Miscellaneous desk
< March 28	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	Current desk >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 29

Forward flight booking

[1] What is a forward flight booking? Is the same as "onward"? I.e. would a forward booking from Canada to the US mean the final destination is someplace like Europe or Asia? I think the point of the tweet is that Canadians are trying to avoid the US because of US shenanigans scaring foreign potential visitors. The tweet shows the number of such bookings dropping drastically between March 2024 and March 2025. Thanks. 2601:644:8581:75B0:B745:42AD:D0FF:174 (talk) 19:46, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It means: securing a booking in advance, for a known price. The entity doing the booking may be a travel agency, wanting to hedge against a possible future price increase, for example because they want to advertize a travel package with a stated price and need to know its cost price to be certain of a reasonable profit. ‑‑Lambiam 22:47, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Futures trading. 2A00:23C7:C9B7:A01:68B1:562A:5DCE:A157 (talk) 09:39, 31 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps even more to the point: Forward contract. ‑‑Lambiam 11:45, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I feel compelled to add that Sleep is a powerfully addictive drug, because it keeps me from starting my job in the morning and earning $200+/day, but how do I add that fact without making it sound vandalistic?

As a Doordash driver (AKA Dasher), I could start as early as I feel like, so if I start early in the morning, and work 'til after sundown, I could make over $200/day.

But sleep feels more powerful and addicting than Meth (though I've never had meth in my life) so that's why I only woke up at around 3:30 PM. Now I'll be lucky to only make $100 today.

So even though the prospect of making over $200 day is pretty alluring, that's if I get up early, but since sleep overpowers me into continuing to sleep and therefore make less money in the day, I'd say it's THE most powerfully addicting drug that I've ever had the misfortune to get, whether I wanted it or not.

So how can that fact get on the Sleep article without seeming like vandalism to regular editors? And could this fact be added to the Doordash and/or Dasher articles as well? --2600:8803:1D13:7100:D796:EF69:D100:A98E (talk) 21:40, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

All material in Wikipedia must be verifiable. Your testimonial to the effect of sleep does not meet this essential criterion. Apart from that, I see several other serious problems. (1) Abstaining from sleep will cause your early demise. Sleep, just like oxygen, is essential to human life; neither qualifies as being "addictive", or even as a drug. (2) Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Anecdotal evidence is in general not encyclopedic material. (3) A connection to DoorDash or other similarly operating companies is accidental and tenuous – similar sleep problems will get one in much more serious problems in regular jobs. BTW, have you tried going to bed earlier? If you go to bed at midnight and then sleep till 3:30 PM, this could indicate a serious medical condition – go and see a doctor. ‑‑Lambiam 22:39, 29 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Disclaimer: Self-anecdotal reply – Delete post if thought appropriate.

It's easy to disrupt normal sleep patterns. Mine are, but it doesn't hugely matter since I'm retired and live alone, and continue an interest in astronomy, which being semi-nocturnal helps.

Nevertheless, disrupted sleep is (I am well aware) harmful to long-term mental and physical health.

It might be helpful to you to re-train your sleep rhythms (as I am currently doing). Wake yourself up an hour before dawn, and go outside for an hour (maybe take a brisk walk) – the blue-rich natural light will create an anchor point for your circadian rhythm; then eat breakfast, if you habitually do.

Carry out your chosen daily activities, and aim to go to bed about eight hours before the next dawn. (You may wake half-way through the night needing to urinate – do so and go back to bed, you may not even remember doing so the next day.)

Rinse and repeat. Trying to go without less than 7 hours sleep per 24 (individuals vary somewhat with their personal requirements, and with age) is a recipe for disaster.

[Edited to add] Driving while sleep-deprived is extremely dangerous. It's very easy to fall half-asleep in your comfy car seat and fail to steer correctly or brake, etc., when you need to – I did it myself once (40 years ago) when I had had to finish a job overnight and then deliver the results by car, and came very close to crashing. Never again. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.2.64.108 (talk) 08:43, 30 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That's especially true when driving at night. Driving during the day, you've got the sunlight to kind of keep you awake. Not at night. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:38, 31 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If you're too tired, even sunlight doesn't help when you slip into a 'waking dream' state (as happened to me). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.2.64.108 (talk) 06:12, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

True. If you don't want to stay the night somewhere, you can pull over at a gas station or rest stop and walk around for a while. And maybe also buy a large bag of chips / crisps to munch on while driving. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:27, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If you think that's tough just wait until you try kicking the oxygen habit! Think of all that time you spend inhaling and exhaling! --Slowking Man (talk) 05:35, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]