Travel michael on 23 Jun 2008 07:36 pm
Ok so it’s been a bit since I’ve posted - I’ve been traveling yet again although this should be the last trip until the big one in September.
This time it was off to a “workshop” in Orlando. It was easy to tell which of my co-workers had never been to Orlando before as their response was universally “Oh cool you’re going to Orlando!” They just don’t understand that Florida in the summer is hot, and humid with a side of severe thunderstorms. Now I don’t mind the thunderstorms, but the heat and humidity are horrible.
I’ve been fortunate in the past, while I’ve been through San Francisco in the past when it’s been crowded - this time around was probably my worst experience. While I don’t like the crowds and the lines I can usually tolerate them if things keep moving. However when there’s as many as 5 open kiosks for people to use and the folks on the line are too clueless to step to them thereby holding the entire line, that’s when the frustration starts.
Even more frustrating about the clueless passengers at the self-check in kiosks are the clueless agents manning those kiosks. After checking myself in I had to wait close to 10 minutes before one of the agents bothered to wander down and tag my luggage. What ticked me off was the fact that the agents were dealing with folks who were closer to them and meant they didn’t have to walk as far from the counter that they had decided to plant themselves at.
I greatly dislike passing through security at San Francisco - not that security is ever much fun to pass through, but it’s glaringly obvious that San Francisco is unable to accomodate modern security checkpoints. Security is almost always crowded and cramped.
It seemed like a good idea at the time - my flight to Orlando was a non-stop. Where the plan fell apart - I got in at 10PM and didn’t have a car. As a result by the time I got my bags, caught the shuttle to the airport and got checked in it was after 11PM. I had eaten lunch at 11:30 AM Pacific, and here it was 11:15PM Eastern and the hotel had NO dining options after 11PM.
The hotel by the way - sucked. The A/C was one of the loudest I’ve had to live with in quite a while, and pretty ineffective too. The bathroom was pretty nasty, the wall paper was peeling and there was mold on the ceiling.
The highlight of the trip was our outing to Kennedy Space Center. We were treated to a private tour given to us by NASA (as opposed to one of the tours offered by the visitor’s center), and thanks to the folks at NASA we got to walk around the press observation area. This is where the popular shot is taken that includes the flagpole, giant countdown clock with the launch pads in the background. Even cooler we were taken over to launchpad 39B which is the launchpad that the shuttles are launched from. The visitor’s center tours get about 3 miles from the launchpad, but we were taken right up to the perimeter fence that surrounds the launchpad. We were within 300 feet of the pad. That was cool.
I was also amazed by how tight security has become at Kennedy. It wasn’t that long ago where anybody could drive around the facility and pretty much go wherever you want on your own. Now the entire place is locked down tight, you can’t get on to the facility without a NASA issued badge.
For the most part the flight back was uneventful - until we landed, and then we sat. We spent over an hour hanging out on the taxiways waiting for an open gate so we could get off the plane.
And what’s the deal with the airline’s practice of sticking the baggage for 6 incoming flights on the same baggage carousel even though there are 6 other baggage carousels that aren’t being used?
