Some good, some bad

[azurite]

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE Southwest Airlines? I mean LUV LUV LUV.

A few things you should know (or could probably guess) about me:
(1) I am NOT a light packer; I've tried: I've failed.
(2) I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

Keeping those in mind, it's not hard to imagine that, despite having returned to L.A. prior to Thanksgiving, the stuff I brought back with me wasn't nearly enough. On the way from LAX to SFO the first time around, I got charged $25 for an overweight suitcase.

I've taken to checking in baggage because, with my back and the fact that people simply aren't courteous ANYWHERE anymore (not that I have low expectations of others, but it's easier not to assume and make an ass out of myself by whining when no one helps short little me get my bag out of the upper baggage compartment), it's just easier.

My suitcase, when full, just barely skims the 62 total inch limit-- it's 30 inches long, 20 inches wide, and around 9 inches thick. STUFFED, it can easily surpass the 62 inches, but I've never seen anyone whip out a tape measure and check my bag for that. Weighing it, on the other hand....

Anyway, I was nervous about how much my bag weighed for the trip back to L.A. today, because even though it was mostly vacuum-sucked clothes bags, I also had all my shoes, two hard drives, random books and papers, and a bag of cosmetics.

The total? 77.5 lbs! WTF!?

So I started by taking out my Jewish cookbook (it's sitting behind my CD album in my wheelie carry-on), and that knocked it down to 73.5. I didn't want to try and take out much more that wasn't flat, but was somehow still substantial enough to knock down three pounds, if only because I'd have no place to put it. I'm already hefting my PS2 and 2 stuffed animals (ssh!) as my "personal item." Thankfully, the guy at the baggage check outside was super-nice, and let me slide for the extra 3 pounds, so he said he'd have to take me inside to pay the $25 fee.

I gave the guy my WaMu debit card, because I checked the balance last night AND this morning, and there was enough in there to cover the fee (I KNEW I was going to get some fee) and my cab once I get to the Van Nuys Flyaway. But for some reason, it wasn't going through. They suggested I go to an ATM. I got to the ATM, expecting MORE fees, but it says "Card not authorized" or some shit. Freaking out (because my Macy's Visa wasn't working either, and that didn't surprise me; I owe the most on that card at the moment, and I think they've been calling me incessantly -but never leaving messages- but my payments haven't been the full amount. They've been whatever I could manage, but apparently THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH), I called my bank.

When I finally got hold of a live person, he told me that while my checking account was still open, my debit/MasterCard had been closed since NOVEMBER!? WTF!? They didn't even notify me, not even on the site, which I check fairly regularly! So I had to be transferred to another line, explain the whole situation again, and have them "reactivate" the card (with the stipulation that the "activation" might not actually take effect until midnight).

Then, by the time I got back to the SWA counter... the guy said "It's okay, go on."

NO FEE.

I LUV SOUTHWEST!

So yay to that, and yay also to the taxi ride from Van Nuys FlyAway that was cheaper than I expected. Yay to Grandpa shelling out $12 because the guy didn't want to try swiping my potentially-bad card.

NOT YAY to the fact that I may have lost my USB stick. I called Mom to see if she could spot it in the areas where I was hanging out, but she didn't see it. Then again, she was half-asleep. I'm hoping it turns up somewhere really obvious -here or there- and I can get it on my hot little hands again. I DON'T want to have somehow lost it at SFO or LAX or on the plane or in the taxi. I'll call the airports if I haven't found it within 3 days, because that particular USB drive is important, but hopefully it's extremely identifiable, WHAT WITH MY NAME PRINTED ON IT AND ALL.

Think positive, think positive.

YAY to the fact that Baba and Grandpa now have an iMac! Sure, it's a G5, but it's working pretty well! Plus Erin left all of her awesome software on it, so if for whatever reason I don't or can't use my laptop, there's this one. It's not on Leopard, but because it's a PowerPC, I can run old-school Mac programs! WHOO!

Anyway, mom's been nagging me to make sure I get enough sleep lately. My problem is that I stress too much about things (LITTLE things, both literal and figurative). I think I should just chill and be glad to be home safe and (mostly) whole. I somehow managed to scrape a piece of skin off my right hand earlier at SFO when calling WaMu. I don't know how, but it hurts. :P

Ah well. Emails to read and send, LJs to catch up on... I can only relax by feeling accomplished somehow.

Comments

[aelibia.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. I hope you feel extremely lucky. As a prelude to the mini horror story, let me further stress on the fact that no one should subject themselves to American Airlines. Ever.

So we're trying to get to Alaska cheap by buying the cheapest ever cheap tickets online way before we actually come close to the airport. Naturally this immediately throws layovers and multiple airline switches in our path.

We leave our hometown airport--after correcting the error on my ticket which almost sent me to London, dear God--and we're thirty minutes in the air to Dallas before the captain says there's electrical problems on the plane and it'll have to turn around and go back. So it does, and we're told that we'll leave on the next flight out, which is only like a couple hours later. But my aunt overhears the pilot whisper to one of the flight attendants that the real reason for turning around is so that the airline will save more money on expenses by shoving two half-full flights into one full flight.

In Dallas, our once-comfortable layover has now been reduced into a frenzied leap for the next gate. We get lost on the tram thing and barely made it, but it didn't really matter because the plane sat there forever waiting its turn to take off.

In San Fransisco, we're trying to hurry to the flight to Vancouver, when someone in charge stops us and asks us what the problem is. We tell her our situation and she says she'll take care of it; she tells a security person to hurry us through the enormous bag checking area, and he marks something on our tickets. Apparently there was a misunderstanding of embarrassing proportions, because he ended up sending us through the in-depth security check, where they dismantle everything you own and stop short of vivisection--just to check for stomach bombs, that sort of commonplace thing.

Weird thing is, only half of my family was marked. So while me and some others were standing in the check room yelling at the TSA, everyone else was already on the plane with their luggage and half of ours.

In the end, the plane was held until the TSA had finished thoroughly molesting us (and apologizing, which made us madder--just do your damn jobs and keep human interaction at a minimum, will you?), and we got to Alaska safe and sound.

Our luggage was still in Dallas.

The moral of the story is that the TSA are a bunch of heartless dicks (Okay, that could be stereotyping, but maybe I wouldn't feel that way if this didn't happen nearly every time we fly, dammit). Or maybe robots. It is for this reason that whenever I hear someone's flying anywhere, I always encourage them to wear the least amount of clothing possible. People who go to the airport wearing jeans, jean jackets, and four layers of camisoles, tank tops, and t-shirts on top are always the ones who get checked. Ever since I started wearing a flowy cotton skirt and a plain, thin t-shirt with flip-flops, no one stops me. I just have to bring my flannel blanket with me if I'm going somewhere extremely cold.

Oh, and then there was that time in South America where the airline suddenly decided I could have one carry-on bag, not two, and I had to ingeniously come up with a solution to the problem, aka stuff everything into one bag and hope it didn't get wrinkled.

God, I have so many horrifying airline stories. I hope yours are always this nice.

Dx

[azurite]

I've come close to that before; I have a whole tag dedicated to "airlines" and similar horror stories. Because of my adventures flying United from Japan to the U.S., I *HATE* United with a bloody passion. If it weren't for cheap student fares, I never would have flown them again, but I did for a visit back home to S.F. a while ago, and that made me hate them even more.

I've gotten the hang of the TSA inspections though, and always have my boarding pass out with a proper ID (my passport is harder to miss and is quicker to inspect). I've also got a system for what to wear -I'm perpetually cold, so I will wear layers, but I make sure to wear shoes that are easy to take off.

I also make sure that my 3 oz. or less liquids/gels/creams are all in a 1 qt. or smaller zip-top bag that I take out prior to getting to the screening area, along with my laptop, removed from its case. Plus, I'm well-familiar with the No-Nos of travel items, like nail kits or calligraphy pens, etc.

It always makes me laugh when people go through the checkpoint and have bunches of stuff in their pockets, they forget to take their shoes off, or they completely miss the signs saying "take your laptop out" and "no liquids/gels of ANY kind above 3 oz." That means the BOTTLE, regardless of how much is actually inside.

Whenever I travel with others (which is rare and often irritating, unfortunately), I'm always the prep person who knows how to get through the TSA checkpoint the fastest. Alas, hardly anyone ever listens to me.

Aside from the near-SNAFU with the fee, this flight wasn't so bad at all. The mixed drink I got (a Jack & Coke) wasn't very good, but at least they weren't cheap with the alcohol! I think it just tasted a bit weird with the dry-roasted peanuts or something. :P

[arien-elensar.livejournal.com]

Southwest rocks, waaay better then United in any case. They're one of the few airlines with actual human relations skills.

I really hope you find that USB. *crosses fingers* Let us know what happens!

[azurite]

Actually yes-- but it wasn't me that found it, it was my mom. She told herself to think like me and she found the USB in a bag of recycling next to the table where I'd been working. -_-; But I'm glad it was she that found it and not somebody at the airport or in the taxi!