Friday, August 27, 2010

Oh, what a night.....

I am still recovering from my airport mishap 2 days ago. I am recovering with pizza, icecream and wine. 

This may take a few days, or weeks or more.

I actually am very busy taking care of the business I came here for. My mom is still in the throes of a very long recovery and dad is doing the best he can.

Just in case you are wondering, which I'm sure you are, here are the photos from beautiful Philadelphia Airport....you know....on 'that' night. (Longest night of my life, btw.)

Here is where I sat for about an hour with my tea and a chocolate glazed donut, plus my laptop, of course!! (Thank you Philly airport for free wireless! Not all airports have that.)


The halls of the airport at around 10:45 p.m.  Deserted.


What goes on after 11 pm at the food court. I don't even want to know what's going on. (Looking for the runway?)


My home for the night at gate C 26. I bought a new pair of fuzzy socks at Newport News shop, the Information Desk gave me the pillow and a blanket. Where's the blanket you say? It's there.
That tiny, teeny little rectangle above my new socks. Yup, that's it. It's called a space blanket.
(If you don't know what that is, it's a gigantic, gargantuan, monster sheet of aluminum foil type of stuff that's suppose to retain 90 percent of your body heat. When you take it out of the plastic sleeve, that is. As it is now, it's pretty much useless.)


My view from my bed. I was posting yesterday's post in my new socks. I finally fell asleep with my pillow up against my backpack which was propped up against the wall. Not the most comfortable position, but at least then I'd be alerted if someone tried to steal my stuff.

After around 2 a.m. it turned frigid. I tried to hold out and not get up because I was so danged tired, but I had to resort to the space blanket. Note: Space blankets make A LOT of noise when handled. But I did manage to cover myself with this oddball thing, and it actually DID keep me warm.

What was worse was that the Musak (elevator music) played at ear splitting decibels all night long and the night crew highway repair lighting was never dimmed. A TV was on all night long in the gate area and sleep was very hard.

The night cleaning crew appeared around 11 pm and worked all night. The humming of the floor polishers and vacuums actually were a welcome relief.

After a while I decided in my sleep to find out what time it was. I estimated that it must have been around 3:30 am. I took out my cell phone and discovered it was 5:15 am!!!

I opened one eye and this is what I saw.....

People already there waiting for the 6:45 flight that I was taking!!! I have no idea what they must have thought of that woman in the corner wrapped up in aluminum foil. (that would be me...)

I calmly sat up as if sleeping across 3 seats wrapped in Alcoa wrap was perfectly normal. The hard part was stuffing the Space Blanket into my back pack because it made sooooooo much noise. (Attracting unwanted attention...although nobody seemed to care.)

I combed my hair with my fingers, packed up and headed to Au Bon Pain for breakfast.
Turning back to the gate, this was the view....
There were plenty of people there, going about their business for a normal flight, happy that the seemingly homeless woman was leaving....

16 comments:

Birdman said...

...can you spare any spare change for a cup of coffee???? Wish I could have trader places. The thought of all night wrapped in aluminum foil intrigues me. hahahahaha!

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

We call those homeless blankets - cuz they don't have a home until they are given to someone in need. Glad you had one to keep you warm. What a night! Have another pizza.

Lili said...

Your fuzzy socks looked so comfortable. What a night indeed. I can't say I've ever spent the night in an airport. You are such a good daughter! ~Lili

Pink Feather Paradise said...

Did you head for the nearest rubbish bin and start looking for a half full cup on coffee? ... I think the pizza, ice cream and wine will eventually do the trick...

big hugs to you, your mum and your dad

x Alex

Malyss said...

"I's been a hard day's night"..
but the story has a good ending! So now it's a funny memory, and a very good subject for a post!It's not often to have witnesses able to tell about an airport's night life..

brattcat said...

you have indeed made lemonade out of this lemon.

Dawn said...

My goodness can't these people get anything straight? What an adventure. Enjoy your time with your parents.
BTW- your paintings are gorgeous, I mean gorgeous!

annie'smom said...

Oh, I truly hope that your flight home is a stressless one! You eating a chocolate glazed donut? You must have been in dire straits!! Safe (and effortless!) travels today!
xxoo

Debbie said...

Oh my gosh Elenka...what a pain in the Ass that was! I am not one of those people that are real comfy in public situations anyway...so for me it would have been hell! You would think that airports would have a loungey type area with cots by now? After all....it is one of the most notorious places to get stuck in! I am sorry you had to go through that and hope all is well. Love the story about the tinfoil blanket and the homeless woman...YOU!! You are a riot by the way....and Birdman is pretty funny too. I can only imagine the two of you together!

Sharon Creech said...

Ohhh, I sympathize! Airports at night can be spooky places--and that feeling of being at the mercy of others. aye yie yie!

Anonymous said...

Hi there and thanks for commenting on thegoodoldbeanblog.You are welcome to become a follower if you wish.I shall follow your blog and by the way you have some very good paintings.
woody

Deb Shucka said...

You've turned this unpleasantness into a great story! So glad you made it to your destination, and hoping that time goes as well as possible.

cam said...

Is the fact that those people are looking away from where you are... because we sometimes feel uncomfortable when we see a homeless person (at the airport of all places)... Or perhaps they do not want to face the same sad fate??
Cheers... have a glass of Merlot and face the real sad fate... starting a new school year :(

Florida Checks In!

Anonymous said...

You did well with this situation - nothing worse than a bad night's sleep in a strange place. Can't think of anything more uncomfortable,but it made for an interesting post!
My parents in their mid 80's are looking after my daughter's cat for a week while she travels interstate (our rental lease does not allow animals under any circumstances). I am not at all happy with this as I would hate them to trip over it.Three days to go for me! All the best with your Mum and Dad.

Kathleen said...

At least you knew that donuts and anything from Au Bon Pain take care of almost any problem. I hope I never hae to fly again. But if I do, I have learned a lot from your post (donuts, bread, etc.) I bought some dried cherries, and added them to my Kashi cereal this Am. Hope your Mom feels bettter real soon
Hugs, Kathleen

Traveling Bells said...

Your night made for good blog fodder:)

Hope the trip home will be totally boring...