So Far, So Good
So that security I was so worried about last entry? Yeah... it was tight, but nobody else was at the airport, so it took about 10 minutes to check my bags, get through security, and get to my gate to sit around for an hour.
The first flight went well. I had the row to myself so it wasn't so stifling. They had the cool screens that showed where the flight was, as well as altitude, speed (Mach .79!), outside air temperature (-77 F!) and other fun things for dorks like me to watch. Just past Salt Lake they started the movie, so I only was able to watch our progress up to that point.
I'm flying Continental, so that means Houston. As I went to the next gate to wait for my connection, for no reason at all, I began to loathe Texas and Texans. Not sure why. I didn't want to mess with it or anything. But then, as I was stewing, an announcement came over the gate PA system.. they were overbooked, would anyone volunteer to change their flight for a $200 travel voucher and a seat on the next flight to Baltimore... in first class?
Needless to say, I was the first one up there. I filled out their form then waited to see if they would really need my seat after all. The thought of flying in first class had erased my foul anti-Texas mood. After waiting until the plane was about ready to go, they called me up and gave me my boarding pass for the next flight.. in seat 4B! :)
With 3 hours to kill in the awful Houston airport (I could not find a single
By this time, I was still excited for my first First Class foray, but since it was a beverage service-only flight, I didn't have very high expectations. Well, apparently "beverage service only" means drinks in plastic cups for the riff raff in back, and a three-course meal on china up front! Like, I *knew* that first class was nice, but it was hard to keep a smile off my face! The chairs were comfy, the flight attendants were much more attentive (the 14 of us had 2 to ourselves, while the unwashed masses in steerage had... 2), the food was excellent. It was great. I'm don't know if it was worth whatever people paid for it, but it was sure worth a few extra hours in the Houston airport!!
I arrived at Baltimore and gathered my bag which, having taken the earlier flight, was waiting for me in the baggage office. I called the hotel and they had the shuttle pick me up. Upon arrival I checked in and stayed in my room for the rest of the night.
This morning, I had breakfast at the hotel while watching the snow start to fall outside. I checked out just before noon and caught the shuttle back to BWI. Now, I had to catch a bus to the training place at 3:00, so I had more time to kill. I decided to catch a short ride on the local light rail system. The Baltimore light rail is famous for its stretches of single-track, and I saw where they're working on double-tracking it. They're also infamous for the not one time... but two times a light rail operator decided not to stop at the end of the line at the airport. Whoops! Anyway, I didn't ride very far, but I saw Camden Yards, so that was cool. I would have done more but I was loaded down with luggage, not to mention it was snowing.
Back at BWI, I looked for somewhere to sit for a while and found the observation gallery. This is something I have always wanted to see in an airport! A level above the main concourse, a large glass wall allowed views of a good chunk of the field, what with the landing and the taking off and the taxiing. They had nice chairs to relax in, and a whole display about aviation, including an awesome 3-D model of the Washington-area airspace.
As the time grew nearer, I had a quick lunch, then headed to where the bus was to pick me up. And waited. And waited. About 45 minutes later, I picked up my things and found some other people waiting for the same bus. We stuck together while people called to see what was up. The bus eventually arrived almost 2 hours late.
So after about an hour and a half long ride, I've been here for a few hours now. I settled into my room for a bit, then had some dinner, and then I've spent a bit of time working on this ginormous entry with an awful keyboard. So for the three of you out there still reading this, that was my last 40 hours or so. Class starts tomorrow, we'll see how it goes!
March 30, 2003 05:41 PM
Comments (4)
03/30: stacy said:
ugh. sounds like a fairly irritating 40 hours to me. But, glad that you seemed to enjoy it. Congrats on the first class fare. fun! Thanks for the long post...it was just what i needed to postpone working on the budget. yay!
03/31: Trevor said:
mmm ... unwashed masses.
Funny thing about the two light rail crashes: 23 injuries in each one!
04/01: lauren said:
sorry i missed your phone call. was going to call you back but have been on the phone too much in the daytime recently, so i am trying to limit myself to only using the phone after 9:00. haha, yeah right.
04/01: John said:
This is just to show that more than 3 people read this post.
I am jealous of the first-class treatment! I’d spend 3 hours in Houston for that.