Regarding this latest terrorist scare

[thewayne]

So now I can't take my laptop on a flight, so much for being productive when I travel. And I can't take bottled water on a flight. But if I wanted to blow up a flight, I could build a body harness under my shirt holding bags of combustable liquid, just wear a loose shirt and maybe a jacket (obviously not in Phoenix). And no electronics. At least I won't have to worry about asshats gabbing on their phones incessantly while we're on the ground. And it would be so difficult to make a medical-looking device, plant some electrodes into my skin, and produce a doctor's note saying that it is an anti-seizure device for a life-threatening condition.

I'm sure I probably could no longer take a pack of Oscar Meyer Lunchables on a long flight, so I'll be stuck with airplane food. Oh, that's right, I don't have to worry about that: airlines no longer feed you.

I used to read a column written under the pen name of Steve Canyon. He was an airline pilot, and he said that the one thing you did not want to drink was airplane water. The standard for cleaning the tank are very low, and there's no telling where that tank was last filled: it could have been Mexico, it could have been Detroit.

So now I'm wondering if we'll be able to buy anything liquid from the vendors that are beyond the security "barrier".

Finally, the CATO Institute released a paper on the risks of terrorism. To say they are low is overstating it. http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/cato_on_the_ris.html. An article in American Scientist said that for airline flying to be as dangerous as driving in a car that there would have to be a set of 9/11 crashes EVERY MONTH.


I am so damn glad that I don't fly on a regular basis. I feel so much safer.

Comments

[neefsck.livejournal.com]

True to geek fashion that fact that I am no longer allowed to take my laptop - or from the looks of it, any kind of electronic equipment - concerns me a lot.

What are we supposed to do now?
Have the machine shipped seperately?
There is *no way* I am trusting some underpaid thrower with my luggage if I have to pack a laptop in there now.

Not to mention that the weight limit means that I can say goodbye to either a good portion of my wardrobe when I fly, or clothing..

Will shipping firms offer extra insurance now?

God forbid I should have to move back to australia in the next 6 - 12 months, What am I supposed to do then?
It took nearly a month for the stuff I shipped seperately to catch up with me.
Am I supposed to put up with that?

Gah!

[donkey-hokey.livejournal.com]

The whole situation is ridiculous.

I'm guessing I won't be able to take my portable battery-operated air purifier (http://www.ionizers.org/airsupply.html) on the airplane anymore. It looks weird and probably like it might be a portable bomb of some sort. Or something. Combine that with the inability to bring drinks or food onboard, and there go the three main things that make it possible for me to fly.

I haven't flown on a plane in ~5 years. It's going to be a very long time before I ever fly again.

Between high gas prices and ridiculously paranoid levels of airport security, it's probably a good thing there's lots of stuff for me to do locally.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I meant to bring that up in my post. I think I would go blind if I had to travel like that. THE HORROR! THE HORROR!

Even so, there's nothing preventing infiltration of the maintenance crew or someone with a 30.06 and a good telescopic site putting a dozen rounds into an engine.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I have a big Pelican case for my camera equipment, I used it when I flew to Las Vegas to photograph chess tournaments. I think this is the model: http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail.php?Case=1610. BIG and VERY ORANGE. I would probably buy one for my laptop and have to either eat the service charge ship it ahead via UPS or FedEx.

Ridiculous doesn't begin to cover it.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I quit the police department in March 2001 and at that point I was no longer working the chess tournaments in 'Vegas, so my main reason for flying had gone away. Until last year and getting married, then the funeral for my FIL, I hadn't flown.

Russet and I had been considering going to DragonCon in Atlanta as she theoretically would be in Virginia at that time and could maybe hitch a ride with two friends from the Richmond area and I'd fly out of El Paso or Phoenix, but that plan fell through. Now she's not going to VA (she was to do some work with people building a new instrument for her telescope, but the VA people are running behind sched), but she might fly to Maine to see her sis, we don't know yet. But she checked flights this AM after the news got out, they all went up in price.

For me, driving to Phoenix is slightly less expensive than flying. Definitely less expensive when you consider mileage back and forth to El Paso and either double that for someone to drive me or to store the car, I prefer the drive, longish though it may be.

[neefsck.livejournal.com]

Some of these cases look really good.

Thanks for the link.
I'll try and chase something locally up should I need it :)

[deborak]

You can ratchet your alert level down a notch, Wayne.
Laptops, etc.

[deborak]

I don't watch the news anymore. I prefer to damage my brain with alcohol rather than misinformation.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Camera stores are going to probably be your best source, of course you can always prowl the tubes of the interweb. I'd recommend gun stores, but I don't think there are too many of those in the UK.

[donkey-hokey.livejournal.com]

But you're only counting monetary expense. :) The reduced stress level makes it MUCH less expensive.