I hate the rules of flying nowadays.

I used to love to fly.  I would get to the airport, stroll on the plane (to my favorite seat, the Shakespeare- what you didn’t know that was 2B?), enjoy some wine (the flight attendant would open the bottle that I brought- because bad wine is simply not acceptable), a decent fruit plate, and, then, finally arrive at my destination.

Now, the rules are simply insane.  Get to the airport two hours early.  (OK.  I still don’t follow that- ever.)  No food, no liquids (nor my favorite wine).  Take off your shoes.  Belts, too. Get your computers out and keep them separate from the rest of your stuff. You get the idea.

Last week (when I wrote this), I had to take a rush trip to California.   And, I still had my “West Coast” bag packed.  (After I got to the airport, I realized that I better hope the clothes from two years ago still fit!!!)  Took off my shoes, put my tablet and laptop in separate garbage bins (I don’t know what you call them, but that’s what they look like to me), emptied my pockets and dumped all those contents, along with my shoes in yet another garbage bin, and walked through the X-ray.

And, then, the s… hit the fan.  I had forgotten that my bags always had a corkscrew in the outer compartment.  For those nights in the hotel, when I could enjoy a perfect bottle of wine to cap off the day.  Thankfully, my escort promised to hold my corkscrew for me to retrieve when I returned or I would have lost a $ 20 piece of equipment to the airport police.

Which got me thinking. that it wasn’t just this corkscrew that I forgot- there were the other two in the “cold weather” bag and the “formal attire” bag.   And, the dozen or so that are in my “junk drawer” in the kitchen.  And, the electric bottle opener on top of my microwave.  And, the two (yes, two) pop-out wine openers either on the dining room table or the sideboard nearby.

And, my vacuum sealer, with the rubber stoppers that I use when I don’t finish a bottle.  (OK.  I admit it.  I haven’t used that toy in a v-e-r-y long time.  But, occasionally, I open a bottle of expensive kosher wine to welcome the Shabat- and just  fill that one wine goblet.  So, I do pump the air out of that bottle, saving it for use for Havdala (the prayer to end the Shabat) and, maybe,  the next week.

 

I also have a few plastic spouts to put into bottles of red wine.  To be honest, I use them when some specific guests come over (who have a habit of filling the tablecloth as well as their wine goblets).  But, I also have two beautiful white table cloths and a hand-made embroidered one that I want to preserve- so the spouts get inserted when those adorn my beautiful dining table.  (To be honest, I often use placemats and center pieces, so that the beauty of my dining room  table can be seen- and enhance the delectable food (and wine, of course) that I serve.  And, when that is the décor, the spouts are used- as well as a ring collar to stop any drips from ruining my cherry mahogany table.)

 

All told, I have some $ 350 worth of wine equipment.  As you can see, I do enjoy my wine.

(Not to mention some 100 bottles of wine in the cellar and about 12 more in the kitchen.  The latter are for easy access during dinner, when we’ve finished the first three or four bottles that were the initial imbibing choice.)

L’chaim!