The Long Way Home
Thoughts from a long layover in Denver…
Coming back from Europe, I chose to take a slightly longer series of flights and layovers than normal. The last time I flew back into the United States, I had a connection in Chicago that was too tight and that I made by only by a few minutes (this connection deserves a blog post of its own – it’s a good story). This time I wasn’t going to make the same mistake. I made sure my connections were measured by hours instead of minutes. And due to some cheaper business-class tickets, I also opted for two stops instead of one to get home.
I’m writing this at 7 p.m. in Denver. It is 6 p.m. in Oregon. And it is 3 a.m. in Frankfurt, the time I set my alarm for earlier this morning. Also, I don’t sleep well on airplanes without melatonin, which I didn’t take on this flight. Again, I was worried about making connections and melatonin has a tendency to be tough for me to wake up from as a fully functioning human. Yes, aside from a brief nap watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I during one of the many series of scenes without things exploding, I’ve been up for about 24 hours now.
I have had no coffee or caffeine other than chocolate (yes, I have had way too much chocolate again today – or is it tomorrow yet?). My next flight was supposed to be taking off right now, however we are still in the terminal waiting for our flight attendants. Once we board, our flight time will be a little more than two hours. First, we need to both board and take off, and there are some spectacular cumulonimbus clouds all around the airport. Pilots tend not to like these beautiful cumulonimbus clouds, as they can create sudden downdrafts that lead to the plane making an unexpected and undesired landing that usually isn’t on a runway. So, cool weather to watch with very little sleep, not so cool weather for getting home.
This trip has also been a full three weeks, so I have a suitcase full of paperwork and laundry (officemates, if you are reading this you have now been warned not to smell my paperwork – there is a reason I submit my receipts electronically!) that I will need to pick up at my home airport. I absolutely love my small home airport, but it is not known for having particularly fast baggage handlers.
There is some good news. I’m not seeing any exes here at the gate as I wait for my flight to board. And I also have the upgrade to first for this flight, that I got early enough to order dinner. This is particularly good as I didn’t have any food beyond a brownie (…maybe two…) in the United Club. The bad news is that I don’t see any friends or exes here as well, so this may be a long wait (I live in a small city with a dating pool that is way too small, but this is a topic for another time). Also, the menu just changed last week. Gone is the delicious cheese enchilada that I really enjoyed. Instead, the vegetarian meal is something with rice and vegetables. It is healthier, but likely less fun.
A small dog just walked by with decidedly demonic eyes. One was bright white, another somewhat red. The tongue hanging out didn’t add to the look. The flexilead leash in bright pink was a nice touch. Definitely not the best option to have a 10’ leash in a crowded airport, but I have to give props for the style.
If I keep writing, I’m not really sure where this will go. Disney sweatshirt commentary? Skateboards on moving walkways? The list of topics deserving of further expounding is truly exponential (or is it logarithmic? – I should check with my engineering friends). And thus, I will leave it here and spare you, dear reader, the potential next two hundred words on giant man-purses that will otherwise come next.
View from the airplane going home
