June 9th “Another Airport adventure”

I said on Facebook the taxi Judi booked for the airport Sunday arrived 30 minutes early (what a surprise) well that got negated slightly as we were officially checking out of the flat so we had to wait for the girl to come and get the keys off us and to collect $100 for the mysterious mark which appeared on one of the cabinets. (My view is the cleaner tried to iron something on it, you know it would not have been Judi electricity, heat, water and Judi do not mix well together so she does not iron) 

So off to the Airport only 15 minutes ahead of schedule arriving in 40 minutes which is fine as no traffic at this time of day. Slightly congested drop off zone as it is in realty a parking zone. Russian parking is more stop and abandon than regulated. The place is full of people stopping anywhere and unloading cases and kissing each other. After 5 minutes of horn honking from the 30 or so vehicles waiting to climb the ramp do they even acknowledge “what you mean me, ok another 5 minutes whilst I wander around a bit”.

I am not that fussed as we have lots of time. Ok into the building passed the scanners which nobody is using. no hanging about in the middle as we know we will be on the left. Flight called, use my Delta Gold card to jump the queue and head for check in. Not a problem except the poor girl is trying to get some email from us which is like permission to enter the US. Now I know about this but given we have visas and we are not actually going but “returning” to the US this is not a problem. Well eventually it is not but for a few minutes it touch and go.

Done tickets lounge pass. (I used all of my airmiles for a 1st class return upgrade). Not sure where they hide the lifts so we use the stairs. Fine stuck behind someone trying to blag their friends into the lounge. One would have thought a little sweetener would have worked better than an argument but slip passed and in. Now of course you get a different class of people here. Well you would think so but not really. The usual mix of business suits, engineers who obviously travel the world some of the more affluent locals and others (not sure how the others get in but they are there). As I surf the food for something edible the attendant tries to get me to have a drink, its around 10:30 so whilst is maybe 5 o’clock somewhere not in my head it’s not so I pass on the offer of whiskey or vodka and settle for a coffee. Slightly predictable but not a surprise.
Judi wants to write a list of things to do so we don’t need to do it on the plane. All the items we need to get through and there are lots however everything seem to spin around the visas which need to get to the embassy and back and then the wait period before we can use them. The plan is to leave 20th and timing is fine as long as everything follows the plan. Cat, House, Airfreight, Storage, close accounts, etc etc the list starts to grow but it is finished. Interestingly Judi does not allocate responsibility or completion dates so she must be distracted.

So not much time to watch the fellow passengers. Although I do notice one guy who gets up and turns up the volume on the large plasma TV a little too loud I think not helped by the fact he then goes and sits down and picks up a magazine and starts reading. A couple of minutes later someone else gets up and turns it down someone else turns it up and another turns it down. I am wondering if there is a process and when will it be my turn?
There is a pregnant woman across from me, only slightly unusual but she is rather large which is always a worry to me. Think I might have a phobia about that. I am not keen about sitting next to heavily pregnant women. No first aid training you see. Anyway along comes another very pregnant lady and this one has a dog in a basket so she wins the “interesting person” contest.It is not often you see very pregnant ladies in airports and even rarer to see two at the same time so worth noting. (Let me know next time you see two at once) I decide to go for a wander. Not a lot going on except I get stopped by someone looking for the transfer desk. Why me do I look like a “helper”?. It must be the white shirt and blue jacket, anyway as it happens I do know where it is so I send them on their way (maybe my next job?). I am trying to buy some peanuts which is a staple for me on flights. They have every conceivable type other than “Salted”, Honey, jalapeno, etc. What’s wrong with plain salted peanuts. Sometimes I think the world is too complex, simple is ok. Anyway I will have to rely on my emergency supply hidden somewhere in my bag.

Flight gets called and Judi has me at the gate only 15 minutes before boarding. She has this thing about being first onto the plane. We board and there are only 12 people in 1st so the passenger to attendant ratio is 3:1 which should be fine. Being in first we don’t have to worry about the films. They are showing “Hotel for Dogs and Escape to Witch Mountain” in the main cabin which is no surprise. An 11 hour flight which is a drag as it is a long time to be doing not much. Once you have eaten (finished the peanuts before take off) and had a couple of drinks (it’s now 2pm so it’s ok) you fall asleep for a while wake up and find you still have 8 hours to fill. The lady over the other side of the plane is having the white wine and continues to do so for the whole of the flight. I nearly give her a round of applause when we land for her fortitude. The Russians in front of us recline their chairs so far they are in danger of tipping backwards into my lap at one point. Got the iPod on genius so it keeps me amused but in the end turn to the “Delta Radio” country channel. Sugerland quite good, Kenny Chesney (Who I like but not this one) Tim McGraw greatest hits III sorry Kim a couple of good tracks but some maybe not.

We land at the world’s busiest Airport “Hartsfield Jackson” Atlanta on one of the 5 runways and have to cross three to get to our gate #36. This is as far away from the airport as you can get without being in another county. A good run through customs and Baggage Claim then give the baggage back (don’t ask) so it can go through scanning. Through the personal scanners and onto the train. Follow the route E,D,C,A,B,T,Baggage. No delays no queues and it still takes an hour. I have never landed International and go through in less and often much longer especially if you get behind the Mexican or German flights for some reason.

Off to the car park and pick up the car which is very hot and off to Roswell which is one of the places we still call home (for little a while longer).