Traveling Friends,

From MSN.com:

The Golden Age of Travel

In the past century, leisure travel has shifted from a luxury enjoyed by the wealthy to a necessity of the middle class. Today, travel is fast and cheap, accessible and affordable. But as airlines and hotels have started to cut back on the amenities they once provided, it's no wonder that today's travelers feel more like cargo than customers.

Read and see more (http://travel.msn.com//Guides/MSNTravelSlideShow.aspx?cp-documentid=932096&GT1=41000)..

Stijloor.

Thanks for the reminder. Sigh.

Thanks for the reminder. Sigh.I do remember the pampering of air travel in the 1960s. My recent trip to and from Hawaii was far less pleasant than my trip (same airline!) in 1978.

A useful look at the impact of technology on social customs ("dressing up" to fly) and leisure.

One of my fondest memories is the trip from Chicago to San Francisco I took with my mother and at that time 2 sisters by train in 1955. I remember the porters taking care of us and our room, the folks in the dining car hustling and bustling about and riding in the observation car across the Continental Divide. It was a 1st class trip.

Travel then is nowhere near of like travel now:nope::(

I do remember the pampering of air travel in the 1960s. My recent trip to and from Hawaii was far less pleasant than my trip (same airline!) in 1978.

However, travelling is more safer and quicker now than it was before. :cool:

However, travelling is more safer and quicker now than it was before. :cool:
Not when you factor in the TSA hassle at check-in.

I also remember my fellow passengers being much happier and friendly in the terminal and on the plane. The road warriors seem much more tired and exhausted today than they did back then. I recall lots of weeks when I would put in 6,000 air miles and return home on the weekend ready and able to do household chores and party with family and friends. I also recall lots of evening interaction during the week on the road with clients and friends. (Of course, most hotels didn't have 200 channels of cable TV back then, either!)

I also remember hauling some samples of intricate machined pieces in my hand baggage that would earn me body cavity search and detention today if I tried to take them through TSA. One, a prototype gimbal for a space satellite, would probably have gotten me put into Guatanemo incommunicado.

I also remember hauling some samples of intricate machined pieces in my hand baggage that would earn me body cavity search and detention today if I tried to take them through TSA.


One of my favorite activities:lol:

Friday I got a couple of stitches taken out of my fanny as a result of some minor elective surgery(a real pain in the butt). I finally got tired of some airport metal detectors going into fits as I passed through, so I had a few bits of scrap from previous travels removed. I was at the point that I'd just shuck my laundry to get it over with while trying to explain to the TSA folks how it got there to begin with (called history lessons):mad:

One of my favorite activities:lol:

Friday I got a couple of stitches taken out of my fanny as a result of some minor elective surgery(a real pain in the butt). I finally got tired of some airport metal detectors going into fits as I passed through, so I had a few bits of scrap from previous travels removed. I was at the point that I'd just shuck my laundry to get it over with while trying to explain to the TSA folks how it got there to begin with (called history lessons):mad:

OK Randy, now that you have shamelessly exposed yourself....:D, how many stitches does it take to set off a metal detector?

Stijloor.

OK Randy, now that you have shamelessly exposed yourself....:D, how many stitches does it take to set off a metal detector?

Stijloor.I'm pretty sure it wasn't the stitches, but the metal remains of ordnance that found its way into Randy's rump. That can often occur when your transport gets hit by enemy [or friendly] fire.

My wounds were all hand-to-hand blade cuts - no metal left in me.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't the stitches, but the metal remains of ordnance that found its way into Randy's rump. That can often occur when your transport gets hit by enemy [or friendly] fire.

My wounds were all hand-to-hand blade cuts - no metal left in me.

Yes, some of it was theirs and some was ours (I wouldn't use that term "friendly fire", because I wasn't friendly when it happened:mad: ...I actually tried to choke the cherry that did it:lol:)

It was just odds and ends that created enough "mass" to make things go buzz:cool:

At one time in the 1980's I worked with a crazy Israeli engineer - good guy, good engineer, but eccentric. He hadn't picked up any metal weight from serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, but he had a close friend who even at that time consistently set of metal detectors due to battle field metal pick-up.

Randy, you've got my sympathy for the operation, and thanks for your service.

Randy, you've got my sympathy for the operation, and thanks for your service.

Ah, the service? Just a 40 year old pain in the butt:lmao:

However, travelling is more safer and quicker now than it was before. :cool:

The last statistic I heard was 47% of the TSA auditors who test the system were able to carry weapons and contraband thru undetected. I would be willing to agree they have gotten better, but I certainly would not say they have gotten good, safe or quick. Slowly improving. Maybe your experience is better.

I loved the quote by a US Senator last year that the TSA has gotten very good at finding shampoo bottles and "little pointy things," but forgot the reason they were put there in the first place.

The last statistic I heard was 47% of the TSA auditors who test the system were able to carry weapons and contraband thru undetected. I would be willing to agree they have gotten better, but I certainly would not say they have gotten good, safe or quick. Slowly improving. Maybe your experience is better.

I loved the quote by a US Senator last year that the TSA has gotten very good at finding shampoo bottles and "little pointy things," but forgot the reason they were put there in the first place.I agree some of the TSA personnel can be real jerks from a passenger point of view. As a Demingite, though, I put the blame on the managers who pick poor candidates and train poorly and have no effective program for checking competency - I sure wouldn't want competency tested in my factory by random sampling or purposely giving workers bad materials just to see whether they spoil a product by using such bad material.

I don't have an instant answer, but I'd take 1/10 of 1% of the total TSA budget for just one day for a fee to work out a program to assure competent TSA personnel who get the job done without alienating the majority of passengers and intimidating the rest into thinking every other passenger is a potential terrorist - especially when the airlines are taking away amenities one by one and making the trip, itself, even more miserable.

You couldn't be talking about them having some Customer Service training?!? :mg:

That's just crazy-talk!


Actually I've not had any rude TSA staff deal with me when I've passed through the US after 2001.

...As a Demingite, though, I put the blame on the managers who pick poor candidates and train poorly and have no effective program for checking competency...


I agree, but when I am standing there, I really don't care who is to blame.



- I sure wouldn't want competency tested in my factory by random sampling or purposely giving workers bad materials just to see whether they spoil a product by using such bad material.


Really? That is the only effective part of there program, in my view. Of course it is a test of competency. Ball players are tested this way everytime they catch/don't catch the ball.


...I'd take 1/10 of 1% of the total TSA budget for just one day for a fee to work out a program to assure competent TSA personnel who get the job done...


I'd be happy to help...

You couldn't be talking about them having some Customer Service training?!? :mg:

That's just crazy-talk!


Actually I've not had any rude TSA staff deal with me when I've passed through the US after 2001.I'm not talking "rudeness" - I'm talking meaningful response to a situation. Recently, I had a special battery in my hand baggage - long and rectangular - which excited their interest when going through an X-ray. The TSA response was to take out every single item in my bag, wipe each piece with a fresh piece of gauze held in long forceps, and then run the gauze through [I suppose] a chemical sniffer, checking for explosive materials. Elapsed time - 20 minutes, during which time I was not allowed to reclaim my shoes or belt, but forced to stand like an idiot - not even a chair for a senior citizen!

I agree, but when I am standing there, I really don't care who is to blame.I was not mad at the worker; I was incensed at the idiot who created that policy and training method without regard for the comfort of the traveler, compounded by the fact they would not [or could not] explain what they were doing or how long the process would take.




Really? That is the only effective part of there program, in my view. Of course it is a test of competency. Ball players are tested this way every time they catch/don't catch the ball. Yeah! Maybe. But they don't test a batter by pitching him a ball that explodes into powder upon impact with the bat, nor test a fielder by requiring him to determine whether the ball hit to him in the field is an official ball for that league or a clever counterfeit.

I recall seeing blueprints for a hand air gun made entirely out of machined plastic (Delron), firing small plastic hypodermics for darts. The specifications accompanying the prints declared the gun could be pumped up to the same air pressure and shooting specs as these guns (http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/06575-1.html) (Note: PBA ammo is "performance ballistic alloy")

Such a gun is most likely intended for the specific purpose of evading metal detectors, regardless if it is marketed as a weatherproof hunting weapon.

What good is forcing passengers to take off shoes and belt to pass through a metal detector if the passengers have those plastic handguns taped to their bodies?

How about just a sturdy plastic slingshot, using paintball type ammo but each ball filled with some toxic substance, not washable paint? I once took a survival course where we learned to make and use a sling (like David used to slay Goliath) from local materials to kill critters for food and for defense.

I'm not a terrorist, but I am an engineer and I could imagine dozens of ways to evade metal detection with non-metallic deadly weapons if one were willing to spend time, money, and energy in the endeavor.
I'd be happy to help...Well . . ., I'd be happy to help fix the system, but not happy to create deadly weapons to evade the system just to show up the current shortcomings.

I like the thing about pointed weapons being verbotten, but you can have as many metal ballpoint pens you want.

Give me a Bic and I'll take you out 14&11 different ways;):lol:

Some of ya'll have met me, so how quick do you think I could turn a shoelace into a weapon? Or a paperclip? And I'm a peaceful man............

The TSA and whoever jump thru thier fannies over poor ol' Wes's battery and the real threat casually glides around the airport. Half of the people manning the screening areas would slide past their hemmoroids if the real threat came along.

...But they don't test a batter by pitching him a ball that explodes into powder upon impact with the bat, nor test a fielder by requiring him to determine whether the ball hit to him in the field is an official ball for that league or a clever counterfeit.


That's a real interesting picture...maybe in a former Soviet Republic...



I recall seeing blueprints for a hand air gun made entirely out of machined plastic (Delron), ...Such a gun is most likely intended for the specific purpose of evading metal detectors, regardless if it is marketed as a weatherproof hunting weapon.

What good is forcing passengers to take off shoes and belt to pass through a metal detector if the passengers have those plastic handguns taped to their bodies?

How about just a sturdy plastic slingshot...

I'm not a terrorist, but I am an engineer and I could imagine dozens of ways to evade metal detection with non-metallic deadly weapons if one were willing to spend time, money, and energy in the endeavor.
Well . . ., I'd be happy to help fix the system, but not happy to create deadly weapons to evade the system just to show up the current shortcomings.


Actually, I understood these were not esoteric test weapons. Simple guns, knives, etc.

Some of ya'll have met me, so how quick do you think I could turn a shoelace into a weapon? Or a paperclip? And I'm a peaceful man............

I wouldn't take you on! :nope:

Half of the people manning the screening areas would slide past their hemmoroids if the real threat came along.

:thanx: :lmao: You do have a way with words, Randy. This one made my day! :lmao:


I've travelled in the USA several times, both pre-2001 and post. Gimme pre- anyday. Phew - those queues!!!!!

That's a real interesting picture...maybe in a former Soviet Republic...




Actually, I understood these were not esoteric test weapons. Simple guns, knives, etc.
Oh yeah! The blueprint was part of an RFQ. I turned it down because I didn't have open machine time in the customer's time window.

I still have a glass knife which my mom got as a wedding present in 1941 - to cut citrus and tomatoes without staining the blade (stainless steel blades were not common in 1941.)

I just tested it out on a steak and it cut as cleanly as any steak knife I ever owned. Metal detector proof! When I was in Hawaii, I noticed the historic Hawaiian weapons - shark teeth lashed to wood - very lethal, also metal detector proof.

As a gourmet chef, I lust for a ceramic knife (http://www.ikitchen2000.com/prod/db/prod.php?prodNo=K02KT300HIP), but it's out of even my price range (not a determined assassin's) - also metal detector proof!

My teeth are detector proof ........;)

Some of ya'll have met me, so how quick do you think I could turn a shoelace into a weapon? Or a paperclip? And I'm a peaceful man............

:topic:

MacGyver!!!!

:applause:

Fellow Covers,

Any Covers with "Lean Manufacturing" experience available to help streamline the "self check in process" at the airport? It now takes three times as long with the same number of gate agents as we had before..:frust::frust: I shall not name to airline...:nope:

(Burned out) gate agents direct traffic to the check in machines that are too close, jump across the counters to assist passengers that have no idea what to do, take your money for luggage, yell names to find people whose luggage tags were just printed, check your ID, etc...

I will not elaborate on what happened next, that's another story...

"We hope you enjoyed traveling with us...."

Stijloor.