I should make a travel tag

[teyla]

Hello LiveJournal. I am on a bus, which is sitting outside of Penn Station, New York, and about to depart for Washington DC. I am also very, very tired. In a happy way, though.


I got up at 5 am GMT to catch a bus out of Southampton at 6:45 am. Went to Heathrow, tried to get on my plane, but the plane hadn't arrived yet. Or at least that's what they told us. I think that the delay was actually caused by some sort of security scare, because the thoroughness of security on that flight was ridiculous. Either that, or it was because I was traveling with US Airways. They did a security check before check-in (yes, that was before I dropped off my bag; I boggled), then there was the normal security check, and then there was another security check at the gate, where they went through everybody's carry-on luggage. I've never traveled with US Airways before; are those kinds of security checks normal on their flights?

They were also really suspicious of me both at the pre-check-in check and at customs and immigrations when I'd finally arrived in Philadelphia after all. (The plane ended up taking off with about an hour delay, but we arrived only seven minutes late. I think we had good weather conditions.) Anyway, they really didn't like the fact that I was a German citizen traveling from the UK to the US. The woman at Heathrow airport asked me for an ID issued by the UK. What? I'm an EU citizen. I have an EU passport, issued in Germany, since that's my country of origin. I also have my German ID card, but I am not a citizen of the UK. I'm not even a permanent resident. So why would I have an ID issued by the UK?

Turned out my student ID was enough. There's a picture on it, but not my complete last name. My uni always insists of putting all three of my names on all documents, and Martha Barbara Sophie takes up the width of that little card, so my last name is only half on it. But the airport lady was happy, so I was happy as well. Until the guy at customs and immigration in Philadelphia wouldn't stop eying me and asking pointed questions that basically boiled down to "what the hell are you doing back in this country so soon after you left?". I was like, um. Visiting a friend? Really, I don't plan on staying. I just want to see this friend of mine. Please?

Well, he let me through eventually--with about 10 minutes left to catch my connecting flight; which left from Terminal F, while I'd arrived at Terminal A. I hate running with suitcases. I hate it even more when you run, manage to rush through security--oh, by the way, despite the super-thorough security, both security checks; the one in Heathrow and the one in Philly, missed my insulin pump. Seriously, that thing gets missed 70% of the time. Kinda scary.--so, you've run through the airport, stuffed your belt into your back instead of put it back on after security, and you arrive at your departure gate just in time for your flight, and then you find out that your flight is delayed. That has happened to me so many times already. But you can never risk not running, because the one time you do, the flight won't be delayed. Obviously.

Anyway, so my second flight was delayed as well--also due to the aircraft arriving late; but this time, I actually believed it--but we did get to board eventually. And then got to sit in the airplane for about an hour and wait. Due to weather conditions, La Guardia, my destination airport, had to close one of their runways--apparently, there were very strong winds today, and I think they were worried that the planes might get blown into the ocean, or something--so there were delays all over the map. This annoyed me a little bit, because the flight itself shouldn't have been longer than maybe half an hour--and it's actually a horrible detour, going via New York if you want to get from Philly to Washington. It was cheaper this way, though.

So eventually, I arrived in New York, got off the plane, and found my bag. By that time it was around 8 pm--local time; so since I'd gotten up at 5 am London time, I'd been awake for 19 hours at that point. And I hadn't slept. For some reason, I wasn't able to sleep on the plane at all this time around. I caught the M60 bus and the W train to Times Square where I met onceforluck. Yay! I met her last September, and she's a lot of fun to hang out with. She bought me dinner, which I was eternally grateful for--for some reason, the two ATM's I'd tried refused to take my card, so I was living on the 10 bucks that I'd still left over from my visit in September, and ten bucks isn't much if you're having dinner at Times Square. So, dinner, at an Italian restaurant with a very fast-talking waiter and blinky sparkly Times Square in front of the window. The sparkliness still does impress me. And onceforluck is still fun to talk to. Thanks for the evening! :)

Then I walked down to Penn Station to catch my bus, and now I'm somewhere on my way out of New York. It's 11:30 pm, I'm very tired, and won't be arriving until 3:20. BUT WHEN I DO I WILL FINALLY GET TO SEE mind_the_tardis. You know how you get moments when you're doing Epic Journeys like this when you just want to slap yourself for not staying at home in your comfortable, familiar flat? Well, every time that happened today I just thought of the fact that I'd get to see mind_the_tardis at the end of this, which never once failed to cheer me up. Cheesy, but true. <3


. . . I will sign off now and try and get some sleep. Sorry for the incoherent ramble. Feel more than free to skip. The gist of it is really, I'm in the US and I will get to see my girlfriend in about four hours, which are both good things. Good-night, everyone.

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Comments

[chaoskir.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! That sounds a bit as like as a "horror trip". Well, you survived and now I wish you a lot fun and a wonderful time with mind the tardis!! Have a great time!

[teyla]

Lol, it wasn't so bad, really. At least none of my flights got canceled, and I didn't have any crazy long waiting periods--except the one in New York, but that gave me time to meet onceforluck, so that was actually a good thing.

Trips like this one are always a lot of waiting around and queuing, except for when you're running for connecting flights. >_>

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Welcome to America -- OH NO IT'S AN EVIL GERMAN TERRORIST!!!

Hope you have a wonderful time :)

[teyla]

Lol, but I came here last September, and nobody asked me any German terrorist questions. And security wasn't quite as crazy insane as this time around. (I was traveling with Air Canada.)

Pfft, I would so fail the German terrorist quiz. I've never even been to Hamburg.

Thank you! I'm sure I will. :)

[wihluta.livejournal.com]

YAY! You arrived! Have lots of fun. :D

[teyla]

Thank you! I'm sure I will~

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

You got there safely w00t!! Have a great time! And I loved reading your report, by the way!!

[teyla]

Thanks! And hee, I was quite tired when I wrote it. I'm sort of surprised it makes sense. >_> But hey, if you liked it, awesome! :)

[alex51324.livejournal.com]

Re the US Airways security/missing your insulin pump: what the US airlines do is often described as "security theater." Tests have repeatedly shown that the security guys miss actual dangerous objects that researchers (and the occasional just plain buffoon*) take onto planes, but heaven forbid you try to openly carry, say, a Coke on there. Seeing TSA guys be so vigilant about shit that doesn't really matter supposedly makes passengers feel safer--after all, if they are so concerned about the Coke you have in your hand, obviously they aren't going to miss the c-4, fuse, and igniter that Bomby McBomberson and his two pals are carrying onto the plane separately, in three different hidden compartments in their luggage. Duh. Or, you know, if you made them focus on actual threats, they would almost never find anything, so they'd get bored or something. Better to let them wave their dicks around at everyone who thinks they might get thirsty on the flight, or who happens to be flying out of a different country from the one they are a citizen of. Keeps 'em sharp.


*In this latter category include a cousin of mine who routinely carries a geek multitool, including two knife blades, onto planes. If the TSA guys ask him about it, he enthuses about its many other features until they pass him through. Other family members have pointed out that one day, this won't work, and he may end up in serious shit, but he doesn't care.

[teyla]

Lol about your cousin. I am really surprised that they let him take that thing on the plane at all, though. I once accidentally left a nail file in my carry-on, and they took it away. On the other hand, in spring of 2002--so basically only four or five months after 9/11--my mom flew to California, and they let her take five knitting needles with her into the cabin.

I guess security checks are really pretty random about what they will find, what they won't find, and what they'll let you take onto the plane and what they'll take away. Anyone who has flown more often than once or twice knows that, too, so I don't quite understand whom they're performing the "security theater" for. Oh well.

[alex51324.livejournal.com]

I recently read that the people who do the security screenings in the airports are not given a specific, comprehensive list of what to allow and what not to allow*--but auditors come and make random checks, and if they let something through that the auditors think they shouldn't have, they get fired. So I imagine how strict the screeners are really depends on things like how motivated they are to keep their job, how recently the auditors have been by, whether anyone they know was fired at the last random check, how long it is until the screener's next break, and the phase of the moon.

*The reason behind this is, I shit you not, that if there was a list, the terrorists might get hold of a copy and then they'd be able to find loopholes. So the solution to that problem is to leave it up to the screener's judgment, but make them as paranoid as possible by penalizing them heavily if they allow something they shouldn't have, and not at all if they disallow something they should have allowed. It's all perfectly logical.

[mind-the-tardis.livejournal.com]

. . . Aw. And all I do when you finally see me is go HI I AM AWKWARD BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT I DO. *awkwards*

[teyla]

Eeh, the only reason I wasn't awkward was because I was reeeeally tired. ;)

<3

[onceforluck.livejournal.com]

Ok, boo horrible travel stories, but yay meeting in Times Square!

Had a fantastic time yesterday. It was lovely chatting with you and being overwhelmed by The Sparkle. :D

Hope you got to DC in one piece, and hope everything's going well!

[teyla]

Hello! Late comment is late. I did get to DC in one piece; go me! I hope your move went well, too. It was wonderful meeting you again. :) I hope we'll cross path again at some point.

[tinny]

Woah, the whole security and bureaucracy thing is mind-bogglingly absurd. First they make the tightest checks and then miss easy stuff consistently on all of them. And the thing with your student id is hilarious.

Have a fun time!

[teyla]

Yeah, every time I go through airport security, I lose a little bit more faith in the reliability of those checks. I guess it probably is impossible, especially on big trans-Atlantic flights, to make sure that nobody brings any dangerous stuff on board. But on the other hand, taking away people's water bottles probably doesn't make any difference at all, either.

I am having a great time so far! I'm sure it'll stay that way. :)