[time-nuts] Time Dilation tinkering

[William H. Fite]

Unhappily, local TSA authorities have--or at least appropriate to
themselves--the prerogative to disregard prior approvals from their
superiors. A former colleague of mine used to hand carry an ultra-high
precision gas dilutor between research sites. She had written approvals
from TSA in DC that included written specifications and interior/exterior
photographs of the electromechanical device. She never had any issues until
one occasion in Wilmington, NC, when a supervisor glanced contemptuously at
her documents and then opened (and irreparably damaged) the measurement
cell to the tune of ~$20K in repairs. A formal complaint to TSA generated a
pro forma letter of apology with a polite refusal to pay the repair cost.

A similar incident occurred some months later in Sacramento. On that
occasion, she literally threw her 60 year old, 97 pound, silver-haired body
across the device, saying that they could arrest her but they would not
destroy another instrument. Airport police were summoned, one of whom had a
lick of sense. He and an indignant TSA 3-striper went off to the phone,
taking her documents, university ID, and passport, the police lieutenant
first telling his officers to prevent the TSA people from touching the
instrument. Half an hour later, they were back, accompanied by a TSA suit
who apologized profusely and personally accompanied her to her gate.

Herman Wouk once described the Navy as a master plan designed by geniuses
for execution by idiots. The TSA seems to have been created in the same
factory.



On Wednesday, March 22, 2017, jimlux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:

> On 3/21/17 7:12 PM, Chris Albertson wrote:
>
>> "flight" there is the word.    Why drive up a mountain?   Take the clock
>> with you inside the pressurized cabin of a commercial airliner next time
>> you are on one of those 10 hour trans=pacific flights.   You be taller
>> then
>> any mountain and it is actually cheaper then a weather balloon.
>>
>> Can you get a Rb clock past the TSA x-ray machine.   Maybe if you ask
>> first.  There must be a way to hand cary specialized equipment.
>>
>>
>>
> I hand carry specialized equipment all the time and let it go through the
> x-ray.   About 1 time out of 10, they'll ask to open it up so they can swab
> it for the explosives residue ion mobility machine. Nothing looks as
> suspicious as a big block of something with two wires come out of it (i.e.
> a 7Amp-hour 12V lead acid battery).
>
> In fact, I did it yesterday with an unlabeled black pelican case holding a
> 8x10" PC board with a bunch of cards stacked on it.
>
>
> While I have my NASA ID and a shipping document describing it, I've never
> had to show either. Driver's license, 55 year old guy who looks like an
> engineer, and so forth, so maybe I don't look like the notional threat?
>
>
> When we hand carry "flight hardware" we do put it in a QA sealed (tape)
> antistatic bag, in a QA sealed container, with a special letter that's been
> coordinated 24 hours before with TSA. And we don't let it go through the
> X-ray (although not for any good reason that I know..). There's some
> process you're supposed to follow if they insist on opening it so you show
> up at the airport hours ahead of time.
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-- 
William H Fite, PhD
Independent Consultant
Statistical Analysis & Research Methods