My View For Awhile: Home again home again…

It’s time for the return trip, to be home for Sunday.

The sign I was sitting under.

As I wait for the first leg of the journey, I reflect on the joys of traveling by air. My stay in the members lounge is at least better than hanging out at the gate. For example, I settled into the “QUIET AREA”. You know the drill: one of those areas with a sign with an image of a phone overlaid with the circle and bar through it that says in CAPS: QUIET AREA. This quiet zone (QZone) was invaded by a woman with children with loud gaming systems. When this was pointed out to her by someone, her response was to point to the sign and say “I’m not using my cellphone!” They, too, were sitting directly under one of these signs.

So I moved.

Now I am being treated to the fairly loud belches of an older fellow in a pastel sweater and matching socks. But … when he got a call on his mobile, he got up and moved away even though we are not in the QZone.

Anyway, it has been a good trip.  I all too briefly visited my mother for her 80th birthday and then gave a talk to a Newman Center group on “Modernism 2.o”.  I am still furious that the Dodgers moved to Arizona or I probably would have tried to take in a Spring Training game.

UPDATE: Now the QZoners are carrying on a loud conversation with a couple some yards away.   The irony is that the QZ sign is directly over her chair.  That said, it is time to head to the gate.   

UPDATE

On board.  So far no one has started to trim her toe nails or spit her tobacco juice into a beer can.

I have seen, however, some covert “vaping”.  I suspect that that is not allowed flights now.  But that’s a safe bet.

It is “vaping” with one p, right?  A whole new phenomenon.

UPDATE

Apparently our vehicle doesn’t have any fuel.  And so we are waiting.  It seems too many flights were scheduled in too short a period.

Still, I have heard that it’s good to have fuel, so waiting is probably okay.

I also built in an adequate layover in my itinerary.  Even though airlines pad their departure and arrival times, so as to have a higher on-time percentage, less and less often do I choose tight connections.  The only extra hour or so off total length is just not worth the close calls.

UPDATE

Okay they are hooked up and giving us fuel. Meanwhile, speaking of vaping, vapor is pouring in with cold AC air creating dripping condensation on the cabin interior.  It’s humid here.  Not exactly the firing up of the Apollo XIII CM but… when you are bored you start to make stranger leaps.

UPDATE

Next leg.  There is some sort of shapeless groovy techno-Euro pop being pumped in over the speakers.  I’ve already heard a couple people mumble about it as they make their way to the seats.

I think this music isn’t actually performed by anyone.

This is what we had to listen to.  I held my phone up to the cabin speaker.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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29 Comments

  1. SophiaGrace says:

    Prayers for safe and uneventful travels, Father

  2. acardnal says:

    As you know Father Z, God places rude people into our daily lives in order for us to develop virtue; thus, the halo around your head.

  3. In the words of the immortality Gracie Allen, “People are funnier than anyone!”

  4. rcg says:

    1) God bless your mother.

    2) The guy in the sweater and socks. Actually it was a spandex body stocking. Now get THAT image out of your head! LOL!!

  5. Supertradmum says:

    One of my pet peeves on flights are people who take off their socks and shoes and put their feet up on the seat or at the side.

    Like, really….there should be a rule about keeping shoes on in flights.

    Second pet peeve are those who have their ear-phones up so loud, one can hear the movie next to one, even if one does not want to hear it. [That was the case during my second flight. A self-referential young man who treated the cabin is if it were his living room. Horrid music.]

    Sigh…first class is a must for quiet time. I have only been able to do that once, and by accident.

  6. acardnal says:

    Maybe while you’re on the ground waiting you can make a paper airplane and fly it inside the aircraft cabin. Then again, no. . . that would be rude.

  7. Gregg the Obscure says:

    It is indeed vaping with one “p”. Shortly after the big medical marijuana boom here in Colorado, I joked that a cannabis-vaping device could be a ticket to quick riches. Someone ran with the idea and is likely making more money than I am right now. Of course there are some considerable downside risks attached – chief among them the high likelihood (ha!) of it being a mortal sin to produce and distribute such a product.

  8. Supertradmum says:

    ps to above note, some European flights have signs forbidding electronic cigarettes.

  9. On the last leg they explicitly mentioned electronic cigarettes. I listen so infrequently to these announcements by now that, to this point, I hadn’t noticed.

  10. Traductora says:

    I suppose no airline is responsible for their passengers, alas. I noticed that you fly Delta, which I do too, because I live in the South but also because they always had the best service and were the easiest to deal with. Lately, however, it hasn’t been that good, and for that matter their planes haven’t been very good. Aging, leaking, uncomfortable.

    Also, they’ve changed the frequent flier program to the point where it’s practically impossible to benefit from it unless you’re a road warrior whose travel, mostly short hops, is being paid by your company…and even then, I’m not sure it’s going to help. So I’m finally breaking down and flying other airlines now.

  11. Kathleen10 says:

    I’m sure everyone would want to wish your mom a happy birthday and give her a definite “thank you!”. Job well done.

  12. frjim4321 says:

    Glad for your safe return.

    And there’s always “Passenger Shaming” channel on FB!

  13. benedetta says:

    Father Z next time you board, fuel-less, maybe your ride could refuel thusly:

    (apologies in advance for the link but I am quite an ossified manualist after all)

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Ilyushin_Il-78MKI_(RK-3452).jpg

    I would like to join my Happy Birthday with Kathleen10’s above to your mother.

  14. benedetta says:

    Oh bummer that did not go through. The image is probably too militantly radical for my old laptop’s preferences…at any rate the photo I had in mind is from here the wiki:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_refueling

  15. Charles E Flynn says:

    I knew electronic cigarettes could explode, but did not know they had a lithium-ion battery:

    https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/electronic_cigarettes.pdf

  16. TNCath says:

    Two thoughts:

    1. Delta’s not ready when you are.

    2. They have taken all joy out of air travel. You might as well be on a Greyhound bus.

  17. mburn16 says:

    “vapor is pouring in with cold AC air creating dripping condensation on the cabin interior. It’s humid here. ”

    Once had the mispleasure of taking a flight (on a small prop jet for which I am apparently much too tall) where the plane had spent the preceding night in the hanger with the doors open. The result was a heavy build-up of condensation inside the nooks of the plane….and a steady rain from above my seat for the duration of the trip. Ah well…life is an adventure.

  18. jflare says:

    “…maybe your ride could refuel thusly”

    benedetta,
    Oh, if only!

  19. Charles E Flynn says:

    In only ten days, it will be theoretically possible for the music to which you are forced to listen to be “Surge propera, in eco” from Giovanni Paolo Cima: Vespro Della Beata Virgine (Milano 1610).

  20. gramma10 says:

    Would make a great sitcom!

  21. SanSan says:

    LOL Father. Your visuals are great!

  22. SanSan says:

    And a very Happy Birthday to your dear Mum. My Dad just turned 92!

  23. acardnal says:

    frjim, I know that you dislike shaming, but it can be positive and it can change behavior. Read Is Shame Necessary?: New Uses for an Old Tool by Prof. Jennifer Jacquet.

  24. jflare says:

    RE music recording
    Oooooooh!! Techno! What fun!

  25. Chon says:

    I can’t believe nobody has commented on that awful music (“of a sort,” as Jeeves would say). The noise would make one want to hijack a plane just to stop the audio-torture. Bad planning on the airline’s part.

  26. JonPatrick says:

    I suspect music like that is played continuously in Hell to add to the torture.

  27. SanSan says:

    JonPatrick, that’s what I thought! LOL

  28. jameeka says:

    Cruel to intersperse this “music” in your podcast feed! But your Lentcazts make up for it..happy birthday to your Mom, she must have loved the visit.

  29. Oh that “music” is just awful.
    I prefer actual techno dark & my house music deep.

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