Encounters with the TSA

you're going to be far too warm if you try and wear it in the airport
or on the 'plane.

There is life outside airports.


? In the USA ??? - Where ?

Apart from the centres of about 5 cities its the only place I've seen more
than 5 people together who walk more than 50 yards.

"Sleeping Racoon" wrote in message
...
PTRAVEL wrote:
person. As for borrowing umbrellas, that's fine _if_ you go to the
hotel
first, _if_ you're going to return after and _if_ you don't mind
dragging a
full-size umbrella around at court all day. Many ifs.

Reminds me of the guy from Wham who had a whole video redone because he
didn't
like the way his hair was.

Sorry, but I don't understand teenage references like this.



If you are so important,

No, son, you just don't get it. I'm not "so important." I am, however,
important enough to my clients and my firm that I have to be reachable 24/7.

then you can take a cab that will drop you off
directly in front of the court house and won't have to feel more than a
couple
drops of rain. And if the court appearance is so important, you won't be
arriving last minute and those few drops of rain will have had plenty of
time
to dry off.

Show me your license to practice law and I'll consider your suggestions.
Otherwise, you're just one more college student with a computer (which is my
best guess -- tell me how accurate I am).


Of course, if you are 90 years old and take half an hour to walk from the
cab
to the entrance of the court house, things are different. And again, we
are
talking about those occasions where your luggage woudln't have made it
*AND*
the weather is such that it is raining.

No, tri-mode are dual-band CDMA and analogue. Motorola and Samsung make
them for Verizon, among others.

That is what Verizon calls them. But they are bi mode dual frequency.

Verizon calls them that because that is what they are called -- by Verizon,
by the manufacturer, and by me in this thread.

They
only support 2 protocols (IA95 (CDMA) and analogue (AMPS)).

That's what I said. I'm glad you paid attention to, at least, that much of
my post.

There are tri-mode
phones on the market (AT&T will be needing them to service its GSM and old
TDMA and older AMPS networks), and those will also have dual frequency to
use
1900 and 850 for the GSM and TDMA modes.

And then I can't make or receive phone calls, which is the whole point
of
the cellular phone.

Unless Verizon has crippled features, learn to use your voice mail and
call
forwarding effectively. And if you are really such a hot shot, why don't
you
get an Iridium handset and service ?

As I said, sonny, I can't help it if the fact that I have a job that carries
with it a considerable amount of responsibility makes you feel insecure.
And I don't carry an Iridium handset and service because I don't need it.
There is cellphone service everywhere I go.



Again, if your old phone only has automony for 3 days, that is more than
ample
time for your luggage to arrive. Learn to use it more effectively.

Further proof that you don't travel much at all. No, 3 days is not enough
for your luggage to arrive. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. I don't
run close to the edge just to satisfy some college student's conception of
appropriate carryons.


secondary airports and I don't fly commuters.

Your problem not mine. If your time is so valuable, how come you can
afford to
drive such long distances and arrive tired instead of taking a smaller
plane ?

Because it takes about the same time to drive 200 miles as it would to fly
it in a commuter, allowing for boarding, disembarking, and the inevitable
ground hold.


job yet. My clients have my cellphone number because, as part of the
service I provide, they can call me 24/7 if they need me.

Do you know what voice mail is ?

Sure. Do you think an answering machine is an adequate substitute for live
access? When you get a real job, you'll understand the difference.

Do you have your phone when you're at the
toilet ?

As a matter of fact, I do.

Do you have a waterpropof phone so you can have it with you while you
take a shower ?

Don't need it in the shower, as long as I can hear it.


If your phone is so important, you should get one that has greater
automony.

You're misusing the word "autonomy," but I think I know what you mean.
Three days is plenty for my phone. Why should I get one that requires more?
Just so I don't have to pack a phone charger that occupies a couple of
square inches and weighs an ounce or too? Because you said so?


"call me back at this number," nor do I tell them, "I'll call you back."
I
take the call. Period.

What happens if they call you while you are at a very dangerous/difficult
intersection with lots of traffic ?

I say, "Hold on a second while I pull over."

Doe they get to hear your death as your
car crashes into some truck, or do you politely tell them that you're
driving
and you'll call them back in a minute or two ? (or just to hold while you
get
out of the dangerous situation ?

The latter, obviously.


Incidently, if and when you do get a job that requires you to travel for
business, you'll learn that long-distance calls are heavily surcharged
in
business hotels.

Nobody is advising you to use hotel phones on a regular basis. Only in
those
cases where your phone battery is running low.

But why should I? Why incur the extra expense? To satisfy your conception
of propriety?


I don't "overburden" myself. I have two carryons.

Well, someone in this thread did mention some of the folks who carry too
much
stuff. Isn't that what the thread is all about ?

Yes, and you pronounced cellphone chargers as unnecessary. What else do
you, based on your vast experience of never having travelled for business,
consider unnecessary? Oh, yes -- umbrellas (you'd show up for client
meetings and court appearances wearing a trash bag). Computers (despite the
fact that you haven't a clue how they are used in my profession). Razors.
Clean clothes. Sorry, son, backpacking around Europe does not give you
sufficient expertise to provide suggestions, much less judgments, about
business travel in the U.S.


tee-shirt. I will _never_ check bags when I travel for business.

And don't expect any sympathy when TSA decides to fully examine the
boatload
you are carrying as carry-on luggage.

I don't have a boatload. However, the best insurance is to make sure that
TSA has no reason to examine anything, which brings this thread full circle.
I move through the security screening efficiently, without holding anyone
up, and I never set off the metal detector.

Had you said "there are times where I
can't afford to risk losing luggage and hence carry it all with me", you
would
have had respect. But your blanket statement makes you look like the
inexperienced one.

Um, yes, right, I'm the inexperienced one.



I don't use SMS. However, Verizon has an adequate substitute -- email
can
be sent direct to my phone.

Unless you have a phone equipped with the CDMA eequivalent of GPRS, those
email messages are sent as an SMS to your phone and you only get the first
150
characters (or multiple messages of 150 characters). (GSM is able to fit
160
characters in an SMS).

Who cares? Do you think the extra 10 characters is at all relevant to
anything under discussion here?


I don't get what you probably consider an "urgent" SMS. Or, more
accurately, if there is something truly urgent, my secretary will send
email
to my phone

its's an SMS.

No, it's an email.


and to my in-firm and private email, will call my cellphone, and
fax my hotel. He'll also call my wife and my travel agent.

See, there are ways to reach you when your phone is inoperative.

then manage by regularly checking your voicemail.

Which I would do from my cellphone. Which would need to be charged.

You can check your voice mails from a pay phone. Saving your batteries. I
guess it isn't cool for an expensive lawyer to be seen using a payphone.

Next time I see a payphone in a rental car, my hotel room or the attorneys
lounge at a federal court, I'll consider whether or not it looks cool to use
one.


Sorry, but I think you're wrong. I don't think handlers look at
anything
other than check-in-applied luggage sticker. They don't read
hand-written
tags. They don't notice hand-written tags.

I am not talking about tags with your name on it attached to the handle. I
am
talking about large stickers on both sides of your suitcase. And I am
talking
about computer generated labels, not handwritten ones.

More proof that you just don't fly very much. You're simply wrong.


And that's contrary to everything that I know about flying. Have you
ever
_watched_ a luggage handler? They're not looking at anything. They
simply
throw the bags from the cart onto the belt.

There are many levels of luggage handling. The ones you see on the tarmac
are
not the only ones.

But they were the ones you were talking about. However, I don't care which
baggage handler you mean -- they won't read stickers on the side of your
luggage.

You also have the ones in the luggage makeup room that take
sorted luggage and load them onto containers (or troleys for
non-containerized
aircraft), and in smaller airport, you have manual luggage sorting that
bring
luggage to the right bin in the luggage makeup room. (this is mechanical
in
larger airports).

It is the ones in the makeup room that have a chance to spot routing
errors
and correct them.

Again, you haven't a clue what you're talking about. If your luggage
misses
it's connection, it is sent to a luggage handling facility where it is
entered into the "lost luggage" system.

Missing a connection is quite different from misrouted.

Yes, so? Both are possibilities when you fly.


They will know right away that your luggage has missed its connection, and
they can them put in on the next flight (and yes, they will enter it into
the
computer so that you, at the other airport will have an idea of when it
will arrive.

And you don't seem to be too famliar with how long this process takes. I've
had my luggage lost and/or misdirected, enough times so that I will never
check bags on a critical trip.


With misrouted luggage, it is more lengthy process since your luggage must
first turn around in the luggage belt until it is declared unclaimed, at
which
point they will look at the tags, and if it was misrouted, enter it into
the
computer, again with next flight to destination. Meanwhile, at the
terminating
airport, you have the airline enter the delivery details of where the
luggage
should be delivered. The computers will assemble both messages into one
based
on the airline tag number.

the destination lost-luggage office. They, in turn, will eventually
organize a delivery service to bring it to your hotel.

"eventually" is not quite right. When the lugagge is found, it is given a
special tag so that at the destination it is sent immediatly to the lost
luggage dept.

Again, I have this happen to me more times than I can count. You're wrong.



Do you think a luggage delivery person will be allowed to bring it to me
in
court?

They would leave it with the security guard if so instructed. Not
different
from FedEx.

There is no security guard at a court. There are marshalls and bailiffs
and, no, they will not accept a bag delivered to the court house.


I work in the hotel room. I don't wash and iron clothes.

And I guess your wiofe should remain barefoot and pregnant ?

My god, but your an ass. I _work_ in the hotel room. Do you understand the
word "work"? I don't have time to wash and iron clothes. These aren't
vacation trips -- I'm there for a reason, my client is paying for my time,
and I work in exchange for that pay.


No business hotel that I'm aware of has overnight cleaning services,
including the ones I stay at in major cities like New York.

I have stayed in a few that had. I've had a black tie suit pressed
overnight a
few times.

Good for you. It's not a service offered by Marrior, Hilton, Hyatt or
Westin at any hotel I've ever stayed at in the U.S.


Note that all those occasions were outside the USA.

Noted. So naturally, you extrapolated from a few experiences in other
countries to one you evidently know little about.

Perhaps the USA big hotels
have that service, but you never inquired.

Sonny, I've been either gold or platinum with Marriott for the last ten
years. I _know_ what services are offered.

In message , mrtravel
writes
Why in the world would you not have room for a cell charge in your carryon?

I do have room (along with a few dozen other "essential" items) [1]. But
people here keep heckling us frequent business travellers and keep
telling us that things aren't as essential as we think. Specifically
that a mobile phone charger isn't essential because we can always buy a
new one.

[1] Because I choose to travel with a phone whose charger is small and
light. One of my other phones has a much larger and heavier "power
brick" that's obviously got a transformer in it, and plugs directly into
the wall (problems there with overseas sockets being a different shape).
--
Roland Perry

In message , Miss L. Toe
writes
There is life outside airports.


? In the USA ??? - Where ?

There are airports in places apart from the USA :-)

Apart from the centres of about 5 cities its the only place I've seen more
than 5 people together who walk more than 50 yards.

I was at the main Microsoft campus about a year ago, and a lot of people
walk round that.
--
Roland Perry

In message , Roger deLux
writes
May well be true as a general statement but I was surprised to note that BA
allowance is 6kg and Ryanair 7kg.

Meanwhile Ryanair's checked baggage allowance is only 15kg.

--
Roland Perry

On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 18:01:36 +0000, Julian Fowler
wrote:

On Sat, 8 Nov 2003 17:25:30 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , Julian Fowler
writes
my observation is that those who get delayed and/or delay others while
sorting out their belongings are simply travelling with too much stuff

On the other hand we've been advised, during this debate, to take as
hand baggage anything we don't want to lose. (aka anything we can't buy
a complete replacement for within a couple of hours of arriving at the
destination).

So .... I really do wonder what all these essential/non-replacable
items that people *have* to take with them are. Maybe I'm the
exception: everything that falls into the essential/non-replacable
category goes into my backpack; everything else (basicly clothing and
toiletries) into one checked bag.

Cameras and other photo equipment. The issue is that, even packed
properly, the airline will accept *no* responsibility for *loss* or
damage for various things, including photographic equipment and
electronics.

Now, waiving responsibility for damage is, honestly, reasonable. They
don't know how fragile and well packed the thing is, so they have to
play it safe and be conservative.

But waiving responsibility for *loss*??? That basically says "our
contracted handlers and employees will steal anything valuable", which
is harder to justify.

[ Snip ]

Julian

Malc.

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 20:26:16 +0000, Julian Fowler
wrote:

[ Snip ]

Julian

* when I've done this I usually get incredulous stares from the
pre-pubescent salespersons that phone shops usually employ, comments
ridiculing the fact that I'm still using a phone that's "like, y'know,
A YEAR OLD -- you can't, like, y'know, get spares for anything THAT
OLD", followed by an attempt to sell me something that takes pictures,
makes tea, but probably doesn't work any better as a telephone :-(

In my job, something that takes pictures is *much* worse as a
telephone: there are places that categorically refuse to permit camera
phones past the gate, on the grounds that they are security
nightmares!

In the facility, there are many places where no phones are allowed,
but camera phones don't even make it to that far!

Malc.

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 16:57:41 -0500, Sleepy Racoon
wrote:

mrtravel wrote:
What is the big deal about carry it with you in the first place?
I don't see why there was an issue. They are small enough to fit in a
pocket. I usually carry mine in my laptop bag when traveling.

If you're allow X amounts of items as carry on, and you need X + 10, then you
need to choose which 10 will be in check luggage because you've exceeded what
is allowed as hand luggage. Obviously, if all your "important" items fit in
the hand luggage limits, there is no problem.

Well, then, since pretty much everyone on the business side *does* fit
within the "X" amount, your position looks pretty silly.

The discussion is really about which items you can and cannot live without for
a few days should your checked luggage not make it.

With the possible exception of prescription medications, you can live
without pretty much anything.

The issue is what you want to *plan* to live without!

[ Snip ]

What I find interesting is that the phobia of checking luggage seems to exist
only in the USA. Is the USA's record on checked luggage really much worse than
it is elsewhere ?

The proportion of US journeys that involve 2 or more segments is much
higher than in (say) Europe.

Malc.

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 16:34:07 -0500, Sleepy Racoon
wrote:

[ Snip ignorant drivel ]

You didn't read what I said. A handler loading a flight to paris seing a
luggage with a big "LONDON" sticker on it is more likely to seek out the tag
to ensure it does state CDG on it. If he sees LHR, then the handler will take
the luggage out and send it back to be sorted.

The handlers *ignore* random stupid stickers, on the basis that
passengers frequently mislabel their own bags, and they *don't care*
about anything other than their own labels, which are presumed to be
accurate.

The last step in loading luggage is done by humans who assume the luggage has
been sorted properly. Putting the "LONDON" sticker doesn't garantee they will
spot a sorting error, but it increases their chances.

No, it doesn't. It makes no difference at all.

[ Snip ]

Malc.

On Sun, 9 Nov 2003 18:32:35 -0800, "PTRAVEL"
wrote:

[ Snip ]

No, tri-mode are dual-band CDMA and analogue. Motorola and Samsung make
them for Verizon, among others.

Ummm... no, tri-mode are... three modes. My tri-mode phone is GSM,
GSM, and GSM. (900, 1800, and 1900MHz).

[ Snip ]

You don't know the first thing about the practice of law, that's evident.
Read what I wrote above. And, no, I didn't sue the airline for losing my
luggage. I don't have the time or the money to bring a negligence action
for a couple of thousand dollars.

And you'd probably lose anyway unless you could prove gross
negligence. Conditions of carriage, etc...

[ Snip ]

Malc.