Well, for anyone not flying this week, let me give you some highlights.

I arrived at BWI (Baltimore) at 4 am Monday morning. All the handicapped spots at the front of the parking ramp are now roped off with police line tape and they towed away all the cars located there. Pity the poor handicapped.

I got lucky and was number 30 in line at the ticket counter. That was Southwest, eastern counter. All the major airlines had HUNDREDS of folks lined up (note - this is 4 am). Figure 2 hours for the ticket counter.

Being at the front meant that I was only number 40 in the security line for the pier, though the 20 airport personel that cut to the front of the line made me number 60. By the time the security opened, it was probably another 2 hour line.

Don't ask me how the elderly and handicapped are going to stand in line for 4 hours. And remember, this was at 30% capacity, supposedly.

Security was fairly quick. Southwest is now paying people to stand there and make sure you are a ticketed passenger before you can get to security. That ought to raise the fares some. There was nothing in place to ensure the hijackings wouldn't happen again, at least not that I could see. I firmly believe I could have gotten my 2 plastic knives through security. Lot's of extra cops milling about.

The flight was fine. I flew to Providence, Rhode Island. No way would I fly to Boston Logan, mainly due to the price.

Spent the week at a Military subcontractors, slightly beefed up security, but that didn't really amount to much.

Returned today. While returning the rental car at the airport ramp, I was stopped by a RI State Trooper, who asked for my drivers license and that I pop the trunk. So much for probable cause. He recorded my DL info. They were doing this to everyone entering the ramp

Things were much quicker at a secondary airport like this. I would try to avoid all the major airports now. I was through the counter line and through security in minutes. Security naturally asked to open my bag. I refused, as you always should (changes the legal status if they find something). They wanted to see my toe nail clippers, which I had already broken the file off of. Wow, I feel much safer now. (never mind the ballpoint pen and toothbrush I carried aboard)

HUNDREDS of folks lined up for security at 6 pm when I got in. I didn't see the counters, so I don't know how bad they were.

So, big airports are nearly at a standstill and security is still a joke, as I've said all along. At least we all feel good.

Paul