Bad to good

As much as I love to travel, I despise flying and I am afraid now that I will never fly again.

We arrived at the airport an hour before our flight. We had carefully packed all of our liquids into tiny containers that were less than 3 ounces. And put them all in a Ziplock bag.

When we got to the security line, the first Barney Fife told us that our liquids had to be in 2 quart size Ziplock bags, not a 1 gallon bag as we had. He told us that a supervisor would look at it when we got to the front of the line and since it was for both of us, it should be ok. The rules are not yet too clear on that whole issue.

Whatever.

When we get through security, Barney Fife #2 pulls out our bag and says it has to be a quart bag. I said “It’s for both of us”. Matthew claimed the TSA website did not say “quart” and it only had a picture of a ziplock bag. (but he was wrong) Barney #2 said he would get a supervisor to explain it to us. I told him I didn’t need it explained to me; I needed it to be taken care of. He said my options were to throw it away or go check it. We had 20 minutes before our flight! And we are being treated like criminals.

So of course I get mad and I have an unfortunate bad habit of cussing like a sailor even when I’m not mad, but it’s worse when I am mad. The supervisor (Barney #3) told me there was no need for bad language. Excuse me? Now you are going to try to censor my speech?

All of this over the SIZE OF A BAG! The stuff in it was legal and properly packed. It was just the SIZE OF A BAG!

I appreciate their commitment and dedication to being assholes, but we have a flight to catch.

We decided to check the bag so I reached for the ziplock to put in back in the bag to go back to the ticket counter. He said “You can’t touch it.” It’s my stuff motherfucker.

Why am I being treated like a terrorist in my own fucking country??

Matthew took the bag and along with Barney #2 went back to the ticket counter while I went on to the gate.

Well guess what? You can’t check a bag less than 30 minutes before departure. So when I walk all the way to the gate they tell me to go back because we have to take the next flight.

After all is said and done, Matthew tells me this all could have been avoided if he had used his ID to go through the airport employee line with the bag. Because everybody knows they are not terrorists.

So now we are on the nonstop to West Palm, which actually gets in 15 minutes before the connecting flight we were supposed to be on. Except now, karma is getting me back for being a bitch and the flight is delayed 30 minutes.

I am absolutely outraged over this. Maybe I should change my political party affiliation. If I become a Democrat, I can shout from the rooftops about my civil liberties being violated.

I will not travel again if I have to be treated like a criminal by the fucking Nazis in the TSA. I will not tolerate this in my own (fascist) country.

I would so love to move. I love France. I love Italy. How about Australia! Then I could dive! Matthew can stay here with this government he loves so much. He doesn’t mind bending over and taking it. How dare someone threaten to throw away all of my expensive Aveda hair products! By the way, I told Matthew when we were packing up that it would be much easier to just check the damn bag and not worry about it.

Enough of that.

We arrived in West Palm Beach around 1pm without further incidents. When we picked up our rental car, they tried to talk us into upgrading to the next level for “only $5 a day.” No thank you. I ALWAYS book the smallest available car (which everyone should do unless they need to be guaranteed a bigger car) because they only have a few of them and 9 times out of 10 you are going to end up with a bigger car. So anyway, I told her no I did not want to upgrade. She even made a big production of ordering the “Aveo” to be brought out for us. And she told us how tiny and cramped it was. That’s ok…really. We will be fine. Well guess what…we were dropped off next to a brand new PT Cruiser. I love driving different types of cars. And this one only had 4 miles on it, so we have enjoyed the “new car smell” while driving around.

We checked into the hotel and found a gorgeous pool with a rock waterfall. Very nice – I was not expecting that. We met Tammie at her house around 4:30 pm. I have not seen her in about 4 years. I hate that one of my oldest and best friends lives so far away from me. (we have been friends for 27 years! Isn’t that amazing?!) Good friends are hard to find and you should hold onto your old ones. Anyway, we spent a great evening with her, her son Dylan and daughter Abigail. Oh and Jasmine the super hyperactive puppy. Her children are so cute and so much fun. Her husband Rob, came home around 8:30 so we got to spend some time with him too. She has a beautiful family and I am so happy for her. Now if only she would move closer! Cuz I don’t think we will be moving to Florida. I like it down here in small doses, but I would not want to live here again.


Interesting side note: When we left Tammie’s house last night, Matthew said “I want a girl.” WHAT?!?!?!?! That was music to my ears! He has always wanted a boy, but only because he didn’t know any better. Last night was one of the few times he has spent time with a little girl. And he liked it. Well that’s it. If we get pregnant again…it will have to be a girl.

Before we left Port St. Lucie, we drove over to the beach. Since we were this close to Mother Ocean, we couldn’t leave without at least dipping our feet in and wishing we could DIVE.

We arrived in Orlando around 1:30 Friday afternoon and went directly to the Orlando Ale House. It’s sort of a tradition when we come here. We stay at the Sleep Inn across from Universal and we eat dinner at the Ale House. (I love traditions)

Right now it’s 4:15 pm. We are going to head across the street in about 30 minutes. I am excited. I love Halloween and I love this event. It’s not really scary to me anymore (even when I was 25 or so years old, I would get scared coming here…but I am jaded now) but I like to look at the production work that goes into the whole thing. The sets, the props, the costumes. It’s just a lot of fun for us. We may be geeks, but that’s what we like.

I am going to end this entry for now. I will review HHN in my next entry. And I know everyone wants pictures, but you will have to wait until I get back home!!!

So far this has been a great trip – in spite of how it started out. I am over that now, even though I was mighty pissed when it happened. I try not to let things like that bother me for too long.