Monday, May 29, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, got up once at dawn, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

Today is Memorial Day in America!

I had a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast.

I gifted Jimmy a small box of Cora Lee English toffee.

We left about 7:45 and drove separately to Jim’s townhouse in Rob Roy. I parked Annette’s card in his driveway and gifted Jim Starr a small box of Cora Lee English toffee.

Jimmy dropped me off at American Airlines at O’Hare airport. There was no line at check-in, one person ahead of me at the TSA checkpoint and I arrived at my gate 90 minutes before my 11:07am AA1150 flight.

I stopped in Dunkin Donuts and had my last apple fritter with a small coffee. This one was better as it had more apples inside. It was then I found the keys to Jimmy’s car in my jacket pocket. I inquired if there was some way I could UPS or FedEx them to him but learned I would have to leave the secure area.

I purposely waited until most the others had entered the Gate so I could put my laptop in any open space above.

I had a window seat near the back with no one in the aisle or middle seats. Or at least so I thought for about 5 minutes. Two teenage girls sat next to me. The stewardess gave me a package of cookies and I chose a Coke for a snack.

When we were waiting to deplane in Charlotte, I saw the grils take out red passports. With a better look I saw they were from Thailand. I heard a little English that sounded perfect.

I asked for my gate at the check-in desk and I had 33 minutes to reach it. I was at one end of a ‘V’ and my gate was at the other. I made a quick trip to the restroom and still reached my gate just in time.

This time I had an aisle seat and I got cookies and a Coke for another snack. When we arrived in Miami I had a little over an hour to reach my gate. I stopped at the same spot, The Marketplace, and bought another slice of pizza, this time olive. I took their Skytrain to save time and joined the crowd outside the gate. I finished my pizza while I recharged my cellphone for about 30 minutes.

We were about 20 minutes late boarding and again I had an aisle seat. The woman next to me was probably Colombian because she only spoke Spanish but no English.

This time I got a package of mini pretzels and a Ginger Ale. When we landed in Medellin it was about 20 minutes for the other rows (I was in the next to last row) to deplane. I made a quick trip to the restroom then got in a line of about 20 for immigration. There were 4 immigration officers so the line moved quickly. I handed him my passport and set my old passport and virtual visa next to it. He scanned my new passport then checked my virtual visa and waved me through. At baggage claim I saw a Colombian standing next to 7 bags and I pointed to mine, he handed it to me and said, “benvenido de Colombia”. Approaching the customs desk the officer just waived me through.

Outside the Arrivals area were about 10 people together with balloons and a welcome sign. I smiled and mimed it was for me but no. There were the usual myriad requests if I needed a taxi but I said, “no”. I texted Bryan that I was there but got no response. After about 15 minutes I texted I would only wait another 10 minutes before I took a taxi. Then it dawned on me I needed to connect to airport WiFi, then my messages got through and we agreed to meet outside Arrivals Gate 1. I understood he was in a long line and it was another 20 minutes before we connected. His car was fixed and we drove in a light drizzle to Envigado. He told me they’ve had rain everyday lately so maybe summer is over. The ride was 130mil.

Well, I left Colombia on a Colombian holiday and left the US on an American holiday.

 

America’s Decline into Idiocy