This morning I am returning to Puerto Rico via Newark from San Diego. I have really been packing things up and trying to think about what I need down there, that I have here…so I don’t have to spend any money on unnecessary things (like food). I had quite a long list of things I wanted to bring down, none of which I NEED, but they are all things that I wanted down there. The one thing I didn’t get a chance to do was take out the stereo from the van so I could put it in the Bronco down there. It’s nice to have tunes.

A few of the items that I squeezed into my bags last night are:

  • Lantern (no power at the house yet)
  • Hand Pump for 5 gallon water containers (tap water is not potable)
  • Camping mattress (the Coleman Blowup queen sizers suck)
  • Stereo for my new office (see above)
  • Pillows
  • Blankets (I know it’s 95 degrees every day)
  • UPS Battery Back up (to recharge electronics at the house w/out electricity(53lb)
  • Box of Tropical Sticky Bumps Surf Wax (17lb)
  • Laptop
  • Deed, mortgage paperwork
  • iPod
  • PSP
  • All the plugs etc that go along with the above

    • Well, Continental Airlines only allows 50lbs per bag, 2 bags checked, one carry-on and a purse (aka; personal bag). If you are an “ELITE FIRST CLASS MEMBER” you can have 3 checked bags up to 70lbs each. Upon Shawn’s suggestion (thanks for the UPS), I wrapped up the UPS unit (53.5lbs) in a thick blanket and boxed it…taped it up and checked it as one of my bags. It looks so small; they didn’t even weigh it, although I wrapped it with Fragile and Heavy stickers. When they got to my other bag I ran into some problems. Actual, 16 problems. The bag was sixteen pounds overweight. I tried greasing the curb check guy…but to no avail. He said he was either going to charge me $50 or I had to loose 16 pounds to my carry on.

    I don’t know if this was the best idea, but I knew the box of wax weighed 17 pounds. It put my one-pound under the limit. I pulled out the wax, reshuffled my single carry-on to a back pack and a purse (that corny Mortgage company gift bag I got finally paid off) which contained my laptop, paperwork, a couple of books and a 17lb box of Sticky Bumps Surf Wax.

    san diego airport security

    Everything was going just fine (between the curb check and security) until I got to the x-ray machine. First my computer went through, then belt and shoes and then my backpack started and the security person stopped the machine. She looked close at the screen, pushed a button and within 5 seconds there were security guards everywhere and I was pulled out of line and brought to secondary…away from my bag. I watched from a far as the security guards faces turned white with fear. I was questioned in detail about the contents of my bag, which was still on the conveyer belt unmoved. After I gave them the list of contents, they asked me if it was safe to move the bag and was there anything in there that could harm someone.
    I told them “No.”

    sticky bumps security issue

    They proceeded to, very carefully, bring my bag over to secondary where I was standing. They swabbed my entire bag before opening it, they didn’t detect anything dangerous…so they made the next move; open the bag. They pulled out all of my stuff, except for the box of sticky bumps and the four airport security people stared at the box…faces blank, aside from the fear.

    I was asked again; “Is there anything in that box that could harm others or us?”
    I said “NO, it’s just surf wax.”

    It didn’t look like they believed me…they very slowly pulled the box out and started swabbing the outside of the box extensively. When they felt it was safe, they opened the box and inspected every single bar of wax separately (96 bars). They were nice enough to re-pack the box for me and help me tape it back up. I hustled on over to the gate, with my wax, and made my plane by about 3 minutes.

    I am glad I got to the airport an hour and a half early…the San Diego Airport Security took me over an hour. Maybe I’ll ship the wax next time.