It’s Throwback Thursday again! I’m going to try to make this one a regular feature here.
This one was originally published to my old blog on October 17th, 2016. I was working from home at the time, and occasionally flying to San Francisco to visit the office. This was one of those times. I did expense the extra charges I mention herein, and they did question it, but I explained it and they were allowed.
Well that wasn’t too bad I guess.
Made it to the airport, and past security, and now I have a 45 minute wait until they start boarding.
Getting in here was annoying, of course. Because TSA and the airlines are apparently determined to suck every bit of joy out of the awesomeness that is human flight.
They made a valiant effort, but ultimately failed.
At the front gate I learned that all the free seat assignments had been taken, so if I wanted to get on this flight I had to buy one of the paid seats. Yes, they charge you extra to get a seat, after you’ve purchased a ticket.
It also costs extra to check a bag. The woman working the counter, though, after I complained about that, pointed out that a first class upgrade, which comes with a free bag check, was only a few dollars more than a bag check plus window seat. So I did that. Which I fully intend to expense. The company should have bought me a seat when they bought the tickets.
But they probably had no idea either, because who would think of such a ridiculous thing?
The security line was the usual nonsense. Take off your shoes and coat. Unpack your bags. Scatter all your belongings across three bins and the rollers, then scramble to find everything before it all gets stolen. I think I got everything, including my medicine which had fallen out of the bag that they opened and tossed sideways onto the conveyor belt so the rollers on the other side spit it out onto the floor.
I had four medicine bottles, and I depend on it to stay alive, so I wasn’t planning on just leaving it there, so I went after it, crawling under the conveyer belt to get to them all.
TSA agent told me to move along as I was down there. Without thinking (I was kinda tired and annoyed at the time) I told him to shut up. I guess he was as out of it as I was, because he just left. Which, come to think of it now, was a little on the weird side, and not what I would have expected had I been thinking clearly.
But now I’m at the gate. Had a light breakfast and got a bottle of water. You can’t bring your own in of course, but they sell it here. Theirs is special non-exploding water, which is better for you anyway.
But, soon, I’ll be flying, and probably into the office by about 8, which is actually earlier than I normally get into work than when I’m at my home office, 10′ away from my bedroom.