4:37 am
Hurry up and wait. No real sleep last night (actually this morning, I’m notorious for cramming as much as possible into the eve before travel), up at three, out the door at four and now waiting for the shuttle driver to get me to the madness that is LAX. I think my carry-on backpack weighs three-times more than my check-in bag. Ack. Jbb

5:30 am LAX
Hurry up and wait indeed. There were open terminals for electronic ticketing but the people in the front of the line insisted on waiting until a terminal opened up where a gate attendant was close by, that is, until an attendant pointed out to the persons holding up the line that they could use the open terminals. Then the race began to get to one of the open terminals. By the time I got to the front of the line I didn’t see anything open in front of me or on the left. Someone behind me said something about there possibly being two open terminals on the far right. I couldn’t see beyond the pile of luggage and big people hovering around the luggage. What the heck, i decided to follow the suggestion of the voice behind me and found indeed that there were two open terminals. That done, it was now time to deal with the goodwill of the TSA personnel.

Shoes untied and ready to be removed; Belt, cell phone, iPod, wallet (except photo ID and tickets), keys and anything else all tucked away in my heavy backpack; Ready to pop my laptop from it’s double-insulated cocoon; i stepped up to the table and stripped down to my t-shirt, shirt, pants and socks. There were several white haired gentlemen who were less agile in their strip-down. As I walked through the metal detector a man in the other line was instructed to remove his baby from the baby carrier and told that no liquids would be permitted. I couldn’t imagine the hassle of traveling with a newborn. I guess the individual was just hesitant enough that it resulted in having all of his family’s luggage opened and searched and the man and wife were hand patted-down in a glassed off area. Good morning LA, make sure you cooperate fully when the TSA person says “Jump!” JBB

8:05 am
Waiting for bags at Claim Area 1. We came in seven minutes early and had to wait for the jetway to be extended so that we could dissembark. Waiting and still more waiting…. Jbb

10:19 am
I got to the hotel early enough to check-in, unpack, and even have a quick breakfast. Yikes. Now I’m waiting for the bus to take a group of us down to Mecca, the Apple Store in Cupertino. Ack. And even as I was typing these word the bus pulled up Gotta go. Jbb

10:37 am
Why did I fret about getting here early? Folks are wandering back and forth, while Sly “takes roll” and the boys stand outside smoking. Okay, so getting at 10:30 would have been nerve-racking, but I definitely need to dial it back a bit as far as the fierce punctuality I was aspiring to. Ha, punctuality… not a word I’m usually or even ever associated with.

10:48 am, still waiting… JBB

P.S., Yes, I finally got to visit “The Mothership” (Apple Campus in Cupertino) and then caught Steve Jobs’ keynote and introduction of the iPhone the next morning.

Click here to see my pix of my MacWorld Adventure. Some day I might even edit the video that I took during my trip. JBB
01-09 Steve Job's Keynote