Short rest across the pond
Posted by Seth on August 27, 2008 under TSA | 
2 Comments to Read
I’m now somewhere over the Atlantic ocean at about 4:45 in the morning Amsterdam time. We left Newark a short 5 hours ago and are making great time on the flight, with a quick takeoff from Newark and a bit of a tailwind expected to have us in almost an hour early which will be great. Sadly, however, my plan to take just half an Ambien in hopes that I wouldn’t be too groggy upon arrival in Amsterdam seems to have worked a bit too well. The net result is that I’m awake rather than asleep when I really, really wish it was the other way around. The good news is that our connecting flight on to Amsterdam should give me an opportunity for another nap and help right my body clock just enough, assuming I can actually make that work out. Interestingly, there are a number of folks who seem to not be sleeping on the flight, more than I normally see on a redeye to Europe. Then again, I’m usually asleep and we normally don’t depart the USA at 5:30pm for a flight to Europe, so what do I know.
There was a bit of chaos on the plane at boarding as one passenger couldn’t locate her passport nor her boarding pass. That was only mildly alarming considering that the gate agents and the various DHS officials (not quite sure if they were Customs or TSA or something else) in the jet way as we boarded. Eventually the missing documents were located – apparently in her pants somewhere – and disaster was averted, but the crew was about 2 minutes away from deplaning her.
And we just finished up our breakfast service. The “croissant” was fine, particularly with a bit of jam on it, but the fruit salad was looking so sad that the diagnosis of "clinically depressed” seemed appropriate for it, both in the quantity and the look of the vegetables. I’ve seen mangoes make an appearance on some of the domestic fruit plates (albeit in First Class) and even pineapple or something else that would travel a bit better than the melons on this plate seem to have managed. So it goes.
Here’s hoping that the lounge in Amsterdam has a decent WiFi setup (I actually still have some work to finish up from earlier that I couldn’t get done before we had to board the plane thanks to the miserable performance of the free WiFi in the Newark Presidents Club) as well as some snacks. Heck, I might get lucky and have time for a shower, too, though I’m not holding my breath on that one.