What's Happening In Your Life?

[Brooke]

EF, have fun! I'd love to see the Beverly Hills Hotel. Bring us a pic, ok?

[MikeA]

Made it home! Avoided disaster at least THREE times! First, Verna lost her driver's license! She was in a gift shop and had to have her ID (the DL) along with her Player's Card. She had given the cashier her Player's Card to check for available points on it and while she was doing that, Verna was looking around the shop to pick out things for the kids and other family back home. Well, her Player's Card had demagnetized! Apparently she had held it in the same hand as a Fridge magnet! Had to go get a new players card encoded and that took forever! Got it done and back to the shop to check out with the gifts and had to show her DL. Well, it wasn't to be found.

Folks, if you travel by air, you KNOW how helpless you feel if you lose your ID! Verna was in a panic and had every right to be! No ID, well, you can fly, but it is a real time consuming hassle to get clearance to board the plane! Luckily, she found it laying in the aisle in the shop where she'd dropped it <SIGH!>

Okay, all set. Almost. I had $55 in comps at the El Cortez. That pretty much is more than the total inventory of the Gift Shop! But we did finally find a way to waste the entire balance on stuff we could compress into our carry-on luggage! Thank God I've got Verna. She is a mastermind at packing! We actually got it all loaded....gifts packed inside other gifts, every cranie in my computer case filled, and her shoulder bag stuffed!

So we get the rented car (a KIA SUV) out of hoc (Valet Parking) and load and head up Main St towards Wyoming to get onto Dean Martin and then the terminal for car returns. I was stopped at a Traffic Light and was in the right hand thru lane with a car beside me in the right turn lane and a Mustang Convertible in the left lane next to me. The light changes...and that freakin' Mustang stomps it and turns RIGHT in front of me. I got stopped before hitting him and so did the guy in the turn lane, but the Mustang came within inches of hitting a pedestrian in the crosswalk and then ALMOST rammed into a car that had just turned! I was doing some serious stress shakin' after that very near miss.

Got to the terminal and dropped off the car and made it to the airport with no problems other than stretching my arm (Verna's too) with the overpacked luggage. We got to the gate and discovered that the flight we were on was running a half hour late. No biggie. We were on the way home and our only care was that we GOT THERE! An hour or so wasn't going to upset us too much!

So, we have paid for Priority Boarding. We do that because we want to be able to get to our seats on the plane before it fills up and there is no room in the overheads for the carry-on luggage. Alligiant charges $30 or $35 a bag for checking luggage so everyone carries theirs on the plane to avoid the charges. We got our seat and had our luggage all stowed away thank God. Then they started boarding the General Seating. It is all assigned of course with with those making reservations on-line getting seat assignments at their choice when they make the reservations. Those getting their seat assignments at the terminal are getting "pot luck" but they don't pay as much. All they know is that they have reserved seating so they will not be without a seat.

That's when things started getting ugly. Alligiant had a "computer malfunction" and they started assigning seating to seats that people had reserved and PAID for the privilege of picking their seats. They had people with ledgimate boarding passes with seating assignments that were for the same seats that someone else had also! Finally the crew on the plane said for everyone to just find any empty seat and get strapped in so we could get the plane in the air!

Oh, man, if I had been one of those who had paid extra to pick an available seat a month or so in advance, I'd have been one upset flyer!

Then when we finally made it to Wichita, we were delayed on deplaning because of the delay in leaving Vegas. There was no crew to man the jetway nor a crew to unload the checked luggage. It wasn't bad though. The got us off the plane with only a 15 minute delay.

Folks, if you are a smoker, you KNOW how long 15 minutes is when you've been watching the second-hand tick away the minutes on a 2.5 hour flight that was late arriving by a half hour and didn't board until an hour after the specified boarding time. That adds up to two hours plus the additional hour plus 2.5 hours plus another 15 minutes. Almost 5 hours without a smoke! I was ready to step out onto the wing to have a cigarette <LOL>....at 35000 feet and 500mph!

But we did make it home. Good to be here!

[AzEaglesFan]

Mike, you made my day. I had such a bad time at the Phoenix Airport last time I flew to Austin that I swore I would NEVER fly again. I must say that the folks at Austin when I flew back were so nice that they restored my faith in airport workers. The whole mess was just bacause I took my laptop (never again) and because of my knee replacement. The people at Phoenix acted like I tried to take an AK49 unto the plane and about had a heart attack because of a couple of metal eyelets on the pants I wore.

[ticky]

welcome home, Mike! Sounds like you had an adventure!! Im so glad Verna found her DL!! I know how scary that can be and you're right, traveling sans ID is next to impossible! She really dodged a bullet finding right where she'd dropped it. WHEW!

I just gotta say one thing... its not pretty, and Im not happy about it.. take this as advance warning if you're anywhere near the Portland area tomorrow morning... my espresso make stopped working. You've been warned... take cover and buy duct tape.

[MikeA]

LOL....I'm nowhere NEAR Portland, but I obtained quantities of Duck (duct) Tape anyway. One never knows the discord that can be generated by an uncaffeined Ticky!

I used to have more problems with laptops. These days, you just lay them in a tray outside their cases and run them through the scanners. But about 10 years ago you had to actually power the computers up for the security people. That was a real hassle because 10 years ago with WIN3, things took a while to come alive and battery life wasn't extraordinary!

But I'm right there with you AEF.....I HATE Airport Security! I don't wear sandals or slip-on shoes so it is a real inconvenience removing shoes that have absolutely no metal in them. I understand that happens because of the "gell soles" some athletic shoes have. Some bomber replaced the athletic gell in his shoes with explosive. Still, I don't see what they could see to tell the difference in an xray scan! To keep the alarm from going off, I have to remove my watch...rings other than my wedding band, necklace, belt...anything that is metal. I have a little tin that I keep a day's supply of pain meds in and forgot to take it out of my pocket. It set off the alarms and I had to go through the "pat-down" with all the chemical patch sampling to detect explosives. Then I had to dig my prescription bottle out of the bottom of my computer case to show them that the pills were authentic and that I had the legal right to be carrying them!

We always take Taster's Choice coffee with us. It has a plastic container but has a metal seal and you DO NOT break that seal before reaching the hotel room unless you want coffee grounds embedded in the clothing in that suitcase. Twice in a row we've had to open our suitcase and let them go through it to confirm that the coffee is coffee! We quit taking water heaters with us. Many of the hotels do not have coffee makers in the rooms...they want you to buy coffee at whomever has the concession for it at the hotel. So I go across the street to Walgreens and buy a water crok-pot for $10 for the trip and just leave it when we leave!

[AzEaglesFan]

Bobby refuses to fly, no matter what he does, he sets off the alarm and has to be wanded and that was before they put you in the "glass cage" that they have now. In Phoenix I stood there so long I wondered if I was going to get to the gate in time to fly out. Everyone stares at you like you are an idiot. On top of that they left all my "stuff" on the belt and I saw several people look around and make a motion toward my laptop and purse. I think one of the things that got me in trouble is I asked if I could get my belongings off the belt before someone walked off with them and it made the security staff mad. I had 4 security staff standing over me before I finally got cleared and could leave. 2 of them never said anything, one was real mouthy (even more than me) and one was very nice and tried to talk to me to calm me down. One of them finally brought my stuff over to where I was and just dumped them on the floor so there was really no calming me down at that point. I will probably fly again because it is a lot faster than driving but not for awhile. I look for things to get worse instead of better.

[MikeA]

It's never been really bad for Verna and I. Nothing like that with you and Bobby. I had to go through what you call the glass cage twice. Once with that pill box that set things off and another time when I was wearing a back brace. I debated on taking it off to go through security, but decided I'd leave it on. Really was hurting and those lines are LONG in Las Vegas. It can take a half hour just to get to the place where they check your ID and let you into the security check area. If you get "selected" for display in that glass cubical, it can take another half hour....that seems like half a day!

I don't know what the deal was at the airport Friday. I'd not have thought there would have been that many people leaving LV. I knew there would be a lot flying in. A Wisconsin UNLV today I think and they were expecting Tens of Thousands to come in Friday.

[Glennsallnighter]

Mike! I'm glad your got home ok with all those little incidents. One would be worrying enough, but 3!! I dunno how you had the patience.

Julie! Have a wonderful holiday in the UK! I know you have been planning it a long time so I hope it is everything you are hoping for. You know, you can always check in here via a cheap internet cafe if you really feel the DT's coming on.

Willie! I'm glad your Mum seems better.

Rhonda!! How DO you Do it girl! Just reading your posts, and all you manage to do in a day makes me tired! Hope the canning goes well.

EF travel safely! I hope you get to see the original HC!!

Jess! Those pictures of the Pow wow are magnificent. I love the rich colour and the energy that vibrates out of them.

Once again, I'm sorry I've been absent do much. Since I started the photography course 3 weeks ago I've been completely run off my feet. I'm back at work now and busier than ever. The week before I want back I had to do a 10 hour round driving trip in one day to the funeral of a good friend's father. Up in West Donegal for those of you who know Irish geography. The kids only went back to school this Wednesday.

So forgive me for my absence, Its not intentional and I DO think of you all and how you and your loved ones are (Yep Willie, that includes the critters), even when I can't make it on here. To anyone I've left out, sorry! I hope to be back a lot more often!!

[Freypower]

I've done two amazing things today - printed an Eagles ticket and printed our boarding passes. The wonders of technology.

[EaglesFanatic]

Just got back from LA tonight. Really fun trip! Here are some pictures from The Beverly Hills Hotel. Of course, I had to wear my Hotel California shirt that day