So Earl and I are sitting at MSY, the New Orleans International Airport. Our flight isn’t until 5:36 p.m. Central, but we are here a few hours early because we needed to check out of the hotel and we didn’t want to feel rushed getting through security and the like.
This is Earl’s first experience with using Passbook on his iPhone for his mobile boarding pass. In an effort to show him how easy it was to do, I went first and promptly scanned his boarding pass from my phone, causing a considerable amount of confusion. Apparently the United app downloaded all boarding passes attached to my reservation instead of mine and I didn’t notice this. What a hoot! If you ever want to get thrown down by some women and men in the TSA, set off some alarms, make lights flash, having women gasp in horror and ultimately have a gun pointed at your head, just try scanning someone else’s boarding pass with your picture ID.
I jest.
The truth of the matter is, Loretta the TSA person who was very friendly put on her serious face when the boarding pass and the picture ID did not match. Really serious. Like “I’m gowna kick ya in the ass” serious. Once I bumbled my way through Passbook and found the right boarding pass and ultimately received a green light from the scanning machine, Loretta per her happy face back on and said, “Y’all have a good day.” After I apologized for the confusion she said, “no problem, dawling, I just couldn’t figure out how y’all got his boarding pass.”
“We’re married.”
She didn’t say anything after that, but a kind of surreal aspect of this whole incident is that George Segal, from “Just Shoot Me” and “Retired At 35”, watched the whole incident and chuckled. I smiled weakly in his direction.
The folks at the New Orleans International Airport are taking great pains to remodel their terminal area for the comfort of their passengers. The kicker of all this is that there’s not enough chairs in the dining area for all the people that want to dine. Luckily, I left Earl in charge of seating whilst I fetched the food. When I returned with our healthy choices I didn’t see anyone crying, so I knew I didn’t have to ask questions.
I haven’t blogged nearly as much as I planned to this vacation because Earl and I were busy having a good time. The weather in both Houston and New Orleans was absolutely gorgeous. This must be my first time ever traveling in December because hearing Christmas music blaring while looking at palm trees and enjoying 80 degree temperatures was messing with my head a little bit. The weather was quite enjoyable but it doesn’t feel like Christmas to me. That’s okay. Rumor has it that our home has been decorated festively. Something to look forward to when we arrive tonight.
Many of my updates have gone to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ this trip. I didn’t want to be one of those ones that falls victim to replacing a thought out blog entry with little bursts of prose through the microblogging services, but sometimes one needs to step away from long amounts of technology when they’re on vacation, especially when you use technology on a second by second basis both in your personal and professional existence.
Because Earl and I vacationed in both Houston and New Orleans, and because the vibes of the city are very different from each other, we feel like we have had two vacations in one and I’m very happy with the decision to do this. I’m not a partier like I used to be so Bourbon Street felt a little overwhelming at times, but for the most part my head is in a good place and I’m ready to tackle on the year-end tasks in my career and bring on 2013 (Mayan Prophecies willing, of course).
And to think we have one more day of this weekend before going back to work. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s only Saturday.
