January 1, 2011

CPAP Is A Carry-on for Air Travel

If you have obstructive sleep apnea and use a CPAP (or other XPAP) machines, please know that if you travel on aircraft, this equipment is allowed as a carry-on in addition to one other piece plus a personal bag such as a purse or briefcase. This is in the Department of Transportation rules which states an allowance for medical supplies and/or assistive devices.

Please do not check it as luggage. It can be damaged or lost. If you are questioned or it is deemed that it must be checked as luggage, it would be a good idea to have a print out with you to present. This can be found here.

TSA often does not know their own regulations in detail. In the above reference it does provide an email address - airconsumer@ost.dot.gov for filing complaints. There is also a site to download forms to mail in complaints.

Also it is advisable to carry a letter of medical need signed by your doctor on his letterhead paper. This has come in handy for me.

Read the reference here.

December 30, 2010

Why Do We Need New Years Resolutions?

I have never seen the need. One time I tried a couple, by the end of January they were no more.

Everyone seems to think they are needed and many are blogging about how to make them achievable. Granted, most that I hear are so grandiose that it is small wonder they can't be kept. Many are totally impracticable and impossible to keep in the first place. So why even make them. This takes all the fun out of the new year and sets a pattern of failure which many people then follow for the rest of the year.

Jen Hubley, the About Today Editor at about dot com started her newsletter for December 29, 2010 stating “New Year's Resolutions: So easy to make, so hard to keep. Unless, like me, you resolve every year to stop setting unreasonable goals. Then you can start out by not making resolutions, and you're already a winner.”

Then she had to ruin her excellent start by proposing some ways to make New Year's Resolutions.  Not really, but she does link to lots of types of resolutions written by others at about dot com.

Have a Happy New Year!