Yesterday was a typical travel day for me.
4:30 AM: Me thinking to myself. Crap. I still have another half hour before the alarm goes off. What a bad night (I was sick the night before. I went to bed shivering, fully clothed with a long sleeve t-shirt and sweartshirt on. I woke up an hour later soaked in sweat. I changed, still shivering, and the same thing happened again. Finally around 3 I think my fever broke and I fell asleep).
It's 4:30. If I fall asleep right now I'll get a good 30 minutes in.
4:35 AM: Ok, 25 minutes isn't bad. I'll get a good 25 minutes of sleep.
4:45 AM: Oh for crying out loud. Why can't I fall back asleep.
4:50 AM: Forget it. I'll just get up and start my day 10 minutes earlier. I am sure that somewhere in my day I could use an extra 10 minutes.
4:51 AM: (I am sound asleep)
5:00 AM: (alarm goes off) Hmm. What a strange night. Did I dream most of that? I am so freakin tired right now. Bad way to start the day.
5:25 AM: I drive away from the house in the pitch black. My papers have not been delivered yet.
6:00 AM: I am standing in the security line at the airport. I had to purchase
6:00 AM: I am standing in the security line at the airport. I had to purchase my ticket because I forgot to do it ahead of time. Not a big deal, just a 5 minute delay. Man, this line is huge. It’s never like that so early in the morning. Other people in the Delta Shuttle line are saying the same thing. Mostly people in suits or sports coats, skirts and blouses. An occasional guy in jeans. A TSA person hands me a yellow piece of paper with “6AM” written on it, he asks me to hand it to another TSA person on the other side to determine how long it took to get through security. For a moment I think about erasing what is there and write “3:30AM” on it. With the new carry on rules, people can bring toiletries of 3 ounces or less if they put them in a clear zip lock bag. Now I get to look at people’s personal hygiene items, something that makes me uncomfortable. I feel like I am getting to know a stranger without talking to them. I wish there was some way to do this without exposing the type of deodorant, shaving cream, shampoo or lotion that someone uses. Its creepy.
6:15 AM: I am sitting on a fairly empty plane. I love it this way. I get to keep my briefcase under the seat next to me, I can spread out my newspapers, and I can relax.
6:31 AM: Delta Shuttle is in the air!! I love this airline. One my way to New. York. City.
7:25 AM: I walk off the plane in NY City. Great flight. Had my free bagel. My throat is killing me, some kind of cold I think, so I have some cough drops in my bag. Head to the taxi line.
7:50 AM: While heading into NY City, the cab usually goes through the mid town tunnel. On the way in, the sky to the west has these ominous black puffy clouds, like they are forming to release an army of evil spirits. To the east, where the sun is rising, it is clear, clear like an azure sky in deepest summer. So the Empire State building is silhouetted in front of black clouds but is lit up by a stream of sun. I love driving around this city. To get to the Wall Street area, the cab will then take the FDR along the East River, which has a great view. There is beauty in urban terrain. Only its not mountains and forests, its steel and cement.
8:10 AM: Sitting at a desk in an office in the Wall Street area. I start to do work. I am also shivering, my throat kills me and my head is pounding. I take some Advil, a cough drop and drink tea. I feel better. Kind of wish I was home though.
12:00 Noon: Hungry. And almost shivering out of control. Throughout the morning, despite wearing my sports coat at my desk, I had to get up and run my hands under the hot water in the bathroom so I could type. I am freezing and others in the office have their sleeves rolled up. I know its warm in here. Ugh.
12:15 PM: I am almost shivering uncontrollably. I decide to go for a walk. It’s a great fall day in NY City, the sky is clear blue now, in the canyons of downtown the sun doesn’t shine much, but if I walk east or west it opens up.
12:30 PM: I feel much better now. The walk warmed me up, fresh air (as fresh as it can be in NYCity) clears my head. I walked west and ended up at the site of the World Trade Center.
Holy cow. The site of the September 11 disaster. In all the time that I spend in NY City, I have never been here before. At least not since the terrorist act took down the buildings. It is incredible. It is weird walking up on this huge space of land, a pit, among an extremely congested network of tall buildings. On the east side of the site, there is a large chain link fence. There are big pictures all along the fence, scenes of that day. People covered in soot walking away. Firemen working under lights to find survivors. A sheet of paper among the ruins with a picture of the towers on it. On the other side of the fence is a set of stairs that are still there that once directed commuters to the Path, the underground subway that was destroyed. It’s kind of eerie, almost like a scene from Planet of the Apes where the stairs lead to a train that hasn’t run in 500 years. Also along the fence is a timeline of events. It has things like “8:29 Plane hits tower 2” and “9:45 President Bush addresses the nation”. I read each one. I look at all the pictures. There is a fairly large crowd there. Mix of tourists, business people in suits or sports jackets. Some people are standing there shell shocked and about 1 out of 4 are crying. Some are taking pictures. Most are reading the timeline posters or looking at the pictures. No one is laughing, some people have their arms around each other. Blocks away floor traders are managing chaos on the Stock Exchange and millionaire investment bankers are creating huge fees for their banks, but right here, right now, people are standing at the spot of the worst event in our history. 3,000 people died that day. I walk around for a while then head to get lunch.
5:15PM: My day is almost over. I had a series of meetings throughout the afternoon and my last one just ended. I wrap up some instant messages and head out to grab a cab.
5:30PM: Stop dead traffic. And we are not even over the bridge.
5:50PM: My cab driver doesn’t have an Easy Path to go through the fast lane at the toll. I happen to have mine in my briefcase so I give it to him. We are still inching forward in heavy traffic. Not fun. Not fun at all. I feel nauseous and am sweating. My fever is starting to come back.
6:10PM: As we were driving up to the terminal, I noticed 8 motorcycle cops driving away followed by 5 police cruisers, 2 police SUVs and 2 police vans. As I walk up to the terminal there are two armed guards. I wonder who was here.
6:15PM: Standing in the security line a guy a few people back, in a panic, said that he is on a 6:30 flight and asked if he could go ahead of us. About 8 people in both security lines tell him that we ALL are on the 6:30. I ask a TSA person about the cops leaving the airport and they said the Detroit Tigers were brought here to catch a chartered jet back to Detroit.
6:25PM: I walked on the Shuttle but since it is a busy time of day and I am late, all good seats are taken. I look for the smallest woman in the two seat side and sit down next to her. I get a window seat and read the paper.
6:45PM: After sitting on the tarmac for the past 15 minutes, the pilot comes on and in a voice I could barely hear because the PA system is terrible, he tells us that there is a lot of congestion and we are number 26 in line to take off. Twenty six?? Did he say that right?? That is like a 45 minute delay. UGH. My shivers are coming back and my throat is on fire. I am tired and just want to get home. I turn on my iPod and close my eyes, dream about a better place than a crowed plane in a traffic jam.
7:30PM: The flight attendants already handed out the food during the delay so I am not hungry anymore. That is good. The plane takes off.
7:31PM: We fly RIGHT over Shea Stadium. There is a game tonight so the lights are on and the crowds are filling the stadium. Pretty cool. We fly over Queens in the dark. It’s amazing how beautiful things look from this point of view. This is truly the forest in the trees.
8:05PM: We land and it takes forever to get off the plane. I am near the front but they can’t get the ramp to the door of the plane. We cool our heals for another 5 minutes, which at this point seems like 5 hours. People in general are getting grumpy and the situation is not fun.
8:07PM: Ugh. I forgot. Two days ago I parked my car in terminal C. I just flew in to terminal A. Kind of a long story but two days ago when I flew home from a trip, I rented a car because the next day I was driving to Hartford so I just left my truck at the airport.
I head to the buses to get a ride to terminal C.
8:10PM: I am having a conversation with a young TSA employee who just got off duty.
TSA Guy: Ooooff. I don’t make the rules, I just have to enforce them. Why can’t you take on a small container of shampoo that doesn’t fit into your already packed clear zip lock bag? Because, Lady, those are the rules.
Me: People have to be more patient. No one wants this but there is nothing that can be done about it.
TSA Guy: Everyone gets pissed at us. Like we can change things. I can’t do this job much longer.
Me: See you.
8:15PM: I am right now walking around the parking garage, floor 5, of central parking looking for my truck. I have zero recollection of where I parked it other than the floor.
8:20PM: This sucks. I am now hitting the panic button on my remote control in the hopes that I am near it and it goes off. Where did I park? Damn IT.
8:30PM: Where is that freakin truck. No one would steal it. What would I do anyway? If I tell the parking attendants, how would they know where to look? I don’t have a parking ticket, I use a swipe card. They would laugh at me I think. Maybe I can…AH, there it is. There is my large pick up truck. Finally.
9:02PM: I am home. I am sweating. Shivering. Head pounding. I just want to take a shower and go to bed.
Typical day.