modern travel

Trying to get to SF for a cloud interop summit tomorrow. Was a 6:05pm flight. Left house at 3:45pm. Snowing. CT Drivers panicking. Got to airport at 5:25pm. They had to call the gate to see if they gave my seat away. Didn't. Got boarding pass, told to hustle. Sprinted - yes sprinted - to security. DHS employee checking IDs appeared to have been rejected by the USPO for working too slow. Spent more time chatting w/ other DHS employee about weekend plans or something than checking IDs. Loaded stuff on conveyor in sub-second time, only to have to wait for a Lovely Couple From Iowa learning about how the metal detector works, that people should go though ONE AT A TIME and also TAKE OFF ALL THE @()!@#! METAL STUFF.

Deep breath.

Sprint - yes sprint - from security to gate 36. In the new AA terminal at JFK it's probably close to 1/3 of mile. Sprinting. Roll-aboard in one hand, laptop bag in the other. Down the 4 story escalator. Under the tarmac. Up the other 4 story escalator. Gate 43, 42, 41..... I'm there! Run up to the door, ticket in hand.

"Sir, we're not boarding yet..."

Another deep breath...

Think semi-murderous thoughts. Ok, no prob. Eventually board. Sit. Do work. Plane loads. Announcement - we need to de-ice. Good plan. Announcement - ovens don't work, sending for mechanics. Good plan - need the warmed mixed nuts. Announcement - still delayed, waiting for rollback. Ok, why is the ground crew surprised that the plane they just loaded needs to leave? Announcement - waiting for de-ice. Still a good plan, but one that should get executed on rather than discussed....

8:04pm... heading towards the runway...