Random

Letter to St. Nick

Posted by Jane

Shimi, this is what I’m talking about.  I was 9 years old – in 4th grade – and pretty greedy!  Hopefully the “clothers” was a Houston Chronicle typo and not my error!  I wonder if my dear IIe still works…  My first exposure to computers…  Gertrude’s Puzzles and Gertrudes Secrets!  And of course, my favorite, Math Blaster!!!  And then I remember being jealous when the Apple IIgs’s came out!

Of interesting note:

  • I called him St. Nick!  Everyone else called him Santa!
  • “Sincerely”???  “Loves” and “Your friends” from everyone else!
  • I hope I can blame my stilted prose on being in ESL in second grade.  But this was fourth grade!  Hm, can I use the same excuse for my still-stilted prose???
  • Mom felt so bad when she just reread this a few days ago – the part about my clothes being too small!  I guess she didn’t realize back then!
  • Those stickers?  I hoarded them and saved them and loved them – tacky as they were – and now they aren’t sticky anymore!  Plus, I wouldn’t want to use them anyways if they were!  Trash can, hello!
  • And I still don’t have the Disney Channel!  And I’ve never had cable.  Santa, haven’t I been a good girl?  How ’bout HGTV this Christmas?  I don’t need the Disney Channel anymore!
  • And of course, “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17), and not from Santa.

Random TSA Factoid of the Day

Posted by Jane

I’ve put a lot of miles on my shoes – mostly from walking around Europe last summer and more recently, over the past couple of days, from walking around Boston. I love these shoes. I don’t have my camera right now, else I’d take a picture of them! I actually paid full price for them; I love them THAT much.

Sadly, after so many miles in a short amount of time, I might have to retire these soon. To prolong their lives – the lives of my left and right Rocket Dog shoes – I want to get gel shoe inserts. And I would get them here in Boston, but it’s too much of a hassle!

Plus… I wouldn’t be able to wear them onto the plane either. Yes, I could check them in, but that’s too much of a hassle, too.

Did you know that you can’t carry on gel shoe inserts? Yes, I read this on the TSA website before I flew to Boston. Interestingly enough, you CAN carry on (ie, wear!) gel-filled bras! The injustice! The inequity!

Really!:

Gel shoe inserts – Gel shoe inserts are not permitted, but shoes constructed with gel heels are allowed and must be removed and screened. Read more on our shoe screening policy.

Gel-filled bras and similar prosthetics – Gel-filled bras may be worn through security screening and aboard aircraft.

The lesson? If you have nefarious intents, hide your gel of choice in a bra that you’re wearing??? Though… If chosen for a strip-search, a guy wearing a bra might be suspect… For one reason or another…

Oh wait. Maybe I shouldn’t be publicizing this! I don’t want to put ideas into your head, dear reader, and expose our nation to more danger!

But, if you have maleficent, malevolent intents, there’s always a way to thwart security measures, so I don’t see how prohibiting my wearing of gel shoe inserts would make our nation safer. In any case, I won’t buy them until I get back home. Too much of a hassle.

Hrm.

So what if I took the gel shoe inserts out of my shoes and stuffed them into my quart-sized liquids/toiletries bag? THEN is it okay to carry these on???

Of course, I wouldn’t do that. That’s disgusting!

Re: detecting anomalous things on the person…  I was amazed that the machine at Schipol Airport (in Amsterdam) detected the passport/document pouch around my waist that I had forgotten to remove!  Amazing!  I haven’t seen that machine anywhere else since then!  It must x-ray the body somehow!  Used instead of a metal detector (or in addition to?  I can’t remember…).