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Mar
9
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Via Seth Godin's blog I just discovered the Freakonomics blog (and subscribed). If you haven't read the book - it's mostly about turning conventional wisdom on it's head through the rigorous application of facts; all delivered in a very entertaining way. One of the areas that I've certainly ranted about on this blog is the airline industry's reaction to 9-11 which demonstrates some real exuberant irrationality. Anyway - here's a very funny blog entry about travel; at least if you have your sarcasm receptors wired-up - sorry North America 
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Feb
24
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I meant this as a joke, untile I saw this article. Why don't they take the money they generate from confiscating people's personal belongings and give it back - for example - everytime someone gets something confiscated - give them a Starbucks voucher, better yet use the proceeds to provide a free postage paid envelopes so the items don't need to be confiscated in the first place. Remember - 99.99999% of travellers aren't guity of anything - they shouldn't be punished.
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Feb
4
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The "War on Liquid" continues unabated - I had my toothpaste confiscated by the security screeners at San Jose - of course I commended their dilligence and highlighted the fact that their colleagues at San Jose and at least half a dozen other airports had missed the same credible threat.
I wonder if this is all a conspiricy by the toothpaste companies to increase the turn on their inventories or by the screeners to make a bit on the side selling used personal hygeine products.
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Jan
26
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The Department of Homeland Security and Liquid Abatement recently changed the rules for entering the US from Canada - as of last Tuesday you need a passport rather than your driver's licence or other easily forgeable photo Id. Fortunately I knew that and grabbed my (British) passport as I left the house for a series of all day meetings followed by a late flight to Vancouver from SFO.
On the way back, checking in at the e-ticket machine in Vancouver it dawned on me that I'd forgotten my Green Card - that's the thing that proves I'm allowed to be in the US (vs. a temporary visa). Ah well I thought - I have the number in my organizer and I'm sure they can quickly determine that I have a Green Card (after all it's the same people that issued the card) - right ?
So I queued up at immigration (you pass through US immigration in Vancouver) and explained my situation to the immigration officer expecting to be quickly on my way. Nope. He explained I'd need to go to the immigration office. As I walked through the nondescript door I saw a room full of people who looked like they'd given up all hope of every seeing their loved ones again. I asked a couple of people how long they'd been waiting - I got various replies from 45 mins to 4 hours. Oh, feck, 45 mins 'til boarding. I asked one of the uniforms what the process was and was told to take a seat. I called the travel agency to see if I could get on a later flight but the same uniform told me I wasn't allowed to use my phone. I was about to rant about the lack of any signs saying anything about not using cell phones but decided it wasn't important enough to risk getting rubber-gloved.
Another uniform walked by so I explained very politely my situation and asked him what the process was; skipping the details he told me there were a couple of options but my best bet would be to stay in Vancouver a few more days and get my Green Card Fed-Exed. Vancouver is a really nice place and if it were Summer I'd probably have gone for that option. The uniform also explained I couldn't actually leave until I'd been 'processed' which could be a while, Feck^2.
So I sat back in the chair along with all the other dejected souls and start thinking of the Tom Hanks film - The Terminal - a fellow immigrant called Victor Navorski who get's stuck in JFK for a couple of years because he didn't have the right travel documents. I also start imagining the the smell of freshly powdered rubber gloves. Shudder.
Then, five minutes 'til boarding, out of nowehere a voice summons me into another office and another uniform asks me a bunch of security questions then explains the process (which I've already heard) and insists that they'll need to sort my case out tomorrow. After a bit of persistence - the uniform consults with one of his buddies and decides they can do something but it'll take time and cost $260 - and I'll probably still miss my flight. After several more minutes of furious form filling I'm running through the terminal and make my flight with a whole couple of minutes to spare. Yeeeha.
BTW if you're ever in Vancouver and like Indian food - I'd recommend Vij's, It's more like West Coast Indian Fusion but don't let that put you off - it's a very lively place, the food is top notch and they sell beer.
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Dec
1
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... starts the email I just received from British Airways - 'we'd just like to assure you that even though we've just found traces of a deadly radioactive isotope linked to the assassination of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko on three of our airliners - everything is under control - no problem.
Er, hold on - so it's been proven that it is possible to transport radioactive poison on commercial airliners - on a route that is (my guess) probably pretty strict on security. Yet the monkey at <insert your favourite airport here> still insists in strip searching my wash bag searching for combustible tooth-paste or something. I'd like to see airport authorities divert some attention away from the war on liquid and focus more on credible threats.
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Sep
26
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From today; it looks like some liquids are safe to fly again. For me, that was one day too late - I got pulled aside @ SJC because I had a Jamba Juice (Citrus Squeeze, Original). Shoes in one hand I had to go to the back of the queue and quaff it before proceeding. It gave me one of those "ice-cream headaches" you got eating ice-cream when you we're a kid. Travel is so undignified.
Technorati Tags: travel, undignified, war-on-liquid
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Aug
25
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I'm not one given to spreading fear and certainly believe that being afraid of terrorism is conceding defeat. But given the speed at which the world's authorities have been mobilized in the war on moisture and given the high profile cases of exploding laptop batteries (even without any nefarious intervention or design) - I'm pretty amazed that there isn't already a war on laptops - but by all reports it is still safe to be on a plane surrounded by laptops and other battery powered devices. Phew. A good book related to people's innability to assess and manage risk is "Against the Gods" by Peter Bernstein (Amazon link); Freakonomics also takes an interesting look at risk assesment.
Technorati Tags: laptop, exploding, war on moisture
