On the tarmac again

Today started at 4 AM when my alarm went off causing me to jump out of
bed for the first time in two months. Any sleep before traveling is
always short on quality rest. Atleast thanks to daylight squandering I
did have an additional hour to toss and turn. The routine of air
travel punctuating the beginning and end of each vacation is a little
wearing. I'd much prefer being able to join a ship at a nearby seaport
rather than having to fly down the eastern seaboard but I shouldn't be
complaining. A friend from home just spent the last three days flying
to meet his vessel in Guam! What I will complain about though is the
increasingly negative experience of traveling by plane. It seems that
every time I enter an airport there is always some new inconvienance
or surcharge waiting to raise my blood pressure. Lately it's been the
baggage fees. I do all that is in my power to pack lite, though I'm
sure some would argue otherwise. I've paid the fifty dollar overweight
charge for 55 pound bags enough now to know im better off wearing my
steeltoes onto the plane and putting my books in my carryon. This
morning I was able to convince the woman at the ticket counter, after
removing my winter coat, that a bag containing all my worldly
possesions for the next 75 days weighing in at 51.5 pounds was close
enough to not cost me fifty bucks.
Still thanks to the airline's pay as you use policy I still forked out
fifteen bucks just to check a bag. It really just keeps going down hill.