Europe Delayed

The past few days have been hectic. On top of getting ready for my trip to Europe, I was also making a DVD of the staged reading of my play, meeting with the artistic director of my workshop, buying a laptop, setting it up to fetch my e-mail, doing laundry, having my mail held, and telling the substitute teacher computer that I'm not available for two weeks. After all that I finally take the Metro train to LAX, but guess what? I won't be able to make it because of a bullshit homeland security rule. I checked in at an electronic kiosk 55 minutes before my flight. I thought I'd be fine, but the screen said I can't check in and told me to use the courtesy phone. The phone was black and I could barely hear the lady on the other end; didn't seem like courtesy to me. She said that because I'm taking an international flight, I'm supposed to check in an hour before my flight. I could have done that by cutting in line! I had to wait in line to get a paper ticket. The lady at the counter said there was no way to get on my flight, even though it wasn't going to leave for another 20 minutes! She gave me a flight that leaves at 7 in the morning. I have to wait around in the airport like Tom Hanks in The Terminal until the sun comes up. I'll be able to make the connecting flight to Warsaw, but I'm not happy about this new rule. A flight from Los Angeles to New York is not an international flight. It's a stupid rule.