Notes from Wednesday, 19 Feb 2014
It's amazing how traveling always opens my word box. By the time I arrived at my departure gate in the GR airport, I was already topped off with things to say. So let me begin.
My flight was delayed (due to the origin flight from ATL being delayed) so I stopped at the Y, ran a mile, and lifted some weights for about 20 minutes. It was good to squeeze in some movement, since I anticipate doing a lot of sitting in the next few days.
I drove myself to the airport in my husband's space shuttle (Prius C) which was wigging me out all day. He took my Vibe so that he can bring it in for servicing; there's a recall on it. His car's engine shuts off when the car is stopped (such as at traffic lights) - I kept thinking it had stalled. Takes some getting used to.
A big sign at the airport said, "Long Term Parking Ramp FULL; use North Lot." So what do I do? Turn in at the short term lot, and realize as I'm in the one-way entrance that, duh, this isn't the North Lot, and big signs everywhere say "No Overnight Parking." So I drove around to the very kind parking lot attendant and explained my dilemma. She waved me through and gave me directions to the North Lot.
Now, I've navigated Logan and O'Hare many times; Grand Rapids "International" Airport is not even comparable to one of the terminals of the bigger airports, so getting lost is trickier than one would think. As it turned out, I didn't get lost, but I had to drive back by the long term ramp and noticed its sign said there were 11 spots left on Level 3. I saw my chance and turned in there, just behind another vehicle. Still 10 spots left, and the car in front of me was unable to navigate the tight turn required to snatch a spot next to a huge pickup. But I could. :)
Into the terminal, up to the security check point (only two people were in front of me) and the usual doffing of shoes, shuffling of bags, and pat-down on the right outer thigh because the travel pants I always wear on the plane have a metal zipper pocket there. I saw the X-ray agents slow my bags way down and look at them for a while longer than is usual. I guessed it was because of the 1/2 gallon bags full of aluminum jump rings in both my bags. One of the agents pulled my LL Bean nylon tote (how I love that thing) and said there was a "liquid" in there that they couldn't quite see, and that I was not allowed to help her search for (except verbally, I guess). Whoops; I almost never travel with liquids but I had a hand sanitizer and a tube of hydrocortisone cream (for the hives on my toes) that I had forgotten to take out of the bag. She eventually found it, but first she pulled out the 1/2 gallon bag stuffed full of smaller ziplock bags of different colored rings. I'm going to be sitting in lecture for almost 30 hours this week; I figured it would be a good time to be productive.
Side note: Anyone who has spent any time with me in a meeting or has attended lecture with me knows that I have to keep my hands busy or I cannot pay attention. I folded origami through my whole senior year in college (and got a 3.89 that first semester, so I know it helps) and made enough paper animals during my board review courses in medical school to fill the pockets of every kid that went through the endocrinology clinic at MSU. (The endocrinologists were the ones that thought my origami was the coolest, so I gave them as many of my folded models as they wanted.) So this plan of ring-bending may fly, and it may not. I figure if I distract my neighbors too much, I'll buy them off with chain maille jewelry that I make in front of them. (Thanks for the idea, Gen.)
So the agent pulled out the bag of rings and said, "What is this?" It obviously was not a liquid, but I think she and her coworker were dying to know, because when I told her, "They're jump rings; I make jewelry," and showed her the bracelet I had thoughtfully worn as an example, she looked over at the X-ray guy and said loudly, "They're rings for making jewelry." (I have three 1/2 gallon bags full in my luggage.) She put them back, found the culprit liquids, thanked me and sent me on my way. Thankfully there was nobody behind me in line, so I didn't hold anyone up. And the agents got to satisfy their curiosity. I love the TSA agents at GRR; they are so friendly. I had a run-in with one in Maui and he was not friendly at all. But that's a different story from a different adventure. Onward.
Got a sandwich at the Great American Bagel place - I always get something there if I'm hungry at the airport - filled my water bottle from the cool dispenser on the wall, and went to sit down in a place where I could recharge my phone. I ended up in a middle seat between a young lady who was playing on her phone, and another young lady who was reading a large-print book. I wasn't nosy enough to look at what it was. I pulled out some of my rings (our aircraft hadn't even arrived yet) and started bending. (When they are initially cut off the coil, they need either to be opened, or closed all the way in order for me to weave with them, and it's much faster to work on a project if the rings are "preprocessed." That was my reason for bringing them to the conference - to process the "raw" rings into something weaveable.)
I was hesitant to interrupt the woman to my right who was reading, so I tried to overhear the conversation of a lady who came in with a Goldendoodle service dog. The man next to her (several seats away) asked questions I wanted to ask her, but although I could hear his questions, I couldn't hear her answers, so I gave up, and with the rings in my lap, it wasn't worth moving to join the conversation. Instead I ventured, "I wonder if the people who design these seats make them singularly uncomfortable on purpose." With a smile, the lady next to me put down her book and commented on that. We decided that the airport seats are neither fashionable nor functional. From there we got into a conversation.
Her name was Annie, and she was traveling to Jackson Mississippi for a job interview. Her fiance lives there, and she is moving there next summer (MS in the summer - ugh). She told me about her education and her current job working with people with disabilities. Actually, the conversation was quite wide-ranging, and would probably be dull to recount, even if I could remember it all, but it was interesting to me, and she was quite nice.
I upgraded my seat when I checked in, because the seat I chose when I bought my ticket was different than the seat I had been assigned to. It only cost me $30 and it was worth it to be closer to the front of the plane. So I was actually in Zone 1 - never happens to me. I was in the row right behind First Class, so lots of leg room and also room to store my two carryons. I brought the same luggage with me as I did on my 11-day trip to Hawaii, but whereas that trip was all about portability, this trip is all about comfort. I only have to carry my bags through the airport, and on the shuttle, and up to my hotel room; reverse and repeat. Since I will be sitting for three days, I packed them with my aforementioned rings and accompanying tools, as well as my dynamic sitting cushion (like a flattened therapy ball, for maintaining good posture and an anterior pelvic tilt for good back ergonomics), partially deflated but still rather bulky and heavy. I also have two bags of Dove Easter candy - dark and milk, for emergencies. Stuff like that. :)
Note: the end of this has been written on Thursday evening. I will stop here and finish the rest of yesterday and today in another post.
Happy to be safely here, but
always safe between the Lion's paws
wb
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