Ramblings of an itinerant rocket scientist...

And I forgot to mention that in the Atlanta terminal, they lack X-ray or chemical-scan machines near the check-in counters. So if one is unlucky and is selected to have one's checked baggage screened, they do so by opening and manually emptying the contents, then repacking each bag. I was picked, and had 10 pieces (8 bags and two sealed boxes). Imagine 45 minutes spent watching one's carefully-packed (crammed) suitcases picked-through by gloved security guards... in retrospect, the whole experience was so bad that it is actually kind of funny, after-the-fact.