Text 34386, 136 rader
Skriven 2015-12-19 10:06:58 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
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AA2169 BOS DCA 1100 1236 319 2F

I visited my regular club, giving them a box of Dark Roca 
and receiving a festive little bag of brownie crisps (which 
I dislike, though apparently I am the only person in the
western hemisphere who does) in return. The regular
supervisor, Lynne, is off on her annual vaction to Hawaii,
though she was going to come in and check on things on
her way westward, so I made the girls at the desk promise
to give her one if she showed up.

Then back to the gate, where we got the notice that we
were going to be a quarter of an hour late boarding but
should make that up in flight.

The American Shuttle is pretty much the same as the US
Airways Shuttle, except that they've hastily pasted the
American logo over the old one. Flight attendants and
uniforms pretty much the same. 

I gave up my throne, 10A, for a shady side window in
first, which offers more widthroom, which I don't need,
snacks, which I don't need, and free hard liquor, which
I don't need. 

My predeparture drink choice, a Dr. Pepper, dismayed
the flight attendant, who looked a little like Truman
Capote, for reasons unknown.

During the rather bumpy flight, they offered what passes
for full service in first and no service in coach.

There's a new brand of nut mix out, packed by the AMI
corporation - pepitas, cashew halves and pieces, walnut
pieces, almonds, and sesame sticks (or stix). Scantily 
salted if at all, these were pretty good.

I also had a bag of Kettle chips.

Also on offer were biscotti, granola bars, fig bars,
and other tasty treats.

The flight attendant looked relieved when my inflight
drink choice was Dr. Pepper with Amaretto in it. Note
to the wise: this makes an extremely sweet drink, and
perhaps rum would be better in this context.

We landed pretty much on time as promised in a lowery
gray foggy atmosphere, at the wrong terminal, which
was fine with me, as my next flight was scheduled out
of this same terminal.

AA5410 DCA MSY 1345 1542 CR7 2A

Okay, came boarding time, and the news came that though
our airplane had been sitting there in plain sight since
I arrived shortly before 1300, the crew for it had gone 
missing, but never fear, they were supposed to be on the
way, and we would board as soon as the crew arrived and
did its safety checks, which would take 3 to 5 minutes.
So much for safety, thought I. Nah anyway, it came on 
1400, and the crew still could not be located. And then
1500, when a new voice with what sounded like an English-
trained Hong Kongish accent informed us that the plane
that our crew was on was within range, and when they
landed, deplaned, and came in from the other terminal,
we would be on our way.

Meanwhile, the next New Orleans flight was supposed to
go at 1530 or so, and I looked into getting on that,
but alas it was parked at the other terminal, and by
the time I'd gotten over there, it would have left (and 
in fact it did, with 4 first-class seats gone begging).

I checked the American Website and discovered that
both that flight and this one were scheduled to arrive
at MSY at the same time and occupy the same gate,
something known in the business as a port conflict.

Eventually the crew came in, its flight having been
delayed by the fog and mist, and we boarded up and
took off around 1630.

Once in the air, the announcement was made that we
would be landing around 1950. I questioned this and
was told that there was a time change. I questioned
this again and was rebuffed again. Eventually whoever
made the announcement tumbled to the fact that he had
added an hour instead of subtracting an hour but 
never made a correcting announcement, which must have
caused some anxieties among the passengers who had
actually believed him.

A semi-delicious lunch was served.

The choice - quinoa wrap (!!) or a barbecue chicken
salad. I opted for the former. This came on a nice
tray, one big dish of fine-shredded not-so-stale
greens strewn with a black bean and corn salsa of
terrible tastelessness (think black hole of the
culinary world) sided with a platelet with a couple
ounces of cotton batting, er, white meat chicken,
coated in a sweet but not too bad sauce. Pepper
cream dressing, very thick and of hyperadequate
sourness but inadequate quantity. Something that
looked to me like mixed nut moon cake but turned
out to be carrot cake for afters; not bad.

I took mine with a glass of the Orquestra Merlot,
not an overwhelmingly bad wine, actually one of the
best wines you can buy for $3 a bottle.

We landed at 1800 (i.e. 6 pm). Lilli had been
supposed to get in at 4 something, so I expected
her to be waiting for me. She was not. At this
airport there are no monitors telling you about
arrivals and departures. I parked myself in a
quiet spot and endured 10 minutes of handshaking
between this computer and the airport wireless
before discovering that her flight from Dallas
was also delayed 2 hours.

Joyful reunion, but we were in danger of missing
our dinner date, so we sprang for a taxi ($36 flat
fee plus $4 tip) and got to the Hilton around 7.

They gave us a room in the annex by the shopping
mall, so Lilli pitched a modest fit and got us a
smallish room on the executive floor overlooking
the bend in the river and Algiers - a spectacular
view. Also breakfast coupons (good for the
Continental only, but for a $9 upcharge or so we
could have upgraded to the clotted eggs and
salt strips, which we didn't).
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