Getting from Leon, Mexico, back to Philadelphia in mid-December took 20 hours (OK, 19; there is a one-hour time difference). I left my apartment in San Miguel de Allende at 8 a.m. and reached my apartment in Philadelphia at 4 a.m. THE NEXT DAY! And keep in mind that I was in the air on two different flights a total of less than six hours. That will give you an idea of how long I cooled my heels in two different airports.
Getting back to Leon airport from Philadelphia on January 11 presented a whole new range of interesting challenges and obstacles, starting at 4:15 a.m. I have developed a new anxiety so that I never sleep the night before a flight. Not just an early flight for which I have to set an alarm, but even a flight for which I don’t have to leave the house until the afternoon. So, on the night of Jan. 10, I didn’t even bother putting on my pajamas or getting into bed, as I knew that was fruitless. At 9 p.m., I was nodding off on the couch watching an episode of “Bones” on Netflix, and figured, “Perfect. I’m getting sleepy. I’ll just set three alarms and try to sleep right here on the couch.” Of course as soon as I turned off the light and tried to sleep, I was wide awake, and remained that way until it was time to get up at 4:15 a.m
At the exact, precise moment when my three alarms were supposed to go off, the public address system in my apartment complex, which has a speaker in every apartment for emergency notifications, bellowed the message over and over and over at top decibel, “An emergency has been reported. Go to the nearest safe location and DO NOT USE THE ELEVATORS.” Right away, I’m in a panic. I have to go downstairs to catch a cab to the airport to make my flight. What am I going to do if I can’t use the elevators? There is no way I can wrangle a suitcase, a carry-on, and a back-pack down 14 flights of stairs.
I get ready to go and the blaring voice stops. I’m about ready to open the door when it begins again. Finally it stops and I call the front desk and ask if it’s safe to use the elevators. Yes!
My cab comes moments after I call for it, and we have an uneventful ride to the airport thanks to warmer temperatures overnight than for the last week or so, thus no ice to contend with.
My flight was originally scheduled for 5:15 a.m., but I was notified that it was moved up to 7 a.m. I rejoiced at the additional hour and forty-five minutes of sleep (HA!) at that critical time, until I realized that because of that change, the comfortable cushion I had had for my connecting flight in DFW was now reduced to 52 minutes. Yikes! I looked at the seating chart and paid $16 to move my seat from the back to 12C. That, I figured, could buy me 10-15 minutes. And I dutifully printed out my boarding passes the night before.
I knew that with these in hand, all I had to do was hand over my large suitcase and head for the gate. The agent asked where the tag was on my suitcase and I showed her the leather one attached to the handle. “No, not that one, the one dispensed by the computer terminal. We do not give them out anymore.” So I go to a computer terminal and answer many questions and in addition to a luggage tag, which is to be affixed to any checked luggage, I am given new boarding passes. When I return to the agent, I ask her what is the point of having customers waste time, effort, ink, and paper to print out boarding passes when we have to get them from the computer terminals at the airport. She agreed that it was ridiculous. I then waited an hour and a half until we started to board the plane, which was on time. Hurry up and wait. I passed a little time by eating some breakfast which I had packed.
Because of the small amount of time between flights, I decided to buy a sandwich early on to eat on the second flight. I knew that food might or might not be available to buy.
All is going well until we get to our gate in Dallas and the captain announces that there is another plane sitting in our assigned spot, so we wait. I check with the flight attendant to see where the terminal and gate for my next flight are located and if that flight is on time. It’s in the next terminal over, and yes, the flight is on time.
We finally pull into our spot and I finally get off and run toward the Sky Link to take me to the next terminal. The escalator to take passengers way, way, way up (it looked like the London Tube, that’s how high it was) was not functioning, although the two coming down were. I knew I couldn’t schlep my carry-on suitcase and back-pack and myself up that non-moving escalator, so I opted for the elevator. In New York City, an elevator could go 50 floors in the time it took that elevator to come down one floor. Then two people in wheelchairs and their handlers maneuvered on and we went to the second floor, again at a snail’s pace. Meanwhile, I’m checking my watch every other minute and sweating. Thank God I didn’t have to go through security again.
I get off the Sky Link at the D terminal and find my gate. No time to go to the bathroom, which was very much needed, as my next flight was already boarding. I was one of the last to get on the plane before the door was closed. I had made it!
Of course food was available for purchase on that flight (you know it wouldn’t have been had I not bought a sandwich!), but I pulled out my earlier purchase and chowed down.
Today I received this notice from the management at my apartment complex in Philadelphia:
Dear members,
The fire alarm on Wednesday morning at 4:15 on January 11 am was caused by a faulty sprinkler head in the garage. That led to the fire pump turning on, thereby causing the alarm to sound.
Once the pump was investigated and it was determined that there was no true event, Bob Erkskine attempted to sound the all clear. However, the PA module would not clear and a second alarm tripped.
Both issues have since been fixed by our fire alarm and sprinkler companies.
Sincerely,
Management