A Day of Flying

The day broke early, sunny, and full of promise. I was flying to Detroit via Washington, DC. My flight to Washington was at noon, but my sister has instilled in me a fear of being late to the airport. I also wanted to stop by work to see if I had missed anything when I closed the night before. I left my house around 6am, and arrived at the store just after 6:30. The sun was already up and the day was warm. I talked to Luis and he said everything looked good, so I grabbed some breakfast and headed to the airport.

After the train ride to 125th Street and an uneventful bus ride to the airport, I disembarked and lit a cigarette before going into the building. I used the automated check-in console, and after searching my name, it said, "There is an earlier flight, but there is not an earlier connecting flight from Washington, DC. You will arrive in Detroit at the original planned time. Do you want it?" I said no. Another question popped up, "First-class may be available. Do you want it?" I said no again. I thought that both of these options would cost money, and I didn't want to support the airlines any more than necessary. I went through security without incident, and sat in the waiting area. I had about two and a half hours until my flight so I pulled out a book. As I sat there reading, I began to think. I went over to the desk and explained, "The computer asked if I wanted to go to Washington on the earlier flight. Is that option still available?"

"Yep, you can go on that flight," the agent said.

"How much will that cost me?" I asked.

"There is no cost...hold on, two people in first class have not checked in yet. You might get first class."

I stood off to the side and watched everyone load onto the plane. When the last person got on, I went back to the agent. He changed my boarding pass and told me I would be in seat 1A. I took my seat and waited for my steak dinner. Before take-off I was offered a soda, and in flight, I never saw her. It was a 35-minute flight, so maybe she didn't have time to come back. But, I did miss my individual package of peanuts. The seat was much bigger, and I was the second person off the plane, so ultimately, it was a nice flight.

When I arrived in Washington, DC, I decided to ask about an earlier connecting flight to Detroit. The agent told me that there was, but they were departing in five minutes. I found the gate and found that the plane had backed away from the gate. The agent had put me on that earlier flight, so I had to make sure that I had a seat on the original flight. While I waited in line, I watched as upset customers dealt with the agents, and was so glad that I was on vacation with no real deadlines. One girl who had missed the same flight I was trying to switch to said, "I'm 17, I can't sit around an airport for six hours." I thought to myself that if she wanted to stay out all night, she would probably use the same argument. Something like, "I'm 17, not 12! I should be able to do anything I want!" Another gentleman, retired, was returning to Bangor, Maine after visiting with his son and grandchildren. He also was waiting to talk to an agent, but not in any hurry. We had a nice chat while waiting, and waiting , and waiting.

After I spoke to an agent to make sure I was scheduled on my original flight, I realized I had five hours to wait. I went to the Metro and took the train into Downtown Washington, DC. The last time I was in DC was sometime around 1996, so I had no idea where I was going or how to get there. I figured out how to go to the White House and walked that way. I walked past the Treasury Building and to the White House. I noticed a girl with a video camera narrating, saying, "protesters at the White House...." It was a line of kids with poster boards. Each had a couple words on it. The phrase was a verse, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14. Hardly a protest, in my book, but some might see it otherwise, I guess.

I took a few pictures, and called Danny. He asked if I could have a few words with Obama to see if I could get papers for him. While we were on the phone, six or eight motorcycles, two police SUV's and two black limosines sped past. I hung up and snapped a picture, thinking it might be Obama. I walked around the White House and took pictures from the south side. I continued back toward the Metro station. On the first floor of the Commerce Building, there is a White House visitors center. I went in and looked around at some of the displays.

I went over to a National Park Ranger and asked a few questions. Do you think that was Obama in the motorcade about 15 minutes ago? (Yes, he's been in and out of here all day. It drives us crazy when he does that.) Do they still do tours of the White House? (Yes, with a 4-6 month lead time and thru contact with your member of Congress.) What kind of ID do they ask for? (I'm not sure, but they will tell you, then run the information thru the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.) I explained why I was asking, and she said that Danny would be placed on a Do Not Admit list. She went on to tell a couple stories of people who had applied to go into the White House, were approved, and then arrested because of their three outstanding arrest warrents, or the fact that they were a German spy during World War II and had escaped from prison. The moral of the story is do not try to tour the White House if you have any arrest warrents or have done anything that they might find out about. It's the Federal government. They know everything. She did tell me tho, that the White House is the only building that has this restriction. The Capitol and all the monuments are open to everyone.

I left the Commerce Building and worked my way back to the Metro station. While waiting for the train to take me back to the airport, someone asked if this train went to Arlington. I was able to answer her, and was proud of that. Incidentally, I gave her the correct answer. I got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare, so I had some lunch and waited for my flight. For this flight, we had to get on a bus and ride out to the plane. As we arrived, we realized that the people on the plane had not yet disembarked. People mumbled and complained, but I noticed that it didn't speed up the disembarkation and resetting of the plane. A little girl behind me asked "What are those helicopters doing?" I looked over and saw three helicopters flying kind of low. They flew around the Washington Monument and went low behind it. I saw Obama leave the White House earlier, and now he was very possibly returning. I thought that was kind of cool.

On this flight, my seat was 12D. Row 13 was the restroom. I went from the highest of the high-first class- on the first leg, to the lowest of the low- almost in the restroom. The flight was 65 minutes long, and I was glad to arrive in Detroit.

I am here for an annual family reunion this weekend. I didn't make it last year, and am really looking forward to this year's shindig.

Summer Reading

I love to read. I credit my parents, my elementary school teachers, and the librarian at my school with teaching me that reading can take you places. I have read several books lately, and thought I would share them. (Actually, I sent this list of books to a friend who also likes to read, but it shows my diverse intereat in subjects, so I thought I would share publicly.) Also, some are still available to borrow. Let me know if you want to read some.

The Case for Faith; Lee Strobel -- I thought this book would be boring and dry. It took me months to pick it up and read it. When I finally did, I found it to be interesting, insightful, and scientific in its approach. I consider myself a Christian, tho some around me would dispute that. I think that whatever your belief system, this is a great book to read. If you are an atheist it may change your mind. If you are a believer, it will help to strengthen those beliefs. I would recommend it.

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue; John McWhorter -- I bought this book because it was cheap. Turns out, I found it a little bit interesting. I think that someone else would only find it interesting if they had either (a) an interest in linguistics or (b) an interest in some facet of World history. The bottom line is this is a book about the English language and how we got where we are today. This one, you can take or leave.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass; Lewis Carroll -- You gotta read this if you haven't. Everyone has seen the Disney version of this book, and most have seen the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version that came out a year or two ago. This book is what those movies are based on, and the book is always better than the movie. You've seen it. You know it. You love it--Now read it....if you haven't.

Her Mother's Daughter; Julianne Lee This book is historical fiction. It is about Mary, Queen of Scots (aka, Bloody Mary...and that is a great drink at brunch-time on the weekend!) First of all, it's fiction, but it sure does show her point of view. I'm not Catholic at ALL, but by the end of this book, I was rooting for her and the Catholics to take back England. They didn't and the rest is history, but this also is a good read. Maybe even enough to look into the life of Queen Mary a little more. I recommend it.

The Irregulars; Jennet Conant This is a book about Roald Dahl. You may have read "James and the Giant Peach." or "Charley and the Chocolate Factory." Before he was a writer, he was in the Royal Air Force fighting for England. He was injured and sent to America as a "friendly" spy during WWII. I bought this book because I liked "JGP" and "CCF" when I was a kid. Turns out, England had spies in America to try to get us to fight for/with them before we entered the war. We did, and Roald Dahl was part of the machine behind that. This is a book I would suggest again only if you are interested in history, especially the WWII period. It was an interesting read in itself, but also because the same names pop up in the following selection.

Mrs. Astor Regrets; Meryl Gordon -- This book is about Brooke Astor. She married in to, and was the last of the Astor family in New York. Astor Place, Waldorf-Astoria, the list goes on. This is a book about fairly recent events. It skims over her early life, but the meat of the book is the court battle between her son and grandson over her care in her later years. If you have any interest in old money and New York society, this book is for you. Vanity Fair magazine wrote an article about the conclusion of the court case, and when I saw it, I tore it out, and put in in the front flap of the book. I thought when I was done reading it, I could re-read the article as a wrap-up to the book. Alas, I was reading the book on the train one day, and the magazine article fell out and onto the tracks. Oh, yeah. Some of the same characters at dinners and in society in this book are also mentioned in "The Irregulars."

The Mole People; Jennifer Toth -- I found this book to be terribly interesting. In fact, if you want to read this, I may ask for it back. New York City officially denies that people live underground, but this author found some. While she didn't live with them, she was able to gain their trust and write about them. If you have any interest in New York City, or Secrets of New York, or sociology, or how the "other side" lives, this book is a must-read. Now that I work at Grand Central Terminal, I have thought about trying to go down....but I don't have that much courage. Gooooood book.

Gang Leader for a Day; Sudhir Venkatesh -- This guy went to the University of Chicago or and was middle class American. He had to decide on a thesis for grad school, and ended up meeting a drug dealer/gang leader. Again with the trust, but this time he built enough trust to be put in charge of the gang for a while. This book is good if you have an interest in Chicago, projects, Sociology, or gangs.

You Want Fries With That? Prioleau Alexander -- Aside from the most vowels in the first name of anyone I know, this is a decent book. My beef with this book is that I felt "talked down to." I have only worked the minimum wage jobs that Mr. Alexander talks about in this book. Not all of them, but this is my life. He, on the other hand, was an advertising executive who quit his job because he was tired of it, and tried living like the other side. He didn't like it. Most people don't. There was some empathy in the book, but I wish everyone at the executive level on up would read this book and see how people work hard to make a living. I recommend it.

The Panic of '89; Paul Erdman This book was written in 1986. It's kind of scary to read it in 2011 and know what has happened. It's almost like this guy has a crystal ball. This is a work of fiction, but damn, he's good. This exact scenario did not happen, but its close. It sounds like I'm gushing over this book, and maybe I am, but it would probably only interest you if you keep up with the stock market, or know what's going on with the price of oil right now.

Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity; Elizabeth Currid-Halkett -- This book was cheap. And I am Starstruck. It was a bit dry, but interesting. It discusses the economics of stardom. I know a few people who might like to read this book. If that's you, let me know. I don't need this one back.

I think this list shows my diverse interests. I have five more books on my shelf and cannot wait to read them, also.