Flying has indeed gotten ridiculous.  I can be in a good mood when I get to the airport but going through security sure as heck will put me in a bad mood pretty much every time.  And the wait!  You never know what you'll find for waiting times in a Chicago airport so I really do get there 1.75 to 2 hours ahead of time.  I also bring my stack of newspapers and read and shed them along the way, so that takes my mind off the annoyances. 

I saw a couple months ago where they were thinking of having these compact seats on planes where the seat didn't even come out as far as your legs--it was almost like sitting in a saddle--it was ridiculous.  Couldn't believe the ivory tower folks were even considering something like that.  Good grief.

I was planning my next trip out to see KSBoy and as I am under the 2-week window, the airfares were through the roof and that's another thing--why do they feel the need to jack up the price the closer to the date you get??  I actually did investigate driving, trains, and buses before settling on a flight to Kansas City instead of Wichita.  It was about half the price of going to Wichita.  ARRGGGHH!