Back in MD (for now)

I'm back in Maryland, and I made it without incident. This does not, however, indicate that I will ever fly Delta again. I think the next time I need to get back to South Bend I'll do what Mom and Jim have been suggesting for years, and fly to Chicago, then take one of the hourly trains or buses that run to the South Bend airport. I've had it with these connections that never leave on time!

There were only two oddities about the trip back. The first one was when I checked in for my flight in South Bend. The Delta ticket counter was set up just like every counter for every airline these days: there was the big tensa-barrier maze for the people waiting to talk to an actual person (with about 10 people waiting), and then next to that were the self-check in terminals (with no one using them). So I went up and checked myself in, then waited for the lady to take my suitcase and check my ID. She walks up, I hand her my tickets and drivers license, and we have this exchange:

Lady: [eyeing me suspiciously] Were you just in that line? [indicating the ticket counter line]
Me: Oh no, I just used this self-check in thing.
Lady: [shaking head] Mmmm-mmmm, people goin’ to be maaad at you.
Me: Wha…why?
Lady: You just cut in front of all those people!
Me: Oh…isn’t that the line to speak to an agent? I had an e-ticket.
Lady: [somewhat menacingly] Whatever. You just better hope none a’ them saw that.
Me: Uh…sorry?
Lady: Alright, well what is your name?
Me: [eyeing the two airline tickets with my full name in her right hand and my drivers license in her left] Marc Burgess.
Lady: [with plenty of attitude] Okay Mr. Burgess, let’s get you on your plane.

And so we did. Mind you, two other travelers walked up to the self-check in terminals and used them without waiting in line during all of this. That’s how it works, lady! Sheesh. Anyway, I sort of like the South Bend airport because it’s so small. You go to the gate, and the little Canadair jets sort of pull up to the curb to pick you up. So I got on the plane with about 15 spoiled Notre Dame kids and we were off!

Oh right, the other oddity. When we landed in Baltimore, we did that whole walk off the plane directly onto the tarmac thing. As I’m leaving the plane, the bag handlers (throwers) were already unloading our bags. I had the premonitory thought “I wish I could just grab my bag right now, since it’s like 10 feet away.” But of course you can’t, so I made my way to the claim. Not only was the claim number not listed anywhere, but of the 6 Delta claims, only two were in use. So all Delta passengers from all flights (150 or so) were to claim their bags at the same two carousels, making for quite the claustrophobic experience. The wait became more and more annoying, and when my suitcase finally turned up I kept thinking “Yup, 35 minutes ago I walked right past it.” Seriously, where does luggage go for so long between the plane and the claim? Anyway.

I enjoyed my little vacation, but I think I need to learn how to actually relax. I got in about 2 hours of hammock reading time, and the rest of it I was kind of on the go. Not only was Mom at the cottage with me, but so were Howard and Jasmine, and Dad and Jeanie were in town as well. So I spent most of the time playing games, running around town, and even helping out with errands at the cottage. As I was leaving, I thought “Wait a minute, I was supposed to be relaxing.” It was a good time, but as always, it was over too soon!

So now I have exactly one day at home before I turn around and fly right back out to England. We have a couple of meetings in Jolly ole Wolverhampton, then I’ll be back Friday, at which point my buddy Eric will be in town for a few days. I’m not taking my computer, so you won’t hear from me this week, but I’ll let you know if I have any great discoveries over there when I get back. Have a great week!