Haines His Way

That is the cutest Little Drummer Boy!

Kernal update.

I've been busy all day, but I've gotten very little accomplished.

When did I have corn?

When don't you?  

Level Two.

Sounds like a job for the United Network Command for Law & Enforcement.

They haven't gotten the cool little pen phones yet in any of the episodes I've watched thus far.  Channel D minus.  

My trip down here to Richmond was relatively uneventful.  I splurged on a car service to La Guardia this morning since I had one - possibly two bags too many to take with my on the subway and the bus.  I didn't leave my apartment until just after 7:00, but I was LGA at 7:18.  -Well, worth the splurge.

Checking in was very fast.  And then I walked to the end of the security screening line.  And walked.  And walked!  However, all in all, I made it through security in about 20 minutes.  Not too bad.  It easily could have been worse, longer.  *They were handing out "progress cards" to random people in line to see how fast the screening lines were moving this morning.  An official from the TSA was giving passengers a yellow card with a time/date stamp on it, and once they were through the line, they were to turn that in to the official on the other side of the gate.  I think having the "eyes" there helped to keep things moving.

DR Sandra is probably at the staff Christmas party now.

Need I remind everyone of CNN's number-one tip regarding parties at your place of work?



IT IS NOT A PARTY!!!!!!!!!

(Don't treat it like one.)

Then came Gate 5A.

5A is the gate that Delta uses for their smaller planes, puddle jumpers.  On a good day, they can board a different flight from that gate every ten minutes or so.  The passengers proceed down a gangway to a tarmac, and then are bussed to their plane.  Well... This morning was not a "good morning" at Gate 5A.

My flight was scheduled to depart at 8:55.  We didn't board until 8:50.  And there were four flights after us who also should have been boarding by that time.  But we did board, and pulled away from the gate around 9:30.

We took off at 10:00.

Thankfully(?), I ended up napping as soon as I sat in my seat.  The sounds of the engines revving up to take off woke me up, so the "wait" really wasn't a wait for me.  Sensing that we were going to be coming in late, I did call my parents at the gate, and just told them to aim to get to the airport around 11:00.  -Which turned out to be when we touched the ground at RIC.  However, since they were running a little bit late...

There was one bit of "humor" this morning at the airport.  After walking down the gangway at Gate 5A, we  boarded the bus to take us to our plane.  The bus started moving, turned left, then stopped.  And then it was time to de-bus.  We had literally travelled about 25 feet to get to our plane!  None of us on the bus knew that it was time to get off the bus until the driver opened the doors... and even then were still weren't really sure this was where we were supposed to get off.  Then an eight or nine year old boy said to his mother...

"Oh, come on!  You mean they made us wait for that?!?!?"

Which made everyone on the bus laugh.  Or at least smile.

DR JoseSPiano - did your parents proceed to take you to the local Burger King for breakfast?  

Actually, we went to "True Taste" for Chinese Food.  Pretty good Chinese food.  -Although, both my parents ordered their indicated "spicy" dishes "not spicy".

Before lunch, we stopped at Michael's so that my Mom could make a quick scan of the 1/2-price Christmas decorations...  While my Dad and I drove around the parking lot.  "Oh, I won't take too long."  

After lunch, we stopped at Walgreen's.  My mom used her coupons, and she even gave me a set for me to use.    Lots of "2 for 1" deals right now.  So, now they're stocked up on Folger's Coffee, Swanson Chicken Broth, and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (that 2 for $4.00 - not a bad deal... although, they only stocked five flavors).  And almost all of the Christmas stuff at Walgreen's - candy, decor, even toys - has already gone 1/2-price.

And I'm pretty sure they'rewe're going back tomorrow... To use the rest of the coupons.

Market clerks in the Christmas Spirit:




der Brucer

However, I did almost have Burger King for breakfast at LGA.  Instead, I had a ham, egg and cheese croissant at Sbarro.  It was quite a generous portion, so paying $6.99 wasn't too bad.  However, the $2.99 bottle of water...

Be sure to show someone how to use your camera beforehand.

I'll be the only one there.