UK Trip 2010 - Start

There is snow on the ground, but none coming down. The accumulation appears to be far less than was threatened by the weather doomsayers so at this point, two hours before departure, a certain amount of optimism prevails. Packing is virtually done, all but the really last minute stuff so I appear to be good to go.

Well, I've never blogged from above 10,000 feet before, even though it costs me a little, but I thought I'd try! Michelle came over promptly at 9:00AM, as planned, but rather than hand about we hurry-scurried to get the bags in the car, do a last minute check & head for the airport. It was good we had an extra half-hour, as we needed it. Michelle did an excellent job and I was glad to be a FWD vehicle as it was definitely slick. We must have seen 10-15 cars off the road, and 5-10 semis (possibly more of both) some alone & others getting help and adding to the traffic confusion. However, with all due caution we reached the airport & short-term garage parking.

I was glad Michelle came in with me and showed me the ropes as humans won't think about helping until you have tried the machines & inserted a credit card. Although my inyternational segment is supposed to be 2 bags at no charge, and even though I checked them straight through to Gatwick I was still gonged $50. My "listed" ticket price was $700+ but so far I must be over the $1000 mark, and I'm wondering what the grand total will be by the time I get back home.

Once we had done our thing at the machine, which didn't want to scan my passport the first few times but eventually did the Delta girl was quite happy to tag my bags & take them & so we headed into the staging area. We both had a Starbucks & sat and chatted for a while. Michelle was not in a hurry as I-65 southbound was clearly in more congestion, stalled traffic, trouble than nortbpound had been & needed to clear.

After we had drunk our lattes Michelle gave me a lesson in simplifying passage through security & coached me into what to put where. After we had said our goodbyes her teaching paid dividends and passage through Security was as painless as might be expected, mildly tedious, annoying, but better safe than sorry, and it was the only time necessary this trip. After finding the gate and waiting a while, we duly boarded.

I discovered two things. One is that Kindles fall in the “if it has batteries and an on-off switch” category and is supposed to be off between gate departure (or arrival) and below 10,000 feet, which is annoying as long as these activities can take. Secondly I discovered one can buy “Internet time” & use it above 10,000 feet, so for the sheer novelty I did so. Assuming that this applied to all Delta planes I bought 24 hours rather than “one flight” but it appears that the facility only applies to domestic flights – ah, well, one lives & learns!

Once in Atlanta I did some walking and some electric train riding & found my way to the Gatwick gate with hours to spare, so I played with both Kindle & PC but (wrongly as it turned out) didn’t do any Internet stuff, thinking it would help pass the time in the air over the Atlantic. It eventually dawned on me that it would be a long time until I ate on the plane so I went looking & found, combined with a Nathan’s an Arthur Treachers Fish & Chips (having thought that the whole chain went out of business years ago). Not sure what kind of triangular fish they catch on this side of the Atlantic, but it was quite tasty, the chips (fat fries) were excellent and they did have malt vinegar.

On went the tedium, back at the gate. Watched our plane hauled in, empty, & stocked up & prepped. Read my Kindle some more & otherwise followed the tedious routines of modern air travel. It turns out a late comer is occupying the far side aisle seat of my expected-to-be-empty row, so I won’t get a 3-seat stretch-out after all.

The first part of the flight was strictly routine, a classic “been there, done that”. I did not get a diabetic meal, which didn’t surprise me, but the food was bearable. Unfortunately during the middle of the “night” part of the flight, while most, including me were trying to get a semblance of sleep we moved into turbulence and despite trying all kinds of altitude variations they could not find us smooth air. Breakfast was nearly cancelled, no beverages were served although at the last minute they did pass out the pre-packed snack with included a small sealed orange juice.

Everything went well at Gatwick, I decided to come in as an American, so that on leaving it will be obvious where I had come from. Baggage claim was not as slow as sometimes, nothing to declare in customs & out to see Pam & Nick who had been waiting for every bit of two minutes.