Atlanta International Gets It Right.

So after indignity upon indignity heaped upon me at BWI, it was with some trepidation that I faced my four hour layover in Atlanta. I haven't had to change planes here in at least ten years, and the last time was a mad dash across the concourse.

Atlanta's changed since then.

Now I'm sipping on great coffee,listening to some live jazz piano, tapped into FREE WiFi at a station set up so I can plug in while doing just that. This is what a modern airport should be like.

My only mistake was grabbing dinner in Concourse A, because I wasn't sure what I'd find all the way over on Concourse E. But Concourse E is much newer, and there's more seating, and it's easier to get in and out of. And did I mention the laptop stations?

My flight down was smooth enough: there was a four year old boy about two rows ahead of me; as the plane reached take-off speed, he voiced the same thought I always have right then:

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Now the piano is plinking out "Dancin' Queen" so some 6-year-old kids can dance to it.

No, it ain't home, but it beats Baltimore all to hell.

5 reasons BWI sucks.

So my flight was delayed until 2:00. In the four hours I have been stuck here, I've come to loath Baltimore Washington International Airport. They are one big huge consumer rip-off machine.

And what's with that logo? Is that the Capital Dome with a crack in it? What statement are they making with that - "we broke democracy?"

So here are the five reasons why BWI sucks:

1. No free WiFi. Cincinnati had free WiFi. Cedar Rapids had free WiFi.
2. The first place I tried to log in offered two choices: T-Mobile, and Boingo. T-mobile was cheaper, so I bought a day pass. Then I moved to the other side of the airport, where my flight is. No T-Mobile, only Boingo.
3. So I bought an hour on Boingo. I wasted 10% of my battery signing up for it, and they made me install software. Fucking Boingo. They suck. T-Mobile was only a buck more for the entire day, and I didn't need extra software.
4. No place to plug in my laptop at the gate my flight was leaving from - I had to go halfway back on the concourse to power up.
   
5. No cashback at vendors with a debit card purchase. That means if I want to get cash for a cab, I will have to pay through the nose for airport ATM fees.

Fuck you, BWI!! Next time, I'll drive.

Homeward Bound

I'm returning from my Christmas holiday with my mother.  The weather in Delaware has actually been pretty warm, and overall I had a nice stay.

They dropped me at BWI this morning, and I discovered that my flight is delayed an hour.  Oh boy!  An extra hour to sit in an airport.  We could have gotten up at a decent hour and had a liesurely breakfast. On the plus side, it means that I will only be spending 30 minutes in Atlanta.

The rat-bastards running the airport don't have free WiFi.  But with THREE hours to kill instead of TWO, I'll shell out the money.  I'll bitch about it, though.

At least I'll be travelling faster than this guy:

This is an un-married Amish man; if you look closely, you'll see that his bicycle does not have pedals.  It's really a big scooter.  Pedals aren't allowed; wheels are OK, but not "wheel upon wheel."

How do I know he's unmarried?  The lack of facial hair.

My mother is surrounded by the Amish, and has a very friendly relationship with her neighbors; they traded baked goods and books, they quilt together, and my mother even occasionally helps them run errands. One of her neighbors dropped off a pie and a Christmas card while I was there; she had her youngest child in the same kind of baby carraige my sister used for my niece, all blue nylon and plastic wheels.

My mother's kitchen cabinets are all Amish-built, as is her kitchen table.

It's a far cry from Fort Lauderdale, let's leave it at that.

I'll be home tonight, and I'll stumble into the life that was interrupted by a cat bite a week ago; I had intended to do laundry and a few other things in the time between my discovery of the red streaks and departing for the airport two days later.  No complaints - I'm around to do them.