virginia and jon . com

I’m sure that many of you have seen the classic movie with Bill Murray. If you haven’t check out IMDB for the details on it and I recommend that you watch it. But even if you have seen it, have you ever gone to bed one night, and woke up and it was the morning of the same day that you went to sleep? Well, this morning that happened to me and about 180 other people on my flight. After taking off late out of Guam and falling asleep about halfway through the second in-flight movie, I managed to sleep for a few rough hours. And when I woke up, the pilot was making an announcement about the status of our flight and telling us that it was about 4:15 am, on Monday morning.

At the moment I’m sitting in a terminal on the Air Force base in Hawaii, where they are continuing to prove how efficient our government agencies can be. Our flight has been unexplicably delayed for another 3 hours. Hopefully this will be the last one.

I’ll keep you all posted as much as I can with updates.

~Jon

I’m sitting in a gymnasium at Andersen air force base right now, working on making my way home. It’s about 2:45 in the afternoon on Monday on the island of Guam, which is 17 hours ahead of Seattle time. I am (not really) looking forward to the two 6-8 hour flights to get home, with about a 2 hour layover in Hawaii. So after time changes, crossing the International Date Line, two flights, and about 20 hours of traveling, I should arrive home late on Monday night (Seattle time).

One thing that I had to mention is the complete difference in airport security and general flying procedures that the military uses. I am flying on the airline called Air Mobility Command. They don’t fly regular routes, and you won’t find flight status anywhere except at the terminal for that flight. Before you are allowed to board the flight, you have to assist as a baggage handler in loading the plane. And you and your carry-on baggage will be weighed so that they can get accurate fuel estimates for the flight. Can you imagine the outrage that some commercial airlines would face if they attempted to weigh every passenger before allowing them to board? Also, there are no xrays, metal detectors, or pat downs. Just a short briefing that is read to you by one of the fellow passengers. I found the list of prohibited items so funny that I took a picture of the briefing sheet to share with you.

For your safety, the following items are prohibited on the aircraft.

• Shotguns having a barrel length of less than 18 inches.
• Rifles having a barrel length of less than 16 inches.
• Switchblade knives.
• Automatic weapons.
• Brass knuckles.
• Incendiary devices, such as flares.
• Tear Gas or Mace.
• Matches.
• Gun Powser, Cartridges, or Primers

Also, any person who is under the OBVIOUS influence of intoxicating beverages or narcotics will not be permitted to board the aircraft.

I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to convince TSA that it’s okay for you to have a shotgun because the barrel is longer than 18 inches.

I’m looking forward to being home soon and hope to get back in touch with all of you.

~Jon