Post Trip Report - Day 7
LJ-Cut for those who don't care.
All good things must come to an end, and today was my day to fly back home. I spent some time in the morning trying to get my DVD out of the DVD player, but no dice. My housemates said they'd give it another try later on that day. Oh well.
The only ride I could get to the airport in Lanai was with the bride's mother (the one who had gotten sick) around 9:30 AM, as she was flying back that day as well. So as a result I spent many many hours sitting on my butt at the airport. Woo hoo. At least I was able to finish my book.
After the long wait, boarding went smoothly, and that was the most pleasant aspect of the flight. As I was flying back on a Monday, I wasn't expecting the flight to be all that crowded. BOY HOWDY was I wrong. The plane was stuffed to the gills. Worse, the plane was not just packed, it was packed with children and infants. Both of which decided that screaming and crying were the best forms of communication mankind had invented. I was in the same seat that I was flying to Hawaii, and so I was still next to the noisy engine. Only now that racket was being harmonized with the sounds of distraught youth. SU-UCK.
I spent most of my time with my noise reducing headphones on, which reduced the ambient din to a managable roar. We didn't get movies on this flight to watch. Instead we were treated to excerpts from the Discovery Channel. Normally, this is a good thing in my opinion. But not this time. This time we were treated with: Deadliest Catch. This TV program combines two of my least favorite examples of TV:
1. Reality Shows (which are all scripted and contain no actual reality)
2. Fishing Shows (if I enjoyed fishing I'd go FISHING, thank you)
In the end, I switched the audio channel on my headphones to the 'dead air' channel and read my book. Eventually, this flight of Dr. Caligari that I was on ended, and we arrived on time at SFO airport. I picked up my bags and waited at the curb for my parents who had agreed to come and pick me up.
By the way, if you've never tried to drive to the SFO airport to pick people up after getting their luggage, here's a tip: DON'T. Seriously, whoever designed the cluster-fuck that is the SFO airport apparently did so under the impression that nobody would actually use it at any given point in time. My folks have to be given credit, for they were brave enough to pioneer their way through the demolition derby/parking lot that is SFO to find me. Once they had picked me up and we had managed to fight our way out of the lane-changing cheese grater that lead to the freeway, we were safe.
Once my folks dropped me off and said goodnight, it was close to 11 PM. I fell on my bed and passed out. Back to reality as of tomorrow.
All good things must come to an end, and today was my day to fly back home. I spent some time in the morning trying to get my DVD out of the DVD player, but no dice. My housemates said they'd give it another try later on that day. Oh well.
The only ride I could get to the airport in Lanai was with the bride's mother (the one who had gotten sick) around 9:30 AM, as she was flying back that day as well. So as a result I spent many many hours sitting on my butt at the airport. Woo hoo. At least I was able to finish my book.
After the long wait, boarding went smoothly, and that was the most pleasant aspect of the flight. As I was flying back on a Monday, I wasn't expecting the flight to be all that crowded. BOY HOWDY was I wrong. The plane was stuffed to the gills. Worse, the plane was not just packed, it was packed with children and infants. Both of which decided that screaming and crying were the best forms of communication mankind had invented. I was in the same seat that I was flying to Hawaii, and so I was still next to the noisy engine. Only now that racket was being harmonized with the sounds of distraught youth. SU-UCK.
I spent most of my time with my noise reducing headphones on, which reduced the ambient din to a managable roar. We didn't get movies on this flight to watch. Instead we were treated to excerpts from the Discovery Channel. Normally, this is a good thing in my opinion. But not this time. This time we were treated with: Deadliest Catch. This TV program combines two of my least favorite examples of TV:
1. Reality Shows (which are all scripted and contain no actual reality)
2. Fishing Shows (if I enjoyed fishing I'd go FISHING, thank you)
In the end, I switched the audio channel on my headphones to the 'dead air' channel and read my book. Eventually, this flight of Dr. Caligari that I was on ended, and we arrived on time at SFO airport. I picked up my bags and waited at the curb for my parents who had agreed to come and pick me up.
By the way, if you've never tried to drive to the SFO airport to pick people up after getting their luggage, here's a tip: DON'T. Seriously, whoever designed the cluster-fuck that is the SFO airport apparently did so under the impression that nobody would actually use it at any given point in time. My folks have to be given credit, for they were brave enough to pioneer their way through the demolition derby/parking lot that is SFO to find me. Once they had picked me up and we had managed to fight our way out of the lane-changing cheese grater that lead to the freeway, we were safe.
Once my folks dropped me off and said goodnight, it was close to 11 PM. I fell on my bed and passed out. Back to reality as of tomorrow.