A day in the life of a traveler. For your amusement?
\n
\n2:15 Shuttle caught after giving lunch time blackboard talk about adiabatic quantum computing and huffing it back to the hotel.
\n2:30-3:00 Wait in parking lot of a Courtyard Marriott. Twenty person shuttle remains occupied by me and the driver. Other passenger, to fill out the space, a no show.
\n4:00 Arrive at airport. Check in. Drats looks like the flight is packed so can’t change to better seat.
\n4:05 Is there really only one security line open for all of these people? Newark is the Newark of airports, so to speak.
\n5:15 We’re supposed to be boarding. Announcement: “There is a maintenance delay. We don’t know why, but there will be a delay.”
\n5:40 “There is a maintenance crew on board. They tell us they will know the status at 6:30.”
\n5:50 “Oops. No maintenance problem. We’ll now be boarding.” The man in front of me tells me after the 5:30 announcement he ordered and paid for a sandwich at the Fridays which he will never eat. Another guy a few slots back asks the airline employee: “Is there really no delay or are we going to just sit on the plane?”
\n6:20 Seated, 12C. Man next to me says “I’m never getting out of New Jersey.” We laugh.
\n6:30 Strange jolt, plane shakes. Cockpit door has not been shut. Bad sign.
\n6:40 Captain: “The emergency exit door in the cockpit is jammed. We’ve managed to get it open, but now the maintenance crew is going to look for a particular screw.”
\n7:00 Screw found. Waiting for paperwork.
\n7:10 Doors shut. About to pull out of gate. Man in seat 11D, starts looking worriedly at man in seat 11E. Asks “are you feeling alright?” Man in 11E does not speak English very well. “Do you need to get up?” Man in 11E bolts to front of the plane. Cabin doors reopened.
\n7:15 Did the man in 11E have a carry on bag? Flight attendants go through bags in overhead and don’t find one unclaimed. Man in 11D, who seems to suffer from ADD, decides he’s had enough and bolts. Row 11 is apparently cursed. I consider moving into the aisle seat, now that two seats have open but decide against it. Lady in pink decides she will risk it.
\n7:30 Captain comes on and tell us that man receiving medical attention, maybe a heart attack, and that his bag is being removed from the plane.
\n7:40 Pull away from gate.
\n8:00 Take off.
\n8:30 Free cocktails! Yeah!
\n8:35 Man in 12D has been looking at back of plane for a while. Doesn’t seem comfortable.
\n9:30ish Man in 12D goes the back of plane, does not come back. Flight attendant comes on and asks “is there anyone on the plane who is a doctor?” Back restrooms closed as man is ill and they can’t find his pulse. Nurse finds his pulse. Back restrooms still closed. Long line forms for restroom in first class (do not go beyond the black curtain!) Guy in seat recalls his joke a while before that we’d probably be landing in Montana with his luck.
\n10:00 Flight attendants search for identification for the man in 12D. Anyone flying with him? Attempt to find a bag in overhead storage. No luck.
\n1:30 EST land in Seattle!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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