Friday, February 20, 2009

On the subject of Air Travel

Hello readers… the following entry is a journal kept on my companion called Mac for my trip back to my parent’s soon to be former home… a place of memories for me, even though I did not formally live there, but still consider it one of the houses I lived in. This trip is to say goodbye to their memory, their belongings, and a place I will always remember as the spot where I began my life as a grown-up and a married man. So, if you enjoy a spirit walk, please feel free to take this one with me. I won’t promise it will all be fun, but I hope you can see little things with which you can identify. Let’s begin.

Saturday
Greetings from 37-thousand feet where it is 11 pm… United Airlines on my way to Charleston, SC by way of Washington, DC. Nothing short of the word bittersweet can describe this unexpected trip across the skies. A trip to my parent’s final resting place with an ever so short connection in the city of my birth.

First a little ranting. Leaving Seattle was almost a message to tell me – get the hell out of here. On our way to the airport… no less than four lanes of the main interstate – I-5, were shut down thanks to construction for “our convenience.” Once we muddled thought that, we reached Southcenter where we looked for a place to eat. Once we were able to traverse the maze that is the Cascade Garage, we were met with a 75-minute wait for dinner. That wasn’t gonna happen. (Um, what happened to people not wanting to spend money in this economy, but I digress.)

My family is not made up of the veteran knowledge in traveling that I have. For four years, the airplane was my second home. Well, it only took a trip through security to make me realize how much things have changed since I got off the road four years ago. A 30 dollar tube of skin cream was confiscated by the TSA. It caused a holdup of about 15 minutes. Once through security, we headed to the main restaurant in the airport – Anthonys. It was 8 PM. We were informed that they were only serving the late night menu, and no kids menu? Wha? 8 PM – late night?

So we went across the food court, and got the kids some pasta at the Pallino. What was pictured as a hearty plate of spaghetti was in actuality a meager plastic bowl. 20 bucks later for two crappy bowls of pasta… we went back to Anthony’s for grownup food. It was okay. Giving a positive credit where it is due… the waitress was awesomely nice, even filling our water bottles for the trip with ice water. Well done, her.

So to the gate we go, and there, we get on the plane… and the seats that I spent an extra 200 bucks for. Now you have to understand that to get a guaranteed seat on Untied (sic) Airlines, you have to buy “Economy Plus” which goes for an extra 49 per seat. My extra money bought a seat right next to a baby. My wife’s 49 dollars went straight towards a seat with a broken entertainment system and a short guy who slammed his reclining seat right into my wife’s knees without even an acknowledgement. Way to go, dude!

You have to realize that this trip began as my wife and myself taking a week to fly to empty my parent’s house, which sold after nearly three years following my father’s passing. When we made the decision, we had enough reward points from our bank to get two tickets. Heck, if we needed to, we could get four. When we were not able to find any folks to look after the kids, we then needed to include the kids in the travel plans. We had enough points… so no big deal. That would be the case if the fare did not double in the one day that we waited to buy the tickets. So now a free trip for two was a thousand dollar investment… and that was before the 200 dollars for the guaranteed seats one way and the 60 bucks to check one bag each – a policy started to offset “fuel prices.” Well sounds like they like getting the money.

We’re on the plane and after a few curt words from the flight attendants… we are having our first drink service. The only good thing at this point is my favorite comedic actress, Kristen Wiig is playing the surprise lady on the in flight entertainment
11:22 pm.
The movie is starting now. Never heard of it… so we’ll take a timeout. Baby is getting a bottle now… so there’s some hope for quiet. I should be dead tired… but I am wide awake.

11:31pm.
Movie stinks, so I am listening to XM on United Airlines. Billy Joel followed by Steely Dan.

You, dear readers, have already heard about my parent’s house in a previous blog, so I won’t go through the details again. My desire to go back was absent until some encouraging words from my wife. Sadly, the simple trip with the two of us became a production of gigantic proportions when we could not get anyone to watch the kids. I was looking for a time to say goodbye, and give her the same opportunity. Now it’s a chance for the whole family to do it, and after working through some very angry feelings that I was pushed into the trip, I am optimistic that this will indeed be the positive life experience that I was kind of sold on by my honey. We shall see.

3:45 AM
No… it’s not much later… just changed my clock to Eastern time. Funny thing about that. When I did I was working on a project in Final Draft, a screenwriting software.

I am starting in on a new writing project – a short play about the dynamics of a Tuesday Night Bowling League and when a team gets together for the first time. I was five pages into the new script when my time change kicked off the activation of my program, and so my writing has ceased… hopefully to be unlocked and picked up later.

The kids are handling the trip well. My daughter and wife are watching the movie, which stars Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates and the woman who plays Dr. Charlotte King on Private Practice. She’s not wearing any leather in this movie, so I almost didn’t recognize her. – (Note: She’s still no Kate Walsh!)

In the headphones, it’s Watercolors on XM… which is a recording as it repeats about every two hours. I remember a flight on TWA when I was 15 to Spain and France where the tape lasted about 1 and a quarter hours. I memorized every song on that one which included David Gates (of Bread fame) singing Never Let Her Go and Santa Esmeralda’s only hit “I’m just a sould whose intentions are good, oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.

3:53… Hey… there’s the first yawn. This plane is as hot as my office or my control room. Must be nearly 80 in here. Thank you Untied Maintenance Department. Signing off for a bit. Need to stretch.

5:16 AM. I have anxiety meds that I take for serious anxiety, like when I am on an airplane… thanks to clostrophobia. It was on one of these same red eye flights from Seattle to Charleston that I had my first bout with the fear. I was stuck in the window seat of one of those small planes, and felt locked into the chair. When we sat on the tarmac for more than an hour and a half, I freaked, and ever since, I have suffered from that fear.

Well, one of the side effects of the meds it is supposed to make you sleepy. Well, I’m sleepy alright, but I am also Dopey, Sneezy, Droopy and Doc. I can doze if I lean on the armrest of the seat, but if I lean back in my seat… no luck. I guess sleeping on this flight is not in the cards. Well, at least I have you all to keep me company.

My wife is playing Bubblebuster on her phone. She is addicted to that game like I am addicted to Facebook. It’s her go to diversion. I don’t get the attraction to it.

On the plane, 30 Rock was just followed by that CBS show with Haley Cuoco. Never watch that one, but she sure is a cutey. As for Tina Fey, there is a certain charm to her, but like my dear Kristen, me thinks the crush is truly comical.

Well I think I am on my third rotation of the same songs on XM… yep. Chuck has just come on the plane TV. I loved this show when it first came on but lost interest when 24 and Heroes became about all I could handle on Monday nights.

Speaking of Monday Nights, three of the stars of Monday Night Raw, The Miz, John Morrison and Chaz Gaspar of Crime Tyme were walking through the airport as we were ready to board. My son was thrilled and wished that John Cena was heading through. No such luck.

5:40 AM
Time in the air over 5 hours… and we are descending. My son is looking outside hoping to catch a glimpse of the Nation’s Capital. I am hoping to catch a glimpse of the inside of my eyelids. No such luck. Happily, I must say that other than the regular aches of being a big guy on a plane, and the cabin air much too hot until literally 5 minutes ago, this has been an uneventful flight. The baby hasn’t made a sound. Wow.

Bottom line… my butt is tired.

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