draggonlaady

FINALLY, the FAA has told airlines to stop being dumb and let people use ebooks and video players on planes because they will not somehow randomly make planes crash.

Next day was time to head home. Which means that once I again, I commend myself to the goodness and mercy of Alaska Airlines.

First thing in the morning, I called customer service.
"Hi. I'm supposed to be flying out of Petersburg, Alaska today. I did not receive the confirmation call which I was expecting, so I just wanted to make sure everything's okay."
"Did you make a reservation?"
"Yes..." (thinking but NOT said aloud: No, I was expecting a confirmation call because I think you're all psychic and just KNOW when I need to fly, without my bothering with this 'reservation' thing.)
She rattles at the keyboard for a minute. "Did you pay for it?"
"Yes!"
After another 4-5 minutes of key rattling, she finally says "Oh, there it is." (This is NOT comforting, thank you!) She confirms that I'll be leaving that afternoon, and that I'll be allowed on the plane.

I walk down town for breakfast, and then back to the other end of town (what? it's not a long walk) to check out the book store. While I'm poking through the stacks, the power goes out. To the entire town. And apparently to Wrangell and another town as well. I am assured that if the airports all shut down just for little things like power outages, half the scheduled flights through Alaska wouldn't happen. Somehow this is not terribly reassuring, as it's been my experience that half of the flights through Alaska don't happen. (What, me, cynical?)

I spend about 2 hours chatting with a random guy in the hotel lobby (yeah, I'm odd), and then hit the little cafe outside of the hotel for lunch. Sweet potato and rock fish curry over brown rice--good stuff, Maynard. Power came back on somewhere in there.

Then we head to the airport; T and J are on the same flight out as I am, and there are a couple people coming in on that flight that Dennis and Toni are supposed to pick up. I go to check in, and the computer refuses to print me a boarding slip or baggage claim strip. Takes 3 tries for the woman to get it done. I realize that this is probably a result of the power outage and not anything the airline did, but still!

Petersburg is a tiny airport; they don't have the baggage x-ray machines, so everything gets searched by hand by TSA. And swabbed for nitrates. Oddly, even though the clothes I was wearing when I tested positive in Ketchikan are in the bag, they pass it. I do end up having to send my carry-on through twice though, because they couldn't figure out what my camera was on the first trip. *sigh*

So we all board, and the flight attendants come by and tell me to turn off my reader. Since I'm still wondering exactly what that's about, I ask. And get one of the stupidest, blatantly bullshit answers EVER. FAA regulations (I am told) require that all devices, even those with no transmit functions, be turned off because (drum roll please) they want people to pay attention to the safety spiel and these devices would be distracting. Riiiight... because the bloke next to me reading his book, and the woman over across the way with the magazine, those people aren't distracted? Why don't these (dare I say non-existant?) FAA regulations require that books, magazines, games, and newspapers be stowed also? And how come I can't turn the reader back on as soon as the flight attendant is done talking instead of waiting until we get to 10,000 feet? Your answer, it makes no sense! A 6 year old could do better.

Bruce suggests that prior to my next vacation, I should download into the reader the FAA regulations regarding passenger conduct, as well as TSA regulations regarding passengers so that when I get obviously bullshit answers like that (or like the one we got on our Knoxville trip, where the flight attendant claimed it was a TSA regulation that passengers not seated in 1st class couldn't use the lavatory in the 1st class area) I can ask them to show me the pertinent section.

Anyway, rather than deal with turning the reader off every time we land as we island skip down the coast, I start in on the book I bought at the Petersburg book store. Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow. As with most of Doctorow's work, it's available for free download on his site. It was a terribly apropos book, given my recent frustrations with TSA. Basic plot is a teenage kid in California, and his struggles with a Homeland Security Department gone bat-shit (even more so than currently in real life) after a terrorist attack. I recommend it. (As you may have guessed from the links to buy or download it, yeah?)

The flight to SeaTac was actually fairly uneventful. Then I spent 3 hours sitting in SeaTac waiting for my next flight. Picked up dinner at Waji's, which was not bad, but nothing spectacular either. Was continually irritated by the "Talking Fountain" in the waiting area. Someone's idea of art, apparently, is to hook a speaker up to a drinking fountain, so that whenever anyone gets water, it makes quite loud, repetitive sounds like rocks banging together under water. Maybe I just don't get art, but I found this intrusive and annoying, not pretty or soothing.

SeaTac decided to play switchery-doo with the gates, and no announcements were made that I heard. I figured it out (just) before they finished boarding, and the flight to Spokaloo was uneventful.

One final note about airport security: I apparently had a pretty basic misunderstanding of how the "metal detectors" work. I wear this shiny piece which Bruce gave me. As you can see, it's not subtle. This is a big chunk of metal. Not a single security machine cared. I was vaguely aware that it was possible to sneak ceramic or polymer weapons through security, but it had never occurred to me that I could walk through with over a quarter pound of metal. Apparently, stainless steel doesn't interfere with electromagnetic fields enough to trip the security. So you can get through security with practically any sort of weapon, if you're prepared. Meanwhile, people who are absolutely no threat are delayed, harassed, and imposed upon. Does this make me feel safer? Hmm. Nope. "Security theater" indeed. Americans lose, the terrorists win.

to yesterday's dog bite story, here's a case where the owner clearly needs to be smacked. Please note that in this case the owner blatantly disregarded common sense, regulations, and specific instructions, and this dog bit 2 people. Please also note, that so far nobody's screaming for the destruction of the dog, presumably because it's little.

The dog is described as "that poor thing" by one commenter on the article, and while several people mention requiring the owner to pay medical costs for the bites, there's not even a single mention of quarantining the dog for rabies observation, let alone euthanizing it or declaring it Potentially Dangerous.

And not good news. Half of the dogs on a single flight from Tulsa to Chicago Tuesday died.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/04/illinois.airline.dog.deaths/index.html?hpt=T2

Sounds to me like everyone involved in this was stupid one way or another, but in particular, I find this too stupid to adequately express:

AirTran company policy bars animals other than cats, dogs and household birds in the cabin, said spokesman Christopher White. White cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that says the reptiles have been known to carry salmonella bacteria.

If AirTran is actually concerned about disease or health issues involved in having animals transported in cabin, then they should reverse this entirely. The risks of a passenger having an allergic response to a dog, cat, or bird is hugely higher than any risk posed by being in the same room as a caged turtle. Feather dust and cat hair will easily escape a kennel or travel-cage, floating about the cabin freely and exposing anyone who's breathing to common allergens (and how many people reading this do not know someone who has a severe allergic reaction to dogs and/or cats and/or birds?), whereas the only way someone will be getting salmonella exposure from a turtle is if they touch or hold it, and then stick their fingers in their mouths or handle food without washing first. Which seems more likely to be a problem? There is not a single iota of logic behind this policy.

Additionally, and with an eye towards getting pets transported alive to destination, most cargo areas are not climate controlled. Which species do you think will tolerate the rapid and sometimes extreme temperature changes that happen in a cargo hold? Warmblooded animals with well-established thermoregulation, or reptiles that rely entirely on environmental conditions to maintain internal functions?

I will not even bother ranting about the stupidity of not checking in advance about animal transport policies, or the frustration of inconsistent security and airline policies.

Tangentially--last I heard it was illegal to sell turtles less than 4 inches across. Wonder where they picked up this little 2 inch baby...