TSA...

I love to travel and do so quite often. I never checks bags. Lets justsay that I made it to England while my bag made a detour to Caracas. After that incident I decided that I would never check a bag again and I have held true to that. I just recently flew to Philadelphia to visit a friend. To make a long story short I was forced to take a large refill bottle ofPaul Mitchell hairspray. Now I know that hair products are important butnot "I need secret service for my hairspray" important. Phone calls wherebeing made to make sure that I was in possession of said hairspray.Anyway, I decided that I would transport the hairspray to Philly. Thismeant checking my bag because the bottle was to large (greater than 3 oz.)to carry on board as carry on. So I checked the bag and was paranoid theentire trip that while I was headed to Philly my bag would be dead-headingto Tokyo. I was also worried that the bottle would explode somewhere over Kentucky(or the Pacific), spilling the contents throughout mysuitcase-coating my clothes and permanently stiffening them like concrete.Luckily this did not happen. I opened the bag and found the bottle intactand next to it was a TSA note basically stating they went through my shit.I knew they would because the American Airlines lady told me that my name was on their security list but it "wasn't a big deal." WTF? I was leftwondering if they thought I was Hispanic because the note was inSpanish-"Notificacion Para Inspeccion De Equipaje"-(the English version was on the other side but this was my first reaction). I decided that since Iwas checking my bag that I would carry-on my toiletries. I packed them alllike I am supposed to in a large ziplock bag and all 3oz or less. Mydeodorant (of all things) was 4 oz. There was only 1/2 left-meaning 2 oz.The dumb ass checking the content of my ziplock said that my deodorant isnot "permitted to fly." This is getting be a bunch of shit. I threw itout and got on the plane. I am waiting for the day that we are issued ahospital type gown to wear as somehow, someway, someone will find a method of making cotton a weapon of mass destruction. Traveling just ain't what it used to be.

Friday Morning Perspective

Yesterday morning I was waiting for the bus at Trinity Mills and Westgrove when a man standing next to me had a heart attack. I tried to help him sit down when he went into convulsions and hit the ground-hard. He was speaking to me telling me that he had a pace maker. He was still breathing and coherent. I called 911 only to be placed on hold. A man sitting at a stop light witnessed these events and pulled into the parking lot where we were. He was already on the phone to 911. My first thought was that I would have to perform CPR but since he had a pace maker there was no need as long as he was still breathing. The pace maker was shocking his heart every 15-20 seconds. The shock were violent. His body would literally jump off the ground. But he, Timothy, was still coherent and talking to us. The other man was taking down his phone number, his wife's name, everything. I was just trying to keep him comfortable until the ambulance arrived. The paramedics arrived and loaded him into the ambulance. They told me that the pace maker was the only thing keeping him alive.
All day, I wondered about him. I did call the hospital later in the day to find out if he was okay. The nurse informed my that he was still in ICU but stable.
This was my friday morning. I feel good that I was able to help a total stranger. I am so happy that he had a pace maker otherwise I feel the outcome would not have been good. He obviously had heart problems in the past. Afterwards I took some stock in my own health. I don't always make the best decisions and I definatly could excersize more. Then I got to thinking about modern technology. How a small device, attached to a heart, can keep you alive when the heart fails. I simply find it amazing.

Dart Cops Suck...

I have lived Downtown for a while now-about 4 years and this is a first! I am a menace in a vehicle and apparently am no better on foot. Mondaymorning I received my very non-car related citation. Or what the looser DART cops call "Non-Traffic Citation." Yes folks I got a ticket forj-walking!! Did you you know that this is gonna cost me $300.00! WTF?According to my ticket: "Disregard of an Official Traffic Control Device at a Crosswalk." Basically I walked when the light told me not to. I would have probably been given a warning but I had to be a smart ass.

The Lunch Date...

I swear I hate dating. I just had a horrible lunch date with a guy. An old co-worker set me up on this blind date that I wanted no part of. But, dating is like the lottery-If you don't play, you can't win. So I went. Sigh. Whatever happened to manners and decorum? I knew this lunch date was going south when the man belched right in front of me. We went to a local establishment close to my office. First of all, we were in no hurry. I guess maybe he was when he proceeded to inhale his lunch in, and I am not kidding, less than 1 minute. I sat stunned. Stunned that someonecould actually do that. My first reaction was OMG it is like that 90 lb Asian woman who wins all those eating contests. He should apply!Seriously, he finished before I even started. I ate 1/2 my sandwich then he asked "gonna finish that?" I had planned on it but I was still grossed out so I let him have the rest--20 seconds it took him to finish. Isecretly timed him. After he finished, all he could do was talk about how much money he was making and that he just bought a new Benz. So effenwhat! I could go into further detail but I won't. At the end he asked if I wanted to do this again. This is when I called him out on his rudebehavior. I explained to him that he never let me say one word, that he was so obviously insecure that all he could do was talk about himself. Not to mention the belching in front of me at the table! Should I give him another chance? I know that first impressions are very importanthowever, I have come to learn that people sometimes have bad days or are not into the moment. Second chances are important as well. This is ahandsome guy. He said that he was smart. I was thinking more like smart as*. I too can be a smart as* and am relatively very good at it but I rarely show my colors-especially when I first meet someone. I wasn't in the mood for this today...maybe he wasn't either. He seemed really shocked that I called him out. He apologized and explained that he was nervous as he hadn't been out with someone in a long time. So we set another lunch date for later in the week. Maybe he will bring along that Asian woman!

Mocha Frapp...

My summer officially begins when I have my first Mocha Frappucinno from Starbucks. I am not much of a coffee fan but I LOVE my Mocha Frapps. That frozen goodness is all I need to make me happy. I had my first one of the season this morning and I savored every drop.

In Dreams...

I have never been afraid to fly. Every so often I have a very bad dream involving an airplane. They tend to be fairly intense as they always involve crashing. I always manage to wake myself up beforehitting the ground. Still, I wake up soaked in my own sweat and canusually barely catch my breath. Many people would probably stop flying but not me!! When it is your time, its your time. Anyway, last nights dream was very weird as it invloved a fellow BP (someone in my top 8). She and I have always talked about taking a trip together-now I'm not so sure! Ihave no idea where we were traveling but I know we were the only two in first class(of course) and the plane was huge (think 777 large). The planestarted to decend rapidly and hang to the right. We could see water (maybe we were going overseas somewhere) and it was dark. I remember the plane breaking apart. We grabbed each other and jumped out into the water. That is when I woke up. I felt like I had actually jumped in water when I woke up. I love to fly and do so often. I have had one really scary instance when I thought I was going to die but we didn't. We landed and the rest is history. But my dreams go back further than that episode. Trust me, for those who know me, I am much safer in the air than I am behind the wheel of a car! I mean people have sent me thank you cards for removing myself from the driving pool!! But that is a whole different blog. So far I have had many, many car accidents and many dreams about plane crashes. If I start having bad dreams about public transportation then I guess I will just lock myself in my apt. and rock back and forth. Apparently I haven't cursedDART, yet.