> About April 2009,waiting at a _tiny_ airport for a _tiny_ plane (<20 > passengers). Sitting in the terminal being "eyeballed" by two TSA > "personnel" (substitute for the depreciated term "goon") > Just as boarding starts, wander over to a vending machine, buy a $6 soda. > All in full view of aforementioned "personnel", try to get on plane. > "Sir, we're going to have to "inspect" that bottle" Beijing customs. Oh dear. TWO unopened cans of Coke. Look at crowd. Wave, literally, can of Coke. "Anyone want a Coke, cold, unopened, I can't take it with me. ..." Took some hectoring before anyone responded. A male person of colour, coming from where I know not, and going to where I know not, steps from the crowd, I hand him a can. We crack our Coke cans (crack Coke in customs is not usually a good idea) and in very good spirits down them together. General merriment ensues amongst the crowd. A small victory won. Small. __________________ Through airport security in China outbound for NZ via Australia on a QANTAS flight. All the normals at customs security. The Chinese can be very thorough when they want to be although not up to what I've heard of US rigor (in my so far experience.) Coke machines stand, as ever along the corridors to the gates and in the gate lounges. I try very very very hard to not use them as I object on principal to the gouging. Some buy bottles ()never any cans available here). Fair enough. Some take them with them. Uh oh. Australians run their own XRay machine and security system "at the gate". All unopened bottles of Coke et al, freshly bought and unopened are forfeit. Nobody offers me a spare one to drink. ___________________ Do consider the shell game men who MIGHT buy a vending machine bottle and then exchange it for their concealed bottle of whatever perhaps just manufactured in the nearby lab er lav. Chances are very low. Not zero. Pity the TSA man who loses even a 20 person plane because someone out prestidigitated him :-(. Better a goon than having to fill in THAT much paperwork. ____ China. Stand in waiting room at a sliding door at airport (Qingdao). Door opens. About 20 people are admitted to next room. Person with swab goes around all and samples bag and clothes surfaces. Swab is then inserted in in a magic machine. (Make and model evident in the stupidly dangerously taken photo). All clear. The 20 are released on our way and next 20 admitted. The thought is - what happens to the 20 people if the swab proves negative:= -). ________ Transiting Sydney. Outbound. Would you step this way please sir. We would like you to undergo a bomb test whatever. Me: for interest, how did you come to chose me? They: Random choice. Sure. Whatever. Me: voluntary. They yes sir I: what happens if I decline. They: Then your journey ends here, Sir. I accepted ___________ Chinese long distance rail station, domestic. Bags are Xrayed by bored staff. Misc other trains. Bags may be Xrayed. Backpacks also sometimes. Belt bags about never. Shanghai Maglev - bags are XRayed. Probably a nice idea. A bomb at Magev velocity of 430 kph* !!! would spread you over a very great distance. * Faster than ANY production road car on earth. Just. Hmm. Shanghai tower has XRays and laptops must be left in luggage office. A nice target. _____________ Somewhere China customs. Just maybe Malaysia or Singapore. You seem to have a bottle of water in your bag, Sir. Open bag. Search. No water. Search. No water. Search. Ah. That will be the one I slid down there yesterday when it was hot and I wanted a bottle I could get at while travelling - it's in the thin sleeve outside the bag at the back that is mainly used to cover the extending handle rails. To them of course it looks like hiding. And my repeat searches now look like pretence. To me it looks like gross stupidity. __________ Then there was the Chinese customs man ~ 1000 km inland, that I very loudly and very angrily called a bloody fascist - neither being words that I'd usually expect to use publicly from one decade to the next. That was followed by a mini lecture by me. Very stupid. But, he was very cool and calm and collected and polite - But he still didn't give me back my inkjet cartridge refiller, with its weapons grade 3 x 1" needles, that had already passed though 5+ customs points OK. :-) As this was the sole occasion that my wife was with me in China it was a very very stupid thing to do indeed. Needs must. Mustn't be cowed by the weight of authority :-). Must be getting old. The Swiss army knife I had given up without a murmur. It was fair game, and when I saw it in my carry on I knew it was forfeit without question. it MAY have influenced the decision re the inkjetrefiller. BCC: I don't think that that was the knife that you gave me Mike. Russell --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .