Text 8520, 81 rader
Skriven 2014-01-04 16:03:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: end of trip 25
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I'd decided to stay the course: after dinner with the Mikes,
there was no inclination to get up at oh dark thirty to try
for the early flight out of town, and the forecast said that
the snow wasn't going to arrive in earnest until noonish.

Annie had bad feelings about the flight, but she's being a
bit anxiety-ridden these days. She insisted I get to the
airport early, not that that would make any difference.

US4118 IPT PHL 1232 1328 DH8 2C

And so I did and hung around for half an hour first at the
ticket desk and then with the TSA and then for a few minutes
with some pretty nervous-looking passengers. The weather
was on the TV in the little gate area, increasing everyone's
anxieties. We loaded up shortly after noon and were sent to
the deicing pad, which is really a spot on the pavement wide
enough so the truck can drive all around the plane. All well
and good: we saw the truck come and squirt junk at us and go
away ... but then the news came ... they'd run out of deicing
fluid. I began to think about Annie's premonition. But the
truck came back with more stuff, and we were bathed again,
and then off we went. It was a quite slow and bumpy ride, and
we landed a bit late, enough so that some people feared for
their connections. I had a bit of a cushion and so visited
the Envoy club for perhaps the last time - American and US
Air will probably consolidate their operations, and unless I
actually go and buy a membership I'm not likely to get in
after March. The place was pretty empty (its main purpose is
to service the afternoon and evening transatlantic flights).
I had a bowl of the soup on offer - cream of roast butternut
squash; it was almost worth the pills. After half an hour or
so I moseyed down to the gate, which was quite a distance.

US 751 PHL CLT 1530 1716 762 2G

It's a big plane and a small waiting area, the result being
considerable congestion and a lot of fractious passengers.
My seatmate was very pretty and very grumpy. I was glad when
she fell asleep. She kept the seat much reclined the whole
way, including landing. Snotty princess, I thought.

The seats are US Air's best, angled flat sleepers, and it
was a pity the flight is so short - they schedule it for
1 3/4 hr, it usually takes 1 1/4 hr, and this time it took
1 1/2 hr; owing to the silliness at the gate we pulled away a
few minutes late but did not actually take off until about 4;
then a very bumpy and slightly unpleasant flight. I asked
the lead attendant if by chance they had left any Courvoisier
on from the previous flight (this plane had lately come in
from Brussels), and he reminisced for a few seconds about the
olden days before saying the equivalent of "in your dreams."
I made do with Emerald cocoa-dusted almonds, which are better
than nothing, but not by much. We landed a little before half-
past, but it was some agonizing minutes before they docked the
jetbridge; then it was a glance at the monitor, and feet don't
fail me now: I had to run from the far end of the B terminal
to the far end of the C terminal to find the gate nearly empty,
nobody in line, and the last of the standbys being processed.
At least I made it, panting heavily.

US1759 CLT DCA 1750 1906 319 2F

This one actually took off and landed more or less on time.
The sympathetic flight attendant kept me in cheap red wine
for the whole bumpy 45-minute trip. Perhaps it was all the
wine, or something I ate, or wandering around with insufficient
clothing, but I had a huge case of aching joints and general
malaise by the time we landed. I just couldn't face the subway
and then the bus and then trudging to the house in the cold,
windy darkness, so I had Travelers' Aid call the Hilton shuttle
to whisk me away to warmth and sleep. They again put me on the
9th floor, this time in a medium-size room with a tiny bathroom
(before, I'd had a corner room, much bigger, and a much bigger
bathroom). Good thing, as the digestive part of my disease
didn't go full blown until I was out of there. I had 11 hours'
sleep and left there in better sorts, invigorated ehough to
face the house for a day. Though at the house I just sort of
collapsed and was pretty useless.
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