Observations

Dumb Rules:

When certain airlines started charging $25 for each bag to fly in cargo, they forced the issue of what people will do to avoid that fee.  It means that people try to finagle the rule that you carry on only 2 bags, one of which must go under the seat in front of you. During our recent trips, I saw people with 3 and 4 bags getting on with them in their arms, hanging from their body parts, etc. Their inability to stow these items slows boarding and thus, push back times from the gate.

The airlines should either drop the price of the cargo bags to $5 each (or nothing) OR say anyone with more than 2 carry-ons have to be the LAST PEOPLE to board, and then gate check anything more than 2.

What is Truth?

In doing genealogy research, it is very important to go to original records and see the official version of stuff for yourself. The "state approved" version of birth, marriage, and death certificates are supposed to be the official version of truth, right?  I've always wondered about that. When a family story seems to contradict with the documents with a STATE SEAL, we assume the family story got skewed.

Well, when my dad died, my mom left the hospital well before midnight.  He was gone before she left, of course. So we reported his death as the 4th of March, and put it as same in the obituary. Three weeks later when the funeral home FINALLY got the death certificates (and I had to "lawyer" them to get them to procure the darn things), we saw that his death was listed as 0:05 on March 5.  No, he was NOT alive for another half hour after mom left...they just couldn't locate the on-call doctor to come and sign off!

So what's the truth? The official time the doc showed up and pronounced it?  Or when it actually occurred?

Ghouls

We are going to have my dad interred at Arlington National Cemetery.  We did not get a date for this until this afternoon.  Nonetheless, my mom at her house, and I at my house, have already received solicitations from photographers wanting to sell us their services for the day.  I'm going to call them tomorrow and ask where they got our information.  I think it's through the funeral home on this end that will receive the remains.  They don't even have a relationship with us -- they're just the pass through in exchange for a lot of money.  I find this offensive. Am I just being cranky?