Heading Home

Dad's boarding pass was heavily marked up by the folks from TSA.
Dad is heading home from a three-day trip to Los Angeles. (Read the posts below for details.

Here are some of his final observations:

> Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT need a government-issued photo ID card to fly. Dad flew out of Omaha and then out of LAX without his driver's license - or any other photo ID card. The only thing that had his picture on it was a tag on his carry-on bag: a Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team card he made that must look fairly official.

> Does Dad look like someone who is engaging and approachable? Apparently so, judging by the number of people who kept coming up to him and striking up all kinds of unusual conversations. Does this happen to New Yorkers?

> Local TV news in Los Angeles is not as "Big Time" as you would think. The graphics were less than impressive, the stories recycled from one newscast to another, and the cross talk is as phony as in Omaha. The only difference is that the TV crews have to drive farther to cover their stories. One station has a studio backdrop featuring a live shot of the front of LAX, which is pretty cool at night. Another station did a live shot every night from Las Vegas to talk about the "cool new games" there (it's November sweeps, after all).

There's a reason they tell you to buckle up as soon as you get on board an aircraft. The jet out of LAX was beginning to be towed away from the gate when something snapped hard, violently jolting the plane backward and sending one of the flight attendants flying. She hurt her hand pretty badly, trying to break her fall, but told everyone she was going to ignore it because she wanted to get us on our way.

Some airports now feature little "power stands" where you can recharge your cell phone or plug in your laptop. And there's no cost. As for free wi-fi, there is usually none available - unless you're flying through Denver International. So plan your long layoffs accordingly.