Baggage

A mysterious young African turns up abandoned at the Vancouver airport. He speaks no English, but would he tell his whole story even if he could? An enthusiastic young woman throws herself into working for a cause. But whose cause is it that she’s actually working for? Her “boyfriend” finds a growing connection happening with her sister. Wendy Phillips again uses multiple voices and points of view to present a fraught situation from multiple angles, to allow a more complete picture to emerge. Using this technique she delves into the murky world of third world refugees and human trafficking. And the way young Canadian people respond to so foreign, literally, a situation. The concerns and preoccupations of Canadian teens are thrown into sharp relief in the glare of the truly dire circumstances of people from elsewhere in the world. With her keen eye for the emotional lives of teenagers, Wendy Phillips keeps us on the edge of our seats as secrets are revealed, alliances shift, true characters emerge under stress, and everyone has to find a way to cope with their baggage.

"An intimate look at the making of a man, an actor, an advocate—and most importantly—a happy human being. A wonderful book that is funny, honest, fearless, and generous in its vulnerability." —Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain There is absolutely no logical reason why I am here. The life trajectory my nationality and class and circumstances portended for me was not even remotely close to the one I now navigate. But logic is a science and living is an art. The release I felt in writing my first memoir, Not My Father’s Son, was matched only by how my speaking out empowered so many to engage with their own trauma. I was reminded of the power of my words and the absolute duty of authenticity. But… No one ever fully recovers from their past. There is no cure for it. You just learn to manage and prioritize it. I believe the second you feel you have triumphed or overcome something – an abuse, an injury to the body or the mind, an addiction, a character flaw, a habit, a person – you have merely decided to stop being vigilant and embraced denial as your modus operandi. And that is what this book is about, and for: to remind you not to buy in to the Hollywood ending. Ironically maybe, much of Baggage chronicles my life in Hollywood and how, since I recovered from a nervous breakdown at 28, work has repeatedly whisked me away from personal calamities to sets and stages around the world. It is also about marriage(s): starting with the break-up of my first (to a woman) and ending with the ascension to my second (to a man) with many kissed toads in between! But in everything, each failed relationship or encounter with a legend (Liza! X Men! Gore Vidal! Kubrick! Spice Girls!), in every bad decision or moment of sensual joy I have endeavored to show what I have learned and how I’ve become who I am today: a happy, flawed, vulnerable, fearless middle-aged man, with a lot of baggage.

Based on groundbreaking research on the working conditions of airport check-in workers in two countries, a previously unstudied category of predominantly women workers, Ellen Rosskam describes a form of work characterized as modern-day Taylorism. An occupation greatly affected by new forms of work organization and management practices-caught in the throes of rapid change due to international competition, alliances, mergers, and the application of cost-efficiency strategies-check-in work has been undermined in recent years by the adverse effects of liberalization and technological change.By peeling away the veneer of glamour associated with airport check-in work, Rosskam reveals how changes in work organization in this sector have de-skilled, disempowered, and ultimately demoralized workers. In "Excess Baggage", weaving through the psychological distress, physical pain from musculoskeletal disorders, strain, and violence that check-in workers experience and describe in their own words, a picture emerges of a job perceived to be "safe," "clean," "glamour girl" work, but which is comparable to industrial workplaces that require heavy manual lifting, obligingly performed in skirts, dresses, and pretty little shoes.

The competition between airports demands higher-quality services to satisfy passengers. A Baggage Handling System (BHS) serves functions such as baggage sorting, screening, and storage. A successful BHS means bags move between areas as travellers do. Handlers load/unload bags and transfer them between the airport's areas. Automation can save money and bring safety and operational benefits. Warehouses as well as the automotive industry are more advanced technologically in comparison to the airport and especially the baggage handling business. The concept of the Baggage Factory (BF) is an approach (based on Industry 4.0) that simplifies the processes from the moment passengers drop off their bags at check-in till the destination (chutes, carousels, and so forth). Airport Baggage Handling Systems: Using the Baggage Factory Approach to Support AI Optimisation, Decisions, and Design Processes introduces the features of the BF concept and presents how BHS designers can use AI technology to tackle many BHS problems and concerns. The book bridges the gap between airport BHS designers and experts in AI and optimisation. It describes in detail the field of baggage handling using algorithms for sorting bags or optimising the flow. The way the systems are designed is discussed, and a behind-the-scenes look at the BHS industry and how it affects the daily lives of travellers is presented. International and multidisciplinary in approach, this book is an ideal resource for practitioners, students, and researchers involved in the air transportation industry, Tourism, Systems Engineering, Layout and Design, Artificial Intelligence, Assembly Automation, and Logistics fields.

One of the greatest metaphors to relationships and all of their nuances is flying; the entire flight experience from start to finish. From the planning and packing stages to departing and eventually deplaning, air travel intimates and imitates life's greatest enigma; relationships. No better depiction of this conundrum than the Baggage Claim area, with its overcrowded carousels fraught with luggage and people of all colors, shapes, and sizes. It is here where the theme of this book resonates with efficacy; carefully and artfully interweaving the main passenger's plight within his flight. It is this nebulous journey that takes center stage within this book. Baggage Claim becomes more than a designated area within an airport. It becomes an emotional and psychological malaise that disrupts healthy and wholesome relationships, and threatens to leave the most important passenger stranded at the "arrival" terminal of life; a new and better YOU!

Dreaming of finding and marrying a man that can live up to her ideals, flight attendant Montana Moore, having watched the female members of her family engage in reckless marital behavior, sets out for the adventure of her life.