It's Good to Laugh

I took a little breather after the Alzheimer’s post. That one was brewing in my head for a while, and I really wanted to do it justice. After it was posted, I sort of felt like I did back in the day after pulling my usual all-nighters before finals. I just needed a little breather.

(Side note: For anyone thinking that if I’d had better study habits, I wouldn’t have had to pull all-nighters……..possibly true…....not the point.)

Anyway, I’m back! And for those of you who have said wonderful things to me about this blog and asked for more posts, I have to tell you that you have no idea what that has done for me. This was a big leap for me, and although I decided to write whether people were reading it or not, it is amazing to me that people are actually reading it…..and some are even liking it! You have to know I am truly humbled and completely grateful.

As seems to be my pattern, after dealing with something a bit heavy, I’ve decided to go back to the lighter side. Recently while traveling, a number of random and potentially annoying things happened, but because I do enjoy a good laugh, I chose to be amused instead. If I’ve learned anything over the years, being amused is much easier.

So, I give you (I feel there should be a fanfare for this title):

Random Things That Amused Me Recently

 

v     While in the security line at the Bloomington, Illinois airport, the woman in front of me had all sizes of liquids (hair product) in her carry-on. After a lengthy give-and-take with the TSA agent as the agent explained that those large containers of liquid are not allowed in her carry-on, while we…. all… waited…., the woman then asked if it would be ok if she put them in her purse. I was actually quite impressed by the TSA agent who then patiently explained to her why that was, umm, really the same thing.

v     On my last few flights, I was fortunate to get the new precheck status, although I have no idea why. The precheck rules allow you to leave your shoes, belt and light jacket on, and you don’t have to take out your laptop (I googled this to make sure.)……..unless you’re Andee in Bloomington. I think it might actually say that somewhere. I wouldn’t have minded, except they did the “whose bag is this?” announcement (hello, I’m the bagless person right in front of you), and then they rescanned my stuff like I was a moron, and I try so hard not to be the person who holds everyone up. But in Bloomington, and right after hair product lady, I was that person. I hate being that person.

v     I finally did get through security, and let’s fast forward to Florida. While driving, I paid the toll going south on I-75, and got three quarters in change. When I was going back north, I tried to pay with a quarter I received on the way south, and I was told they couldn’t accept my quarter because it was Canadian, and their machines don’t take Canadian coins. I didn’t want to explain that the southbound machines…..well, you know…. so I held up another line as I searched for acceptable American coins, because we haven’t been neighbors long enough to figure out the coin issue, and well, you know how I hate to hold up lines. I was that person again!

v     As I sat on the beach in Florida waiting for the sunset, a woman was swimming and suddenly started screaming, “Shark!” as she hurriedly swam/ran to the beach. Of course, it was only a dolphin. That wasn’t annoying. It just really made me laugh.

v     I dozed off on my flight from Tampa back to Chicago. When I woke up, I glanced out the window at the white clouds below us. Then I looked again and realized I was not looking at clouds. I was looking at snow……completely covering the earth. A little funny, but still mostly annoying.

v     And, somewhat related, although not much except that it involved travel, this is an update on the emergency landing episode that never ends:

I told my insurance company five times – yes, five times – to not pay any bills related to the emergency landing because American Airlines had accepted liability and sent me a check. FIVE times – once by phone, twice by e-mail and twice completing their injury report online upon their request. So I got the check and called the Houston hospital to pay my bill, and I’ll bet you know where this is going. Sure enough, my insurance company (five times) had paid the bill. I’ve had several dealings with insurance companies where I had to get them to cover things, but I’ve never had such difficulty getting an insurance company to not cover something.

Random Observations:

People in Illinois do not think it’s funny when you tell them the temperature of where you are in Florida. They also are surprisingly unsympathetic when you are sad that the fog was too dense that evening, and you did not get to see the sunset. Who knew?

Back soon!