The Airport Half-Marathon

28 December 2010

Dad picked me up from my place at 2:30 (Eastern time.) We were on the bus and headed for Newark, NJ by 3:15. There were horribly long lines to check-in. Big surprise. The worst part was that people weren't comfortable using the self check-in kiosks which sat empty for quite some time while people waited to be helped by a person. After waiting in line for an hour we were at a kiosk. First we tried to scan Dad's passport but that wouldn't work. Then we tried mine. I was able to scan it without a problem. I had to change my seat to get a window. In a plane that is 3 by 3 with a person that gets sick if they sit on the aisle you'd think since the chances are better for a person to be in the middle or at the window (2 to 3 odds) that you wouldn't have to change your seat. No such luck. In order to get Dad's boarding pass we had to put in his confirmation number.

Security - we went through with no problems.

Next is time to sit and wait...and move and wait...

We started out journey at gate C75 for a 7:45 departure. That got pushed back to 8:15 because we "had a plane but they needed to move it to us". Okay, understandable.

Next we're moved to C108 for a 9:10 departure. Now, if you've never been to Newark Terminal C let me give you an idea of the location of things. The airport has three arms (similar to those on a clock pointing to 9, 12 and 3). We exited security between 12 and 3 and headed up the 3 o'clock arm for C75 which was 3 "people movers" or so down the hallway. Not a bad spot because the food court is there. On the other hand C108 is in the 12 o'clock arm and at least 2 people movers down. The move made sense to me. Our plane is here...if you can't get the plane to the people get the people to the plane, right? Wrong!

We started to show some concern when our 9:10 turned into a 9:30 because they were boarding people for Oslo. We met some guys from Glasgow who were headed for Vegas. Their flight was supposed to leave at 6PM.

C96 with a 10:30 departure was next on the list. Guess where that is...yep, right back to the 3 o'clock arm.

C92 for a 10:30 departure. Then moved back to 11:30.

Finally C95 for an 11:30 departure. 11:15 the plane just arrived. They are entering the plane to clean and all that jazz. What are the odds that our luggage will arrive there with us?

12:20 departure. 11:47 people started boarding the plane.

~

Rough night. Quite a bit of turbulence. Dinner was around 2AM (Eastern time). The flight attendants were short-handed by two, but they were some of the best I'd ever had. I chose the beef and rice because I was afraid the chicken teriyaki would make me sick. Apparently I made the wrong choice according to my stomach. After dinner I tried to sleep. I'm usually okay until the last 2 hours or so, but the turbulence didn't help matters, nor did the temperature shifts. The final hour and a half was pretty bumpy.

For breakfast at 11:45 UK time (that's 5 hours ahead of you USA) we had a croissant and melon slices. We flew over Northern Ireland and I got giddy. Next up Scotland and Edinburgh airport. There's a thick layer of fog...duh, British Isles...visibility is reported to be 1.5 miles. Is this the weather phenomenon known as the "haar"?