Peanut Butter Blues (June 22nd Update)

Hard to believe that the bulk of my planning (not always successful planning) is officially behind me and, if all goes well, I’ll be in Scotland within hours (I’m typing this on the plane).

My arrival at the airport was a bit earlier than it needed to be but when a friend offers a free ride to the airport, well … I say, “Yes.” – even if it means arriving a bit early.

The early arrival made for a very leisurely trip through security. A process made longer than in the past because this time they needed to inspect my carefully packed bike box. In the past, said box was put through the scanner and that was that. However, it would seem their “new” scanner (in the oversized baggage section, I might add) was too small for my bike box (a standard bike box, I might also add). That said, the task of essentially unpacking my entire bike box went smoothly and the security person was very pleasant, helpful, and even apologetic. Eventually, the bike cleared security and I was off to do the same.

As per usual, the security lines were long and slow but I eventually made it through – but not without incident. It would seem that my small jar of peanut butter was not allowed. Apparently, it’s a gel. Peanut butter. Sigh. I have only myself to blame but I REALLY didn’t expect my peanut butter to be seized. Honestly, I would usually put something like that in my checked bags but it was a last minute inclusion and I just stuffed it in whatever bag had space. Oops. Personally, I think the security guard forgot her lunch and was hungry.

Fortunately, everything else went smoothly. Very smoothly. Plus, I was more than a little happy that I had an empty seat beside me. Side note: I can’t watch the pre-flight safety demonstration without thinking of Randy (Lorna Patterson) in Airplane! Oh, and speaking of which, for those interested in what I’m eating on this adventure, the inflight meal was a choice of steak or fish. Yes, yes, I had lasagna. (Now would be a good time to watch the short video below … if it works)

My plan to help the flight pass more quickly was to watch season 1 of Fear the Walking Dead. That plan was severely hampered when I discovered that I only copied the pilot episode – which I just watched – onto my computer. So now I’m typing this instead of watching episode two … and three … and, well … you get the idea.

Did I mention my peanut was seized? Sigh.

Next stop, Glasgow.