Departure Day, Sunday, 4/2/17
Phone alarm went off 420am. Shower and plan to leave the room at 515 am, check out, and on the road to the airport by 530am. I want to be at the rental return by 6am. I'm drinking a Monster Energy Zero Ultra drink because there's no free coffee.
Looks like a fairly calm weather day- some storms look pretty heavy in Texas and later, Missouri. Weather shouldn't be a factor on the flight.
515 am- Leaving the room. That's it for the computer until I arrive.
(Written Monday morning on the living room PC)
I drove directly to the car rental return with no problem. It only took about twenty-five minutes. I didn't see exactly where to drop off the car, so I just pulled into a slot and walked to the desk. The woman said that it would be OK, and they would mail me the paperwork. Later I regretted not having 'signed off' on the deal because I was afraid of getting something in the mail about the idiot light. However, when I got into the terminal and opened up the laptop, I got an email from Fox about the charges, and no additional fees were mentioned. That was the biggest hassle of the trip.
When I went through security to the gate it was an entirely different approach from the St. Louis security setup. No shoes, no belt, and the guy gave me an 'extreme' pat-down'. He even mentioned that, if I wanted, the procedure could be done in a private room. Then, they pawed through my bag and I got a lecture that the hand lotion was four ounces, and the regulation states that it can be no more than three. I obviously didn't know, and didn't care, but is it the size of the container or how much does it contain? Maybe there were only three ounces left in the bottle.
I arrived at the gate at 6am for the 820am flight, and spent the next hour and a half on the Chromebook. It took a little doing, but once I got on the the free airport WiFi, it was stronger than what I had been paying for at the motel. Part of the time I spent Googling how to stop the watch alarm from ringing. I had set the watch Saturday night to ring at 420am (along with the phone alarm), and the watch was also set to chime on the hour. I find this very distracting, and I finally managed to shut it off.
For some reason on the flight to Phoenix I was one of the first to board, but on the flight back, I was almost the last person on the plane. This meant that I had to sit in a middle seat at the back of the plane. The woman beside me on the isle seat watched, THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF THE POTOMAC on her smartphone and listened via bluetooth. I read LILY WHITE and I don't think I could have flown another mile.
When I got off the plane at 115pm, I walked to the baggage claim area and asked someone where the phones for the hotels were located. They were on the wall behind the escalators and I called the Renaissance and the clerk said a driver would be there between five and twenty minutes. He showed up in less than ten, and I was the only passenger back to the hotel. When I got out of the bus, I could see that the gates were still in the upright position, and I just walked to the car, texted Janny that I had touched down, and drove out. I never had to show any proof of purchase and I guess I could have parked for free.
Getting to Rt. 170 was a little tricky. The entrance to Rt. 170 South was clearly marked, but the North entrance was about a mile away. I probably wasted five minutes trying to locate the correct entrance. Once I got on 170, I headed North to Rt. 250 East, and the straight up 55. No problems and it was a beautiful day- mostly sunny, and temps in the lower sixties.
I rolled onto the drive at Westview at 320pm and ran Oakmont clockwise in 44" less than an hour later. Buddy was happy to see me, and the kitchen floor was covered in broken glass. He had knocked off one of the tiny coffee cups and it shattered. I've always hated these 'too small' cups, and I wish he had destroyed them all.
The whole trip was a moderate bummer, yet slightly better than expected. I certainly would not want to stay any longer than I did, and I really never want to go back.
Looks like a fairly calm weather day- some storms look pretty heavy in Texas and later, Missouri. Weather shouldn't be a factor on the flight.
515 am- Leaving the room. That's it for the computer until I arrive.
(Written Monday morning on the living room PC)
I drove directly to the car rental return with no problem. It only took about twenty-five minutes. I didn't see exactly where to drop off the car, so I just pulled into a slot and walked to the desk. The woman said that it would be OK, and they would mail me the paperwork. Later I regretted not having 'signed off' on the deal because I was afraid of getting something in the mail about the idiot light. However, when I got into the terminal and opened up the laptop, I got an email from Fox about the charges, and no additional fees were mentioned. That was the biggest hassle of the trip.
When I went through security to the gate it was an entirely different approach from the St. Louis security setup. No shoes, no belt, and the guy gave me an 'extreme' pat-down'. He even mentioned that, if I wanted, the procedure could be done in a private room. Then, they pawed through my bag and I got a lecture that the hand lotion was four ounces, and the regulation states that it can be no more than three. I obviously didn't know, and didn't care, but is it the size of the container or how much does it contain? Maybe there were only three ounces left in the bottle.
I arrived at the gate at 6am for the 820am flight, and spent the next hour and a half on the Chromebook. It took a little doing, but once I got on the the free airport WiFi, it was stronger than what I had been paying for at the motel. Part of the time I spent Googling how to stop the watch alarm from ringing. I had set the watch Saturday night to ring at 420am (along with the phone alarm), and the watch was also set to chime on the hour. I find this very distracting, and I finally managed to shut it off.
For some reason on the flight to Phoenix I was one of the first to board, but on the flight back, I was almost the last person on the plane. This meant that I had to sit in a middle seat at the back of the plane. The woman beside me on the isle seat watched, THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF THE POTOMAC on her smartphone and listened via bluetooth. I read LILY WHITE and I don't think I could have flown another mile.
When I got off the plane at 115pm, I walked to the baggage claim area and asked someone where the phones for the hotels were located. They were on the wall behind the escalators and I called the Renaissance and the clerk said a driver would be there between five and twenty minutes. He showed up in less than ten, and I was the only passenger back to the hotel. When I got out of the bus, I could see that the gates were still in the upright position, and I just walked to the car, texted Janny that I had touched down, and drove out. I never had to show any proof of purchase and I guess I could have parked for free.
Getting to Rt. 170 was a little tricky. The entrance to Rt. 170 South was clearly marked, but the North entrance was about a mile away. I probably wasted five minutes trying to locate the correct entrance. Once I got on 170, I headed North to Rt. 250 East, and the straight up 55. No problems and it was a beautiful day- mostly sunny, and temps in the lower sixties.
I rolled onto the drive at Westview at 320pm and ran Oakmont clockwise in 44" less than an hour later. Buddy was happy to see me, and the kitchen floor was covered in broken glass. He had knocked off one of the tiny coffee cups and it shattered. I've always hated these 'too small' cups, and I wish he had destroyed them all.
The whole trip was a moderate bummer, yet slightly better than expected. I certainly would not want to stay any longer than I did, and I really never want to go back.
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