I’m still recovering from my mission to San Diego Comic-Con. As I’ve said previously, I haven’t been since the 90’s and a lot has changed; including my average walking speed.
Saturday was a peak day for a number of reasons, not just distance walked. However, my journey (plus 8.8 miles walks) began Wednesday morning when I arrived at Oakland International Airport early enough to catch my 9:40am flight only to find it’d been delayed to noon. I’d missed my chance to switch flight to one already boarding so I grabbed the next best one — 11:40am.
With a number of hours left to wait and my ride still in proximity, I opted to exit the airport (I’d gotten through security in about 5 minutes with no issues) to spend that extended wait walking the regional coast with my pack. It was the best possible way to enjoy that wait.
Having checked my bag in earlier, when I changed flights, I only had to go through security with my carry on as I’d done earlier. Granted, there were more people working their way through the security check point but this time around I was stopped. My computer bag was sequestered for special inspection; the culprit —
You see I’d intended step-up my SWAG game with 10 of these specially branded Shuriken /sticker combo packs. It took the TSA security team an additional 30 minutes to determine these items were soft rubber after having let me through the check point just hours earlier with-out a second glance. I mention the minor inconvenience as a reminder of the absurdity of security theater. Even steel ninja stars would make a sub-optimal weapon for taking over a plane. I made gifts of eight out of the ten of these I’d brought with me. Those who learned of the security hassle such gifts involved were equally amused.
The flight from Oakland to San Diego took less time than the security process and once arrived it was a short cab drive to the venue I’d consider home-base for the following handful of days. I hadn’t planned on carrying 50+ lbs of luggage up a fourth floor walk-up, but once situated I had a few minute to unwind and unpack before beginning my inaugural trek to the San Diego Convention Center where my Press-Pass awaited me.
