Friday Five

Thank goodness it's Friday.

I was in Denver this week (Englewood, specifically), which was my first time out of the airport in Denver outside of driving through from Minneapolis to San Diego after 9/11. It took a good 3-4 days for me to get used to the air (or lack there of) in the area. Now that I'm used to it, I'm leaving.

Denver was nice because I did get to see an old friend of mine who I haven't seen/heard from in about 5+ years. Did dinner, and I got to meet his wife and son. Cute kid, but not quite cute enough to make me want one. (Sorry mom)

My flight here was a tad interesting. I wound up getting on an earlier flight (bonus) and landed the aisle in the emergency exit row (double bonus). The flight took off about 20 minutes late, meaning some people with tight connections already were going to really have to boogie. Apparently there was someone in the back who had a very tight connection. I know this because right after we landed and turned off the runway he came bolting down the aisle towards the front. I don't know where he thought he was going (were we going to pull over, let him out, and then continue on to the gate?) but I do know that one of the worst things you can do on a plane is charge the cabin.

Anyway, he crouches down at row 1, and the flight attendant (rightfully) tries to send him back to his seat. He wants to argue. About 5 minutes later he walks back muttering. About 2 minutes after that the co-pilot comes on the intercom saying there's been a problem with a passenger and security will be meeting the plane at the gate. Sure enough, when I got off the guy was having a lovely conversation with the authorities.

Karin guesses he missed his flight.

I usually let life tell me what the 5 should be, and this week had a bunch of travel peeves, so here we go:

1. I hate being put in large rental cars. I drive a Miata. I was in an SUV this week, which is about 10x the size of my car. You may as well be asking me to drive a 747 down the road.
2. People watching inappropriate movies on a plane. The couple next to me was watching Old School, which has its fair share of gratuitous nudity. I have nothing against nudity, but there's a time and place for everything - call me old fashioned, but on a plane isn't it.*
3. Terrible cable lineups in a hotel. This one had to be the most interesting: Headline News (with the deplorable Nancy Grace) but no CNN (which meant I missed most of the debate). National Geographic but no Discovery. OLN but no ESPN2. Did they just randomly choose channels?
4. No hotel bar. One gets a little lonely traveling, and it's nice to go down to a public place, have a beer, and get some work done. Granted it's not an overly social experience, but it's nice to have people around you.
5. People arguing with <insert air travel security authority here>. Do you honestly think you're going to win this argument?

*Note - I reserve the right to use this point as a topic for a full blown post/rant later.