Back to the land of sharply-dressed senior citizens and warmer temperatures. The vacation to Tennessee and Alabama went well, and I truly did not want to leave. Funny how being around good family and friends will do that to you. I've got pictures, but I haven't sat down to figure out how to download them from my new phone. Oh yeah, one of the perks of going to see my dad: always new techology to play with. This time it was a new phone (hallelujah). It takes great photos (but mom still makes those same noises and takes 5 mins just like she did with film cameras).
The air was much drier and the wind much colder in TN than in Florida. I fell for the 80-degree temps and under-packed; I will be smarter in December. But I always get caught up in packing light. My next mission is to obtain a light hiker's backpack so I don't end up hand-carrying all my luggage. I refuse to check any baggage. I love the look on all the faces when I breeze past at the check-in counter with my one bag and go straight to the computer screen. Boarding passes in hand, I am heading to security point in less than 5.
Today I people watched. I decided to eat a nice sit-down meal at the seafood place with a big window looking out into the terminal hallway. I had a crabcake, mashed potatoes, and veges. Good stuff. The people were very interesting. ALL of the 14 yr old girls were wearing Ugg boots and hooded sweatshirts. On the plane, there was a little boy around 11 yrs old whom I noticed kept crying. Why is this boy crying, I wondered. Is he in pain? Is he scared of flying? Did someone upset him? Or is he just whining? I suppose my first and last thoughts were both correct, as i saw him repeatedly get his dad to rub his ears and pull on them. Eustachian tube dysfunction. I had no answers for this kid. I mean, normally you can chew, swallow, yawn, or move your jaw to equalize the pressure from outside to your middle ear space. Some people hold their nose and blow (called the Valsalva Maneuver) which I would NOT recommend, because A.) It sounds gross and B.) If you blow too hard, you can really damage yourself. I don't care how cool it looks. If you're all stuffed up from a cold or swollen tonsils/lymph nodes/adenoids, you are just going to suffer. Take a medicine before you get on the plane.
At the pickup zone, I saw that Tampa now has Sphincter Police. One. They are the security people who tell you to move your car at the pick-up zone. My great-aunt calls them the Sphincter Police. Anyway, this lady was pacing and handing out papers to anyone who stopped more than 2 seconds. When an SUV full of black guys stopped to get their friends, she tells another security guy "We have a 3-6-6" and nods her head their way. "Oooh, what's a 3-6-6?" I wondered. I never found out. My ride pulled up and I threw the bag into the car and jumped in yelling "Go Go Go!" We didn't get any papers.
Goodnight.
