Preparing to Depart

My part of the mega project here in Aurora wrapped up yesterday (on schedule; we'd already planned it this way because the way our deadlines were structured, if I hadn't finished by this morning, it would have been too late for the people depending on my work to be able to use it). What I think was my final contribution to this phase of the project was to dial in to today's 8 AM CDT daily status conference call to confirm that they had nothing further for me to do. And they did not. I might stop by the office on the way to the airport to drop off a couple of leftover Diet Cokes, but that's about it.

Our flights back to California are not until about 3 PM. (Cheryl's United flight leaves about 30 minutes before my American flight.) Therefore, I could sleep in a bit here and take it easy. Check-out time is 11 AM, and we plan to stay here until the bitter end, then drive back to O'Hare in which I hope will be not particularly heavy mid-day traffic. What luxury! I so much like not having to get up at 2 AM so I can fight my way to the airport for a crack-o-dawn flight somewhere.

Home

Both Cheryl and I on our respective flights made it back to SFO within half an hour of each other, although she arrived half an hour after me instead of before me, thanks to her flight being delayed more than mine was. As I had done the standby-for-an-earlier flight thing (and this time the standby flight really did leave on time and without me), I knew my bag would be in the Luggage Service Office (and it was, and unlike O'Hare, I didn't have to stand in a queue to claim it, either, but could just pick it out of the pile of other such bags). Moreover, unlike O'Hare, the American and United gates are both in the same terminal airside, so I could go from my American arrival gate to Cheryl's United arrival gate and wait for her there, it being more comfortable airside than hanging about the baggage carousels would be.

There sure seemed to be a lot more people traveling today than I would have expected for a Tuesday. My flight was certainly full, and I got to sit in the window seat in front of an exit row (and thus my seat wouldn't recline, for reasons I fully understand) with someone who put his seat into full recline the first moment he could and kept it that way until the flight attendants told him to bring it forward again near the end of the flight. Ah, well, I got lots of reading done even with his head nearly in my lap.

Now I must dump out my luggage and fall into bed. Fortunately, tomorrow's schedule looks relatively light.