Tag: Portland | Hujambo!

Rants, Travel

Alan Opts Out of TSA Scan at Portland PDX

Note: originally posted on mjanja.ch! Posted here for exposure and posterity.

I flew from Portland (PDX) to San Diego (SAN) this week. I was greeted by one of the controversial full-body millimeter wave scanners. Unsure of the privacy and health implications of the scanners, I decided to opt out and get a manual pat down instead. I was somewhat surprised when my mom whipped out her iPhone and started filming it… good instinct!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgzn6yXLDA4&rel=0

She filmed it until they told her to turn it off. At one point I had seen on the TSA website that it was legal to film the pat downs, but I didn’t contest it at the time as I hadn’t done my homework properly.

Miscellaneous, Travel

Pump Your Own Gas!

I’ve been visiting the USA for a few weeks now. Home is San Diego, California, but my twin sister Randi lives in Portland, Oregon. I have a bunch of old friends strewn along the California coast, so it seemed like a good idea to drive up to Oregon instead of flying. California and Oregon are both beautiful states, so the 1,095 mile (1,762 kilometers) drive is quite enjoyable. The weather was great, so we could see Mount Shasta, Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helens very clearly. It kinda reminded me of all the times I’ve seen mountains in East Africa, but without the annoying tour guides!