Finally...

I stood in the economy parking lot last night and just inhaled the Oregon smell. At least I didn't get down on my hands and knees and kiss the ground. I was kinda too busy walking up and down aisles looking for my car.

I just need to rant a little more about my travel day. My flight from JFK to LAX went absolutely fine. We arrived a little late because we had to keep detouring around the weather. The problem on that flight was the evil woman who sat next to me. Wow. When we were still at the gate at JFK, she was checking email on her Blackberry. She refused when the attendant for the third time came by and asked her to turn it off.

"Why?" (all of this was said in the single snottiest voice I have ever heard)
"TSA regulations require it"
"I've heard it has nothing to do with the operations of the plane but to make sure we watch the safety demonstration which I already know"
"That has nothing to do with it. Turn it off now"
"Tell me the reason behind it and then I'll turn it off"
"It is for safety reasons so turn it off before I remove you from the plane"

My silent cheerleader should have become vocal and begged for her to be removed. Annoying woman with her Prada bag kept secretly checking her email up to the point the wheels were leaving the ground. What else? I've never seen anyone skim so many newspapers and magazines and throw the debris all around her. Yes, I know I am being picky but damn she was annoying. She was snotty when she asked for her drink. She took up extra space. She just looked mean. On the other side of me was the most mild-mannered little girl. She read books, worked on different activity books, and worked on a few craft projects. She had a million snacks and didn't speak the entire flight.

My flight from LA to Portland was not so fun. I find it hard to believe that an airport the size of LAX does not have a more efficient system for moving people from one terminal to another. It felt like amateur hour with different shuttle buses and walking up and down different stairwells. I had to hustle to make my flight. I sat in between a family that represented so many things of our culture that piss me off. The father kept encouraging the son to find different ways to test the flight attendant. Things like putting down the tray table to see if he would notice and stuff like that. Great. Why don't we encourage our children to become future assholes. Throw him a Blackberry and he could be the woman on my earlier flight. I should have been teaching him how to steal a tray of cookies for our row. At least put your nasty skills to practical use. The only amusing thing about this family was listening to them practice the Spanish they learned on their trip to a resort in Mexico.

So, I am home. I was too tired to make the drive to pick up Elston. Oh and did I mention that I don't have my luggage? The Alaska Airlines baggage representative laughed when she heard that I had flown American on the first leg of my trip. Apparently, they never get the bags to the connecting flights and they always come on a later flight. It is the first time my luggage has never arrived. Instead of going to work this morning, I am waiting for my bag to be delivered. Happy Birthday to me.