Trip report BOS-ORD-FTA (and back)

I left early for the airport, being a good seasoned traveller, just in case
of delays on the journey to the airport and felt very smug when the Ted
Williams tunnel was closed, Ok so I missed the exit to the callaghan, it
just wasnt there - honest, it used to be a right turn off the flyover just
on a left hand bend, I'm sure I didnt miss it, they must have moved it while
I wasnt looking. Still I managed to find a place to come off and turn around
and made it to the airport in plenty of time.



They called people for boarding much quicker than they could get on the
plane, hence we were stuck on the jetway for ages, at one point alarm bells
started ringing, nobody knew if it was a fire or what, and noboody knew if
we should go back to the gate, or down the steps to the tarmac, so we all
just stood there (waiting to burn to death??). Looking at the number of
people on the jetway and the amount of carryon luggage I wouldnt be
surprised if the weight limit for the jetway had been exceeded. Anyway the
bells eventually stopped and we all lived.



For some reason, they had decided to board the front coach section and the
back coach section before the middle. I guess that was the reason for the
long queues, anyway I found I space for my carryon about 4 rows in front of
my seat, as my over head space had been stolen by someone sitting further
back, I really think that they should ban those carryons with wheels, if you
cant carry it it isnt a carryon !



Had a small but interesting chat with my seat mate which I bought to a close
by introdcuing him to the delights of channel 9.



Followed by an absolutly delighful bag of pseudo pretzels, in a thin
dressing of brown plastic, sprinkled lavishly with a finely ground medly of
Sodium and Chlorine which tased like a perfect ratio of 1:2.



As we waited to alight the plane I checked my itenerary again 3:46 landing
4:26 departure, why do they give times in odd minutes in Merka ? In Europe
Im sure I havent seen any thing other than 5 minute intervals, anyway 3 to 4
is one hour, 40 something up to the hour is about 20 minutes, the hour down
to 20 something is abour another 20 minutes so thats about 1:40 hrs and we
landed on time so plenty of time for a smoke (or two) and maybe a snack.



Wandered aimlessly off the plane and looked at the departures board for my
gate, there it was Fort Wayne, 4:26 gate F14, there were no clocks around
(guess they dont want to be sued if they tell the wrong time and we miss a
flight) checked the time on my mobile phone (which was on UK time, I haven't
worn a watch for years - it just causes stress) and and things didnt seem to
add up, but it got too complicated for my brain cell as I was going back to
EST (well not really EST as the place I was ending up in was one of those
that doesnt ever change clocks) and couldn't remember if it was a one hour
or two hour difference from Chicago time to EST.



Made my way towards the F concouse (I won't tell you that I stopped at the
rest room on the way), spotted the Starbucks near the exit, now should I
have a coffee with my smoke or after ? (decisions, decisions) I'll leave for
after, kill some more time.



Now at this point I normally go to the gate area where my flight is just to
check out where it is, before going for a smoke, but F14 looked miles away
on the airport map so I didnt bother.



Outside for my smoke, and back in through secuirty, 4 items to get scanned,
1-tray containing laptop (which came out of my bag very easilly), 1-hand
luggage, 1-tray with shoes, and one tray with jacket - I dont like putting
my jacket on top of my shoes (I know where they have been). I still dont
understand why in Europe we can scan a laptop inside hand luggae, and
visually examine shoes but the Merkins cant. (I typed the draft of this
before Mr Lansbury's post). As usual I set off the detector (I have a
metalic bodily implant) but was told by my wander, next time don't bother to
remove your shoes. DUH - you tell me NOT to remove my shoes when I know I
will set off 95% of alarms - I dont think I will follow that advice.



Pass another departures board and see the first Fort Wayne flight is
boarding, I walk past, then think - Hey something wrong here ! Double back
to the board, get out my boarding card and check the flight number, Yikes !
thats my plane - where did that hour go. Of course F14 is the furthest gate
from the entrance.



Walk a bit faster, pass another departures board, shows Ft Wayne - Departed.



Get to the gate almost an empty area with one gate attendant and no sign of
baording:





me: is this Fort Wayne ?





GA: Fort Wayne's gone





me: pause Where did it go ? smile





GA: Eh pause Fort Wayne ?





GA: Go to Gate 3 (Customer Services) they will help you.



So off I toodled with my tail between my legs, and after simply saying "I
missed my connection to Fort Wayne" with no further explanation given or
asked for, I got a boarding card for a flight about 2.5 hours later, (at
this point it probably would have been quicker to Drive - but I wouldn't
have got the FF miles).



Sat around for a while, got a Big Mac from the FastFood place right outside
Gate 3, so fast they don't even give you a table to sit at and eat it. And
went out for another Smoke with a Starbucks coffee this time - Why does
coffee anywhere in the world taste 100 times better than coffee in the UK ?



Watched all the Merkins getting stressed out because they were missing
connections, or had been waiting at the wrong gate.



Anyway the flight from ORD to FTA was wonderful, only 26 minutes in the air
(did RTA ever agree on what the shortest flight was) and a wonderful FA -
Ginger who kept us well amused with a little dance act while giving the
safety demonstration, and other well though out comments like 'we are now 8
minutes into this 26 minutes flight, if you want anything other than the
bottle of water I am about to distribute, I will happily provide it as long
as you promise to finish it in the next pause 13 minutes' she and the
pilot obviously knew each other, the normal 'FA's please prepare for
arrival', was replaced by 'Ginger please prepare for arrival', and several
other similar gems, that unlike some attempts at Pilot/FA humour didn't give
the impression of someone having consumed too much alcohol.



The return was much less eventful, only an extra run of the pseudo pretzels
on ORD-BOS, and the sight of several United FA's at ORD in witches hats (24
hours too early).



Now who wants to buy me one of those watches that can tell the time in 3
different time zones for Christmas ?

Wandered aimlessly off the plane and looked at the departures board for my
gate, there it was Fort Wayne, 4:26 gate F14, there were no clocks around
(guess they dont want to be sued if they tell the wrong time and we miss a
flight)

Seems strange that there are no clocks in a place where things leaving on
time is so important! I know that railway stations here certainly have very
big and obvious digital clocks everywhere, and we're only dealing with one
time zone!

You travel without a watch? Now that is weird. Explains the fact that
you were expecting breakfast at lunch time on that BA flight you did
though :-)


I live without a watch !!
No, I'm not weird - its the rest of the world that is wrong.


Did they not put out an announcement for you? I thought most airlines
will do that first before going to all the trouble of getting your
bags off the plane. They do do that now for no-shows in the US don't
they?


Not that I heard, maybe it was only in the gate area, or I was still outside
having my smoke.
And the checked bag went on the flight without me, yes that was a bit
naughty of them.

Mark Hewitt wrote:
Seems strange that there are no clocks in a place where things leaving on
time is so important! I know that railway stations here certainly have very
big and obvious digital clocks everywhere, and we're only dealing with one
time zone!

Many airports in the US have an aversion to clocks. I don't get why that is.
You have to find a bank of arrival/departure screens and hope the screen is
adjusted so the tiny time display at the bottom isn't cut off.

miguel
--
See the world from your web browser: http://travel.u.nu/

Sat around for a while, got a Big Mac from the FastFood place right
outside
Gate 3, so fast they don't even give you a table to sit at and eat it. And
went out for another Smoke with a Starbucks coffee this time - Why does
coffee anywhere in the world taste 100 times better than coffee in the UK
?

Are you joking IMO all Canadian / US coffee is like pish. They make it so
weak.

And have you ever been to New Zealand? They have no idea how to make a hot
beverage.


--
Andrew


"Look laddie, if you're in the penalty area and aren't quite sure what to do
with the ball, just stick it in the net and we'll discuss all your options
afterwards."

"AJC" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 04:44:05 -0000, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:



As we waited to alight the plane I checked my itenerary again 3:46
landing
4:26 departure, why do they give times in odd minutes in Merka ? In
Europe
Im sure I havent seen any thing other than 5 minute intervals, anyway 3
to 4
is one hour, 40 something up to the hour is about 20 minutes, the hour
down
to 20 something is abour another 20 minutes so thats about 1:40 hrs and
we
landed on time so plenty of time for a smoke (or two) and maybe a snack.



You missed the how to tell the time lesson at school didn't you?
Actually in your defence, times in America do seem confusing, all this
237P and 903A business, even written on tickets. I suppose Americans
find it confusing when confronted with the 24 hour clock.


Dont' you mean Military Time!


Wandered aimlessly off the plane and looked at the departures board for
my
gate, there it was Fort Wayne, 4:26 gate F14, there were no clocks around
(guess they dont want to be sued if they tell the wrong time and we miss
a
flight) checked the time on my mobile phone (which was on UK time, I
haven't
worn a watch for years - it just causes stress) and and things didnt seem
to
add up, but it got too complicated for my brain cell as I was going back
to
EST (well not really EST as the place I was ending up in was one of those
that doesnt ever change clocks) and couldn't remember if it was a one
hour
or two hour difference from Chicago time to EST.



You travel without a watch? Now that is weird. Explains the fact that
you were expecting breakfast at lunch time on that BA flight you did
though :-)





Pass another departures board and see the first Fort Wayne flight is
boarding, I walk past, then think - Hey something wrong here ! Double
back
to the board, get out my boarding card and check the flight number, Yikes
!
thats my plane - where did that hour go. Of course F14 is the furthest
gate
from the entrance.



Walk a bit faster, pass another departures board, shows Ft Wayne -
Departed.




Did they not put out an announcement for you? I thought most airlines
will do that first before going to all the trouble of getting your
bags off the plane. They do do that now for no-shows in the US don't
they?



--==++AJC++==--

"Miss L. Toe" wrote in message
...

You travel without a watch? Now that is weird. Explains the fact that
you were expecting breakfast at lunch time on that BA flight you did
though :-)


I live without a watch !!
No, I'm not weird - its the rest of the world that is wrong.


Did they not put out an announcement for you? I thought most airlines
will do that first before going to all the trouble of getting your
bags off the plane. They do do that now for no-shows in the US don't
they?


Not that I heard, maybe it was only in the gate area, or I was still
outside
having my smoke.
And the checked bag went on the flight without me, yes that was a bit
naughty of them.


But it had already been on one flight so thats OK

"andrew" wrote in message
...



Sat around for a while, got a Big Mac from the FastFood place right
outside
Gate 3, so fast they don't even give you a table to sit at and eat it.
And
went out for another Smoke with a Starbucks coffee this time - Why does
coffee anywhere in the world taste 100 times better than coffee in the
UK
?

Are you joking IMO all Canadian / US coffee is like pish. They make it so
weak.


If you try and drink it black I definately agree, but, put two gallons of
cream and 10 spoons of sugar in it, and it tastes better than UK coffee,
nothing like a good Turkish coffee but drinkable.

And have you ever been to New Zealand? They have no idea how to make a hot
beverage.


Not yet....

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 12:46:04 +0100, AJC wrote:

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 04:44:05 -0000, "Miss L. Toe"
wrote:

As we waited to alight the plane I checked my itenerary again 3:46 landing
4:26 departure, why do they give times in odd minutes in Merka ? In Europe
Im sure I havent seen any thing other than 5 minute intervals, anyway 3 to 4
is one hour, 40 something up to the hour is about 20 minutes, the hour down
to 20 something is abour another 20 minutes so thats about 1:40 hrs and we
landed on time so plenty of time for a smoke (or two) and maybe a snack.

You missed the how to tell the time lesson at school didn't you?
Actually in your defence, times in America do seem confusing, all this
237P and 903A business, even written on tickets. I suppose Americans
find it confusing when confronted with the 24 hour clock.

Yes, they get all antsy and call it "military time"; I recently
discovered that I've been using the "military date format" for years
("01-JAN-2003"), which I use because I *still* have issues switching
between european and US date formats.

[ Snip ]

Did they not put out an announcement for you? I thought most airlines
will do that first before going to all the trouble of getting your
bags off the plane. They do do that now for no-shows in the US don't
they?

With a turboprop, the difficulty of offloading a bag is often trivial.

Malc.

"andrew" wrote in message
...



Sat around for a while, got a Big Mac from the FastFood place right
outside
Gate 3, so fast they don't even give you a table to sit at and eat it.
And
went out for another Smoke with a Starbucks coffee this time - Why does
coffee anywhere in the world taste 100 times better than coffee in the
UK
?

Are you joking IMO all Canadian / US coffee is like pish. They make it so
weak.

And have you ever been to New Zealand? They have no idea how to make a hot
beverage.

NZ's more a tea country anyway. But coffee is gaining in popularity. There
are McCafes popping up everywhere. (I'm not joking, that's what they're
called. They're owned by McDonald's.)

--
http://anatidae.homestead.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:James_Anatidae
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/s...am_167065.html