I'll see you in Amsterdam! The not so friendly skies...

Everyone who knows me knows that I don't travel lightly!  I was honestly working very hard to correct this problem before I found out we were moving.  But now that I'm overseas, there are US products that I just can't live without out.  And I also found several things that we forgot to put in our shipment that I needed here.  Thank goodness I get 2 free 50 lb suitcases!

Product placement:  this handy tool has saved me many, many times from extra baggage fees and humiliation at the check-in counter.  My bags are always at the correct weight, couldn't live without it.

I'm the first person to complain about other people's carryons.  Well I was THAT person flying back here on Sunday.

It all started because Larry gave me a lovely new roller carryon for Christmas.  There was NO WAY I was checking it and not just because I'd have to pay extra for it. This was in addition to my regular carryon (black bag) that holds all my essentials for a happy flight.  I originally planned to put my purse in my new bag but I totally forgot about it and packed the new bag with very important purchases, which left no room for my purse.  So I have what I like to call my "overflow bag" (the yellow bag).  After I weighed  my checked bags and they each were over 50 lbs (yes I had to leave 2 tote bags full of goodies in Houston), I had to use the overflow bag.  This resulted in no room for my purse.  I was VERY happy that my new bag has a strap that I can hang my old carryon from.  That makes it soooo much easier to get through the airports because I don't even want to admit what each of these two bags weighed.

Anyway time to board the airplane and again, thank goodness I have priority boarding. Not as many people to deal with. I got to my seat, put my old bag under the seat, new bag, purse and overflow bag up in the overhead bin.  By the way, the middle aisle bins are smaller than those on the sides of the plane.  I couldn't believe there was no room for anyone else's bags so I shut the bin.  While I was doing this, a man trying to get around me, lightly brushed me, said excuse me, no biggie.  A man (bald Irish man, BIM) sitting across the aisle from my seat said to me "he needs a driver's license".  I responded "well if I didn't have so much stuff…" and we both sort of chuckled.  I took my seat and put my head down and was preparing my speech to deny any of the bags were mine, in case anyone opened the bin.

A few minutes later a man (American #1, A1) was trying to put his bag in an open space in the overhead directly above BIM's seat.  BIM:  Hey don't move my things.  A1:  I'm just trying to fit everyone's bag in.  BIM:  I said don't move my things.  How would you like it if someone started moving your stuff around?!  A1 is speechless.  Another American man (A2) in the aisle behind A1 said "You need to chill out."  BIM:  Hey I'm fine, I'm all right.  A2: well you need to calm down.  BIM:  You need to stay out of it.  A2: Oh yeah, what are you going to do about it?  BIM:  I'll see you in Amsterdam!!

To my surprise, there were 2 empty seats next to me for the flight.  I'm sure they were the only empty seats on the plane and somehow it was destiny.  I intended to sleep during the flight but found 3 movies I wanted to watch.  I then spent the last 2 hours coming up with a plan to exit the plane.  How was I going to get my old bag attached to my new bag out in the aisle without being trampled!