The hidden hassles of traveling

When you are getting ready to travel all you can think about are all great things you will do and see while on your trip. You don't have a care in world. And why should you? You are taking a break from everyday life, what could go wrong? Well my friends, the very sneaky TSA agents at Pittsburgh International Airport managed to remove my laptop without any thought of mentioning that to me. So, as you can imagine I was more than surprised to find it missing when I was going through my carry-on luggage at JFK airport. The ended up shipping my laptop from Pittsburgh to Milan, where I am now at the mercy of the beurocracy of the Italian government. Apparently, they cannot send me my laptop without 3 forms of documentation which is needed to be faxed to Fed Ex in Milan. And, as of now, we are experiencing technical difficulties with the fax machine here at the Sede. It is unfortunate that this one item seems to cast a dark cloud over what has otherwise been a very positive experience in Rome.