Well, got up this morning with the mission of getting to Alabama. Dad drove me down to Dulles and dropped me off. I've only packed two bags - my 25" pullman and the new rolling laptop bag. I was going to try and fit everything into my 21" carry-on bag, but with the new restrictions on fluids (3 oz. containers only), there's just no way to pack for 3 weeks of travel in a carry-on. So, the upside is I have more room in my bag.
I left behind the big camera and my backpack. I'm treating this as a dry run for packing for Japan. When I hit Japan, I know I'll bring my backpack. So this is a reduced-luggage version of the packing regime I expect to follow.
I also dressed the part of a business traveler this time. Normally I just wear jeans to be more comfortable. But I must say that the airline people don't pester you with all the usual bullshit when you're dressed for business. Check-in and security check went smoothly. The first glitch was that the flight from Dulles to Charlotte didn't have a gate listed on the display boards. But the US Airways folks guessed it would be Z9, and they were right.
I got a shot of the flight display boards with one of those funny Microsoft error messages on it, but I was having a hard time getting it loaded on Flickr. I'll try again in a bit.
The flight to Charlotte went off without a hitch. While I was laying over there, I had a beer and bought Madeleine Albright's new book The Mighty & The Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs. I've only read the first few chapters, but it's been both entertaining and very insightful. I don't have any particular memories of Ms. Albright while she was Secretary of State under Clinton, but the book meshes with my recollection of the events she describes. She's been very good, so far, at putting America and religion in both a historical context and a current events context. I'm interested to see how the whole book develops.
The flight to Montgomery was on a smaller commuter jet. I carried my laptop bag on, but I could barely fit it under the seat. Fortunately it fit after enough prodding. As the exit row person, it wouldn't do to have my bag sticking out impeding traffic. The flight was unremarkable, and I didn't have any neighbors in the row to bother me.
Arriving in Montgomery, it was moderately humid. Not hot enough to assault you when you disembarked the plane, but hot enough to be noticed. I ended up sharing a taxi with a lady in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) here. We had an entertaining discussion about Japan and how much being in Alabama is not like being other places we'd both have enjoyed more.
The hotel is actually an extended stay suites place. Nice, in the "one room with everything you need to live" kind of way. The staff and I had a good laugh while I hung out and harassed them with questions, though. So hopefully it won't be too bad here for a week. Oh, and I almost forgot - the girl at the front desk is from Boston. haha! So even though I didn't fly there, I still get to meet a Bostonian. Go figure...
Well, I'm waiting for my new coworker to arrive while I slowly starve. He better not have eaten before he arrived here!
UPDATE: Here's the shot of the flight departure board at Dulles....
