8 INCHES!!!!!!! 8 INCHES!!!!!!!!!!

Now that I've got your attention!!!! :)

I'm out of town again on business...just checked into my hotel room with the biggest smile on my face. What's the smile from, you may ask??? Well...um....8 INCHES!!!!!!

I must tell you that in the past, I did not look forward to travelling (business or pleasure) and mainly because of the plane ride necessary to get there. Airline travel for larger-than-"normal" people can often be a painful an uncomfortable experience. Airline seats are at times uncomfortable for even "normal-sized" persons; so for the "fabulously-sized" like yours truly, they could be torture.

One of the things I used to have to do to ease my airline travel pains and make my in-flight experience a bit more bearable was to request a Seat Belt Extender (see pic below).

Normally you'd ask the flight attendant for a pillow or blanket or even a snack, but in my case it was usually just to get the seatbelt extender. Then I wouldn't ask for anything else due to sheer embarassment.

Seat belts are not long enough for many "bigger persons". Usually, as I board the plane, I would quietly and discreetly inform the flight attendant who greets me at the door, that I would be needing a seat belt extender. They usually use the extenders to do their safety demo's before the flight takes off. The flight attendant would usually bring it over after he/she finished the demo. Sometimes they'd be discreet about it, but other times it's as if they attract the most amount of attention possible when bringing it to me!! I found it helpful to have a sense of humour about the whole thing; it just made the process easier.

I've had a few experiences where the flight attendant informed me that they did not have any more extenders or they couldn't locate them and what I did was "pretend" to buckle the belt and the attendant "pretended" not to notice! Although not the safest move but sometimes could not be avoided - plus it was only a 45 minute flight (still not safe).

Another time, I noticed one passenger pulled out his own extender from its very own carrying case!! Wow!! I guess he flew frequently enough that it was warranted - I don't know. Anyway, I seriously considered purchasing one of my own but thought better of it and promised myself that I would lose this weight instead (didn't know when, but I knew I would!).

ANYWAY....just wanted to report that I NO LONGER have this problem. So today, I boarded my plane, was greeted by the smiling attendant, I smiled back and said, "hello" and kept on walking to my seat. I sat in my seat, clicked that buckle and PULLED on that strap to tighten.....looking at that strap laying on my lap just brought a smile to my face....there must have been about 8 INCHES of strap; 8 inches of strap just laying on my leg!!! It was awesome!! What a great feeling. I no longer needed an extender nor did I have to lift and suck in my belly in order to see that little bitty piece of seat belt strap sticking out of the buckle!!

So I'm feeling good y'all!! Just thought I'd share that....

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)