“There is probably nothing we can do which bugs me.”
Yes there is!
First put together any friends and do a small call-in to the congressional types and vent! (there is a flier’s bill of rights being worked on right now check google) Ask the congress critters of their mother’s ought to be so handled? Demand some common sense be applied, old ladies are NOT terrorists! One of the saddest picture I ever saw was of a TSA employee (A young woman in a Muslim head scarf no less), frisking a grey haired Roman Catholic NUN! It was in the Detroit airport and the sheer dichotomy of that image says it all. Enough people bitch and congress will apply pressure to change the stupidity, if not we have to accept it and shut up.
Second, same folks do like my friends here have, and send letter to the airlines, that as long as this is going on, you’d rather travel by train thank you. (two of them got a massive discount on tickets)
Third,reduce your time in the hands of the TSA gestapo, do as I have, ship your ‘luggage’ to hotels by fed-ex. If you call, they will often be happy to receive them and even let Fed-ex pick them up at the desk. Even a good way to ship stuff back from vacation, you only have to deal with carry-on, and Fed-ex has never lost a thing.
Fourth, do as some here have, combine vacations with friends and neighbors and do charter a plane. Some of the chater services fly with empty seats and they will work with a group to make a few bucks more. May need some flexibility, but you might be surprised what you can do.
Fifth, Do take the train, make the trip the vacation and see America in a new way, its pretty interesting from a train, beats looking at America from 35,000 feet, and the seats are a damn sight more comfortable and they serve real food!
‘Over-Qualified’
Like a fragile clockwork over-wound
A creative mind constrained feels bound
A will to create, to build, held back
Must rebel at the possibilities redact
Solutions come to the mind so swift
For problems needing an easy lift
But no one wants them, and away you turn
Who wants a result, you might as well burn
It is sad to be redundant, no good to serve
Where your contribution seems to swerve
And you watch them do it the hard way
Bitter, for you are not allowed to have a say
Shunned by those who have not the wit
To appreciate the possibilities here a bit
The creative mind rails at the needless slight
For it still sees answers but its too tied to fight
Or drive. :)