i are now afeared of my aeroplane trip

my life as a zucker bros. movie, this is.

Ultimately, what can be done? It's a fucked world, it always has been. There are no guarantees, but life has to continue, surely. Just tell yourself to do as much right and kindness as you can in this life, and continue on. :-)

I somehow doubt the next terrorist attack will be the same method as what caused the WTC tragedy -- so, I wouldn't worry... at least about flying.

You could worry about big earthquakes every day, too. They can potentially be as destructivel; and furthermore, you can't predict nor prevent them.

Well, it seems we're gonna miss each other. I fly down to Orange County from Seattle on the 18th.. so here's to hoping you'll have time to visit ol' Seatown after Sunday the 21st!

yeah, this whole trip seems like a test of just how brave and strong jess can be (even leaving aside the terror in the skies aspect)...girl i've never met before X basic apprehension about plane travel + (not so) latent agoraphobia = gah...but if i didn't see a glimmer of ultimate goodness, i wouldn't be doing it...

and brian, yeah, it's a really tight itinerary...leave early friday morning, get back (very late) sunday night and right back to work...friday and sunday basically lost to travel...but if things go as hoped, i'm sure i'll be back...:)

I really don't know the new rules at the various airports, but if it's allowed it might help to take headphones and some calming music to listen to.

I'll second Nicole's suggestion.

Well, Jess, I hope things work out. :) Have you visited Olympia before? If not, do you know what to expect?

I suspect the fear will abate after you board the plane and things seem normal, but I'd be worried too.

judging by the description of her college, i'd gather hippies aplenty, girls who don't shave their armpits, and grossly oversized jean cuffs coupled with bad bottle black dye jobs as far as the eye can see... ;)

Well, them and bepinned crusties usually make up one half of a typical Olympia street on a given weekend night. The other half usually have drunk conservative frat jocks. (There's a marine base, Ft. Lewis, 20 mins. northeast of Olympia that have no where else to party on, bro) Otherwise, you usually don't see anyone on the streets.

Place to eat: The Voyeur on 4th st. Also a place to see shows. If they're not too salty, their tempeh fajitas hit the spot. Always my dinnertime pitstop whenever I make a road trip to Portland on a Friday evening.

Place to drink: Dunno. Olympia is mostly Harley bars. But at least the drinks are cheap.

Olympia can seem kinda inbred and loony at first impression, but I've grown to dig the place. At least a lot of Olympia folk are very down-to-earth and approachable.. something I wished for more in Seattle.

It's always best to go there when there's some sort of music/arts festival happening..(Oly experimental music fest, yoyo, etc.). The musicians are the greatest folks in town. They're the ones that will actually attend the "other" shows in Olympia, besides shows featuring the hottest three Oly acts of the month.

Oh, and make sure to swing over to Lacey (city just east of Olympia) to track down the 7-foot patriotic phallic statue. Take a picture. I haven't seen it yet.

J think of it this way. If you have to die anyways, wouldn't you like to die as a martyr? Fly with carefree ease!

The flight we took to the States was very lonesome: there were so little people on the plane. Back to Europe was much better. The captain was great in boosting confidence:"Oh I bet you guys have flown much more than I have!" and then when we arrived he said "Oh I am so happy we landed! I am gonna take the day off."
Jess, don't worry. The chances of something happening are minimal. Even in times like this.

Don't be afraid jess, everything will be okay. Worrying is a waste of your time and energy.

When you find yourself worrying about bad things that could happen, just gently shift your thinking to all the *wonderful* things that might happen.

Which girl is this again Jess? Sorry, as moderator I feel an avuncular duty to keep up with you all and your unsettled love lives but I'm confused now cuz I thought you had met this girl and been cruelly parted. This is why we need ILE profiles.

i'm flying london-new york on friday, and i'm starting to not feel that great about it either.

At least you have "met" her and are now going to meet her in real life. Because if you never actually met her it would be an agonising waste of time.

jess' love life - a potted history

1992-1995 alexis (pt. 1, moved) 1996-1998 marni (her cheatin heart, plus the return of) 1998-1999 alexis (part the second, decided we couldn't hack the "distance" of philly to nyc, she passed away [car accident] in early 2001.) 1999-2001 tracy (decided we *could* hack the distance between philly and nyc. couldn't. [idiot])

there ya go. more info that you needed. (hopeless crushes and one off flings omitted for clarity.) there will be a test, and it will count for 1/3 of the final grade.

Jess, I flew from the US to the UK a week after it happened and I was, frankly, terrified until Mum reminded me that "if your number's up, there's nothing you can do about it". I don't want that to sound trite, but the more I thought about what she said, the more I realised I just had to get on with it. Be sensible, don't take risks, but don't let it get in the way of living your life.

God Bless Mums.

Lucy's sounds just like Mrs Murdoch: "If its for you it'll not go by you".

By next March I shall have down Lon-NYC (again, I know this one will be alright) and Lon-Cairo (this one on my own). And I am now absoloutely pissing myself, especially after events in Milan this morning. But what can you expect - the skies are teeming with more planes than ever (well they were), which means the number of crashes is relative, sad to say. I wouldn't expect there to be any more plane bombing incidents, though. They won't do the same thing twice, if indeed they do anything more.

Serious question, does anyone know if I need a valid ID to get on the plane? I have an expired ID, not a new one. I can't renew it cos it's more than a year expired (what? I don't drive, so sue me). I have to go to DMV and do it. Are they going to give me shit over this? Does anyone know?

yes, ally, i can assure you they will give you shit. and if they don't, and they ask for it, and you don't have it, you wont be on the plane that day. every time i've called up to ask about my tickets, they've repeatedly = "MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR VALID PHOTO ID BLAH BLAH"

(and are you somehow implying my question wasn't real?) ;)

Ally, do you have a passport? I don't think they checked my ID all that carefully other than to see that the name matched the one on the ticket, but different airports were doing way different things as far as security.

I dont have a valid passport either. All my IDs are expired. I mean, I have like 800 things with my name on it in my wallet, credit cards, expired ID, social security card, I'm even carrying around my birth certificate for if I get real ambitious and go to the DMV. So I was kind of hoping that expired ID + all these credit cards + social security card + second passenger with valid ID will help me out.

I'm going thru LaGuardia, which is currently teeming with armed guards (and by armed I mean actual huge ass tommy-gun contraptions), so I think that if an airport is going to be picky, it'll be that one...

Oddly, I've been told JFK (ie the NYC airport with international flights) is being more lenient and that the waiting time is less, which I don't understand at all.

By the way, I'm flying down to Orange County in a few hours... and Jess will be flying to Olympia tomorrow morning. Wish us good flights, people! Dammit! :)

Happy flying. Seriously though, I doubt it's ever been safer to fly than it is now. It's certainly never been cheaper.