A note to holiday travellers... stay out of my way

Hi, I'm KMC and I travel for a living. This is not my first time travelling. This won't be my last time. I know all the rules and follow them. I may not agree with them, but I know how to get around an airport and through security in the least amount of time possible. I don't need you rookies out there slowing me down. I do allow more time during the holiday season for additional travellers, but I refuse to go beyond a certain point. Apparently some of you have been living under a rock for the past year, but you can't bring liquids through security unless they're in bottles that are 3.4oz or less, Those 3.4oz bottles must be in a single quart size clear ziplock bag. That's it. It doesn't make any sense, but someone out there figured out that if you limit people to 3.4oz we'll all be safe. Have they taken into account if i have my 3.4oz, and you have your 3.4 oz, and someone has theirs, I'm not sure, but you know what? it doesn't matter. Those are the rules, and no matter how much you complain to the TSA agent, they're not going to let you through with your entire medicine cabinet.

Today I witnessed a scene where a woman was getting visibly upset and yelling at a TSA agent. She refused to throw away all of her hard earned money that was in the bag. The agent kept telling her that she didn't have to throw it away, but she could go back out and check that bag and retrieve it at baggage claim at her destination. She just wasn't listening. At this point the line was getting longer and longer behind her because she was involving every TSA agent at the checkpoint. It was so bad that airport police had to get involved, all because she wouldn't check her bag with all of her product. I doubt that she made her flight. Things that also won't fly include that hunting knife your brother got you for your 13th birthday and you carry it everywhere you go. You can't fly with aerosols. You can't fly with lighters. If you really need a lighter, put it in your pocket. It's not going to set off the metal detector. If you are bringing wrapped gifts with you, think again. You may be very disappointed when you get them at your destination and they have been unwrapped and opened for inspection. Unfortunately, this is the world we are living in now. Go to the TSA's website, go to your airlines website and become informed about the do's and don'ts of air travel.

I have my own issues with airline safety, but realize that they're just following the rules and are there for our own good. I have VERY large feet. I have enough foot problems as it is. I refuse to walk through the metal detectors barefoot. I have no problem walking through and sitting down and waiting for them to run my shoes through the machine, but I don't want to put my bare feet where everyone else has. Who knows how often those carpets actually get cleaned. I fly out of a very busy airport at home and many of the screeners recognize me and don't bother fighting the fact that I'm not walking through barefoot. This is part of knowing and following the rules.

While we're at it, 2 suitcases, a briefcase, backpack and a supersized purse do not equal 1 carry one plus 1 personal item. Last time I checked 1+1=2. You are not special. They don't have to bend the rules for you. The more you complain about it, the longer we're going to stay here and we're going to be delayed. Check your bags to your final destination and get on the plane. When they say the are closing the main cabin door and all cell phones must be turned off and put away, believe it or not, they are actually talking to you too. I know that you are telling Betty-Sue about your night last night, but we have to go. I don't want to hear about your night. I dread the day they allow cell phone usage in flight, and i'm not concerned about safety issues with air to ground communications. I just don't want it becuase of the annoyance factor.

It's not easy being green

There's been a lot in the media about being green. This is a good thing as it raises everyone's consciousness. A few weeks ago, NBC-Universal had "Green is Universal" week. It did some good, because it caused me to go to a carbon footprint calculator to estimate my personal carbon footprint. It wasn't pretty. I fly ALOT for work. I'm over 26 tons for my own personal footprint. The average american is at 7.5 tons. There are some things that I am trying to do to help. I use compact fluorescent light bulbs in everything at home. It's a small step, but it makes a difference. I use environmentally friendly detergents (Seventh Generation). I recycle. I usually don't tell people these things. I just do it. 

I do have a problem with grandstanding by the media. I wish they would just do and not tout themselves so much. I was on a conference call where for over an hour, they were talking about banner placement to announce the fact they were using bio-diesel in generators at a major event. They had the banners printed (not on recycled paper) and shipped overnight. When the fuel truck got there to fuel up the generator, it had regular old Diesel. Apparently no one ever told the fuel company that they were supposed to deliver bio-diesel. When the decision had to be made to not provide power for a couple of more hours or to be environmentally friendly, well, we ended up on regular diesel fuel. There were also supposed to be recycling baskets on that show, and there was. One. In the middle of the compound. Do you think anyone actually walked to that place instead of using the can that was right next to them? We had made suggestions- submitting paperwork electronically instead of on paper. We could easily save a ream of paper a day. That didn't happen. Print things double sided. That didn't happen. Use recycled paper. That didn't happen.  We were all supposed to get hybrids as rental cars. Some people did, and then they realized the cost difference, and it was decided that 5 people (out of 100) getting hybrids was enough. Every little bit counts, yes, but the green of the dollar got in the way of being green. The only truly green thing that happened was that all of the disposables at catering were bio-degradable made from corn starch I believe. Everyone was more interested in saying how green we were being instead of taking the necessary actions to actually be green. 

C

How do I begin to explain C. She is intelligent, beautiful, funny. She also is nuts. We started as friends and we are back to being friends. In the middle, we dated including living together for almost 3 years. We broke up almost 5 years ago. She likes things to be very structured and organized. She has always been the most financially secure person of her age. She and I both have our issues with ourselves, and with each other.

Her biggest issue with me is my job and the amount of time I spend on the road. Looking back, I think I took her for granted and never made her a priority (to steal a friends line there). We share things with each other that we haven't shared with anyone else. When either of us have a problem, we consult the other. Subsequent Significant Others of course haven't liked that she and I still talk. Her boyfriends and my girlfriend haven't believed that we're just friends. She travels for work often as well. She doesn't handle travel problems well. She was in NY this summer and due to weather, couldn't fly out. She asked if I could help to find her a hotel room, and I tried, but there was really nowhere available. I mean even the 5 star hotels were all sold out. I offered her to stay at my pIace and arranged for her to be picked up by the same car service I use. She ended up spending the night, in my bed. Nothing happened. We're just friends. Heck the last year we were living together and dating, that's all that we did. Share a bed together. No one who would see us together would believe that.

Looking back at it, we just drifted together from our friendship, and then drifted apart. We had gone to several weddings together. It was after wedding 20 I think that we had a talk. It just wasn't working out. We weren't heading down that path. I was never home enough for it to work. Do I have any regrets about that. I don't know. I don't think so. I learned a lot from the relationship, and if I had to make the decision again I don't think I would change a thing. It was her that initiated the talk. Something from the movie The Departed "If we're not gonna make it, it's gotta be you that gets out, cause I'm not capable. I'm fucking Irish, I'll deal with something being wrong for the rest of my life. " That pretty much describes me.

When Did I Become THAT Guy?

While out to dinner with TG not that long ago, I realized that we'd both become THAT guy. The guy who, despite being out to dinner with friends, is constantly texting/emailing on his Blackberry. I admit it. I'm now 100% addicted. I actually called us on it, wondering what we ever did before having mobile devices, and his response in a smartass way- "we actually had to talk to the people we were having dinner with." TG was a navy brat while growing up, but is truly a southerner. He says Please and thank you and Ma'am. He knows that Sunday Dinner is actually after Sunday Service at 2pm and has fried chicken. To see this transformation is something.

Growing up in the 'burbs outside NYC, this is all foreign to me. Sundays were for playing soccer. I would go to mass when I could, and my family changed churches to one that had a more convenient mass time. Through work, I have been able to see this "True America". To see all the small towns throughout the country really puts things in perspective. Hank Williams Jr. says that the world is really run from NY, and he's right. NY is the most powerful city in the world. To me, nothing really shows power as that NYC skyline. No other city I've been to can compare.

It is the people in these small towns though that allow NY to be so great. At times, I envy them. At others, I pitty them. I lived in a small rural town with C for almost 3 years, and couldn't stand it. I think that was a major factor in the break up. Small town America does it right though. Regardless of your stance on the war, in general it is people from here that are out there fighting it. It is people from small town America that are growing crops, raising cattle to support the country. While world is run from New York, New York needs the rest of the country to support it.


Six Degrees of Separation

Surely everyone's played the Kevin Bacon drinking game, right so you know what I'm talking about here. A friend today told me that with the internet, it seems that you are only truly separated by 3 degrees now. I'm not willing to be that radical, but i'll say it's down to a good 4 degrees now. I'm not sure how close I really am to some of my Pakistani brothers. I do agree that the world's population, while growing, is actually getting much smaller. Using an online networking tool such as linkedin.com will demonstrate that to you. Currently, with my being directly connected to just 34 people, at the 3rd degree of separation i have 87,000 people. That's only being connected to 34 people. I sit there and i'll find someone I know, and see that I'm already connected to them through some random connection of people who I know for sure don't know each other. But they're getting closer to meeting everyday.

In general I think all this technology to make the world smaller is a good thing. It lets you stay in touch with people better, and find people you may have never known existed. This just happened to me recently. (I hope I didn't invade your privacy. I really did struggle before I sent that initial email, not knowing for sure if it was the right thing to do. You'll have to trust that I won't share the information with anyone, not here, not anywhere) I have many friends who I first met on the computer. While on the road in Iowa City, IA I was talked into going to a strip club with JS. He had a proclivity for them back in the day. A bbs that I was on at the time was based out of Iowa City, and I had asked in the local section if anyone could recommend a place to go. Someone responded with a place and we went. When one of the girls came by and we were chatting, somehow the bbs came up. As it turns out, she's a computer nerd too. We still keep in touch. I still have some friends that I've never actually met. I think it's just the way that things are now a days. With all my travel and the business I work in, I have friends and acquaintances all over the country, all over the world. Most people in my business are the same way. When the unfortunate happens and someone passes is when their families and home friends truly understand the depth of their friends and support network throughout the country. I remember a memorial service being held months after someone's death because it was the best time for everyone to get together and share their memories of a person. The family was stunned at the outpouring of cards and prayers at the time of the death, and then overwhelmed at how many people truly cared for their loved one when they were flown to the memorial service and met so many of the friends.


I also think all this technology can be frustrating. I seriously have 12 phone numbers to reach my family of 4. There are many times when I can't get in touch with ANY of them. Can you explain to me how this is possible? I'm the one who travels for a living, I'm the one who is on planes and in places with bad cell service, but chances are, if you call my cell phone, I'm going to answer it. If for some reason I don't answer it, if you leave a message, I really will call you back.

Flashing Lights

For those of you who know where I live, you can understand my trepidation when I see flashing lights across the river from me. It happens often enough that I don't think much about it anymore, but it still makes me go hmmm. I often wonder what the reason is for all those lights on West Street. Is there some big emergency downtown, is it a drill, or is it just someone important (foreign dignitary, political figure, etc) who needs to go somewhere fast and the rest of us have are supposed to get out of their way.

Speaking of foreign dignitaries, how many of you had while growing up (or have now) the "Pope Room". You know, the room that is always immaculate, gets vacuumed daily, and no one is allowed in? It's kept just in case the Pope or some other foreign dignitary should drop in unannounced for a visit. All of my Italian friends had one. In 15 years of knowing them, I was allowed in the room once. They all said that was the only time they were ever in there as well. Graduation Day. For that day, and that day only we were allowed in the room to have pictures taken. Without shoes on of course. After the 5 or 6 pictures, we were immediately told to get out of the room.

It's been a while

It's only been what, 8 months since I've last posted? Since then somethings have changed, others have remained the same. Both my parents are now officially retired and living in Cape May full time. They really did move as far away as possible with out leaving the state. I've had surgery, verified that at least at that point I don't have cancer, more on that to come later. I now have my apartment to myself, and man is it nice. All my bills are now down to at least a quarter of what they were when I had roommates. If i didn't know better, I would think grow lights were on all the time in their room. I've had to save a few pixels here and there work wise, so the title is still valid. As i get the hang of this, I'll be filling in some stories as we go. There have been some incident's with the ex and most people are sure that there's still something going on there. Let me assure you we're not, regardless of what our actions may say.

Some things I love about where I live- online ordering. I can order just about anything I want online. My liquor store delivers-- for free. I don't have to drive anywhere. Oh yeah, I almost forgot- the view.