The bags arrived about 24 hours after I did. The delivery service called to say that I'm not on the map, although they didn't identify themselves when they phoned - they just demanded to know where I live. After they dropped off the bags, while I was out, they left a message stating that they had done so, ending with "or whatever". Another quality experience.

Gadgets: Bose sound canceling headphones. I’ve been using a set of Shure passive noise blocking headphones for about a year and have been very pleased with them. They’re tiny, fit perfectly in my ears and, best of all, reduce the chatter of the flight attendants to empty lip movements. The Bose are big and bulky and expensive, and my husband bought himself a set at Christmas. He loaned them to me for this week's cross-country trip and they made an enormous difference. Plane noise is diminished to a pleasant white hum, and the sound quality of listening to iTunes either via PC or iPod is great.

Lind power connection for my laptop. US Airways offers power outlets for all seats (even the cheap ones) on its Airbus planes. Although my new laptop is little and lightweight and just dandy it still sucks up power like a Dirt Devil goes after cat hair. The cord and power adapter are reasonably compact and work well. They do, however, leave one to wonder why computer companies insist on using different connectors for different model laptops. We have standard electrical power outlets (at least within countries we do), but still need to have varying power connectors. Additionally, when I got my laptop there was a gigantic warning in big, throbbing letters on a piece of paper the color of emergency flares that ALTHOUGH THE CORD THAT CAME WITH THE LAPTOP LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE CORD THAT CAME WITH THE DESKTOP PORT REPLICATOR DON’T CONFUSE THEM BECAUSE THEY’RE DIFFERENT AND IF YOU TRY TO USE THE WRONG ONE THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE WILL PERFORM A REVERSE BIG BANG AND WE’LL HAVE TO START ALL OVER. Or something like that.