And so vacation has ended...

As mentioned before, this past week I have been up north in the land of ice and snow. I didn't suffer the cold as much as others feared I would due to the lack of leaving the safety of indoors. Being up there was a bit exhausting, but I really enjoyed myself (I had my sleep schedule adjusted, and wasn't long enough of a stay to fully adjust).

The last few days rushed by, and here I am typing about them the day after returning to my home in the south. In case you are wondering, I have reason enough to type. I hid a small gift for my girlfriend until the final night, in order to make the presentation something special. She appeared to like it which boosted my spirits from the anxiety of what could have happened otherwise.

In truth, in the back of my mind I was wondering before the trip if we would still have the chemistry we had in the past. We have stayed in good communication for (I think) about six years, but only became serious midway this past year. All those fears were gone when it was time to leave yesterday, and it honestly felt like I was leaving something behind. I now view us as close as ever, and eagerly await our next meeting in person (which will unfortunately be several months at earliest). She will likely tell you I have a habit of thinking far too much about everything.

Enough of the silly romantic ramblings - on to the craziness. It didn't take too long to pack up everything since I didn't spread out very much. I wanted to arrive maybe 2 hours prior to take off, just out of paranoia and a habit of arriving early.

It was a good call...

After our final hug and handing over my luggage, I headed off toward the concourse. Before not too long did I realize it was the wrong one, and made the correction - wasn't a bad mistake and didn't cause any slight embaressments.

Security was a bit of a pain. Coat in one bin, laptop case in another, laptop in a third, shoes and pocket stuffs in a fourth, and finally slid my backpack through. I took up the entire counter space ahead of the metal detector. A guard checked my boarding pass and ID, and signed the ticket. As I had quickly packed everything back up a guard came over and asked if the boots belonged to me, which they did. Turns out I had forgotten about my Swiss army knife that serves as part of my keychain. They didn't catch it on the flight up, so I didn't even think about it. Strike one for me.

I couldn't just give it up due to sentimental value, so I had them escort me out of the checkpoint. At check-in I had to explain everything that occured as well as present my luggage ticket and boarding pass. They took my knife and keys and slid them with a printout in a bid along the conveyer to the hidden void behind the counter that magically puts your bags on a plane (hopefully the correct one). I had to put blind faith in the workers that they would put my knife and keys in the right bag, or else problems would arise fairly quickly.

I lugged my bags and coat back through security. By this time a line had formed, so I had a little longer wait than before. No matter though, I still had a good chunk of time left before boarding was scheduled. I lined everything up in practically the same order as before at the same station, and slid them through as routine required. Different guards were stationed this time, and upon inspecting my ticket the new gaurd signed off to the side of the first. Shortly after I had nearly finished repacking everything up once again I heard a now familiar line. "Do these boots belong to you?" Strike two.

Turns out I still had a small folding knife in my wallet. Totally forgotten about since I aquired my Swiss army knife, and religated to the status of an emergency blade. The last time it was picked out was returning home from Japan the second time I visited, and even then it wasn't picked up when I traveled to there. It wasn't picked up by any security for any other flight, and so it has never crossed my mind - until it was caught this time.

Again I was escorted out of the checkpoint, and again I walked up to the check-in terminal and spoke to the same guy, about the same situation, and handed over a second knife. Who knew quiet little me was armed so well?

Security checkpoint, third attept. I was hoping I would have something else that would throw off the alarms so I could win the jackpot, but I finally cleared the checkpoint. The guard looked at my boarding pass and chuckled, not bothering to add a third signature to my collection. I packed everything up in what felt like record time thanks to recent practice, though I stuffed my coat into my bag (finally too worked up for the warmth).

I couldn't help but grin as I walked off.
I had an hour left before boarding time.

After arriving at my destination, 20 degrees warmer, I discovered my knives were in my bag as promised and fell asleep in the car on the way home.

I like to let my mind wander from time to time to try to think about the abstract connections thing tend to have. I tend to not pay any attention to them, but sometimes I can't deny how strange some things come together. For all the wierd coincedences bringing my girlfriend and I together, I can't help but think the minor hardships I encountered as I left were a way of fate trying to keep me there.

It's silly and I don't believe in fate, but I can't help but try to rationalize what I observe when logic breaks down. Either that, or I should pay more attention to how many knives I carry on a plane...