Moi at the departure courtesy of the built-in webcam on my S96J

How Does A Pinoy Geek Travel?



The wife and I are flying out to Mactan this PM for two days of train-ing...woopee :-)

Spent 15 minutes before lunch picking which clothes I'll be wearing for the next 48 hours. Then I spent about 45 minutes packing my "gear"--shows my priorities right?

On the list:

• Notebook (Asus S96J--not office issued--my work notebook's battery does not charge anymore but I refuse to get it changed until they switch to a more robust brand) plus associated accessories (power adapter, plug adapter--the type that always gets lost, so I have two of them, RJ-45 cable--ya never know when you'll need it, microfiber cloth for the screen, various accroutements to get stuff connected to the notebook--sync cable for Nokia N60, mini-usb to USB cable for DSLR and card reader, USB hub, blah blah)--I need to do a mini-review of this notebook sometime--I love it. I chose getting a Macbook over it!
  
• DSLR - Nikon D200 with 3 lenses--10.5mm fisheye, 35-70/2.8 and 105mm Micro with 5GB worth of CF cards, charger for the battery, CPL, QR plate, 308s light meter, mini-tripod. All lenses were packed in individual socks.
• Tripod - Manfrotto 055ProB legs with 141 3-way head. I agonized over bringing this--on one hand, there's a very high probability they won't allow the legs on the plane and I'll have to check it, which puts it in serious jeopardy--and I may not need the legs at all. On the other hand, you never know when you need a tripod, and we'll be staying at a pretty nice place (photo-wise) so...I decided to bring it. I disassembled the head, packed the individual pieces into my carry-on, and will risk the legs being checked (more on this later--I am writing this in departure area). The legs are pretty darn short with the head removed, so there's a good chance they'll let me carry it onboard.
• Other stuff: first aid kit, small wad of duct tape, rain covers for the bags, other things I won't probably need but will hit myself on the head if I do need them (e.g. mini-folding umbrella, cleaning items for my SLR, enough songs and podcasts on my N60 to last me through a 5 hour delay)
• A shemagh, a "Geek" cap, my 2 year old pair of Rudy Project Kerosenes
  

Everything's packed in my Crumpler (The Cashmere Blazer).

When we get to the airport, the departure board does not have our flight listed yet. Not a good sign--we're either too early, or our flight's delayed (or worse, cancelled). Turns out we're too early.

So far, so good.

Gwen asks the agent at the nearest counter if we can check in, and they say yes, pick any free counter.

Wow, no need to even line up at a proper queue.

We find a counter with no line--and the agent says, sir, make sure there are no cables on your carry on. (They're afraid someone will get strangled using a USB cable.)

Fine, I packed all the cables one pouch, easy enough to move to our check-in.

And oh, sir, you'll have to check your tripod legs. We're afraid you may bash someone's head in with them.

Screwed, big time.

I tell the agent, I'm afraid they may get dinged or bent. He said, no problem, we'll mark them for special handling.

"Special handling"--I wonder what that means (visions of aluminum legs being lovingly carressed by baggage boys flash through my head).

Hmmm, it's not like I have a choice.

I reluctantly take off the carrying strap and tape the legs together. I discover that my wad of duct tape finally ran out (I've been wondering for the past 2 years when it would run out--it had to be at this moment). The agent helpfully gave me some of their own tape and I taped the ends of the legs together.

Handed them over to the agent, who taped a fragile sticker and set it aside away from the other checked items for "special handling".

Is this goodbye? Will I see you again? Abangan.

(And does Gwen care? Not a bit. Here she is watching House in the departure area while I agonize over my legs.)