Been looking forward to this trip. On my way to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for a photo workshop with non other than Joe McNally, IMHO one of the best photographer working today! Got what I hope is the tail end of a cold. Feeling better today than yesterday, but still coughing and blowing. I load my big suitcase with the normal clothing assortment and in addition a couple of lights stands, umbrellas (photographic), and several pounds of other assorted lighting gear, into the car. Then plop in my "carry on", a backpack with close to 40 pounds of camera gear. Hope to hell they don't ask to weigh this. The plan is to walk up to the agent with this on my back so they will think, "Can't be that heavy if that old guy has it on his back."
After Ev dropped me at Syracuse Airport, I went to the United desk. Everything is self service today. Put my checked bag on the scale and swiped my Amex card in the kiosk like it instructed. "No reservation for F. Fazekas" is said. Crap! I don't really need this. Tried scanning my passport, same result. Now I'm pissed and frantically looking through my Expedia paperwork for the correct booking code to enter into the kiosk. Tried the Expedia booking number to no avail. Finally a very nice agent came over and asked me if I was OK. (Probably heard me cursing under my breath.) I handed her my paperwork and after a couple of minutes she found the correct code to enter. This was a three hopper and the code was annotated on the second leg, not the first. Oh, well, everyone has their own logic I suppose.
Next I go up to security and when they scan my boarding pass, a red light comes on and the screen on their little handheld device shows a big yellow circle with an exclamation point on the middle. WTF!
"You've been selected for pre-screening" they tell me and hand me off to some big guy who takes me to another screening line where I half expect to be strip searched. I'm ready to pull out my retired Air Force ID card and bitch about how they are about to treat someone who served his country for over 21 years! Discretion being the better part and all that stuff, I keep my mouth shut. Big guy tells me I get to just throw my backpack on the conveyor and I don't have to take out my laptop. They let me keep my shoes on and I only have to remove my vest if it contains substantial metal objects. Does it! Hell I've got my iPad, iPhone, flashlight, pens, etc. in there. But I'm glad to take that off and put it in the bin. So that was a nice surprise.
Once through security, down at gate 21 I have another, not so nice, surprise. My flight has been delayed. Exactly the reason I never book groups out of this airport. Well, at least my connection in Newark is not a close one.
Oh, crap! The counter agent just said the flight is delayed for several hours! There goes my connection. No way to get there today! Too late to cancel the hotel room too. At least I was able to reach the shuttle company to rearrange my transport from Queretaro to San Miguel. Now I get to do all this fun stuff again tomorrow, at 5:00 AM!
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