The Hangman ( April 3 - 8, 2003) (4 parts)

One thing I’m known for in writing trip reports is that I go into detail. Some even go as far as to call it like writing a book. There was a lot more detail I could have gone into but I felt doing a four part trip report was long enough.

Hope you enjoy it, those that take the time to read it all that is.

Trip Report
Las Vegas, Nevada
April 3 – 8, 2003

DAY ONE (part 1)

Our trip begins in Jacksonville, Florida. Here we witness the good, the bad and the ugly of today’s air travel.

It is just shy of 4 hours before our flight when we arrive on the airport property. We have 4 bags, 2 to check in and 2 to carry on. So we decide to drop my wife off, with the luggage, at the departure curb. After that I would go park the car in the economy lot and then join her.

As we approach the terminal, we are greeted by flashing construction zone type lights. A lighted sign ahead says “all vehicles subject to inspection” and a sea of orange cones, set up to direct traffic. To the left of the flashing message board sign and the orange cones are two lanes heading out to the daily parking garage. To the right, we have one lane headed to the terminal. The speed limit before the work zone or sea of orange cones is posted 25 MPH. There are signs also that say “speed limit strictly enforced with radar”.

Behind us, it was clear. Basically no traffic. As we slowed down, coming into the orange cone area, we are doing about 25 and it is clear of traffic all around us. A few seconds pass as we enter the coned off area, heading to the terminal. Out of nowhere this SUV comes from behind us and passes us like we were parked. They are in the two left lanes heading to the garage parking.

I’m glad I was paying attention and decided to obey the speed limit this time because as that SUV passed us, they made a hard 90-degree right turn. They drove through the cones and heading straight for us, forced us off the road. Cones flew everywhere. I quickly gathered myself and the SUV already had passed the curve ahead and was nowhere in sight.

As we approach the curve, we hear a whistle blowing repeatedly. We make the curve and see that same SUV. In front of us both is a police car and an officer directing traffic. From here we can see the departure curb at the terminal.

The driver of the SUV is stopped and revving his engine. While the Police Officer has us both stopped he is directing traffic out of the parking lot. The parking lot quickly clears and the SUV tries to proceed straight ahead, to the main airport terminal. One problem stands in their way, a Police Officer. The officer is directing all of us to turn right, into the parking lot. The driver of the SUV is refusing the orders of the Police officer by insisting that they be allowed to proceed straight ahead. About one minute goes by where the driver of the SUV is pointing straight ahead and the Police Officer is blowing his whistle, trying to get the driver of the SUV to turn right. Things get interesting after about the third time the driver inched their vehicle closer to the officer, we saw the officer place his hand on his hip. Just so happened his pistol was on his hip.

The driver of the SUV made an abrupt right turn and raced into the parking lot. We were herded into a circular area where there were three checkpoint stations. At least 2 Police or security officers each manned each station. It was quickly clear that these big boys took nothing from anyone. Each of them were wearing not only pistols but draped across their chests were huge, what looked like automatic weapons (AK-47’s?). We were directed to a station where we were ordered to pop open our trunk and our hood. Another officer used a mirror and walked all around our car, checking underneath. They closed our trunk and our hood. Thanked us for our cooperation and we proceeded on our way, back to that first Police officer that was directing traffic. The officer signaled us ahead and we are on our way to the main terminal and the departure curb. Looking back in our mirror, we see that the SUV is still back at the checkpoint. Their trunk and hood were up and four or five big Police Officers were taking their sweet time giving the vehicle a through inspection.

I drop my wife off, with the luggage, at the AA Departure curb. Find her a place to sit and then proceed to go park the car. I pull into the parking lot, obtain my ticket and find an open space. Park next to the bus stop, lock the door and within 30 seconds the shuttle bus is here. Great, Fast Service, or so I thought.

Five people are on the bus as I board. We proceed through the parking lot, on our way to the next bus stop. We reach the next bus stop; three people want to get off while 7 are waiting to board. The FUN begins. The doors of the bus will not open. After about five minutes of the shuttle bus driver flipping switches, trying to open the doors, one of the passengers trying to get off suggests the driver pull the emergency pin and push the doors open by hand. The driver agrees and manually opens the doors. Three get off and now 9 get on. The bus is packed and we are ready to go.

But wait, now the doors will not close. After a couple more minutes, the bus driver decides to get on his radio, call for help and a back-up bus. After about three more minutes, the driver decides the doors are broke and orders us all off the bus. Says that another bus is on the way. We wait outside; at the bus stop and about 10 minutes passes before another shuttle bus arrives. This bus has passengers on it already so only about half of us could board. I got on first so I made sure I had a seat. Bus is full. Airport terminal, here we come.

My wife is still sitting at the American Airlines departure curb with the luggage. At the door here is where the skycap’s and curbside checking used to be. The equipment and the station are here but closed. We drag our bags inside, to the AA ticket counter. The line is short. Only 2 people standing in the coach seating line. 3 people are in the first class line and 3 are using the self-service check-in. I counted 9 ticket agent slots and all had big signs saying open. We had about 3 hours now before our plane departed so I relaxed, knowing we had plenty of time and there was no line. Welcome to reality. Why should this next step be any different than the rest so far?

There were three self-service machines and three people trying to use them and all had great difficulty. One AA employee was assigned it looked like to only help these people. At the other 9 counter slots there was one lady assigned to handle first class. The other ticket counters all had opened signs overhead but no one around. For the next 45 minutes we saw 8 or 9 other ticket counter workers come out from a couple doors, which looked like a back room. Some walked around, some just stared at us and some walked away. Those that stayed just walked back through the doors they came out of, behind the ticket counter, without helping any of us. The three using the self-service machines finally got their bags tagged, after 30 minutes of trying. That agent asked anyone of us in line if they had a credit card and wanted to use the self-service. We all said no. The First Class ticket counter got empty so that agent called the next in line over while the other agent, right in front of us, just stood there and kept asking anyone who walked up if they had a credit card and wanted to try the self service machine.

Side Note: Three people we talked to in line behind us had done the check in on line on their home computer but the security did not let them pass. They had their boarding passes printed from home but security said they had to check in at the ticket counter. Talk about hot!!!

It has been about 45 minutes since we got here. We are next in line. There are about 30 to 35 people behind us by now. The First Class line has three waiting. The self-service machines look to be broke again. 5 more agents step from the back room, behind the ticket counter, stand for about one minute, look around and then all go back in their private room while we all wait. Guess our pleas for help scared them or they just went in the back to laugh their butts off at us poor saps standing in line?

We get called over to the only agent working, at the First Class counter, after almost one hour and check our bags. We were only number 3 and 4 in the coach ticket line almost one hour ago. There are now close to 60 waiting in that same line and two more just walked in the First Class line and still only one ticket agent and all the other 9 ticket counters still say open but no ticket agents. This was all around 2 o'clock in the afternoon! Guess it was the kindergarten naptime? You think I was upset...could be....

We were lucky. We got to the airport ticket counter 3 hours early and already wasted over one hour just trying to check in. And we were the third in line. How long will the other 50 to 60 passengers have to wait to check in? Hope they fly out the next day!

Security was tight at the concourse. Neither of us had to remove our shoes but my carry on had our video camera, digital camera, wires and batteries. My bag was pulled aside for further inspection. They ran the special cloth over it looking for signs of explosives. Slight delay that I did not mind at all. These TSA agents were very business like and respectful to us. This was the pleasant part of the airport.

 

Trip Report
Las Vegas, Nevada
April 3 – 8, 2003


DAY ONE: (part 2)


The first leg of the flight was good. We sat in the back of the plane. Two seats just for us. Even before they pushed our plane back from the gate, I had my blanket, pillow, seat laid back and I was out cold. We land at DFW. We were set to land at gate 14, Instead we land at gate 8. Our next plane is set to depart at gate 10 so not a far walk. When we land, in the plane they announce connecting flights and gates. We learn we are now departing at gate 21. No problem, just a nice long walk. We are glad we are still in the C terminal instead of having to switch from terminal A to terminal C like our return flight is scheduled.

We get to gate 21. Sit down, pull out our Subway sandwiches we carried with us and proceed to eat our dinner. We had about a half an hour before they started boarding, or so we thought.

About 15 minutes pass and they announce over the loud speaker a gate change. Yes, it was our flight. We are moving from gate 21 all the way back to gate 14. We get up with about 100 other people. We pack our food in our suitcase and start the long walk again. I’m glad I brought my cane with me. My knees are giving out because of all this walking. We pass by a bank of TV monitors and confirm our gate information. What do we see but that our 8PM flight is now 9PM. Or to be more precise, 8:58PM. Well, plenty of time to hit the bathroom wash my face and take our time heading to our new gate. One note: if you are walking with a cane or need help going from one gate to another, AA here at DFW have carts which are used to help you. Only I’ll say good luck finding one that is not full or finding one that will stop for you. We were never allowed to board one so we walked everywhere. We were told about the AAtrain but it would have been more of a walk for us, this time.

The second leg of our flight was FULL. We are seated in a 3 across row. My wife takes the window and I get the middle. We are not small people. I weigh around 290 to 300 lbs but we are comfortable. That is until a gentleman sits next to me. I thought I was big but looking at this man, I look more like twiggy. Trying to buckle up my seat belt, this guy tells me how he always carries his own seal belt extension. For the next three hours I was squeezed, compressed, my shoulders were in my neck and when I tried to drink my soda, I had about a 3-inch wide clearance to pick up my glass without hitting anyone.

I had a car reserved in Las Vegas with Dollar. I had a great deal. Only 12 dollars a day, plus taxes, for 4 days. When I learned our flight would be delayed in Dallas, I phoned Dollar and reconfirmed our car rental. Told them I’ll be an hour or so late and they said, no problem and do not worry. They further stated our car would be waiting for us at least two hours after our scheduled pick up time in Las Vegas. After midnight they said they cannot hold it but my flight was scheduled to arrive at 9PM Las Vegas time. With the delay I would get into Las Vegas around 10 or 10:30 PM. Plenty of time I thought.

We land in Las Vegas and take that mile long walk from D gate terminal to baggage claim. Even with stopping, after we get off the plane, to freshen up, we still have a delay waiting for our bags at the baggage carousal. We joined Dollar Fast Lane Express club before we took this trip so after we picked up our luggage, we headed straight outside and boarded the Dollar Rental Car shuttle bus. We load our luggage and show the driver our Fast Lane Card. He looks at his list and tells us our rental was cancelled. It’s 10:30 PM Las Vegas Time; 1:30 AM our time. I am tired, cold, sleepy, hungry, and now I am getting upset. The driver takes us to the Dollar lot and shoves our bags off the bus. We load up a luggage cart and wheel our luggage inside. At the counter there are 5 clerks and one is helping a customer. My wife sits down with the luggage and I stand in line, with my reservation confirmation I printed from the computer. We are the only other customers so this should be quick. By now you guessed it, nothing is quick for me today.

The other four clerks are behind the counter laughing, joking and having a great time while I stand there, patiently waiting in line, trying hard not to let my anger show.

Not to go into that much detail here and to try and shorten this report, I’ll report the basics about my Dollar Car Rental experience. We were there almost an hour trying to get a car. We were told even though we had a copy of our confirmed reservation that it looked like to them, on their computer that the reservation was cancelled at the corporate office and at this late hour, they could not check into it until the next morning. We ask is there anything available. They say they have an economy car left at 29 a day. We are stuck so we agree to take it. We had booked a compact car for 12 a day with a confirmed upgrade to a convertible or a PT Cruiser, for no extra. Now we are taking the lowest grade of car for almost 3 times what our confirmed reservation rate was for.

We offer to pay by credit card and he says no, cash only. 500 dollars he said. What??? I was shocked. Well, okay I said. We needed a car, it was late and he knew he had us over a barrel. I walked over to my wife and we count out 500 dollars in cash. I walk back to the counter and offer him the money. He says too late! We do not take cash after 11 PM. I ask to borrow a phone so I can call for a ride to get out of here before I Do or say something I might regret. Hot is not a word I would use here!!!

Our ride finds us and takes us to her home, where we will spend the next few days. First thing I do, when I get there, is to go on their computer and look for a car. You need to understand; there are over 180,000 people in town for one major convention and other mid-size conventions with around 20 to 30 thousand each. Rental cars are basically sold out.

On the computer, I got a hit. Alamo had a compact available for 16 a day. I confirmed that baby in a heartbeat. It’s 12:30 AM here in Las Vegas. 3:30 AM my time. I have been up for over 24 hours with about a half hour nap on the flight. Time to unpack, relax and get about 2 or 3 hours of sleep before I need to pick up the car I just reserved.

 

Part 3

Trip Report
Las Vegas, Nevada
April 3 – 8, 2003


DAY TWO:

Wake up. Brrrr. It’s like 34 degrees outside. Glad I packed a jacket. Our friend takes her kid to school and then takes me on the 25-mile drive, clear across Las Vegas, to the Alamo car rental lot. The line inside was long but went quick. Within 5 minutes we were at the rental agent. We showed the printed confirmation, my license and credit card. She accepted the credit card. I asked her if she could waive the airport 10 percent fee since I did not take their shuttle. Our friend showed her drivers license to prove she was a local. No problem. 10% fee gone!!!

We were told next month they could not do this. Seems they now have a rental counter in the airport and the computer software was being upgraded to automatically charge the 10% airport tax if you use the shuttle or not. At Alamo here they let you choose your own car. On your form they mark what type of car and there are staff in the parking lot to help direct you to the rows of your car class. We pick a nice Mitsubishi Lancer. It only has about 800 miles on it. Do the once over and head over to the security gate where I show our license and the rental agreement. On our way. This time short, sweet and painless.

I take the expressway and head downtown, to The Plaza. Parking is a breeze. We park in the garage and there are plenty of covered spaces. Parking here is free if you get your ticket validated at the main cashier stand, 2 dollars if not.

The reunion, which is why I came here, is in the second floor meeting room area. The Cauliflower Alley Club books most of the meeting rooms including the big ballroom. In the lobby, just outside the ballroom is about ten, 3-sided walls, filled with pictures of some of the wrestling greats that are members of the CAC. There are also old posters of some of the matches from many of the wrestling legends. Members of the CAC include not only Pro-Wrestlers and those in that business but include wrestling fans, boxers and movie stars. Some of the autographed pictures in the lobby were from James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Sylvester Stallone and others.

I check-in at the registration table. Pick up my name badge and enter the ballroom. To take time and name all the great wrestling legends, boxing greats and movie and TV stars that I encounter would take me another day just to name them all and I’m sure I’ll miss many names. So I’ll try to shorten the report.

Inside are about 15 round banquet tables with the some of the greatest legends taking time to chat with fellow workers, fans and happily signing autographs and posing for pictures. All at no charge I might add. To the right is a full size wrestling ring when about 125 young, up and coming wrestling superstars are getting training by former NWA Heavyweight Champion Harley Race, Bruce Hart (brother of Brett Hart), Vader, Les Thatcher, Nick Bockwinkle and other wrestling champions. Some of the older wrestlers are looking on, cheering on these young kids. There were workouts all day yesterday and today the decision was being made of which wrestlers would be picked to wrestle on tonight’s card. To be chosen to perform in front of all these wrestling legends is a dream come true for many of them. Only about 30 would be picked so these boys and girls tried their best.

On the other side of the room was a wrestling fan fair. Here you could meet Mad Dog and Butcher Vachon, Paul Christy and Bunny Love, Jimmy Valiant, and the list goes on and on and on. They had t-shirts and other souvenirs for sale. All of this, the wrestling show, the fan fair and the chance to meet the legends was all FREE and open to the public. This year was such a huge success that the board decided to try it again next year.

That evening was an event we call the “Baloney Blowout”. What that is, is a buffet with cold cuts to remind us all what many of us wrestlers survived on during some lean times, that would be baloney sandwiches. Here they had ham, beef, pastrami, salads, breads, hot snacks and plenty of deserts. Guess they thought we were not big enough already. This event lasted about 2 hours where we swapped stories and introductions were made of who showed up. This event was a 10-dollar fee. The only time the general public was charged. That was to pay for the food. After the blowout, the doors were once again opened to the general public and for three hours, the young superstars put on some dynamite wrestling action for all of us in attendance.

Later that night we were to meet some friends at a show where I was to be invited to get up on stage and sing a song. We had a short stay here since we needed to get back home.

DAY THREE:

We get up after about three hours sleep. It is 3 am when I check my E-mail. My wife is still asleep. When we got home last night we learned that a friend of hers had passed away about 24 hours ago and that the viewing and service would be held this day. She was broke up so we had to change some of our plans. Checking my E-mail I see a letter from one of my movie star friends. He was just in the recently released movie called “Head of State” with Chris Rock and Bernie Mac. Another TV series he is in is “the new series “Lucky” on the FX Network. You can see him on Tuesday nights. His E-mail says he is at the Hollywood premiere, at the Palms Casino, for the “Lucky” TV Show. He has an 8 am call time for another TV show he is working on with Don Johnson and James Caan. This is a pilot for NBC and should be out sometime soon. So I call him, confirm where he his and drive out to meet him and spend some time talking about movies he and I both did.

About 8 am I get to The Plaza. The reunion does not open until 9 am so I go downstairs to the coffee shop for a quick breakfast. One thing I noticed is that The Plaza has a lot more penny slot machines than the last time I was here. Just outside the coffee shop are a few banks of penny slots. After breakfast I try a couple penny slots and come out ahead. I take a walk and find an Adams family nickel slot. After about 3 minutes here I am up over 100 dollars on this slot alone. Time to cash out. I go back to the penny slots. Mostly stick with the Beverly Hillbillies slots. I try a couple and do not do so well. My third machine is the best. I cash out after a big hit and I’m over 200 dollars to the good. This was just on penny and nickel slots. What could I do if it was dollars? Maybe lose it all???

This was the third day of the reunion. I went upstairs and shared some quality time with many of the legends and the workers I wrestled and traveled with. There was a board meeting today and afterwards I was offered the role as on of the webmasters to the “Official” CAC website. You can find that site at www.caulifloweralleyclub.org Changes will be coming soon to the site as soon as the four new webmasters can get together. Last night I got a sneak peek at the programs for tonight’s Awards Dinner. The programs set me back because they mentioned me as being nominated to be honored by the CAC next year. I’m already in the Hall of Fame and now I was being named with other International Legends to be honored next year. The names were South African Colonel DeBeers, German great Baron Von Raschke, Las Vegas Playboy Buddy Rose, Tampa, Florida legend Jack Brisco, from parts unknown George “The Animal” Steele and myself, Bruce Pobanz, know in the wrestling world as “The Hangman”!!!

The fan fair closed up at 4 pm to set up for the awards dinner. The place was packed tonight and I had a table right in front. The prime rib dinner was so-so but the activities of the night were a mark outs dream. Fan were clambering for pictures and autographs from the greatest wrestlers still around.

 

Part 4 and final

Trip Report
Las Vegas, Nevada
April 3 – 8, 2003


DAY FOUR:

Today is Sunday, basically a hang out day with our friends. We have some friends that we have not seen in some time come over and party. During the day, another entertainer friend of ours comes over. She used to be a champion figure skater and my wife was here costume designer. Well now she works at the Rio Casino where she appears on stage. She works with the Scintas who happen to have their own showroom, named the Scintas Showroom at the Rio. Well we were invited to visit the show that night. Not only would there be front row seats for us but we would hang out backstage. Three of us went, myself The Hangman, my wife Mrs. Hangman and my biggest fan and a friend of this entertainer, we proudly call him Hangman Jr.

DAY FIVE:

This was our last full day in Las Vegas. We got up early and had the buffet at the Boulder Station. Spent a few minutes laying nickel slots and won enough to pay for the meal and then some. Think it is time to stop gambling before I start losing. Quit while I’m ahead is always better than chasing that jackpot. After Boulder Station we head out to the Convention Center. The NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Convention is here and we have tickets. Just like Comdex and CES, this is a huge convention. The exhibit hall floor opened today for a four day run and we only had one day to take in as much as we could. We knew some people and we had passes to a special lounging room set aside for us. We took advantage of it a couple times. Those overstuffed lounge chairs with free drinks was much better than sitting on the floor like most had too.

We get back to our friends house to spend some more quality time, pack the car and I take about an hour nap while my wife goes and sees some more of her friends. We take the long way going back to the airport. On the way we stop at Burger King and pick up a few 99-cent Whoppers. We take about one hour driving around, checking out some of the changes, before we need to head to the airport and drop off our rental car. This was a breeze. Check-in was simply a clerk, with a pocket computer, looks over our car. Four tires, doors still on, roof not missing and the important check, fuel gauge full. The price to buy fuel was 1.98 at Alamo. We paid 1.97 at Arco. If we did not bring it back full, the cost was 4.29 a gallon. Talk about steep. We did not know if we would use a full tank of gas so we did not buy a tank full when we picked up the car. It was good because we used just over half a tank so we saved money by filling it up before we dropped it off.

By the time we got our luggage out of the trunk, we had our check out slip and the shuttle bus was waiting. Off we go to the airport. It is just over two hours before our flight takes off but we hear we have plenty of time because it is so late at night. They were right. We get to the AA departure curb, tip our shuttle driver and head inside. There are four ticket counters and each have an agent waiting. Two are busy with customers so we are next and get called up promptly. Check in was easy. They tag our two bags but make us carry them a few feet to the right to the TSA security x-ray machines. There are signs all over asking you to remove your luggage locks. We bought a pack of colored plastic cable ties for a dollar before we left home. I used two different colored ties on each of the zippered areas. Security asked me if I removed the locks. I showed them the plastic cable ties and she said “good. That is what we like to see.” When we land in JAX and pick up our checked luggage we notice a blue plastic cable tie on one of our bags. I could tell security opened our bag for inspection because my cable ties were red and yellow. Inside our bag we found a note from the TSA telling us about inspections.

The return flights were smooth. We had seats near the rear on both and there were plenty of open seats for both of us to stretch out and get plenty of sleep. This time, when we got to DFW we landed at one end of terminal C and our connecting flight was now at the other end of terminal C so we got aboard the AAtrain and had a quick 2-minute ride to the other end. While we sat at our gates, eating our hamburgers and waiting for the boarding call we noticed plenty of armed security walking around the terminal. Arriving in JAX was almost uneventful. On the plane and on the TV monitors it said to pick up our luggage in baggage claim 2. We took our time and freshened up from our long flight before proceeding to baggage claim. We got to baggage claim 2 and it looked quiet. We waited awhile wondering where our bag was. I had my wife wait while I walked outside for some fresh air. I returned into the terminal and saw a group all the way down, at the other end of the baggage claim area at baggage claim 7. I walked down there and out flight was on the monitor. A few seconds later I spot one of our bags and then the other finds it’s way to me. Walking back to my wife, we walk outside and have a short 5-minute wait for the shuttle bus back to our car.

Glad to be back home. Now we head home so my wife can change and head out to work.

For those that took the time to read this, I hope it was worth both my time to write it and your time to read it. Overall, we had fun and will be returning.

If you want to know anymore or to see some of the pictures we took on this trip, you can view the pictures on my website at: www.geocities.com/brucepobanz/ or you can send me a private e-mail. My address is on the front page of my website.

Hang In There,
“The Hangman”
Bruce Pobanz

 

Enjoyed your trip report. Thanks for sharing.

 

Hangman,

Great trip report, I enjoy reading all the details, sounds like you had a great time with some great people. The Wrestling Legends you mentioned brought back some great memories of watching these guys on TV on the weekends.

I attempted to look at your sight Hangman, but it said temporarily unavailable, but I will try back later!!!

 

Thanks for writing.
Very interesting trip.

 

I dont think Policemen would use Assault Rifles!!! maybe it was a submachine gun, MP5K or something like that. Must've been a interesting situation.

Thanks for the Great TR

 

Great trip report, sounds like you had a great time catching up with friends and fans alike. Breaking away from the slots before the losing starts is always the trick!

Absolutdrinker: Yes, there are cops that use assault rifles . If I had to guess about it, the cops were actually army reservists with AK47's, not local police officers.

 

great trip report. we had a layover in san jose last year and saw people walking around with ak-47's. thats the only airport that i had seen them at though. it was kind of scary. just reminds you of what kind of times we live in. sounds like security was pretty tight for you. we flew out of st. louis in march with little to no trouble. no car search or anything like that. the only trouble i had was when i forgot to take my camera out of my pocket and set off the alarm. that set me up for a search! glad you had a good trip!

 

This was in the Jacksonville newspaper today. So according to this story, they may have been AK'47's since there were National Guard members as security too. Either way when you are approached by a big man carrying a very big gun, the first thing you say is yes sir!!!
------------------
No more random car searches at JIA

Security eased since threat level lowered


It's easier getting to Jacksonville International Airport.

Officials have stopped random inspection of vehicles driving to the airport terminal now that the nation's threat level has been lowered from orange to yellow.

Vehicles entering JIA's upper and lower curbs were searched inside and out for explosives by security guards after the Bush administration raised the nation's security status from an "elevated risk" to "high risk" in February.

The inspections were ordered by the Transportation Security Administration. Now that the security status has been downgraded to yellow, vehicle searches have been halted.

Airport officials said the inspections cost $3,825 per day.

The inspections took place along the airport's inbound roadway, Yankee Clipper Road, at the point where motorists chose whether to park. Vehicles entering airport parking areas were unimpeded, but vehicles traveling toward the terminal were subject to inspection.

Officials declined to say how many vehicles were inspected or how they were selected.

National Guard troops and then private security guards inspected vehicles entering the airport's hourly parking garage after Sept. 11, 2001, until March 2002. The airport stopped inspecting vehicles entering the garage after it submitted a blast analysis study to federal officials showing that an explosion in the garage wouldn't cause major structural damage to the nearby terminal.

 

I would be very surprised if any U.S. forces used the AK, but I'm not an expert.

I had the very interesting experience of staring down the business end of two M-16's at Nellis once....let me assure you, that will get your full and undivided attention!

 

The Avtomat Kalasnikova 47 is an obsolete Russian design replaced by the AK-74 which is itself scheduled to be replaced in the Russian arsenal. Still the AK-47 was a very good design (superior to the US M16) and more of them have been made than any military arm in the world and there are literally millions of them still out there. It is still made in China and used by most "3rd world" countries. It wouldn't be used by airport security forces unless they were Iraqi's or maybe Bin Ladens group. The MP5(MP5A2,MP5A3) are German designed and manufactured machine pistols. Very good weapons they are expensive and only used by some US Special Forces Units. More likely (especially if they were National Guard or Army personnel) they were a version of the US M16 or M16A1. Designed by Eugene Stoner to military specs in 1956 and continually modified and improved it, nonetheless, it is an obsolete design. We continue to use it because we forced our "allies" to adopt the 5.56mm cartridge and are now stuck with it although newer, better designs are in the works.

 

Whatever type of gun it was does not matter to me. I said what I thought it was. What I saw was big guys with badges and big guns which covered there chest. whatever gun it was, these were a mixture of Police, security and National Guard and they were ready to shoot if need be. Or so that is what we thought.

My thought was behaving myself, getting through this security checkpoint and getting on that plane. I did not take time to ask them what type of gun, rifle or whatever they had. I do admit I do not know all brands of pistols either but I do know that I do not like looking down the business end of a pistol, rifle, sub-macine gun or whatever. Espically when the person on the other end has a badge. I faced that fact too often in Mexico. But that is all a different story.

I may be a big tough Pro-Wrestler but you point a gun at me, and you win. Better being wrong rather than dead right.