Up, Up and Away The Airtel Plaza Hotel located at the Van Nuys Airport isn’t exactly a main attraction on the L.A. visitor’s circuit, so the hotel recently decided to try and pump up its profile. Airtel Plaza late last month kicked off a “Brunch and Ride” attraction, offering a cruise in an open cockpit biplane and, for the more adventurous, a thrill ride in a 1929 plane complete with loops and barrel rolls. Pilot John Marshall, who took up flying about six years ago when he retired from his job as an award-winning field reporter for KNBC-TV Channel 4, describes the experience of the air maneuvers as “the ultimate roller coaster,” with ascents to the point of weightlessness and descents with a force that amounts to three times the body’s weight. Despite the flight plan 40 minutes of backward somersaults, 360-degree turns, 180-degree nose dives and other aerobatics Marshall says he’s only had three thrill-seekers lose their lunch on the ride. But just to make sure, the hotel is offering to serve riders a second brunch if they leave their first one on the plane. Tight-Fisted Politics With his re-election campaign for the 24th Congressional District about to begin, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, wants to get the word out that he’s not just another one of those spendthrift Democrats. So the congressman recently released the news that he was identified as the most fiscally responsible member of Congress from the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County areas by two conservative taxpayer watchdog groups, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the National Taxpayers Union. Earlier, Sherman was rated the most fiscally conservative of Southern California members of Congress seeking re-election by the budget watchdog group, Concord Coalition. Sherman’s motives may be political, but his staff points out that his fiscal conservatism extends to his personal life as well. Until he bought a new Chrysler this year, Sherman was driving a 1986 Cadillac with its trunk held together with a bungee cord. As for his daily transportation, he rides a bike back and forth to his D.C. office. Happy Ending While President Bill Clinton called the end of the strike by autoworkers against General Motors Corp. “a victory for all Americans,” perhaps no one locally was more pleased than workers at Superior Industries International in Van Nuys. Superior’s core business is making aluminum wheels for cars and trucks, and about 50 percent of its sales are to General Motors. Because of the GM strike, Superior shut down its factories in Kansas and Tennessee and temporarily laid off 1,000 employees. The strike also was blamed for an 18.4 percent drop in Superior’s second-quarter earnings. Executives were closely monitoring the media all day a few weeks ago after news came out that the strike was near an end. “We had the Internet, the TV,” said Jeff Ornstein, Superior’s chief financial officer. “We were delighted to hear the news, obviously.” Don’t Get Mad, Get Even A fax making the rounds at San Fernando Valley real estate offices offers a host of foolproof suggestions for getting even with co-workers who get on your nerves. All you have to do is have a little fun at their expense. Here’s a top ten list of ways to annoy co-workers: 1) Leave the copy machine with the following settings: 200 percent reduction, extra dark, 17-inch paper, 99 copies. 2) Reply to everything someone says with “that’s what YOU think.” 3) Practice making fax and modem noises. 4) Highlight irrelevant information in scientific papers and “cc” them to your boss. 5) Signal that a conversation is over by clamping your hands over your ears. 6) Holler random numbers while someone is counting. 7) TYPE ONLY IN UPPERCASE. 8) type only in lower case. 9) don’t use any punctuation either 10) While making presentations, occasionally bob your head like a parakeet.