1/13/19

My dear Friend and President, DJT,

I need your advice about when to leave for the airport tomorrow morning. My ELD (ever loving daughter) has a plane back to the mid-west at 6:30 AM. While the 300 TSA employees at SMF each did get a $500 bonus and a couple of days pay, they did not get their full paychecks on Friday, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of them call in sick. So, the early morning security line at SMF that is always long will probably be even longer tomorrow. What do you think we should do? I hate to be a Nervous Nelly and get up at 4:00 so my ELD can be the first one in line, but I don't want her to miss her plane.

So, in addition to being a Nervous Nelly, I am also feeling like a Worry Wart after reading a piece in the Jan 11, Sac Bee about how this shutdown is affecting aviation. Should I wonder about the already stressed out air traffic controllers and whether their financial uncertainty will add to their anxiety and impair their judgment? The plane safety inspectors aren't essential employees so they aren't on the job so my ELD's plane may have a mechanical malfunction, and if that's not bad enough, because the absentee rate at the TSA is up, the folks who do show up are stretched thin making it easier for a terrorist to get through. So many things to worry about, and all due to your shutdown.

As you well know, I try to practice a positive outlook and keep my eye on the bright side but that is becoming harder and harder. Today it occurred to me that Steve Bannon and all of his anti-establishment buddies must be thrilled with the shutdown and the havoc it is wreaking. Are you sure you want to be following his agenda? It's not too late to reconsider.

 I hope YOUR day is worry free.