Back, Back in the U.S.A.

Flew in Tueday night, after some 30-plus hours of air travel. Brutal. There were four connections: Singapore, Tokyo-Narita, San Francisco, and Memphis. Flew Malaysia Airlines to Singapore because no U.S. airline flies to/from Kuala Lumpur. From Singapore to Gainesville, it was all Northwest Airlines.

The first two NWA planes were GREAT. Seats were wide and comfy in economy class. We had individual video screens at each seat. I got to watch "Millions" (absolutely wonderful), "Kung Fu Hustle" (much better than I expected), and "Sahara" (Hollywood junk, but entertaining).

The NWA plane from San Francisco to Memphis was awful. Narrow, worn-out seats, no food service, no beverage selection to speak of. And of course, no movies. I hate flying in the U.S. All the U.S. airlines seem to have cut costs so much, they are as lousy as long-distance buses. The good part was that the flight was only about 3 and a half hours. That is, until we got to Memphis and had to circle for an hour, because of a big thunderstorm.

Luckily, all planes were delayed at Memphis, so I didn't miss my connection. Only half an hour late getting in at Gainesville. I feel quite lucky that all the connections worked for this trip.

I almost forgot to mention the indecency of the security check at San Francisco. No other country in the world insults air travelers with this completely useless show of fake security. We are driven like cattle into herds, made to strip off shoes, open bags, pile up all our goods into trays, and then jostling and bumping on the other side of the X-ray machine, where there is not enough space for all the trays and bags and shoes and laptops. It's a miracle I have not lost something like a purse or computer yet, because it's such a poorly designed system.

It took more than 30 minutes to get through the security torture at San Francisco. That was after the claim-your-baggage and go-through-customs part, which took about an hour.

At least as a U.S. citizen I did not have to be fingerprinted and photographed like the poor tourists coming in. I think more and more people will fly less and less to and within the U.S. because of these ridiculous indignities. No one but the most naive actually believe any of this stupid stuff makes anyone one iota safer. It's all for show.