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I'm about to depart from Missoula back to Seattle, but was once again hasseled by the Transportation Security Administration, better known as TSA. The acronym also stands for Totalitarian Security Assholes. Obviously, I'll be venting in this post.

I'm all for airport security. Don't get me wrong. The last four times I've been at the airport I've been selected for "advanced screenings." I don't mind, and I understand because I'm usually flying stand-by and purchasing my ticket the day of the flight.

However, when the security agent is counting the ounces on the lotion container, I get a little irritated. And woe, the inconsistancies! On the way over to Missoula, I had my lotion bottle, which was one ounce over the limit (3 oz.), but, because the container was less than half full, the security agent didn't see a problem with it. My all-purpose contact solution container was too large, though almost empty, so that was confiscated. Whatever. I figured I'd just buy the smallest size available in Missoula, which I did.

But in this recent round, I was told that the size of my lotion bottle was all that mattered and had to be confiscated, even though the specific face lotion I use is available in no smaller size. Then, the brand new all-purpose contact solution I just bought was also confiscated because it wasn't technically a saline solution or eye drop solution. Apparently, TSA doesn't recognize recent advancements in the contact lens industry, which have allowed the visually impaired, such as myself, to be able to use one all-encompassing disinfectant solution, instead of using a combination of varying disinfectant solutions and pills.

I, of course, informed the TSA manager of this history and experience, and suppose that I was lucky enough to be able to board the plane in my state of rage and arrogance.

in

Last night, I joined Chris, Kenna, Courtney, Claire and Tamara (although she slept the whole time) in watching the Senate debates last night on King 5.

In a nutshell, Maria Cantwell, the incumbent Democrat, boasted her record, Mike McGavick, her Republican challenger, attacked it and Bruce Guthrie, her Libertarian challenger, made mostly idiotic, illogical statements. After Guthrie mentioned being a lecturer at WWU, all of us WWU alumni agreed that we had to go back to a different college to earn B.A.'s again because Guthrie certainly destroyed any credibility WWU had and devalued, if not nullified, our degrees.

Outside the King 5 studios, Green Party candidate Aaron Dixon, who did not meet the fundraising and polling requirements for the debate, protested and demanded that he be included. After refusing to leave, he was arrested, according to the P-I.

As for the candidates' specific arguments in the debate, both the P-I and Times have nice summaries, so I won't go in-depth there, but here are some stand-out statements by the candidates:

Cantwell (on McGavick): "Do you want to send somebody to Washington who is willing to cut thousands of employees off his payroll and take a cash bonus as a reward for that?"

McGavick (on Social Security): "I don't trust Wall Street to manage this money, I don't trust individuals to manage this money. It should be a government program."

Guthrie: (on drug control): "I'd prefer drug and alcohol testing on members of Congress."

in

Caption Contest!

Because Mondays tend to be a downer, I've decided to enstate a Caption Contest on the blog. As you all know, I have a priceless collection of pictures from my college years, and I figure this can be a fun way to share them. So, I encourage you all to check in on Mondays and put those captions in the comments field. Here we go...

Note: Scott is holding the gun and Courtney (his girlfriend of nearly three years) is in the jumpsuit.

in

Now that I feel I'm close to becoming employed again (crossing fingers), I decided to re-visit my former employer's Web site to try and remember what it's like working full-time (It's been so long!). In my research, I discovered some blog posts by my former colleagues that I had not read. They were written in my honor and, since I haven't boasted myself in some time, I'll republish some of these excepts without permission:

From Terry: "Paolo has been a constant source of amusement since I came to PRWeb. He really made an impression on me when Captain Kathy and Nicole happened to have the same day off around Christmas time last year. Paolo swaggered into the office, propped his feet up on the desk and announced since he was the senior editor, that he was in charge. Shades of Alexander Haig..."

From Al: "PRWeb editor Terry and recent officemate to the resident Italian, spearheaded a going away party and roast to honor the Ego and it’s small orbiting oddly misshapen planetoid called Paolo...

Paolo countered with a beautifully executed roast of his own against his officemates and broke into song with his guitar. It was a tear jerker.

As most insiders to PRWeb know, Paolo was the creative genius for the editors shed - The BrownHouse. In fact most of the things that can be said in praise about Paolo actually can’t (or at the very least shouldn’t) be repeated publicly."

Oh, how I miss office dynamics! The next unsuspecting office shouldn't be so lucky to have me!