Expedia ranks the most annoying things about flying (seat kickers, crying children, arm rest hogs etc), Stinson's celebrates its anniversary by giving away $70,000 and lamenting our trash filled streets

 * ... FLYING ETIQUETTE: Would you pay extra for a seat on an airplane in a designated "quiet zone?" It turns out a lot of folks would, anything to get away from pesky young children to seat mates who talk too much. That is one of the conclusions of Expedia's annual survey of plane travel, which

ranked the most annoying things about flying. The top things that bug us about flying include rear seat kickers, inattentive parents, aromatic (smelly or overly perfumed) passengers, the audio insensitive, the boozer, the chatty Cathy, the queue jumper, the seat back guy and finally the arm rest hog.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "How to get a woman mad in two easy steps: Take a picture of her and don't show it to her."

 * ... VAN KOPP: Welcome back to town 29-year-old Samuel Van Kopp, the Bakersfield High graduate who went on to West Point only to be gravely injured in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan in 2012. Van Kopp was a platoon leader when a suicide bomber approached and blew himself up, killing two soldiers and leaving Van Kopp with serious brain trauma. My interview with him, in which he questioned the politically driven rules of engagement for troops on the ground, is posted on Kernradio.com. Van Kopp has finished his first year of law school at Georgetown and his working this summer at the law firm of Klein Denatale and Goldner.

 * ... FOODIE: The new QwikCafe on 18th Street, brought to you by the owners of Sequoia Sandwich Co., is off to a good start and is starting to expand its offerings. A few of my favorites: a new "protein box" featuring hardboiled eggs, roast turkey, gouda or brie cheese, humus, veggies and grapes, or the "lite lunch premium" with half a roast turkey sandwich with a beet or kale-quinoa salad. Two of the more popular new offerings include the beef dip on baguette and a tuna melt panini.

 * ... GOOD FORM: Hats off to Stinson Stationers, the long-time office and furniture retailer that is celebrating 70 years in business. And in true Stinson's style, owner Ben Stinson III says the company will give away $70,000 in merchandise to needy local non-profits. To apply, go to Stinsons.com and click on the non-profit link. Applications are due June 15.

 * ... MORE GOOD FORM: And here is some more good form compliments of reader Denise Watson: "One of the best things about shopping at the new Grocery Outlet Store on Brimhall is the veteran parking spot…nothing is better than seeing the surprise and pride on the face of a veteran when they pull into the parking lot and see that there is a parking spot reserved especially for them.  Even better when another customer notices them and says, 'Thank you for your service.' Pride, gratitude, appreciation and honor in the parking lot of a grocery store – now that is fantastic!"

 * ... TRASH: I was driving through the littered streets of downtown Bakersfield on Sunday when I thought about the "trash survey" that Mayor Karen Goh conducted in which she scored us between 1 and 2, ratings that assume our community is only slightly littered. I am all for the aspirational, but our city is a mess, and a casual drive through town reveals a culture that views our streets as its personal trash cans. How about a public campaign to take pride in our community?

Local West Point graduate, gravely wounded in Afghanistan, shows us all what good form looks like, and Lili Marsh heads to The Mark to run the dining and banquet operations

 * … ROLE MODEL: I could not think of a better way to start the year than with this incredible story compliments of readers Kristi and Mitch Townsend. It turns out the Townsends had donated $100 to help in the recovery of Samuel Van Kopp, the young Bakersfield army officer and West Point graduate

who suffered a grave head wound in Afghanistan. Van Kopp survived the September, 2012, injury and is doing well, so much that he sent the $100 check back to the Townsends with this uplifting note: "I have recuperated to the extent that I do not need the years of private therapy I had anticipated," he wrote. "I return to you, therefore, your donation plus years of interest so that you may grace a charity of greater need. Thank you, and God bless." (Facebook photo of Van Kopp on left)

 * … THE MARK: Lili Marsh, the longtime director of The Petroleum Club, is leaving for a new job at The Mark downtown. Marsh will be the front house operations manager in charge of the banquet meeting spaces and the dining room at the 19th Street eatery, which has quickly come to be known as one of the "it" places to eat downtown. In addition to her long association with the Petroleum Club, Marsh is deeply involved in Honor Flight, the effort to fly World War II veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the war memorials.

 * … DOORS SHUT: The new year has been ushered in with the closing of some familiar local businesses. Anna's Cards and Gifts, one of the original tenants of The Marketplace, is shutting its doors after serving residents in the Southwest for many years. That is the third tenant of The Marketplace to close, following Baskin Robbins and Russo's Books. Meanwhile downtown, a short-lived experiment with a local cooking studio has come to an end with the shuttering of Sustenance 101 next to Mama Roomba's Caribbean restaurant on Eye Street. The space occupied by Sustenance has been completely renovated and will likely have little trouble attracting a new tenant.

 * … CROSS RACING: Hats off to local cycling enthusiast Sam Ames for putting on a grand show out at Hart Park this weekend when Bakersfield hosted the NorCal versus SoCal cycle cross racing championships. The crowds were large and Hart Park provided a beautiful backdrop for this annual championship.

* … CYCLISTS: This note comes from a reader named A. Thompson: "I have been cycling for probably over 40 years. I would expect that the mob of Tuesday riders this week would have learned that it is necessary to announce one’s imminent passing of a slower cyclist from behind at a high rate of speed. They pretty much startled me when they passed. The riders took up most of their side of Alfred Harrell Highway, down by the fire station. It is no wonder that the public has such a dim view of cyclists. This same thing happened to me several times right before the Spooktacular, by several duos of out of town riders, as evidenced by their jerseys. I hope that these riders survive to be able to ride a bike when they pass 65 years of age."