The joys of air travel…

I, and Randy, because, well, I don’t know why Randy wanted to come with me to a conference, but it IS going to make it much more fun, are on our way to Seattle for my first full conference as the editor of Symbiosis, the newsletter of AZAD (the Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents) by air. Last time I went to Seattle, in March, I drove and had a nice time visiting friends and relatives on the way. This trip by air isn’t really BAD, it’s just annoying. For example, I am sitting here writing and some guy is looking over my shoulder trying to read my screen. So I’ve made the typeface—aside: I really have to look up which is correct, font or typeface—Blackadder IT which is a supremely difficult typeface to read.

Other annoyances: people who hold up the whole aircraft boarding process because he/she is taking 5 minutes trying to cram a bag that is way larger than the overhead bin into said overhead bin because they are too much of a skinflint to check it. Of course another annoyance is that United (and all the other carriers, to be fair) charges for almost everything but water, coffee, and soft drinks: you want more legroom? $$$ You want an exit row seat? $$$ You want to board early? $$$ You want to avoid starving to death? $$$ (One picture showed “Breakfast”: 3 [THREE!] skinny little strips of Swiss cheese, 1 small biscuit, 6 grapes, and a hard-boiled egg; $7!!!)They haven’t yet put a coin slot on the bathroom door, but I’m afraid that’s coming, too! The same people who held up the boarding will hold up the unboarding by not getting their bag from the aforementioned overhead bin until the very last possible moment, thus keeping everybody behind them waiting while they try to extricate the bag that earlier they crammed in there like sausage in the skin. OK, OK, I’ll stop complaining now.

We have forgotten lots of things on this trip even though we weren’t pressured for time at all: I actually forgot my camera! I feel naked without my camera, how on earth could I forget it? I’ll have to learn to use the cell phone! Randy forgot the stuff to clean his hearing aids. He also forgot his Red Carpet Room card. There’s probably other stuff we just haven’t realized we’ve forgotten. Better get our act in gear before our big trip next year.

I think our problem is that we have too many checklists. When you’re married to a pilot, you learn to live with checklists. Heck, we even have checklists of our checklists! We have: a before leaving checklist, an electronics checklist, a camera checklist, clothing checklists for both of us; as well as travel by car checklists, travel by air checklists, travel by cruise ship checklists, timeshare checklists, hotel checklists, and RV checklists—all of which include the camera checklist, the electronics checklist, etc. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea. As a result it’s kind of overwhelming so we end up not looking at any of the checklists, at least not on the morning we leave for the airport. Hence, the forgotten camera.

But life goes on, and I’m sure we’ll have a great time in Seattle and at the conference. Even without my camera. And even if Randy can’t hear as well.