And now, in Auckland, I’ve had a tiny tube of superglue (purchased inside Singapore airport) confiscated. Colgate toothpaste (also purchased at Singapore airport) was no problem though, unlike at the Tokyo airport.

Also on this most recent flight, we received full sets of silverware (including knives) at mealtime. Hmmm, just a few years ago, we weren’t even allowed plastic knives, on the rationale that knives on planes are dangerous. I’ve had nail clippers confiscated on the same rationale. Now, knives are no problem it appears. Who knows what the current view on nail clippers is.

So now I’m allowed to brush my teeth and cut my food with a knife, but I won’t be able to fix the inevitable small cracks and breaks in my stuff.

Perhaps someone somewhere somehow can make sense of these seemingly arbitrary rules, but it’s beyond me.

Apparently, Colgate is classified as a dangerous substance now. Just had a tube confiscated at Narita airport in Tokyo. 44 hours of travel ahead of me, and no toothpaste.

Thank you very much to all the %#@*%&^!!! loonies who want to blow everyone up.

Airfares have doubled, and I have to go without toothpaste. Aiyah. The world is truly screwed up.

While I was away in the Bahamas, Pasta’s laboratory tests came back negative for cancer. Huge sigh of relief. Turns out it was most likely some sort of skin rash. Let’s just call it the world’s most expensive and anxiety-causing case of dog acne.

One of the worst concepts ever invented must be the airport layover.

As if sitting in a cramped, uncomfortable, poorly designed seat for over 12 hours (Whoever designs airline chairs should be forced to sit in them. It’s like the seats are straight from a prisoner-of-war camp), being force-fed “food” with the culinary appeal of styrofoam and sawdust (Whoever dreams up the awful menus on some of the airlines should be forced to eat the damn stuff. It’s like the “food” is straight from a prisoner-of-war camp.), then being herded like cattle and being subjected to shoes-and-belt removal for a customs search (Truly a prison-of-war-camp-like experience)…isn’t terrible and degrading enough, long-haul trips often involve painfully long airport layovers.

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A few days ago, we found a small bump on Pasta, just under her front left leg…something that didn’t look too nice. So naturally, we dropped everything and rushed off to the vet to have it checked out.

Pasta’s intelligent. She knows that rarely does anything pleasant ever come from a visit to the vet. So while she was ecstatic at the prospect of getting into the car, she was much less enthusiastic about the situation once she realised where we were heading. By that point however, it was too late for her to turn back…short of jumping out the window and making a break for it.

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