A Valid ID...

Wednesday morning I woke up with a pounding headache and a sprained foot. I have no clue as to why either occurred but it was what it was. Anyway, I decided to call in to the office and have a mental health day. Well, not 30 minutes after I called in I checked my messages. I had missed a phone call earlier. It was Pam, her father had passed away. I was surprised but not shocked as health issues continued to mount on him. I have known him since I was a baby so I had to go to the funeral. So I called the office back and informed them of the situation. I hung up the phone and booked a flight. Then my mother calls that evening and informs me that my cousin Doris passed away. She had been very sick with cancer. So I scrambled to figure out different flight arrangements as I was intent on going to both funerals. To make a long story short…there was not going to be a funeral. There was going to be a viewing on Friday evening and then a gravesite memorial Saturday in Meadow, TX—an hour north of Lubbock. I thought to myself—sheesh, lots of flying involved. But the weather in that area was very bad. Most of Texas was freezing cold. My mother decided that she would, regrettably, not go to west Texas. I feel really bad about it but decided that I would not travel as well. Doris didn’t want a funeral and people boo-hooing over her. My mom and I will make a trip there once it warms up and we can spend more time there with our family.

So, I booked my flight and packed and was in somewhat of a rush to get things done. I always travel using my passport-even domestically so there are no questions asked-usually. I simply forgot my passport. When I got to the airport I handed over my driver’s license to the TSA guy and he asked if I had my renewal. OOPS! My license had expired last month on my birthday. Completely forgot. I told them that I did not have the renewal. He wrote all over my ticket—SSSS in bold and underline and circles. Well, I am not sure what SSSS stands for but I am almost sure that is one level below a cavity search. Security pulled me aside and went through all my bags and even bomb-tested my shoes. On my return it was the same procedure—SSSS all over the ticket. I wised up this time and decided to check my bag to speed up the process. I had some time to kill so I thought that after a week of death I needed a beer. They asked for my ID and said NO! Since it was expired---no beer. Bastards. So I just had a diet coke and chilled out. I did all of this on a sprained foot. My flights were also at the very last gate on the furthest wing of the airports. I hobbled my way everywhere. Oh well, I am home now.