Close Encounters of the Family Kind?

So there I was sitting in the airport waiting on the folks returning from North America via Amsterdam having visited my sister. Although I have become more acquinted with airports, Edinburgh in particular over the last few years I was still taken by surprise at my lack of geographical awareness.

On arrival I was surprised how linear I had become not unlike a mouse following a trail to a big lump of cheddar ignoring all options just head down to the cheese.

After parking the car I just headed to the arrival gate having stopped off to buy a hot coffee beveridge with added sweet syrupy gloop planning to read the paper confident that I had plenty of time until they arrived.
It then dawned that this was the UK arrival gate and not just arrivals! Where was the international arrivals gate? No signs, no clues, no mention of their flight on the arrivals board, no folks, mmm. Visions of them sitting on public transport, traveling home played guiltily through my mind.

I dredged the back waters of the memory and realized that there was another gate away at the other end of the airport. Edinburgh airport has matured and expanded considerably in the last few years. So off I trooped clutching the hot paper cup in my hand trying the slurp and swallow move that is never very satisfying especially when you are sidestepping the assorted travellers and their luggage, push pairs, kitchen sinks, fortnights supply of tea bags and whatever else is deemed essential to the travel experience.

One couple who almost took me and the coffee out as they performed an emergency stop to check they had the tickets had two large wheeled trunks that came up to their chest height with the handles extended. What did they have in them? The grandchildren? The family pets? They did inform me as I negotiated past them that they where on their way on a cruise, perhaps they were providing the life rafts?

Eventually I made my way to the gate and finished off my drink and managed to read some of the paper. Then the passengers from the folks plane started streaming through you could tell that it was the right one. A KLM from Amsterdam because of the height of the passengers. The Dutch are on average the tallest people in Europe.


The passengers exiting reminded me of some movie scene. Was it the one from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" when the abductees blindly wandered out of the alien spacecraft into humanities embrace?
No it was the final scene from "Love Actually" the one where all the families meet up all smiley and huggy encounter kind of way.

Oh, when they did come through we did that as well.


-- Post From My iPhonei

What do hero's have for breakfast?

So here I am on a plane to americay to spend some time with my sister and I've had better flights. Now don't get me wrong I'm not a gurney person but it's one of these situations where you think it could be better.

The preamble before boarding this United Airways flight was quite orderly and civilised. Although my attempts to blag myself into a Star Alliance lounge with my frequent flyer silver card failed. It was an example of good guys come second with gold being the only currency on lounge world.

But the silver card did allow me to enter the fast lane at security a ruse I feel as I was directed into the random search area for well...a random search. Now normally I take such things with a calm demeanour but today I was wondering what would happen. Not I hasten to add because I was carrying some evil pathogen or device that would cause havoc no it was because I was a mule! ..... Of the Crunchy Nut Cornflake kind. I am carrying a 750 gram box of Kellogs finest in my hand luggage. What would they say? Would the box be confiscated ? I half expected some humouros poke regarding nuttiness or reference to the TV ad. Worst of all "sir we have to search more thoroughly for the milk and utensils". I would have felt a right spoon then .

All however went well and to be honest it was quite a lame random search. It appears to me that the overzealous use of beaurocratic paperwork is the bulwark that the US rely on to prevent the " bad guys" from getting in. Or maybe they know the paperwork is a front and they just want to play out their Hollywood hero bit all gun tooting and action to defeat the bad guys? Of course there would also be the tech guy or gal who would provide the intellectual ammunition to allow the action gun tooter to shout loudly as they leap around in their underwear or at least their simmet?

It goes without saying that they would need to do this on a proper breakfast in order to fuel all this brain and muscular activity, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes anyone?




-- Post From My iPhone