On Her Way Home

Helaine leaves Las Vegas this afternoon for the flight home. The good news is, she flies with the wind at her back, making the trip home much shorter, timewise, than the trip out. On the other hand, she immediately loses three hours by virtue of the time change.

Helaine leaves Las Vegas this afternoon for the flight home. The good news is, she flies with the wind at her back, making the trip home much shorter, timewise, than the trip out. On the other hand, she immediately loses three hours by virtue of the time change.

Her plane gets to Bradley after midnight. A quick check on FlightAware shows this Oakland/Las Vegas/Hartford flight is consistently on time or even early.

The house is in reasonable shape. I have a few loads of laundry to do. The mail has been brought in the house and left virtually untouched. I’ll straighten that pile.

Last night, on the way back from Uncasville, I pulled the car to the side of the road and got Helaine’s boarding pass, using my cellphone.

Rick, sitting in the passenger seat (apprehensive some errant truck was going to sideswipe us) probably wondered about my slavishly anal retentive dedication to this particular task. It was so out-of-line with the rest of me.

Though I went online within two minutes of the passes availability, it is number 43. On the way down, getting it an hour late, Helaine got number 45. I don’t quite understand how this works.

In any event, she’ll board early enough in the process to get the aisle or window seat she wants. Sit too far forward, in what seems like the best seats, and the obligatory screaming baby will keep you ‘entertained’ all flight.

What did we do before cellphones? Separated by 2,000 miles, we were both reachable by the other around-the-clock. That’s an amazing convenience and huge change from how it was as recently as 15 years ago.

More than any other innovation since the jet age began, cellphones have changed travel.

On the other hand, when you’re on vacation, you’re often isolated from news. Helaine didn’t know about the Las Vegas ricin scare until I told her, a day after it as reported nationally.

I’m really looking forward to Helaine’s return. The house is too quiet. Her company is missed. I’m nearly out of snacks.