Jay Leno used to say often as a lead-in to a joke about overweight people, “As if we’re not fat enough already .....” Royal Caribbean's answer may be, “On our new ship, it will be impossible to eat too much.” RCL’s brand new Oasis of the Seas, the largest passenger liner in history, is undergoing trials, and is expected to take its first passenger cruise in December to Caribbean ports.

Three Los Angeles area hotels, just a short half-hour (not during drive time) from each other were honored with the American Automobile Association’s Five Diamonds, its highest honors for excellence. In addition to the Beverly Hills are the Montage in Laguna Beach and the Four Seasons Westlake Village.

Others in the U.S. earning the honors for the first time are the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach, Florida, the Four Seasons in St. Louis, Missouri, and the InterContinental Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia.

Why it took the AAA so long to recognize the posh Beverly Hills Hotel, which opened in 1912, is a mystery. The hotel has consistently kept up its extremely high quality, including lavishly decorous rooms, tropical landscaping and luxury bungalows surrounding its pool.

John Houghtaling, 92, recently passed away. In case you don’t recognize the name, John invented the motel miracle called Magic Fingers. Remember when you drove cross-country in the 1950s and 1960s, and needed to bed down for the night? When you checked in, tired and achy from hours on the road, that’s when John’s invention offered solace.

Next to your motel bed was a metal box with a 25-cent coin slot on top. That coin would make your bed shake for about 15 minutes, presumably to help lull you to sleep. Of course, stand-up comics made jokes about how the devices could be used for more devious means at so-called no-tell motels.

CNN reports that cash-strapped British Airways has asked its 40,000 employees to work for a month without pay. BA’s CEO Willie Walsh explains that the airline lost $656 million in the past year, the most in the history of the airline. He admitted that if the losses continue, there must soon be severe cuts in service and employee ranks.

We know this should be no joking matter, but can you imagine what kind of service you’ll get if you’re a passenger on a BA aircraft staffed with unpaid pilots and flight attendants?