I arrived in Michigan at about 6AM after flying all night. Deborah picked me up at baggage claim, and my bag was waiting for me under number 4, but everything indicated it was on 3. Hmmm.
(Sunrise in Michigan as we start to land)
Before this, I spent almost six hours on an Airbus from Portland, Oregon, to Detroit. I had seat 28A, which meant I had a window. While I could see the wing (it is always reassuring to see it still connected to the plane, especially after we had plane parts falling into Beaverton), it was far enough back that I had a good view. The Airbus, unlike some of the 737s wall, was less rounded, so I was not crushed against the wall in the window seat.
This plane also features an entertainment system for each passenger, and I can scan the QR code, sign in, and access my settings using my Delta SkyMiles membership. But it was all in Spanish. I plugged in my usual noise-canceling wired earbuds. I soon rewatched the movie The Amateur, and somehow, four hours disappeared. I suspect I slept when I paused the movie. The story is about a math and code-breaking geek who loses his wife and demands to be trained as an assassin. Soon, you learn the geek is also the designer for all the encryption and hacking tools for the USA intelligence agencies, which resembles the NSA. I like the movie, but it is fantasy and the grief scenes are familiar to me.
Next, I watched “Beat Bobby Flay.” These are without commercials and appear edited to run faster. I liked them. I managed to get through three before the plane landed.
Returning to the story on Saturday evening, Joan S picked me up around 8 and took me to the airport. The traffic was light, and we chatted about her work and investments. We were soon at PDX.
I was able to check my bag without misplacing anything, like leaving my iPhone in the scanning machine. You must be cautious during transitions when traveling. That is when things get lost, stolen, or errors are made (like walking to C11 instead of D11, which I almost did).
My security wait was short, I am General as I have never invested in TSA PreCheck. I did see that the line tripled behind me, as there were only two agents clearing people for all the D and E gates! I am not sure if this is more political revenge (TSA not supplying enough agents in liberal blue-of-blue Portland). It is hard to distinguish between errors, incompetence, and political revenge these days in the USA!
My carry-on red bag went to the search lane. It was then just handed to me. I was happy not to have to remove my shoes this time. With that done, I stopped at the Deschutes Brewery bar on the D concourse. I had their porter and chatted with the bartenders.
I paid for my drink, found some PDX socks to bring to Deborah (at 50% off), and a snack of fruit, crackers, and some cheese. I would eat this after takeoff. My gate was busy, and the plane was full. I did not wait long until my group was called. My seatmates wanted to sleep, and so they just faded without talking to me. I did cause all of them to get up once, and then they decided that was a good idea.
Returning to my day before the airport and travel, I was up at 7. I had no blog to write and soon was packing and cleaning. I collected the soiled clothing for the laundry mat trip. I ran two small loads ($3.75 each), ran the dryer for an hour on all the laundry ($ 2.00), and soon had everything clean and ready to pack.
Lunch was at Gyro House (and I picked up some cash for the trip from US Bank), and I had ground lamb in a tomato sauce over pita bread with some cream sauce. I finished with coffee and baklava. I ordered too much and took them apart on the plane, so I had them before I arrived in Detroit.
Thanks for reading.
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