Category Archives: Photo-A-Day

Photo-A-Day, Travel

Photo-A-Day #493 08/14/06

I am in PA today. I took my first flight since the new security measures were enacted on August 10th. And to tell you the truth it wasn’t too bad, for me anyway. And why was it better for me than for other passengers. I planned ahead and I followed the new security restrictions. I made the decision to remove all of my liquids and banned items so that I could take a carry on with me. And I checked in online. You see, I need to be mobile with my travel schedule. If a flight is cancelled or delayed I need to quickly get on another flight. I can do that only as long as I have my bags with me. If the bags are in the bottom of the plane then I am SOL.

So now what should I do about my essential toiletries that I left at home? Well when I got to the hotel I asked if they had any complimentary toiletries and they were very nice and found me some toothpaste. Then I went to Target and got some hairspray because they only had that and no hair gel. I will have to leave both of those items behind when I leave tomorrow. What to do about shaving? For the first time in about 15 years I now have an electric razor. I decided upon getting an electric razor because at least I don’t have to worry about bringing anything but that item with me. I can’t keep buying shaving cream or shave gel only to throw it out after one use. I feel bad enough about the toothpaste and the hairspray/gel. Some weeks I go to three separate places and I will have to find toothpaste and hair product at each one. I may shave my head and get some brush-ups for my trips if it comes to that. I’m not getting reimbursed for these items and it is very wasteful.

I am not saying that the newly imposed restrictions are wrong, in fact they make a lot of sense. Anyone who has watched movies knows of many ways to get creative with explosives. The problem is that we are always one step behind what these lunatics are cooking up. We need to be more proactive and be smarter about our air travel to make it safer.

I am all for restrictions to keep us safe. But the government and the airlines and the TSA have to put procedures and technology in place to move the lines along quickly and keep us safe at the same time. As it is I get to the airlines 2 hours before my flight. I check-in online to avoid the check-in line where people still can’t work the self check-in kiosks.

Had I stood in line with my bags to check-in and then stood in line for security for those bags and then stood in line for security to get to my gate I would have just barely made my flight. That is ridiculous.

What I envision for the future of air travel is a very Jetsons-like experience. You enter the airport. If you have your travel documents you go right to a lane where you insert your ID, and boarding pass into a machine like you would insert an ATM card then you move to the next station. Those who have to still check-in can do so with a living breathing person or if they can work an ATM they can use self service check-in and then they can move along to the next station. At the next station you will put all of your luggage onto a conveyor belt and step onto a moving walkway facing sideways. Security officials using technology that can X-ray a person to see if they have any dangerous materials will screen you. Face recognition software will also scan your ID and your face and check it against the terrorist watch list. There should be only one standard set of carry on bags. They should fit the overhead compartment wheels first. While on the conveyor belt bags will be size checked and if they do not meet requirements they will be automatically tagged and sent as checked baggage to your destination. No more people sneaking on bags that are too dang big for the overheads. At the end of the conveyor belt you will collect your boarding passes and ID and your carry on items and be on your way. This is a rough idea of what I see happening and I am sure I have missed all bunches of problems with my scenario. Oh well they are just musings of my mind.

Despite my preparedness I had my bag searched anyway. I am sure I have said this before but I am totally prepared in the security line, shoes are off, computer is out, belt is off, everything out of the pockets and I always have my boarding pass and ID out and available for the agents. And I get searched a lot.

I took a picture of some of the items I have with me right now, can you guess which ones cannot go with me tomorrow?

I’ll give you a hint.
These are the contraband items.

Tomorrow should be fun. I have to demo till 12:00pm, drive 45 minutes to the PHL airport, gas up and drop off the rental car, catch the shuttle to the gate and catch a 2:45 flight to DFW and then to Tulsa. I hope I can make it. It didn’t look good for me to check in on-line earlier today. I’ll try again.

Update: I am still reading Kathy Reich’s Death Du Jour and I found a comic book store here that had Wildcats: Nemesis #3 so I can finally read that series (Nine issues, will most like become a trade paperback before I read them).

Photo-A-Day, Travel

Riding Around in My Automobile

On Sunday Allison and I left Great Diamond Island. We had a lot of fun there but it was time to head home. I slept late while Allison read a book on the porch. Then we had some tasty donuts from a place called the Cookie Jar. Thea picked them up while we were in Portland on Saturday. At 9:40 the small bus that runs between the two docks on the island picked us up. There are two docks: The Diamond Cove dock that we could walk to and the Great Diamond dock that was one the other side of the locked gate. You see, on the island there was some spat over golf carts from the Diamond Cove being parked on the Great Diamond side and how unsightly they were. This started the Golf Cart Wars and this occurred about two years ago. Now the folks on each side of the island have separate stickers for their carts; as well as two locked gates separating the two sides of the island. It is all wound a bit too tight for my liking.

Elise and Charles were leaving today as well so the four of us took the ferry over to Portland and we said our goodbyes. After Elise and Charles left, Allison and I went to a little souvenir shop to pick up some dice games. They did not have Farkle but they did have Left Right Center, Moose Spotting and Two Lobster Catch and On The Rocks.

This is what I should have bought the day before. Actually we should have picked these up on Friday so we could have some travel games to play Friday night. But we have them now.

We headed down to York, Maine to meet up with our friend Maureen (She writes the We’re In A Fight blog) and her sister Peggy. Maureen and Peggy took us to lunch at Lobster Cove. Allison and I split a fisherman’s platter and it was very tasty. We then drove up Long Sands Beach and back to Mo’s house. Then her father, John, took us on a ride in his 1952 Chevy. It is black and named Josephine after the woman he bought the car from. It fits. We drove down to the beach and cruised along the strip. I kept taking pictures of the beach and the water when we were stopped and I had an opening between the cars. Because I was looking in the viewfinder I didn’t see anything beyond what the lens saw. So one time I took a shot and a second after I clicked the picture three 16 year-old girls walked by. Both Mo and her dad razzed me about taking pictures of 16 year-olds through the rest of the ride. They’d be like, “Drewbie there is another young girl, where is your camera,” or “oh what about that one, she’s too old huh?” I have no idea where Mo got her sense of humor, yeah right. We even went up to Nubble Lighthouse. It was a lot of fun but over all too quickly and we were back on the road. Then back to Manchester to pick up my computer and Allison’s car. We visited a bit with Marcia and then off again for home.

Once we got home I helped my sister download some pictures that she took this weekend at a fair in Walpole, NH as well as some videos. Allison ended up staying in NH for an additional 40 minutes. When she came home, we were off again and this time we headed to see my cousin, Carissa, and her boyfriend, Chris, before they left for their 2 week cross country trip.

For some reason we always need a vacation after our vacations. And this week is not going to get any quieter. You may notice a theme with the Photo-A-Day This week.