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You know you're in for an interesting day when you're dropped off at the airport and the drone behind the counter greets you with, "You're one of the people who was leaving on the 7:50, right?"
"Um, yes," came my lame reply.
It turns out the incoming flight had arrived late the night before, and the crew was resting, and so forth, but the bottom line was that the flight was scheduled for a 10:20 am departure, so I have almost 4 hours to kill before wheels-up.
Not to mention I have a new connection, too.
I suppose if I had made any kind of fuss, the drone would have given me a voucher for a cup of coffee at what passes for the restaurant at the airport, but I was trying to maintain a calm mental equilibrium, and thus went off and had some (awful) coffee and (equally bad) breakfast burritos on (far more than) my own nickel.
I went through security early and sat down to wait for my flight. In the meantime, two wannabe valley girls sat down within earshot (i.e., in the waiting area) and started to, well, talk.
Why do we Americans speak at such high volume in public places? (I notice I do this as well, sometimes, but at least I react to dirty looks from strangers. :^)
At 10:30 am, another drone walks up to the counter in the secure area and announces the boarding of the flight scheduled after our flight. We who are booked for a 10:20 am departure are still airport bound. Eventually, everyone gets their stuff wired together and -- despite a handful of idiot passengers who want to delay boarding and departure to discuss whether the flight will arrive in time for them to make their connections (!) -- we board and eventually take off.
We arrive in Denver 30 minutes before my Houston flight departs, which means that boarding has started as I begin my trek from the "big" end of terminal B (numberwise) to very nearly the other end of the building. When I get to my goal, it turns out that flight, too, has been delayed. That gives me a chance to grab an overpriced pizza from one of the airport vendors before wedging myself into seat 6F for the long haul to Texas.
Half an hour before arrival, the captain gets on the horn and tells us we've been ordered into a holding pattern. He helpfully adds that those of us interested in following the air traffic control chatter can listen in on channel 9. I do so.
Several minutes later, I hear Houston Center tell my flight to proceed to such-and-so intersection (an arbitrary point on the geography) and hold there until further instructed. A time for expecting further word was quoted forty minutes into the future.
Half an hour later, our captain gets on the horn to Houston Center and tells them he's 15 minutes from "bingo fuel," i.e., from having to commit to a landing site (e.g., Austin if he can't land at Houston). My blood pressure probably exhibited a small spike a that moment, as I imagined the plane taking me to Austin. (Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I wanted the guy to try landing at IAH in the middle of a thunderstorm, but a diversion to Austin probably would mean it'd be faster to rent a car from there and drive to Houston than any alternative offered by the airline, assuming such alternative was voluntary.)
Anyway, I finally got to the house in Pearland after first stopping at the Verizon booth in the nearby Wal-Mart. It turns out there is a special going on that I was eligible for: a Samsung A610 (with photo capability) for less than $50. I'm sure I shall be changing my tune before my renewed 24 month obligation runs out, but it appears to be a lot more phone than I need at present.
Work today was crazy. Management organized an ersatz Olympics, pitting various departments against each other in all sorts of strange events (e.g., cubicle volleyball). I was involved in the last event of the day, the typing relay (one person types, a second person runs the copy to an office down the hall). Laurel N. and I won the silver for the translation department and missed the gold -- which was won by another translation team -- only because we interpreted the rules too literally. (Yeah, so call me Alibi Ike!)
I plan to go in tomorrow, since I didn't get as much done today as I would have liked. More later, maybe. Natalie has plans.
Cheers...
"Um, yes," came my lame reply.
It turns out the incoming flight had arrived late the night before, and the crew was resting, and so forth, but the bottom line was that the flight was scheduled for a 10:20 am departure, so I have almost 4 hours to kill before wheels-up.
Not to mention I have a new connection, too.
I suppose if I had made any kind of fuss, the drone would have given me a voucher for a cup of coffee at what passes for the restaurant at the airport, but I was trying to maintain a calm mental equilibrium, and thus went off and had some (awful) coffee and (equally bad) breakfast burritos on (far more than) my own nickel.
I went through security early and sat down to wait for my flight. In the meantime, two wannabe valley girls sat down within earshot (i.e., in the waiting area) and started to, well, talk.
Why do we Americans speak at such high volume in public places? (I notice I do this as well, sometimes, but at least I react to dirty looks from strangers. :^)
At 10:30 am, another drone walks up to the counter in the secure area and announces the boarding of the flight scheduled after our flight. We who are booked for a 10:20 am departure are still airport bound. Eventually, everyone gets their stuff wired together and -- despite a handful of idiot passengers who want to delay boarding and departure to discuss whether the flight will arrive in time for them to make their connections (!) -- we board and eventually take off.
We arrive in Denver 30 minutes before my Houston flight departs, which means that boarding has started as I begin my trek from the "big" end of terminal B (numberwise) to very nearly the other end of the building. When I get to my goal, it turns out that flight, too, has been delayed. That gives me a chance to grab an overpriced pizza from one of the airport vendors before wedging myself into seat 6F for the long haul to Texas.
Half an hour before arrival, the captain gets on the horn and tells us we've been ordered into a holding pattern. He helpfully adds that those of us interested in following the air traffic control chatter can listen in on channel 9. I do so.
Several minutes later, I hear Houston Center tell my flight to proceed to such-and-so intersection (an arbitrary point on the geography) and hold there until further instructed. A time for expecting further word was quoted forty minutes into the future.
Half an hour later, our captain gets on the horn to Houston Center and tells them he's 15 minutes from "bingo fuel," i.e., from having to commit to a landing site (e.g., Austin if he can't land at Houston). My blood pressure probably exhibited a small spike a that moment, as I imagined the plane taking me to Austin. (Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I wanted the guy to try landing at IAH in the middle of a thunderstorm, but a diversion to Austin probably would mean it'd be faster to rent a car from there and drive to Houston than any alternative offered by the airline, assuming such alternative was voluntary.)
Anyway, I finally got to the house in Pearland after first stopping at the Verizon booth in the nearby Wal-Mart. It turns out there is a special going on that I was eligible for: a Samsung A610 (with photo capability) for less than $50. I'm sure I shall be changing my tune before my renewed 24 month obligation runs out, but it appears to be a lot more phone than I need at present.
Work today was crazy. Management organized an ersatz Olympics, pitting various departments against each other in all sorts of strange events (e.g., cubicle volleyball). I was involved in the last event of the day, the typing relay (one person types, a second person runs the copy to an office down the hall). Laurel N. and I won the silver for the translation department and missed the gold -- which was won by another translation team -- only because we interpreted the rules too literally. (Yeah, so call me Alibi Ike!)
I plan to go in tomorrow, since I didn't get as much done today as I would have liked. More later, maybe. Natalie has plans.
Cheers...
