Live 2 Learn

In February, my company held a conference in San Francisco. I am responsible for designing and delivering the conference and the audience is the VP population of my employer. There are 130 VPs who come from all over the world so the conference is expensive and important - in other words, it's a risky part of my work responsibilities each year. This year for a "give-away" for the participants of the conference we ordered beautiful crystal three-sided pyramids that could act as a paperweight - each side had a graphic from the conference to reinforce the key conference messages constantly for participants. The pyramids are about five inches tall and weigh four pounds each. The top of the pyramid and each corner of the base are very sharp points. When we got the mock-up several weeks before the conference we joked that in addition to reinforcing learning the pyramids could be used as a deadly weapon. At the end of the three day conference most of the pyramids were left o...

I have sleep apnea which means that for the last seven years I have slept with the assistance of a C-PAP (I can't even remember what the initials stand for other than "Continuous Pressure..."). The C-PAP maintains pressure in my throat via a mask I wear over my nose so that my air passage remains open all night. Without the C-PAP I wake up hundreds of times a night gasping for air because my air passage has closed and I am unable to get air. When I first was diagnosed with Apnea the doctor told me that I should never check the C-PAP but to always pack in my carry-on when I traveled and that every security person in the world knew what the C-PAP was so it wouldn't be a problem. That of course was before the September 11 terrorists attacks. Actually even with all the restrictions on carry-on luggage after 9-11 the most I ever got was the question, "Do you have a C-PAP in your backpack?" and when I said "yes" I was told to "go ahead" - no pr...

Last September the TSA "adjusted" the ban on traveling with liquids, gels, and aerosols as stated on their web site... http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm Specifically they said... 1. Air travelers may now carry liquids, gels and aerosols in their carry-on bag when going through security checkpoints. With certain exceptions for prescription and over-the-counter medicines, baby formula and breast milk, and other essential liquids, gels, and aerosols, the following rules apply to all liquids, gels, and aerosols you want to carry through a security checkpoint. All liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller containers. Larger containers that are half-full or toothpaste tubes rolled up are not allowed. Each container must be three ounces or smaller. I get the needing to limit amounts of liquids, gels etc. because someone might mix up explosive chemicals but the size of the container regardless of the amount included m...

I travel a lot - I have 1.7 MILLION frequent flyer miles on American Airlines alone! So I bitch and moan about travel hassles to everyone who will listen and frankly people in my life are tired of hearing about it so I'll blog about it and hopefully get it out of my system. At the San Jose airport one time I was inline behind a very elderly couple. She was in a wheel chair and he was pushing her at a very slow shuffle using the chair as much as a walker as a mode of transportation for his wife. When they got to the front of the line about to go through the metal detector the TSA person said, "Mam you'll have to walk through." The woman raised herself out of the wheel chair with great difficulty and was holding on to the counter when the agent added, "Those shoes will need to go through X-ray." She had on little pink slippers - the sole was maybe an eighth of an inch thick and was cotten! The little old man had to get down on his hands and knees while s...