I may never fly again

We have a winner here :D ]:)

Edit (Afterthought): The thought of me in spandex is not all that great :_| Plus the benefit of not being able to hide anything would be a major plus.

Oh to heck with it all. Just install full body scanners at all airports. Problem solved.

Palmetto:

I know what you're talking about. Add a traditional storage component product to that in crushed form, and you get the real thing.

Nick:

Yeah. I've heard of that one. Or use lemon juice concentrate and a home fix-it chemical in a particular style of container. It'll heat up faster than your oven, and produce a chemical cloud like a plant in Bhopal.

I would like to know...and...yes...I am. ]:)

That does sound like hell. Sounds worse than the time I had to go from the airport I was at via shuttle to another airport, then fly to Cincinnati, then to Dallas, then wait 3 hours, and then got on a plane to San Fran finally.

11 hours to get out there. Thank God I was going westward. 3 hours of timezones helped.

Everybody brings a towel to sit on.

Everyone needs wear clothing like some schools require for kids' backpacks:

Totally clear material.

Can't hide anything, and it's still covering body parts.

Total genius, I am. :^0

is much more scenic. Plus if you are a fan of kitsch you can't miss all the attractions.

James

Been scaled WAY back since I was a kid. They used to have AmTrak service near where I grew up in the central US, but I think that ceased in the early 80s.

It's sad really. The cost of getting cheap day labor to put down railroad bed and track would be cheap compared to the cost of backing/bailing-out the airline industry every couple of years. And, railroads tend to last decades.

I know some of the tracks in my hometown were originally laid in the depression era and had standard maintenance in the 50 years they'd been there at that time.

maybe it's time we all took a chill pill, relaxed, and rode a train. :)

Its definitely less of a hassle to drive right now.

AV

.

You're absolutely correct, and I do believe that one [i]chooses[/i] to feel certain emotions. A person can learn to suppress (and eliminate) anger, for example, or simply decide to brush-off an insult instead of accepting it.

In this case, I suppose it was the word, indignity, that one might choose to feel or not. There's different degrees of those feelings, however, whereas one degree might trigger an emotional reaction, while the other triggers a rational response. The difference could be illustrated by considering how a person might get angry at another driver who makes a bone-headed maneuver, perhaps setting-off a road rage incident, versus getting angry about one's country being attacked without provocation, thereby calling for a well thought-out response. One you could simply brush-off; the other, however, you just won't stand for.

When I find myself on the freeways amongst jams and congestion, I often decide to exit and take the longer, but less travelled, route. I'd just rather avoid the hassle and aggravation, even if taking the back roads might add some miles and minutes to my trip.

If I had to (or wanted to) fly to Paris, London, or some other far away destination (or even into the NE/SE USA), sure I'd fly to get there, and I certainly wouldn't let it ruin my trip, my day, or even a single minute. I'd simply grin and bear it. But I seldom venture beyond the geography between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean, and between the Mexican and Canadian borders. I pretty much stay within a thousand mile (or less) radius, and weighing the pros and cons of adding a day (or less) to my travel time seems to fall more and more in favor of choosing to drive instead of fly. Like the busy freeway, [i]I'd just rather avoid the hassle and aggravation, even if taking the back roads might add some miles and minutes to my trip.[/i] Besides, by doing so, I can take a heck of a lot more stuff than I could have otherwise, I won't have to rent a car, etc.

Edited for the following P.S.

Upon rereading my message, it's interesting that I said, [i]....one degree might trigger an emotional reaction, while the other triggers a rational response."[/i]

Our airport security measures are (and have been), in my opinion, emotional reactions, not a rational response.

Gives new meaning to "blow it out your @ss."

.....it's mostly a case of politicians feeling a need to be seen to be doing something, than actually being concerned about something being done properly - AND they use emotional arguments to do it. (And, like you said, they never apply their laws to themselves.)

The Ice Road is farther to the east, on the other side of the Artic Reserve. The nearest airport to Prudhoe Bay is Dead Horse, but only a couple miles away. The bunk house I often stay in is just off the runway, unless I get to stay in the main housing unit if I'm working for BP. I've been doing this driving bit since 9/11 and haven't had a ticket yet. Plenty of warnings but no tickets. I even had two warnings in one day, twenty minutes and twenty miles apart. One for speeding and the other for an obsured licence plate(on a rentacar). Go figure. Only one accident in thirty years, rear ended in my personal car, but have dumped dozens of flares at night for others in peril.

Maybe you'd actually get your luggage on the same plane with you the way they tend to mess things up :D

but i think i heard somewhere before that some of the muslim women bombers have eh..well, used a particular spot to hide explosives??

ouchy ouchy ouchy

the only way some of them will get a decent bang.