More on Our Trip to Tinseltown

As I mentioned, our trip was interesting, to say the least. The flight over was a bit crowded, and it was guerilla warfare with the antique lady. I realize that airlines are broke and are trying to cut back, but at some point the lack of service makes you wonder why they even have flight attendants. Plus, they weren’t as warm and fuzzy as I’ve experienced in the past.

R has a theory that the airlines tend to overestimate their flight times in order to make themselves look good when they arrive early, and that sort of happened to us. Once we were in the air, the captain came on and said they were making good time and would land 30 minutes early, to which the cabin gave out a cheer. Even I was happy, but when we landed, we were too early to dock at the gate. As I mentioned, we taxied for what must have been 35-40 minutes, and had to wait another 15 minutes for the door to open. It was maddening, and after all that time on the plane with no sleep and nothing to eat, we were weary, to say the least.

We finally got off and went to the baggage claim. The airport itself was a police state with the shooting and all, but thing were moving along smoothly. We were exhausted, but we still had the problem of getting to my mom’s house. We were originally going to rent a car and then drive over, which is the simplest and most straightforward way to go, but of course costs money. Plus, I really dislike dealing with rental car companies which always seem to rip you off with charges and insurance and all that fear mongering. My mom was fairly insistent on picking us up, which was free, but not as convenient. Free spoke volumes to me, so I went with it, but this of course added to the drama.

My mom’s plan was to meet us at the curb and go from there, but since there was a shooting at the airport, it was closed off for a while. The airport was offering a shuttle to some off site parking lot, and my mom said to call her when we got there. By the time we got to baggage claim, however, the airport had opened up, but my mom didn’t know this. In fact, she didn’t even know about the shooting until I called her from Philly. How could she? It happened in the late morning, and unless you’re watching the news 24/7, you couldn’t have learned about it.

Either way, I called her from the terminal and informed her the airport was open, so she met us. I tell you, it’s amazing how technology has changed our lives, we couldn’t have managed all this otherwise. It allowed us to keep in touch with my mom to get picked up. The only problem was we had to wait for her at that point, and the airport was a complete mess. I know my mom and I have issues with getting along, but I have to give her credit, she came and got us in her car in what is some of the worst traffic you’re ever going to find. People in LA are aggressive and unfriendly, so it takes a certain amount of mental fortitude to handle it, not to mention courage. I had a hard time dealing with it, and I grew up here.

It was nice seeing my mom, and I was happy she got to meet the kids. More on this later, but for now, we are settling into life in LA, even if it’s only for a few days.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Alan Brady for the pic.