Guy is at Macworld! Where the heck are you?

I hate flying. I really do. This is kinda strange seeing that I’ve spent a lot of time doing it over the last 30 years. I didn’t always feel this way. Back when I was a kid in the 60’s, I would fly from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to my sister’s home in northern Virginia, it was an adventure. I guess a lot of it was the newness of the experience. Driving to the airport, getting my ticket, waving goodbye to my parents (once I was old enough to fly on my own) as I went through the boarding gate. Yes, people actually used to be able see either see off or greet their loved ones directly at the gates where you would board or disembark. That was a long time ago and many security alerts since.

Anyway, like I said, it was an adventure. Not so much now. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m getting older and the thought of getting on a pressurized tube flying at over 30 thousand feet and at 300 to 500 MPH fills me with dread. When I was a kid, I never thought about the consequences of something going wrong and my fellow passengers and I dropping out of the sky with absolutely no way of controlling my own destiny. I guess that makes me a bit of a control freak.

When my family and I go on vacation (and we’re not flying, which is the kind of vacation I prefer), I typically am the one driving almost exclusively. Not that my wife isn’t an excellent driver (she is), I just am able to relax more if I’m the one behind the wheel. A few years back, we had two trips to Florida to go to the Orlando parks and visit my wife’s sister in my old stomping grounds in Broward County, Florida. We drove both times and I can’t remember my wife ever driving during either excursion. I sat behind the wheel, master of my own destiny, king of all I surveyed. Sure it takes a little longer and I have to deal with the fact that my kids were all kinds of bored sitting in the back even with video games, books, snacks, DVDs, and most of the other comforts of home, but I didn’t have to lose that feeling of control.

Some years ago, I was under contract to the US Department of State, doing various, non-nefarious things at US Embassies worldwide. We would leave on a trip that would last roughly two to three months and visit some five to ten countries during that time. Depending on what region of the world we were in, we would get to fly some of the world’s best airlines….not! I would look at some of the planes that I was voluntarily getting into and wonder what the hell I was doing. The pilots hardly filled me with confidence as they would literally bang on some of the controls until they got the reading they wanted. I think it was probably right around this time that I started hating flying. All of this rambling brings me to my current state of affairs, getting ready to board a flight at Washington DC’s Ronald Reagan National Airport for San Francisco, California. Why am I putting myself through this? It isn’t work related, I’m not getting paid for it, and every expense I incur is coming out of my own pocket. Why indeed! It’s all for Macworld baby.

Macworld is the the only thing I can think of outside of work or going on vacation with my family that I would submit myself to the very thing I despise more than a 30-year veteran of the House of Representatives. So here I sit, my bags have been checked through to my final destination and I have nothing more to do than wait before going through a virtual strip-search at the security checkpoint.

One thing that is making this a little better than the hell it usually is is that my flight leaves very early in the morning (7AM). Therefore, I left my home long before the first rays of the sun were shining down on the east coast and most of the DC traffic had yet to have their first cup of coffee, much less jam the roads with their eagerness to get to their mostly government jobs.

Something else that has made the morning a little smoother in light of my dread of flying is that the counter personnel at MidWest Airlines were bright and chipper (amazing at this time of the morning) and got me through my checkin process smoothly without a hiccup. I was able to find a plug for the laptop (to give it that final little charge before getting on the plane) and grab a cup of corporate coffee (Starbucks). Maybe this won’t be so bad.

Spoke too soon. No problems boarding the DC-9…sorry, MD717 plane that was less than half-full for the first leg of the flight that takes me to Kansas City. DC weather was its usual hodgepodge of wintery uncertainty. The temperatures were in the high 40s, which is good since that means I don’t have to worry about snow and other slick, plane jittering badness, but it was raining which adds its own uncertainties, like strong winds. I don’t like strong winds when flying. It makes the plane jump from side to side and up and down and all other types of not-good things to have happen when you’re already nervous about flying in the first place. the flight has since settled down somewhat with only the occasional lurch. OK, I can deal with it.

Made my connection in Kansas City and had the roughly three hour flight to San Francisco. Got off the plane and all my luggage made an appearance. Had a message waiting from Tim saying that his flights were all screwed up and he won’t be here until later this evening. I verified my flights back to DC on Friday and everything looks to be OK. All in all not to bad an experience, but I am delighted to be back on the ground with no other flights today.
Can’t wait for Macworld in the morning to see all the new goodies that Apple has lined up for us Macheads. You can bet this won’t be my only posting while I’m here.