Running With Needles

Here's the deal according to the TSA: one can definitely carry knitting needles onto a plane as a general rule, but the Security Officer in any given airport can refuse to allow them if he or she deems them a threat.

So it's allowed, unless it's not allowed.

I love this sort of clear-cut guidance.

I assume it means "it's allowed, unless you look sketchy to or annoy the people at Security." But then, doesn't that pretty much describe everything about air travel?

Enh, what the heck, I'm takin' 'em. I've got squares to complete for this wedding afghan, and no time to waste. If anyone asks, my needles are not threatening. I've never even poked myself painfully in the finger with one. And they're bamboo, not metal...they're practically pliable, really.

Also, I will ignore the title of this post, and will not start running while waving them about, which would almost certainly attract unwanted attention. Also, it's an obvious safety hazard. I could put an eye out!

So I'm packing to head down to Bethesda for one of NLM's PubMed, TOXNET and Other Databases trainings. It's gonna rock! I look forward to learning many interesting details about the fine databases provided by the NCBI.