Not from Prague

Dear diary,

I've been having an interesting couple of days. I am supposed to be in Prague visiting with Ben, but my puddle jumper flight out of Albany to Newark has been delayed for two days in a row because of weather. Both delays were to be long enough to know that I would miss my connecting flight to Europe, so I've had to postpone twice. Now hope to leave today, but may end up driving to Newark if there is another delay because of wind.

It's depressing, this being all packed for two days and going back and forth to the airport, not to mention the frantic cell phone calls trying to reschedule flights while at the gate check-in with a line of other frantic people behind me.

I do hope to get off the ground today.

I'm delivering 5 cans of Snow's clam chowder and a quart of maple syrup to a friend in Prague (it turns out that he lives just a couple of doors from my hotel). Ballast for the bottom (wheel end) of my suitcase. Of course, I stubbornly refuse to carry my luggage onto the plane (creature comfort getting on and off being more important than the strong possibility of not having it arrive in Prague while I'm there). One overstuffed briefcase is all I can muster. At least I don't have to arm wrestle some svelt young girl for the overhead closet or ask some guy with a thick neck to help me lift my ballast laden valise.

Spending time in the airport with laptop is interesting (now that I've had a dry run). Here's the drill. Get to gate and scan for wall outlets, of which there are several, and quickly target one close to a seat. I've brought along an additional extension cord to give myself an advantage. If you spy one as yet unclaimed, make a mad dash for it (like O.J. the unconvicted use to do in the Hertz commercial). You'll see people (yes, women, too) cruising up and down the perimeter of the gate areas with large brief cases like they were in a mall lot looking for that perfect parking space. The line of brushed steel phone booths have sockets, but they are too small to sit in with a laptop unless there is no other available. So you grab a seat near a socket before several others converging from different directions. Great, success!

But now you realize the need to, er, tinkle. In an airport, if you leave anything unattended for even a second, Homeland Security Agents will swoop in, confiscate the coat and hat, and then, minutes later on Fox News, long range cameras will be focused on the hat being approached by a robotic contraption as they try to blow it up. So, to use the loo, you gotta give up the seat and join the others cruizing the perimeter.

And why are seats in airports so darn awful. It's not like these are in a bus stop or other public place that wants to discourage vagrants from camping out. Maybe it is so when you board a plane you think (for, like, a minute) that the seats are actually comfortable.

I've been getting out of bed at 3:30AM to offset jet-lag in Prague. Of course, that means I should be going to bed at 7:30. Last night was a 10er, so all I'm doing is making myself so sleep deprived that I won't recognize jet-lag from simple exhaustion.