably won't apply to other types of jets, unless they are of comparable class.  Certainly not the little Skywest commuters ...