-=> Quoting Michael Loo to Nancy Backus on 06-29-19  08:44 <=-

 >  ML> Hard for me to imagine how they work, but it would seem
 >  ML> that the one that got the most use would be the off button.
 >  ML> On the other hand, it could be that the off was merely a
 >  ML> release, so there wasn't an electrical contact component to it.
 > Richard would probably have a better idea what was involved there, both
 > mechanical and electrical...  
 ML> It's a man's job [g]

Yeah, right.... (G)  Women can be quite apt mechanically and
electrically... just not me....   I'm glad to let him handle those
things...   My niece-daughter, on the other hand, is quite able to do
that sort of thing (better, I believe, than her husband, actually)...
She's actually a Mechanical Engineer... 

 >  >  ML> I seldom have made the land crossing but have had no
 >  >  ML> problem, just a couple amusing events. And truth be told,
 >  >  ML> generally the airplane crossing has been uneventful -
 >  >  ML> getting back stateside has occasionally been annoying.
 >  > Uneventful would be very nice....
 >  ML> It seems to be a kind of standard lowish level of
 >  ML> annoyance entering Canada, somewhat higher going
 >  ML> into Montreal, somewhat less into Toronto. Then a
 >  ML> standard moderately high irritation reentering the
 >  ML> US. Of course the last time was during a shutdown 
 >  ML> period, so the preclearance wasn't working.
 > I don't recall any sort of annoyance on my returns through Canada
 > (Toronto) from my UK trips... but that was pre-9/11...
 ML> I used to get a "welcome home, SIR" and a wave.
 ML> No longer.

Sigh... the world has changed... and not much for the better....
 
 > I do remember a customs agent in Toronto being amazed at the small
 > amount of luggage I had with me for my fortnight's trip once... 
 ML> Occasionally I get that. What's the additional threat in
 ML> taking less stuff I can't figure. For short trips, I've
 ML> been known to take zilch, which also seems to bother them.

Taking zilch could indicate not expecting to return, I suppose... I
think in my case, he'd never run into a female that could travel fairly
light....   I had two small carryons, a totebag, an umbrella, a
camera, and dutyfree scotch IIRC.... I remember it being 6 small
items, anyway...  My first trip to the UK, I'd had my son with me, and
we had one very large suitcase, which proved very awkward to manage,
especially when we were taking the train during our time there.... I
learned to only take what I could carry easily myself.... 
 
 > This last crossing, into and out of Canada to pick up the kid at
 > Montreal Airport turned out to be quite uneventful, and not even a
 > particularly long wait either direction.... He had a slightly more
 > extensive deal at the Canadian customs at the airport... I waited for
 > him to appear at the Passenger egress for a couple of hours, even though
 > his plane had been a tad early, and I'd gotten there in good time... The
 > Airport itself was quite busy at the time, though, which may also have
 > accounted for some of it...
 ML> Also, it seems to depend on the nationalities of
 ML> the other passengers arriving at the same time.
 ML> Coming into France once Carol Bryant and I had
 ML> to stand in an exceedingly fractious line and
 ML> wait for an insufficient number of immigration
 ML> officers to process a few planes that had come
 ML> in from Africa and the Middle East, probably
 ML> several minutes of scrutiny and grilling per 
 ML> dark-skinned passenger. When we finally got to
 ML> the booth, an hour or more later, the agent 
 ML> glanced at the blueness of our passports - I don't 
 ML> recall he even opened them - and shooed us along.

Just relieved to have someone not likely a threat....   There were
indeed many different nationalities represented this time at YUL,
streaming out of the egress, meeting friends and family.... 

 >  ML> My next trip, which may have started by the time
 >  ML> you read this, is kind of experimental. I lost my
 >  ML> preferred status on my birthday by forgetting to
 >  ML> have it renewed, and this will be the first time in
 >  ML> a decade I'm traveling with someone with neither of
 >  ML> us having preclearance.
 > And how well did it work....?
 ML> 15 minutes extra or so. Not much in the larger scheme
 ML> of things but quite a bit considering my record time
 ML> through the precheck lane, which was more like that
 ML> many seconds.

Not too bad... though certainly not what you've come to expect...  

 >  > Not that you would see that as a reason for getting yourself a
 >  > smartphone.... 
 >  ML> Nope. Some airports actually have counters where I
 >  ML> can ask, others have hotlines to headquarters, and
 >  ML> a few (vanishing in the US) have real public phones.
 >  ML> The last time anything dire happened, I hustled to the
 >  ML> United desk, and an earnest-looking young agent said
 >  ML> "I was just about to go to the gate to meet you."
 > Well, that worked out well enough then...   I was able to get some
 > useful information from the airport help desk at YUL about RJ's flight
 > arrival and where to await him... My phone didn't work in that airport
 > anyway.... 
 ML> Information desks vary widely in helpfulness,
 ML> though one can usually get enough to go on.

This was a young man, with an accent beyond the French one... probably
saw me as a grandmotherly type, worthy of his consideration...  
 
 > ... Fat free cheese is like meat-free beef.
 ML> Or fat-free beef, for that matter.

That, too.... 

ttyl      neb

... Age needn't necessarily be a bar to immaturity.

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