6 Aug
2004
6 Aug
'04
6:51 a.m.
Well last year I travelled (from the US) to Europe with a suitcase full
of de-commissioned computers (incl. a Sun Ultra 1 which filled most of
the suitcase) and spare parts (about 5-8 year old stuff). Since I
couldn't care less about eproms or other media, I just let it go
through the normal checked luggage check. The suitcase was not locked
(as per guidelines) and I know they opened it (not in my presence, so I
don't really know how much time they spent looking though it), but
nobody said anything to me about it, and the suitcase went through
without any problems.
If you are packing clothing with the equipment (as padding or to save
carrying a second suitcase) I would advise you to pack them in
transparent plastic bags, so that the checkers can go through them
without spilling them all over the floor. Also avoid small unpacked
items that can fall off the suitcase during the visual inspection
process.
Finally remember that the people carrying out the inspection will not
use the same care as you in putting everything back in the suitcase, so
leave some extra space to accommodate the (less efficient) re-packing.
If your suitcase is a jigsaw with everything required to be packed just
right for the suitcase to close, then expect to see a mess at your
destination.
I remember that while I was waiting to check in at the Philadelphia
International Airport I could see TSA staff trying to close an opened
suitcase. Now that was a royal mess, with clothing sticking out from
all sides and the suitcase refusing to come anywhere near to closing.
Eventually the just closed the two halves as much as they could and
used plastic wrap to keep the insides from spilling over. I bet the
owners would freak out, especially if they had clean and ironed
clothing
**vp
6 Aug
6 Aug
7:40 a.m.
On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Vassilis Prevelakis wrote:
Well last year I travelled (from the US) to Europe
with a suitcase full
of de-commissioned computers (incl. a Sun Ultra 1 which filled most of
the suitcase) and spare parts (about 5-8 year old stuff). Since I
couldn't care less about eproms or other media, I just let it go
through the normal checked luggage check. The suitcase was not locked
(as per guidelines) and I know they opened it (not in my presence, so I
don't really know how much time they spent looking though it), but
nobody said anything to me about it, and the suitcase went through
without any problems.
Sending a computer through checked baggage doesn't even elicit an errant
brainwave.
If you are packing clothing with the equipment (as
padding or to save
carrying a second suitcase) I would advise you to pack them in
transparent plastic bags, so that the checkers can go through them
without spilling them all over the floor. Also avoid small unpacked
items that can fall off the suitcase during the visual inspection
process.
You know when your bag was checked because the TSA puts a form in your bag
saying they did. My bags are always checked by the TSA. They always seem
to put things back in place as I packed them (well, except for my radio).
Finally remember that the people carrying out the
inspection will not
use the same care as you in putting everything back in the suitcase, so
leave some extra space to accommodate the (less efficient) re-packing.
If your suitcase is a jigsaw with everything required to be packed just
right for the suitcase to close, then expect to see a mess at your
destination.
I haven't had this problem at all.
I remember that while I was waiting to check in at the
Philadelphia
International Airport I could see TSA staff trying to close an opened
suitcase. Now that was a royal mess, with clothing sticking out from
all sides and the suitcase refusing to come anywhere near to closing.
Eventually the just closed the two halves as much as they could and
used plastic wrap to keep the insides from spilling over. I bet the
owners would freak out, especially if they had clean and ironed
clothing
Sounds like a case of incompetent morons.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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8:58 a.m.
At 12:40 PM 8/6/04 -0700, you wrote:
On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Vassilis Prevelakis wrote:
I beg to differ. I sat in Kansas City airport two years ago and spent
abut 3 or 4 hours with the security people and watched as they opened
numerous bags and I didn't see them put a sticker on ANY of them. Even when
flying and reclaiming baggage I've never seen one of those stickers.
OK I may as well tell this story too. I was in KC and went scrounging
with Gary Hildebrand and found a black Bell and Howell Apple II. I had
called the airline and changed my departure two days ahead of time. But
they failed to schedule the new departure so when I got to the airport
UNSCHEDULED the red flags went up and I was tagged to be inspected
everywhere that I went. Luckily I arrived at the airport about 6 hours
early. I had to take EVERYTHING and go down to security and let them
inspect it (hence the LONG wait). I/they didn't have a problem with
anything but the Apple II and were going to send me to the maintenance area
and have them disassemble and inspect the Apple. Sheeshh! I said "Hey wait
a minute it opens right up" and showed them how to open the top so they
could look inside it. After that they were happy (until I got to the next
checkpoint!) I asked why they didn't just X=ray the Apple II and he said
that they were afraid that it might conceal plastic knives or something
that wouldn't show up on X-ray. I don't know why it would have mattered
since I was putting the computer in checked baggage but no one ever said
that logic or brains were required at TSA.
Important Lesson: NEVER show up at an airport with a confirmed
reservation! If you do, you're guaranteed to get the full treatment!
Joe
My bags are always checked by the TSA. They always seem
Well last year I travelled (from the US) to
Europe with a suitcase full
of de-commissioned computers (incl. a Sun Ultra 1 which filled most of
the suitcase) and spare parts (about 5-8 year old stuff). Since I
couldn't care less about eproms or other media, I just let it go
through the normal checked luggage check. The suitcase was not locked
(as per guidelines) and I know they opened it (not in my presence, so I
don't really know how much time they spent looking though it), but
nobody said anything to me about it, and the suitcase went through
without any problems.
Sending a computer through checked baggage doesn't even elicit an errant
brainwave.
If you are packing clothing with the equipment
(as padding or to save
carrying a second suitcase) I would advise you to pack them in
transparent plastic bags, so that the checkers can go through them
without spilling them all over the floor. Also avoid small unpacked
items that can fall off the suitcase during the visual inspection
process.
You know when your bag was checked because the TSA puts a form in your bag
saying they did. to put things back in place as I packed them (well,
except for my radio).
Festival
Finally remember that the people carrying out the
inspection will not
use the same care as you in putting everything back in the suitcase, so
leave some extra space to accommodate the (less efficient) re-packing.
If your suitcase is a jigsaw with everything required to be packed just
right for the suitcase to close, then expect to see a mess at your
destination.
I haven't had this problem at all.
I remember that while I was waiting to check in
at the Philadelphia
International Airport I could see TSA staff trying to close an opened
suitcase. Now that was a royal mess, with clothing sticking out from
all sides and the suitcase refusing to come anywhere near to closing.
Eventually the just closed the two halves as much as they could and
used plastic wrap to keep the insides from spilling over. I bet the
owners would freak out, especially if they had clean and ironed
clothing
Sounds like a case of incompetent morons.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers
]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at
http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
9:14 a.m.
On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Joe R. wrote:
Have you flown recently? This is standard practice as of at least 5 weeks
ago.
I know of what you speak, however, as I went through that nonsense myself
on plenty of occasions. They are not doing that anymore. I don't know if
it's because they have much better scanners at work now or if they just do
all the checking behind the scenes.
You know when
your bag was checked because the TSA puts a form in your bag
saying they did.
I beg to differ. I sat in Kansas City airport two years ago and spent
abut 3 or 4 hours with the security people and watched as they opened
numerous bags and I didn't see them put a sticker on ANY of them. Even when
flying and reclaiming baggage I've never seen one of those stickers. Important Lesson: NEVER show up at an airport with
a confirmed
reservation! If you do, you're guaranteed to get the full treatment!
It also triggers alarms if you book a one way flight the same day you
travel and pay cash. I'm sure it doesn't help if you're Arabic. I did
this one time and got a personal escort to the security area. I thought I
was special until they gave my bags extra scrutiny when I got to the gate.
I asked one of the attendants if I was flagged and she said, "I'm not
supposed to tell you but yes." This was 1997 or so.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
10:03 a.m.
On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Joe R. wrote:
> I beg to differ. I sat in Kansas City airport two years ago and spent
> abut 3 or 4 hours with the security people and watched as they opened
> numerous bags and I didn't see them put a sticker on ANY of them. Even when
> flying and reclaiming baggage I've never seen one of those stickers.
On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
Have you flown recently? This is standard practice as
of at least 5 weeks
ago.
I flew home (New Zealand) in March, returning in May of this year, and the
TSA people were pretty anal retentive about stickering everything they
opened. In the Air New Zealand "terminal" at LAX you can watch them pull
peoples baggage apart, in fact. (They did so to my suit foldover,
apparently the single metal coathanger in there looks like some kind of
weapon I guess, C'est la vie).
JP
11:02 a.m.
At 02:14 PM 8/6/04 -0700, you wrote:
On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Joe R. wrote:
Have you flown recently?
No and I have no intentions of flying as long as this crap continues. I
have a very low treshold for BS! So don't expect to see me at VCF or
anywhere else if it involves flying.
Joe
You know
when your bag was checked because the TSA puts a form in your bag
saying they did.
I beg to differ. I sat in Kansas City airport two years ago and spent
abut 3 or 4 hours with the security people and watched as they opened
numerous bags and I didn't see them put a sticker on ANY of them. Even when
flying and reclaiming baggage I've never seen one of those stickers.
11:20 a.m.
On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Joe R. wrote:
No and I have no intentions of flying as long as
this crap continues. I
have a very low treshold for BS! So don't expect to see me at VCF or
anywhere else if it involves flying.
I don't blame you. It does seem to be improving though.
For now at least...
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
8:52 p.m.
In message <3.0.6.32.20040806190218.0091ed90(a)pop-server.cfl.rr.com>
"Joe R." <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> wrote:
No and I have no intentions of flying as long as
this crap continues. I
have a very low treshold for BS! So don't expect to see me at VCF or
anywhere else if it involves flying.
I had a load of trouble at one of the main UK
international airports a few
years ago (about a month before 9/11). I took a laptop computer and an
Olympus OM10 SLR camera with me. So I get up to the security terminal (or
whatever they call it) and ask if they can hand-search the laptop bag and
camera bag, or at the very least the camera bag (I had loads of high-speed
film in there).
Me> "Can you hand-search my camera bag? I've..."
Them> "No. The scanner won't fog your film"
Me> "Well, it's just that there's five rolls of extremely high speed
professional film in there, plus one in the camera. Can't you at least
take the film out and check it by hand?"
Them> "Tough. It has to go through the scanner. It won't fog your film."
Me> "So no exceptions for camera film then."
Them> [whispers something to his supervisor]
Them> "No. Your bags have to go through the scanner"
Idiot at back of line> "Come on f*ckwit, get a move on. Boarding for my
flight closes in ten minutes and I need to be in Aberdeen by noon!"
Needless to say, I have a very low tolerance for this kind of BS. I didn't
use any of the film (I ended up replacing it), but just for kicks I sent one
roll to be developed. Rather predictably, it was completely fogged.
Some of these people would probably fare better in a field that requires less
use of their obviously overstressed brains... maybe street-sweeping?
Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
philpem(a)dsl.pipex.com | ViewFinder, 10BaseT Ethernet, 2-slice,
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/ | 48xCD, ARCINv6c IDE, SCSI
... I'm not lost! I'm locationally challenged.
9:50 p.m.
On Sat, 7 Aug 2004, Philip Pemberton wrote:
Needless to say, I have a very low tolerance for this
kind of BS. I didn't
use any of the film (I ended up replacing it), but just for kicks I sent one
roll to be developed. Rather predictably, it was completely fogged.
Some of these people would probably fare better in a field that requires less
use of their obviously overstressed brains... maybe street-sweeping?
Prison guard seems more appropo.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
8 Aug
8 Aug
11:56 a.m.
Philip Pemberton wrote:
Needless to say, I have a very low tolerance for this
kind of BS. I didn't
use any of the film (I ended up replacing it), but just for kicks I sent one
roll to be developed. Rather predictably, it was completely fogged.
Some of these people would probably fare better in a field that requires less
use of their obviously overstressed brains... maybe street-sweeping?
A couple of months before 9/11 I checked into Miami Int'l with my
pocket-knife in my pocket. In the US at the time, a blade under 3" was
acceptable. I had my Gerber lockblade which is a 2.25" blade, but still
comes in under 3" if the heel of the blade is measured.
The young lady at the security gate opened the knife, measured it
accross her tiny palm, and told me she'd be keeping it. I politely
objected, she politely showed me that the blade was longer than her hand
was wide, and informed me that that proved it was too long. I asked her
to measure it properly and was told it was unnecessary. I politely told
her that I would be standing there until she found a ruler or I was
arrested.
A couple of minutes later, a Very Large Security Lady appeared and
politely asked me if there was a problem. I told her "This person wants
to confiscate my knife and I'm certain it's under 3 inches." She asked
the guard for the knife, opened it, laughed, and said "look here", and
held it up against her huge palm."
That little guard just held up her open hand. The big one blinked,
said "Oh. We'll get you a ruler." thanked me for my patience, and handed
me my knife.
Doc
5:05 a.m.
Joe R. wrote:
At 12:40 PM 8/6/04 -0700, you wrote:
Or with reservations made in the last 24 hours, or with a return
flight in less than 72 hours but you're checking baggage, or, or, or....
I travel a lot, mostly within the lower 48, and I almost always end
up coming home with a new toy or two. In the last two years, every time
I've gotten on a plane at least one ofmy checked items has been
searched. I've also lost several small items, the most costly being a
small folder with *all* the receipts for a 2-week expense report. The
most recent was the spare battery pack for my Sony camera.
Anything that doesn't look like laptop or camera accessories I put in
checked baggage. It makes life easier. :)
One oddity - printed overhead transparencies look like plastic
explosive under the fleuroscope. My company's [very sensible] policy is
that I carry on everything I need for the first day of class, including
presentation materials. Whenever that includes transparencies I'm 100%
guaranteed to sit for the explosives swab test.
Doc
On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Vassilis Prevelakis wrote:
I beg to differ. I sat in Kansas City airport two years ago and spent
abut 3 or 4 hours with the security people and watched as they opened
numerous bags and I didn't see them put a sticker on ANY of them. Even when
flying and reclaiming baggage I've never seen one of those stickers.
OK I may as well tell this story too. I was in KC and went scrounging
with Gary Hildebrand and found a black Bell and Howell Apple II. I had
called the airline and changed my departure two days ahead of time. But
they failed to schedule the new departure so when I got to the airport
UNSCHEDULED the red flags went up and I was tagged to be inspected
everywhere that I went. Luckily I arrived at the airport about 6 hours
early. I had to take EVERYTHING and go down to security and let them
inspect it (hence the LONG wait). I/they didn't have a problem with
anything but the Apple II and were going to send me to the maintenance area
and have them disassemble and inspect the Apple. Sheeshh! I said "Hey wait
a minute it opens right up" and showed them how to open the top so they
could look inside it. After that they were happy (until I got to the next
checkpoint!) I asked why they didn't just X=ray the Apple II and he said
that they were afraid that it might conceal plastic knives or something
that wouldn't show up on X-ray. I don't know why it would have mattered
since I was putting the computer in checked baggage but no one ever said
that logic or brains were required at TSA.
Important Lesson: NEVER show up at an airport with a confirmed
reservation! If you do, you're guaranteed to get the full treatment! Well last year I travelled (from the US) to Europe
with a suitcase full
of de-commissioned computers (incl. a Sun Ultra 1 which filled most of
the suitcase) and spare parts (about 5-8 year old stuff). Since I
couldn't care less about eproms or other media, I just let it go
through the normal checked luggage check. The suitcase was not locked
(as per guidelines) and I know they opened it (not in my presence, so I
don't really know how much time they spent looking though it), but
nobody said anything to me about it, and the suitcase went through
without any problems.
Sending a computer through checked baggage doesn't even elicit an errant
brainwave.
If you are packing clothing with the equipment (as
padding or to save
carrying a second suitcase) I would advise you to pack them in
transparent plastic bags, so that the checkers can go through them
without spilling them all over the floor. Also avoid small unpacked
items that can fall off the suitcase during the visual inspection
process.
You know when your bag was checked because the TSA puts a form in your bag
saying they did.
7447
days inactive
7449
days old
10 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
doc＠mdrconsult.com -
jplist＠kiwigeek.com -
philpem＠dsl.pipex.com -
rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com -
vcf＠siconic.com -
vp＠cs.drexel.edu