Getting home

And so my travels continued. After more of my meeting Friday morning, it was off to the Quad-Cities airport (Moline, IL). I have come to find out they actually have more than 8 Gates (at least 17). Although small, it is clean and nice. And odd. So I get in line to check bags. Well, I guess I’m in line as there’s a guy standing up at the desk waiting, but no one behind the desk. Eventually I ask if he’s seen anyone. He tells me the girl went behind the counter. Another decade passes and someone comes up behind me and asks the same thing. Eventually we find out they she also doubles as part of the ground crew and had to help a plane land. Management calls this maximizing skill sets.

But I was not really bothered by this since I got there an hour early. I did this to avoid check in problems, but I had forgotten the airport was so small. Getting there early forced me to miss lunch. That’s what I was irritated by. And even though the airport was on the Mississippi River, there was no fish to be had. So I wait until Detroit. This was not entirely uneventful. I got to watch 3 older Deere employees argue about some meeting they attended during the week.

Once in DTW again I sought out food. Not finding fish, I settled for the next best thing – frozen yogurt. In hindsight, this was a bad selection. Not so much for me, but for others. Being lactose intolerant has some specific side effects around milk products. Let’s just say I’m surprised my two neighbors on the plane survived two hours of that. Hell, I almost didn’t.

I do finally make it home and get settled in. Then it’s off for some time out on the town in Raleigh. Being tired and having to get up early the next day, Chris and I went to play pool and darts at the Pourhouse. There was no one there and the band sucked. Still, it was a break from reality. As I was attempting to play darts I recall Dave Young’s thoughts on my skill ("Clay, do you even open your eyes when you throw?").

Next Stop: Charlotte