Long Day
I got up this morning at 5:15 for a full day of meetings in Seattle, then flew up to Anchorage this evening. I’m here for a whirlwind 2 days of meetings, morning, afternoon & evening.
The flight up was gorgeous, clear and sunny over the mountain ranges, and I even managed a first class upgrade. (Mmm… decent dinner!) I watched the movie 27 Dresses on the plane and I just have to say: sometimes I really like cheesy formulaic romantic comedies!
I’m just… tired. Hopefully I’ll have more enthusiasm in the morning.
What’s one thing you actually like about air travel? For me it’s first class upgrades and on-time arrivals. Anyone else? Anything?
May 7th, 2008
Well… most of the time it will get me there faster than any other method…
May 7th, 2008
The thing I like most about flying is looking down at the land and trying to figure out where we are. Mountain valleys, lakes, the Mississippi, southwest barren desert! It’s so cool. And they when I get verification of what I thought, from seeing something completely well known, it makes me feel pretty special!
And I like cheesy formulaic romantic comedies, too. I like the adult ones better than the PG-13, even if (or maybe especially when) there’s no explicit adultiness (ooh, I like that word! Must remember to use it again, soon).
May 7th, 2008
I’m pretty sure I haven’t actually enjoyed a flight in almost 10 years. Worse than Greyhound.
May 7th, 2008
I rarely have to travel by air. I like to fly, but my trip last year to Austin, TX sucked. We left late from Minneapolis, then had to wait almost 1/2 hour to finally get to the gate once we landed in Chicago, so missed the connecting flight. Sat at O’Hara for 6 hours waiting for a flight to Austin, and didn’t get to Austin until after 1:00 am.
Coming back was better - no plane change.
I actually like the flying part, which is odd, since I really don’t like heights. For some reason I’m fine in a plane, as opposed to looking over a cliff, or down from even a three story building. But that’s me, a little warped and twisted
May 8th, 2008
I like flying, but I don’t like the experience of dealing with airlines.
It is nearly impossible for me to sit still, and when I do sit, I always sit crosslegged.
Being forced to remain seated–and in an uncomfortable position–in an uncomfortable position is exquisitely miserable.
Which is why we’re taking the train in the fall, instead of flying.
May 8th, 2008
I like the fact that a plane ride means VACATION. I don’t particularly like anything about the ride itself, just the PURPOSE.
-bm
May 8th, 2008
What about your absolute worst experience? About 15 years ago when I was still a fresh young thing, I was stranded at Midway in Chicago for 27 hours. I knew I was in trouble when the lady (who had tried to help me the night before) had just come on shift, looked up, recognized me and said,”My God, your still here.” She was in utter disbelief. In not less than 10 minutes she had me booked on a flight out of O’hare and personally hauled me and my luggage to the curb and into a complimentary taxi to O’Hare. I wish I knew her name because that was the worst experience I ever had, and she ended it with one of the best customer service experiences I ever had. Midway Airport Woman - I thank you!!!
May 8th, 2008
Oooh, good question, Barb.
I’d have to say my worst was when we actually moved down from Alaska to the Puget Sound area. We’d been cleaning all day, took a quick shower, loaded ourselves up with luggage and got on a late evening flight. We had one dog with us in a softside carryon, and the other more barky dog was in a crate in cargo.
When we got to Seattle in the middle of the night, Alaska Air’s finest outsourced baggage handlers did not produce our crated dog. There was a line of 150 people in the baggage claim line and those of us with missing live animals got no priority over those with missing golf clubs - we were told to wait in line. I was bawling. Hours later, they found our frantic wet dog - along with several other pets and much missing luggage.
A baggage handler had pulled the loaded baggage cart over to the side of the tarmac, parked it in the pouring rain, and went off shift. The airline never apologized, and to this day, I will not check luggage into Seattle.
On a brighter note, Barb, I hope everything goes super well at your open house this week!
May 9th, 2008
Well, you picked a good day to be in Anchorage. The weather has been crap all week, but today it’s been great out here in the valley, though my wife said it was cloudy in the city.
I hate flying, like Nathan I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a flight in at least ten years, unless it was military flights out to the Aleutians. I absolutely despise the current state of air travel, everything from non-existent customer ’service’ to the surly flight attendants to the overcrowded planes to the idiot self-centered passengers (especially tourists on their way to Alaska). But most of all I hate all the security BS. Far from feeling more safe, I feel much, much less safe in the air these days. And major airports, Chicago, DC, New York? I hate those places, crowded and filthy. Just once I’d like to get a decent meal in Chicago instead of standing in line for twenty minutes to get a cold, stale McCrap Sandwich from some mouth breather.
And worst experiences? Really, you don’t want to know.
May 10th, 2008
I love takeoff…the moment when you know you’re really airborne and that the wheels have lifted.
And I like the feeling of inter and co-dependence that plane travel entails. Everyone on board shares time precisely for the duration of the flight - it’s like living in a little community bubble.
I don’t like the middle seat or the noisy baby or Connie Corporate who’s upper lip looks like it’s controlled by renegade puppet strings when she’s faced with sitting next to or behind noisy baby. And Techno dude with his iPod, laptop, pda and cell is annoying too…he wants everyone to see how impotent, ahemmm, I mean important he is.
But that said, lastly, I like training my ears forward, in the event I’m in the rear of cattle class, in order to listen for the flight attendants saying, goodbye, goodbye, thank you, safe travels, enjoy your stay, bye bye, b’bye, see you….it’s like a new age Goodbye Song….very hypnotic.
May 12th, 2008
Hey there,
Just came by to say Happy Mother’s Day!
-bm
May 14th, 2008
I like the view, when the aircraft is just beneath the clouds. The city underneath you looks like a toy model.