Nobody... and I mean NOBODY opens their window shade to look out the window any more.. maybe two people on the entire plane (including me) and everyone else has their window shade shut.. My guess is the glare makes it harder to mess with their precious cell phones.. Heaven help us if we miss a second of cell phone use to actually see the world from 37k feet.. Like you, I love looking out the window.. I always set my monitor (on the back of the seat ahead of me) to the flight I'm on so I can see where we are and what we're flying over and then see if I can recognize it through the window..
Airport food may be improving a little bit.. at least they're getting some national chain restaurants in them, like Fridays and Carrabba's etc.. I can live with that in an airport..
By the way, I get TSA Precheck because I'm a DOD guy and I talked my wife into spending the $85 to get it, as well, in time for this last trip.. As they advertise it, you get to keep your shoes on, don't hafta take out your electronics, don't hafta put your liquids in baggies and take them out of your carry-on, don't hafta go through the Xray machine etc.. Well, I'm here to tell you that ALL the benefit we got 3 weeks ago was keeping our shoes on.. we had to do all the other stuff, just like usual, so if you're thinking about paying to get TSA Precheck, you might reconsider.. Total ripoff...
Friendship is like peeing your pants.. Everybody can see it, but only you can feel the warmth..