Topic awaiting preservation: Airport advice.... (Page 1 of 1)

If you're going to find your gate at the airport and then sit and read by it, make sure you found the right gate.

I got to the Buffalo airport with about 4 hours to kill so I checked into my flight and went and ate; I was there so early I even had two exit rows on my flights damnit! So much for those....

Anyway, I finished eating and went to find my gate. I looked at the bingo board and saw it was gate 10. So I went and found a nice uncrowded spot and started on my book "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, it was probably about 3:00 at this time.

I'm totally engrossed in my book when I notice some motion out of the corner of my eye, it was a plane leaving a gate, not my gate mind you. I look down at my watch, "OH SHIT, 5:30!" That was my plane I was watching pull away.

Apparently I looked at the wrong line on the board and was sitting at gate 10 instead of gate 12 where I should have been. That's a really horrible feeling you know?

They were able to put me on another flight but I didn't get home until 12:30 last night instead of 8:30 which is when I would have gotten home if I wasn't such a dumbass.

At least I got to finish the book.

i thought you were going to give useful information on how to deal with the assholes refered to as airport security...

last time i went through i had some f%#ing c#%t (and i mean that in a "i've worked in countless jobs dealing with rude customers and never before have i wanted to kill someone until now") threaten to get the marines with their m-16s to cut off my metal bracelet because i couldn't take it off (it's a bike chain that wraps around my wrist once). piercings are definitely not popular either, nor were my clothes, or my hair... anyway while giving me a shockingly horrible time, which involved getting patted down three times, they ripped my bag apart and looted through everything while i wasn't even there to watch them.

all of this happened in a tiny, insignificant airport with two gates.

so of course when i went through san francisco a few days later they laughed at my bracelets, gave me the metal-detector wand once, and didn't even touch my bag.

this summer i'm relying on automobiles and trains for long-distance travel as much as possible.

but yeah, make sure not to miss your flight because then you look kind of silly...

That's pretty funny Krets! Remember what was said in the book "Don't piss off the people at the airports" (or something like that)

My fiancee went to Cali. a couple of weeks ago and ran into some problems with one of the ladies there. They put her on "extra security". Made her go through all sorts of extra formalities and such. Ran the metal detector around and stuff.

She was wearing some steel toed saftey shoes and the metal detector kept going off. They made her take her shoes off and they had to inspect them.

She's kind of a hot head sometimes so I imagine she gave the people a good mouth full of explicits.



Later,
C:\


~Binary is best~

That's a funny story, Krets. But I'm more interested in hearing how you liked the book. Was it good? Oh, and I wish you weren't such a dumbass either but there are just some things you have to accept in life

. . : slicePuzzle

hehehe
<story time?>
my uncle was a soldier in VietNam...he had a mortar shell go off near him and to this day has shards of metal in various places in his body.

Went to the airport, went up to security gate, announced his problem. Says he triggers metal detectors all the time, just a heads up.

They, of course, make him walk through the damn gate 4 or 5 times, take off his shoes, his belt, and jacket. Of course he is still setting off the alarm.
Eventually some pre-pubescent jerk-face kid with an M-16, a 9mm and a power trip comes over and escorts him to a small office where they make him strip completely down to his unders. The whole time his bag is left at the security check point. He was not allowed to bring it with him.

By the time he got dressed and back to the gate, 'someone' had confiscated his bag because it was 'unclaimed' and they were afraid it might have a bomb in it.

He never did get his stuff back.

Just for the record, this happened in the St. Louis Lambert International Airport about 2 months ago.
I also read in the paper recently that the St. Louis Airport security force / national guard frisked and checked the bags of a troop of girl scouts trying to go to summer camp.

We've got a bunch of winners in this town...be careful anybody traveling through this paranoid redneck hell hole.

mobrul

Well if any of you ever go to brasil, don't EVER fly "TAM" airlines, NEVER! There planes are so small for one, but they slow as hell and the crew will lie to you. Ok I got to the states a day late cause TAM was lying like a bitch. Flight supposed to board at 6:00 in salvador and arive at 8:30 in rio. Well we have another flight from rio to atlanta which is overnight that leaves at 10:00, TAM didn't board untill 8:00, why? I'll tell you, cause it took them 2 and a half hours to switch a god damn lightbulb, I went up and asked the flight attendent what was taking so long and heres the response I get "Ehhh We are ehh switchin the ehhh emergency exit light bulbs."

Right, we ended up going on another plane and missing our flight, and spending the night in rio's cheapest airport hotel, then the next day we got on our delta flight at the exact same time. I was just SOOOO happy to step in atlanta's concourse B, it was just a good feeling.

By the way bugs I have some pictures for you, they aren't developed yet but I can give you a preview

I wrote Bugimus in the sand and took a picture of it, I took a picture of my own shadow, I took a picture of a variety of plants, I took a picture of beautiful sunsets, a picture of a jelly fish, and I wrote InSiDeR in the sand and Ozone Asylum in the sand and took pictures of those as well, I think you will be happy

edit: mobrul, you posted shortly as I was typing so I just now got to read yours. I think giving them the heads up was good, making him go through the gate was good, making sure he was telling the truth of the shards was good, power trip was bad, bag was bad, undies was bad. I like the idea of security precaussions cause shards in your body is a likely cover for trying to get through the gate with a weapon, but I think they over-stepped their boundaries, but when you mention the girl-scouts, sounds like its pretty perverted...

by the way I think I mentioned this once before, but one time i had a studded bracelet on and I went to the airport, like 2 years before 9/11, and I take it off to go through the metal detecter, and then the guys say, "you can't take this on it can be considered a weapon" and I was like WTF, fine ill just put it in my bag, and they were like no we are confiskating it from you, and then my mom was like just leave it here and then when ur plane leaves ill come back and get it, and then those bastards again are like "sorry, you can't have it back, if the police come and get it its there to destroy" so my mom goes back in 10 minutes and the police have already "destroyed it" which would be pretty hard since it had dut-tape on the bottom to add thickness, but seriously, what am i gonna do with it, go up to someone and hit them? my fist is more dangerous, those spikes are like a centimeter high and very dull, a foutain pen is more dangerous, your seatbelt is more dangerous, but saying the police took it and "destroyed it" made me very pissed. I like my studded bracelets.



[This message has been edited by InSiDeR (edited 06-07-2002).]

Yeesh! That blows huge herds of goats, Mobrul!

The last time I flew was at the end of last August. Fortunately, I don't like to go anywhere or do anything , so the new security stuff hasn't affected me, but you-all who do have my sympathies!!!

Ooh, ooh... I do have a travel story!

My wife and I took a trip up to San Simeon to visit Hearst Castle. (Cool place, BTW.) Once we were dropped off at the train station for the trip back, we found out that the train was going to be an hour late. We were kinda annoyed, but understanding that these things happen. Then we found out that there was something wrong further up the track, and that the train was going to be two hours (then three, four, five) hours late. It was going to be a ten-hour train ride anyway, and we were set to get back in around midnight. Suddenly, we were looking at arriving around 6am the next day!

There was a car rental counter there, so I thought we'd just rent a car and head back that way. Nope, the car rental place had no cars! Returning to the 'information desk', we learned that they didn't know what was wrong with the train, and didn't really know when it would be getting here. So, in an attempt to stave off homicidal rage, I went and took pictures of A) the train station with no train; B) the car rental place with no cars, and C) the information desk with no information. Nice, huh? Additionally, there was a long line of shops and restaurants at the train station... all due to open next year. I didn't bother to take a picture of that.

Anyway, we ended up spending ten hours on a bus to get home. They say that buses have none of the romance associated with train travel. They're right...

yea but, wang, were talin bout planez buddy...

When I went to Japan (this was a while ago) I guess I looked like some sort of drug dealer or something. They pulled me over to the side and this guy was pressing my stomach to make sure I hadn't swallowed anything to smuggle it in to the country. I kept listening in fear for the snap of a rubber glove, but thankfully it never came.

Incidentally (not a plane story, but still customs), when I was studying in London I visted Ireland for the weekend, took the ferry from Holyhead. We got back to England in the middle of the night, and I was one of the last people off the ferry. I was walking past the two customs officers with my camouflage backpack and three-day beard, and I could see they were watching me. I just kept thinking, "Don't look at them." Not that I had anything to hide, of course, I was just tired and I didn't feel like getting searched. They called me over anyway, dumped everything out of my bag, and went through it bit by bit. They even opened up my journal and started reading it, which pissed me off. Like if I was a terrorist I would carrying a journal detailing my plans.

Aaargh. Bad memories. Thanks.




Cell 270

I got this post and the Buffy the vampire slayer
post mixed up. I thought this was going to be
advice about how to get ready for a body
cavity search at the airport when Buffy
is filling in for the customs agent.

Suho bro:

quote:

---

and this guy was pressing my stomach

---

did the quy talk with a lisp?
was he wearing makeup and nipple rings?
i don't know all the customs (i don't mean customs
agents, i mean the customs...well, you know what i mean...
like culture....)
but i think you might be engaged to this guy now
when are you picking out the curtains?




[This message has been edited by ShootingStar (edited 06-08-2002).]

Well, stomach pressing seemed to be OK, but the cavity search would have definitely been step one of the engagement ceremony... thankfully I was spared and able to return to Korea with my innocence intact, if not my pride.

actually, once you had one cavity search, the others are not so bad Suho ymmv of course!

Thanks, vp, I'll be sure to add that to my list of things I really didn't want to know!

I had a cavity search this week
but the dentist said everything
was fine...phew...is it safe?

InSiDeR - Like no thread has ever shifted topics?

Planes, trains, automobies, dog sleds... I dislike travel, regardless...

Dog sleds! Has anyone ever ridden a dog sled? Those things can get going pretty fast... I was terrified of falling off...

Um, OK, back to the subject, whatever that was...

Hmmm...well, I've traveled alot...but never had a problem...in fact, all my actual 'traveling' has been so uneventful, that it in itself is strange...I once walked straight through customs without anyone actually checking anything...which was good, because I had a shitload of playstation CD's in my carry-on...which would normally have to be 'taxed'...they didn't even check my passport...so I entered Germany without any type of stamp, or evidence of how (or when) I entered the land...

Come to think of it...customs has never checked my stuff...as long as I can remember...

I did have an interesting encounter with a stewardess on the way to Australia, but that was a positive encounter...

That flight is sooo looong....

So, I've never missed a flight, been delayed, arrived late, etc. and I've flown hundreds of times...though once I allowed myself to get 'bumped' for money...it was an offer I just couldn't pass up...earned some real money on that flight...and only had to wait for three hours for the next one...guess the business man really needed that flight...and the money more than made up for the three hours...in fact, it more than paid the cost of the whole flight....strange....

WS:
So you're a member of the Mile High Club?
Tell all please so I can write a letter for
Penthouse.

Sorry man, but no porn here...let's keep it clean...well, at least as clean as possible...

She has a really nice house in LA...but as I don't really care all that much for LA...only stayed for a couple of days...

I hate smog...

ah...so nothing happened?
sorry.