2nd half of the Tahoe Story

Arriving at Ontario CA Airport was interesting. I was greeted by several police and California National Guard carrying older model M-16s, and adorned in full vest and utility belt. Quite reassuring and I even gave a HOOAH! to one Soldier who gratefully acknowledged the sentiment. Check in was easy enough as I had downloaded and printed my boarding pass the night before. TSA was also on hand to perform random searches as the travelers were boarding. They went after all the "high threat" passengers like an elderly woman carrying a purse, and a young pretty blond that smiled a little too long at one of the soldiers. It would be nice if the middle eastern gentleman would have been checked instead of the elderly woman though.
My ID was checked 3 times prior to boarding... Redundancy is good.

My return flight was a little different. Sacramento had no National guard, but security was supplemented by CHP with dogs(?) roaming about the terminals. I had good confidence when I saw them. However, tired and cranky after an energetic evening of football drafting, trash talking and cards till 2 AM, I was not in the mood to be called aside and searched by a TSA rep who looked like he couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. So when I was singled out and asked to open my bag, I casually made two statements. The first being "Oh yeah, I look like a terrorist alright"... Bushy can attest to this, I am a middle aged blond haired (slight grey) and blue eyed American boy whose a few pounds over weight (no wise cracks bushy) and woody woodpecker tattooed on my arm.
My second comment was "why the heck don't you knuckleheads profile?! That smooth looking redhead in front of me didn't fit the profile anymore than I do?!" No response. Obviously, he's not paid to think, just do.
Other than that, the trip was totally uneventful.
Off to Phoenix tomorrow with Mrs. Gawfer.