Homeward bound

[fbhjr]

The morning of our return trip seemed a bit colder and cloudier then the other mornings in Florida. Maybe that was just me, I’m not sure.


Our flight was at 1PM, so we slept late then packed


Then, we headed off to the airport with about 3 ½ hours to go the 12 miles.
The car return at Avis was as easy as the pick up. Drive into the garage, get out, a guys comes and hands you stuff. I had forgotten that I pre-bought a tank of gas and had filled it up on the way to the airport. Since I am a “preferred” member, they refunded me the price of the gas tank.
Sadly, taking out suitcase out of the car the handle snapped. I hooked up the shoulder strap from my laptop case and towed it with that.
When we got to the terminal, we found that everyone in Florida seemed to by flying out that morning and all of them were in line in front of us.


They kept offering curb side check in with little or no line. But, we had lots of time and little desire to queue up in the smoking area to get checked in.
We had three hours, so we stayed on the inside line and I used the time to do a field fix to the suitcase. (The airline still had me sign off that they were not the ones who damaged it.)


Another idiot had tried to blow up a plane over the weekend, so security was at “orange”. But, we’ve been through plenty of other inspections so it wasn’t too bad. At least the folks with machine guns weren’t at the airport like they were just after 9/11. I did get yelled at for putting my shoes next to my laptop on the x-ray, but we got through it.
We stopped for lunch at the McDonalds in the terminal. A little hoppy bird was flying about hoping to get fries or other dropped things from people.
While he was cuter then some of the ones at Sea World, he was also less aggressive. So, not so much food for him.


By the time all was said and done, we still had about an hour to wait for the plane.
I was surprised at how close they cut the flight unloading and loading. The flight was scheduled for 1:05 and the plane got there at 12:57. Honestly I didn’t even hear them make the boarding announcement. I only saw people start to get on the plane.
Knowing their seating policy I didn’t want to miss our assigned place in line, so we rushed a bit to get there and in place on time.


As we walked down the jetway to the plane, I realized I did not have my camera with me.
I searched my pockets, carry on items and computer case. Not there.
Southwest does not have reserved seats and you take your chances when you get on. I knew going back would put me at the end. But, I wanted that camera.
So, I got out of line asking my wife to try and save me a seat.
I got back to the top of the jetway to the man in charge of loading the plane.
“I think I lost my camera,” I said.
As I said it, I saw he was putting my camera on top of the computer on his desk.
“It looks just like that one,” I said, pointing to it.
“I was just about to make a lost and found announcement,” he told me and handed it to me.
As I went back down the jetway, I did find I was last in line.
The man in front of me looked at me with surprise.
“Get ahead of me!” he ordered.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t want to cut in line.”
“I never fly on a plane when I’m not the last passenger on,” he said. “So, get ahead of me in line or I won’t get on the plane. It’s just a superstition I have.”
I did as he “asked”.
“I’d ask you if it worked, but you’re still here,” I said.
“That’s right,” he said. “32 years of flying and its never failed me.”
I did not mention that I have been flying for 41 years and the order of getting on the plane didn’t seem to matter to me. I’ve been first and last. I’m usually somewhere in the middle. But, if it made him happy, why not?
My wife had been able to save me a seat so we did get to sit together. I was very happy about that.
The flight north was not very eventful. It was cloudy most of the way and I was not in a window seat, so I couldn’t see much anyhow. I do think we flew over yebo’s home town in NJ, but I’m not 100% sure.
We landed in Albany and it was just as nice and efficient as it had been the Sunday before.


One strange thing about the Albany airport: all of their phone booths have phone books.

I'm not sure I've ever seen that in any public place before...

Anyhow, the only problem we had was I thought we parked on the second floor of the garage, but it had been the third. So, we wandered right below the car for a while looking for it before we went up a level.
The weather was clear and cool when we got there. There had been a lot of rain, so most of the snow had melted. Despite being above freezing, it seemed a bit cold to us.
On the way back from Albany, we stopped at the place we’ll be using for the new Phoenix practice space. It is a lot smaller then what we had at Hoops, but it is not the worst place we’ve had. And, it will save us money from Hoops which will be nice.
On the way back into Shrewsbury we stopped for dinner at one of our favorite places. We ordered our usual sushi, safe in the knowledge it didn’t cross the street from Sea World as we worried in FL. The waiter was nice enough to bring my wife an extra drink as a holiday present. I get the impression from her it was mostly rum.
We got home about 8:30 and didn’t do much other than tow the luggage in.
It was a good trip and we both had a lot of fun. But, we were happy to be home and back in our own bed as well.

Comments

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear the flight back home wasn't as much of a hassle than I had feared thanks to Major Numbnuts on the other flight.

Soon we will be taking off our shirts along with our shoes. And then security will have to deal with sweaty/smelly shoes AND shirts.

[saeble.livejournal.com]

thats a male sparrow... :)