Home again home again, jiggedy jog...

Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Abflug

Got up earlier than my alarm, finished packing, and went to breakfast early. I took the 109 bus to the airport. Luckily, I boarded near the beginning of the route, as it was standing room only by the time we got to the airport.

Check-in was a little bumpy, as my ticket was under my middle name and therefore didn't match my passport. I'm usually careful about that, and thought I had been specifically careful about it. I think the problem is that my Skymiles account automatically filled out my ticket information. I'll have to change my account so that it's in my first name.

Furthermore, I set off the body scanner, as did almost everyone. Even the titanium in my ankle beeped when they did a manual scan. But shortly it's off to home and family.

My seat-mate was a Polish lady who spoke neither German nor English. Good news is that I was not bothered or annoyed by a talkative neighbor. Bad news: I couldn't practice German (or English). By the way, none of the reading lamps worked in the airplane.

The flight to Atlanta was not as stress-free. After sitting on the tarmac for 45 minutes, waiting for our turn to take off, the pilot announced that we were going back to the gate because something was wrong. We would stay in the plane, he said, while technicians looked at things. After a half hour or so, we were advised that we would be deplaning and taking another to Atlanta. We waited in the terminal for a little while when we were told that we could get back on the same plane, as the problem had been resolved.

We boarded again and were shortly told that we would have to get off the plane, because the problem had not, in fact, been resolved. We sat in the terminal for another stretch while things were moved from the first plane to another plane, and eventually, about 3 hours after our original boarding time, we boarded the new plane. The lady I had now helped three times to stow her carry-on asked if I had had a nice dinner. When I looked quizzically, she asked, “You didn't get a meal voucher?” I had not even thought of asking for a voucher. She is apparently experienced in delays. She claims that every flight she has ever been on was delayed.

Arriving at home in Atlanta after 11:00 PM, I had finally been on the go for 22 hours and in planes and airports for 19 hours. But it's good to be home.

I'll be posting some additional information that I found interesting tomorrow and following days.