My family usually goes to Canada to visit my mother's side of the family every other Christmas and this was one of the years we went to Ottawa. I had a great time this year, probably better than I've ever had.

Just wanted to make some notes about some of the things I saw.

Our flights took us from San Antonio (SAT) to Atlanta (ATL) and then on to Ottawa International Airport. Security was definitely heightened, but not intrusive. The new Transportation Security Administration had employees in uniform and working the security measures. Each officer I encountered was polite and professional and they all had new uniforms. Customs and immigration didn't seem to be any tighter than the other times I've crossed the border.

The only thing I could remotely call annoying was when I was asked to open my carry-on bag for a search after it was scanned by the x-ray machine. The screener wanted to make sure my fingernail clippers didn't have a knife blade integrated into them. While I consider that particular government ban to be rather pointless and another one of those creeping and mundane violations of my property rights, it was quick and painless and the screener voiced his sympathies after I gave him an "are you serious?" look.

All in all, I had expected to go through a much harsher security process. There was only a minimal waiting time at each stop and I often wondered at the oft-repeated wisdom of arriving at the airport two hours early, especially for international flights. Perhaps we were in the airports during relatively slow passenger traffic times.