[Leica] Peter goes abroad, returns to tell about it!

[Peter Klein <pklein@2alpha.com>]

I'm back, having unsubscribed for a couple of weeks while traveling in 
Switzerland and Provence. Film is at the processor, should be back in a 
couple of days, so I may scan a pic or two this week, obligations permitting.

First off, I would like to thank Nathan Wajsman for meeting Katya and me 
and taking us on a delightful walking tour of Zurich.  It's always great to 
meet other LUGgers, and Nathan was a delightful guide and conversationalist.

Second, let me add a couple of data points to the airport X-ray arena.  As 
I've always done in recent years, I took all my film out of the plastic 
canisters and put it in zip-lock plastic bags.

* Seattle-Tacoma International:  My request for a hand inspection of my 
film was politely honored after I noted that X-ray exposure is cumulative, 
and I would be going through several airports.  They not only looked at my 
film, but swabbed the outside of one or two canisters with a chemical 
test.  My film was checked both departing Seattle, and after clearing 
Customs on my return.  Yes, they X-ray the hand baggage when you leave the 
International arrival area. International arrivals are already within the 
secure area of the airport (and some go on to connections).  Plus, they 
want to look for the dreaded fresh fruit they wish to keep out of the U.S.

* Geneva:  I asked for a hand scan, it was curtly refused.  When I gave my 
"cumulative" speil, the woman asked her supervisor, who said (without even 
looking at me) it would be fine and I had to let her scan it.  So I 
did.  The fact that I asked in French did me no good.

* Amsterdam:  Again I asked for a hand scan, again it was refused.  This 
time the woman at the scanner was very polite and apologetic, and said that 
she was sorry, but it was policy.  When I arrived there from Seattle, there 
was no X-ray to transfer to my Geneva flight.  Arriving from Geneva to go 
to Seattle, there was a fairly heavy-duty security check, including 
interviews, hand luggage X-ray and the occasional pat-down and 
"remove-yer-shoes please."

There seems to be a case of "ISO inflation" going around airports.  Last 
February, the Sea-Tac people said that ISO 1000 film would be fine, but all 
it took was one roll of 800 film among my mostly 400 rolls to get a hand 
inspection at both Sea-Tac and Los Angeles (LAX).  This time, I was told 
that up to 1600 film would be perfectly safe.  I'm not sure if someone has 
done some testing or that they've simply upped the numbers to cut down the 
number of hand inspection requests.

I'm not upset about this.  My goal was simply to minimize the X-ray 
exposure, just in case.  If I didn't have a good lab here in Seattle, I 
might have taken my chances with on-site film purchase and processing. But 
for the moment, I followed Ted Grant's rules: Ask politely for a hand 
inspection, and if they say no, let 'em X-ray and don't worry.

More to come...
- --Peter

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