To take a leaf out of Sam's book:
DID YOU KNOW? Charlotte/Douglas International Airport has a scale model of the Wright Brothers plane hanging from the ceiling of its main terminal. At least, I think that's what it is.
I know this because I have been sitting beneath said scale model for the last six hours, and have another eight to go.
But this isn't about my disastrous experience with America's worst airline carrier. (I considered liveblogging it - pictures of a near-empty terminal and all - but that just seemed like gross misuse of the Internet.) This is about how I'm entertaining myself - rather, how you're helping entertain me - during my night in an airport in a totally unfamiliar city.
Ask me questions. If you don't have questions, then just tell me about your day ("Well, first I woke up, then I had a piece of toast..."). I have a camera and am willing to take pictures of baggage claim, if you're into that kind of thing.
I am armed with a large black coffee and Beck's Modern Guilt. (THIS ALBUM IS SO GOOD. DO NOT CHALLENGE MY WORD.) I just ate a sandwich and a salad, and I'm rarin' to go. (Have you ever noticed how sometimes the baristas at Starbucks look at you like you're a blithering idiot when you ask for a small instead of a tall? SMALL IS A RELATIVE TERM, mmmk?)
Let this possibly-doomed-from-the-start experiment begin.
Edit: For '11:
Any time I am bewildered by the "OMG PLANES" mentality of most everyone in Course 16, I remember that I am hardcore Course 9 and scare people when I go "OMG BRAINS." This gives me perspective o' plenty, similar to watching Speed 2: Cruise Control any time I think movies today have gotten really bad.
I did this during my desk shift last Sunday. Oh, perspective.
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
I once missed my flight there because I forgot that Charlotte is in a different time zone than Texas.
Posted by: '11 on July 25, 2008
Posted by: donaldGuy on July 25, 2008
Fortunately, nobody did a "first!" post
Posted by: '11 on July 25, 2008
My day was totally boring, I got woken up by my friend calling at 3:30 pm (yeah, I'm lazy) and I was at work by 4 until 8, when I went home and have been on the internet since! I was going to go to the county fair where they have a LEGIT FREAK SHOW like with 2-headed cows and stuff, but sadly I didn't get off work in time :(
I would be careful with your camera in an airport, it seems like they might be angry about that sort of thing...
Posted by: Karen on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Karen on July 25, 2008
so .. maybe those barristas will get laid off and have to go work at a place with normal sizes?
have you seen the "Neurotically Yours" (aka Foamy the Squirrel) about Starbucks sizes? You should have! it is here http://www.illwillpress.com/coffeehouse.html
Posted by: donaldGuy on July 25, 2008
Posted by: donaldGuy on July 25, 2008
'11 - I'm uploading photos now. I can't go past the security checkpoint until 4 AM, so all I can give you is the huge one in the main terminal.
Karen - mmmm, freakshow.
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=651
brought to you courtesy of Oh No Robot comic search engine
Posted by: donaldGuy on July 25, 2008
Does that happen often?
Posted by: yukiko on July 25, 2008
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=419
I just fail at links tonight. Its okay though, cause I am going to bed. I hope other people come along to entertain you!
Posted by: donaldGuy on July 25, 2008
I was also looking for that one, but I'm thinking of one from a little earlier than that.
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=419#
I kind of mixed it up with this one in my head:
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=375#
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
Curse you, froshling.
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Karen on July 25, 2008
i liked the story of how you reacted to your acceptance at MIT. any other stories the like? it makes mit hopefuls feel better.
Posted by: 0 on July 25, 2008
Anonymous - Will an "MIT students make monumental mistakes too" story suffice?
No?
Whatever. You're getting one anyway.
I'm currently working on a major project at my UROP with a grad student and another undergrad. We're all working on different facets of this project, but the common factor is that we are always in dire need of SCMM-U plates so we can grow yeast colonies. Last Monday, I left the lab at an absurdly late hour because I was making and autoclaving the media for the plates. I poured the plates and went home, satisfied that I'd succeeded at something I'd done a million times before.
When I came in seven hours later, they still had not solidified.
As it turns out, I'd made media with 0.1% agar instead of 1% agar, meaning that my media would never stop being a useless liquid. I'd wasted three hours and 60 plates, and I felt like an idiot.
...people have done far worse things.
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Lauren '12 on July 25, 2008
...unless, of course, your trip is only two days long. (Oh my god, get me out of this airport.)
My worst weather-related plane issue involved a flight delayed by four hours because of a major snowstorm over Logan Airport. Granted, this was also two days before Christmas, so it would have been a nightmare to fly regardless of how much snow was being dumped on the runway. Sometimes flights get cancelled when the weather's particularly disastrous, but just about every airport everywhere encounters similar weather problems. You shouldn't have to worry about anything particularly out of the ordinary. For me, it was a matter of adjusting to closures due to snow instead of hurricane warnings.
Lauren - The entire airport has free Wi-Fi.
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Piper on July 25, 2008
Wasting the internet is enjoyable.
Posted by: Daniel '12 on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Daniel '12 on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Daniel '12 on July 25, 2008
Posted by: '12 on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Ahmed '12 on July 25, 2008
Daniel - this was only supposed to be 50 minutes long. My connecting flight was cancelled.
...incidentally, I could go for some sushi right now.
'12 - YES. I don't love it as much as Sea Change, but it's a close second.
Ahmed - There are currently eight people asleep in the little waiting area around me, all of whom were on cancelled flights or missed connections due to delayed flights. Of these people, one was on the plane down with me and another was on my cancelled connection. All of us were flying the same airline.
...really?! They can't seriously be #1. Granted, they took a little longer than most large carriers to impose checked bag fees, but that's not much compared to massive delays and cancelling flights left and right.
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Daniel '12 on July 25, 2008
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121667483211571443.html?mod=Travel79_1
Where are you headed to?
Posted by: Ahmed '12 on July 25, 2008
I'm going home for an ultra-short visit, for reasons I will reveal later.
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Ahmed '12 on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Austin '12 on July 25, 2008
I woke up this morning about 30 minutes before i needed to catch the bus for work so i did the usual dash-n-go (30 minutes sounds like alot but i have to walk quite a ways to even get to the stop). I got there right when it was supposed to show up, but of course of all days it was 15 minutes late, and now im sitting at the max planck institute of nuclear physics (shout out to physics!!!) about to work on dust accelerators... this summer has been good to me.
Posted by: Brunell on July 25, 2008
Layovers suck. I had a layover of like 5+ hours in London Heathrow after a red eye cross-Atlantic flight, which was not enough time to actually go into London but more than enough time to make me want to kill myself. Considering travel time to and from various airports, time difference, etc, I spent a good 24 hours getting to Spain. It sucked.
My worst airline experience was going on a family vacation in the 6th grade. Being from NJ, I am one of the unfortunate creatures who has to fly out of Newark Airport, which cancels half of its flights if it rains for 5 minutes. Our flight to Florida was canceled, so they flew us to Austin, then to Ft Lauderdale (which requires many hours of driving to get to Orlando) so we missed a whole day of Disney World, and it was very sad. It took 24 hours to get to Florida (which is much closer than Spain!) and would have been faster if we had driven there. Also, they ruined our luggage. It was a lousy experience.
But dude, I am in LOVE with JetBlue, I totally agree with whoever mentioned in personal TV. Total rock. I flew to Virginia and watched the History Channel's true version of the Battle of Thermopoli, which was quite fascinating.
My day so far is not very interesting, because it's 10:45 here, so I just woke up. I guess that means...hey, maybe you've been through security by now! Comments on your blog seem to be time stamped according to EST, but you know, traveling around the world has led me to understand the importance of labeling those kinds of things! (I can never figure out what time people send me emails in webmail, sometimes it seems to know what time zone I'm in and sometimes it doesn't. Same with Facebook. It's all very confusing.)
Well, I'm going to go eat some breakfast. I feel very privileged to be one of the lucky few who knows the reason for your trip and I am super excited for you, and really hope it works out, and wish you the best of luck! Hope the airport past the security checkpoint is a little more interesting!
Posted by: Laura on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Daniel '12 on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Paul on July 25, 2008
I was selected for TSA screening, which means I got to spend fifteen minutes standing by a table where a TSA officer removed and individually swiped everything in my backpack and camera bag.
...Air travel is not my friend.
Posted by: Keri on July 25, 2008
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id25843853
An explosion blew a hole in the side of the plane. You certainly have better luck flying than those people. Scary, scary stuff!!!
Posted by: anonymous on July 25, 2008
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25843853
Posted by: anonymous on July 25, 2008
I'm glad I stumbled onto your blog. I too am stuck in an airport. Fortunately it's one of my favorites (Hartsfield in Atl). I'm doing some research for a project and I think you can help me (as well as anyone else who's reading this). If you had to do High School all over again, what would you want to take? I'm trying to develop technology coursework for my school district, and need to know what would have been helpful to you. What would you have loved to do in high school but couldn't?
Look forward to hearing from you.
felicia
Posted by: Felicia on July 25, 2008
also...what are my chances of getting a single again after the in-house rush at next?
on second thought...i m gradually coming to like next house..the dining menu is really enticing =)..and don't worry i will spend time to get to know the dorms during REX before i go change it
Thanks
Posted by: carmen '12 on July 25, 2008
I'm pulling a Snively and checking practically every day.
Posted by: Claire on July 25, 2008
Posted by: 0 on July 25, 2008
Posted by: Paul on July 25, 2008
Posted by: milena '11 on July 25, 2008
i've never been amazed by airplanes or anything that flies for that matter. except, maybe, no wait, no.
Posted by: omar on July 25, 2008
I'M SORRY YOU WERE STUCK IN THE AIRPORT. I LOVE YOU. <3
Posted by: Nina on July 25, 2008
This, in a nutshell, is my marriage.
Posted by: Mollie on July 27, 2008
Posted by: Piper on July 27, 2008
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