The Puddle Jumper

This morning has been a pretty wild ride.  I am sitting in concourse F of the Chicago O’Hare airport with my combination camera/laptop bag on my lap as a table.  So far it is working pretty well.  I am trying to bang out this post before my battery dies.  The negative side effect of a gaming laptop is the fact that they have complete crap for battery life.  So long as I stay out of a game here is hoping that I can type fast enough to make it through… and then hopefully post it with the complimentary 30 minutes of free wifi access.

The Road Warrior

My wife travels all the time… and I did not really realize exactly what that meant until I watched her glide through the check in process of the airport.  For me this was a confusing and often times anxiety ridden experience… but for her she had everything ready at exactly the right moment when it was needed.  I have a brand new respect for her as she is able to navigate this world of cold steel and fluorescent lights.

I guess thought in the grand scheme of things it makes a lot of sense.  For the last six years or so she has been travelling to at least 3 different conferences each summer.  Anyone who feels that educators get the summer off can rightly go to hell.  My wife spends almost every moment from when she gets out in May until when she goes back in August preparing for the next year.  While some educators might rest on their laurels and recycle the same curriculum each year… she essentially rewrites her class work from scratch over the summer months factoring in new things she learns from these various workshops and conferences.

I feel very much out of my element sitting here in an airport.  I have entered someone else’s work.  All airports seem to look the same to me.  They are all the same kind of cold shiny exteriors and remind me in many ways of most hospitals.  The only variable seems to be the size… and jesus christ is O’Hare huge.  We had to cross three concourses to prime ourselves for our connecting flight.  I will admit this is the first time I have used a moving sidewalk…  and they are pretty amazing.  Right now I feel like a caveman experiencing fire for the first time.

The Puddle Jumper

Even thought I have lost roughly fifty pounds… I was not quite ready for the reality that is riding a puddle jumper.  I was able to get an extension belt… which seemed overwhelmingly too large…  but it helped get the extra inch or two needed to make the two connect.  The hardest part about the flight for me at least was trying to cram my 6’4” height legs between the tiny rows.  I really cannot recall the designation for any certainty… but I believe it was a CSL 700.  Whatever it was it was tiny.

I am extremely thankful however for the fact that each row was only two seats wide.  This let my wife and I forcibly cuddle… without the awkwardness that is trying to ride with a stranger in an extremely confined space.  The thing that I found extremely bizarre was just how many people partook of what had to be an even smaller bathroom.  All flight long however there was a constant stream of people going back and forth between the sky-commode and their seats.  It got extremely awkward as this one guy was so insistent that he tried to squeeze past the beverage cart to get there.  

There is literally nothing that you could do to get me to use a bathroom on an airplane.  Even if I was sick beyond reason… I would find a way of mustering the strength to keep holding it in.  I brought a drink on the plane but did not really consume much of it out of abject fear of needing to go.  The bathroom was so small that when the flight attendant at the back of the plane sat down… his chair completely blocked its entrance.  On the positive side… the flight attendant setting between us was a pretty cool guy from St. Louis.

The Rest of the Trip

So far the trip has been thankfully uneventful.  I have to say from the air… Chicago looks just like every other city I have ever seen…  just much much larger.  Somewhere along the flight path… I swear there was a building that looked just like a classic playstation.  I will have to Google maps it to try and figure out what the hell it was.  We have a three hour layover here in Chicago, and hopefully the plane to Albany will not be extremely packed.  We look to be departing from an even smaller terminal… so my fear is that it will mean a smaller plane.  I wish I could just detach my legs… that is probably the only way I will ever fit comfortably between the tiny rows of seats.

When we were waiting at the terminal in Tulsa… I experienced what was probably the worst possible choice of television to be watching.  All morning long it was nothing but nonstop coverage about the plane crash yesterday.  I could tell it was having an extremely negative effect on a few of the passengers.  There was a lady in quiet tears as she sat there obviously physically nervous about getting on a plane.  Her boyfriend took her away on a walk through the concourse to try and calm her down… and she returned about ten minutes later and was no longer crying… so it appeared to have worked.

Additionally I got to see probably the least tasteful display of public affection.  Seated across from me was a couple that was just barely keeping out of each others pants.  I am sure they appreciated the confined spaces of the airplane… because for the 45 minutes or so we sat there she crawled up on the guys lap a few times.  I have to say that is the most interesting thing about the airport…  watching the behaviors of other people. 

As a result I don’t think our three hour layover here in Chicago will be too bad.  They bill themselves as the busiest airport in the United States… and as a result there is a constant stream of humanity flowing past me as I sit here and type.  It is pretty easy to play guessing games… wondering where each person is headed.  Some of them happy… some of them obviously not…  but all of them going somewhere different. 

Wrapping Up

Going to wrap this up and attempt to get on the WiFi and post it.  Here is hoping that the rest of our trip goes relatively un-eventful.  I am looking forward to being done with the trip…  I like going places… but I hate the act of travelling.  As a result I tend to go nowhere.  Hopefully you are having a good Sunday morning… and that you did not have to get up at 3 am like I did.  Looking forward to exploring Albany and finding what nifty things i can discover there.  If you have any suggestions… I would love to hear them.

Addendum

I will rant about this more tomorrow I am certain… but I was not able to get WiFi access at Chicago O’Hare.  So While I typed this up there I am just not able to post it from my hotel room.  We are safe and sound in Schenectady New York, and just about to go exploring.  If you guys know of anything we must see in the area, please let me know!