The 6AM to Sacramento

6AM to Sacramento

Had a 6AM flight to Sacramento scheduled for this morning. Arrived at IAH, flight was cancelled. Next available wasn't until 5:50PM! Ouch. Yeah... today is shaping up to be a very long day.

It's almost 2PM now. I roamed as much as I could this morning. Got tired and sat for a while. I tend to learn more about people by just observing them. Sometimes I feel like we're all at some point nothing but caged animals on display for someone else's amusement.

Howlin' Wolf
Pretty girl walks by. Sure I looked, but I also started to notice that so did everyone else. Pretty girls walks by. So I then observed the gallery.
- Husbands adjusted for a better vantage point while trying to appear undeterred and focused.
- Wives take the quick glance than then dart to the furthest peripheral to see if hubby is practicing tunnel vision.
- Single Men (or men and boys sans wife or gf) smile real big and lift brows high. While others drop jaw and gawk. Thankfully all seemed to resist the urge to belt out the old timey horn and then look for other single males in order to find the "did you see that hot girl?" affirmation.
- Single Women... well, some gawk like the men. Others stare in digust, and some peer curiously as the shy daughter that watches mommy put on her pearl ear rings.

Jersey Spores
Just before lunch time I saw a couple of dudes who either are or were rejected from Jersey Shore. They had the whole ensemble down... complete with oversized amber aviators, undersized t-shirts that they swiped from someone's little sister, and pungent cologne that I can only imagine may have been called "sex panther." Another key Jersey shore feature for these guys was the flock of slightly taller and less orange Snookie look-a-likes that followed them at approximately ten paces. I'm convinced the purpose of the ten pace rule was to allow for the obnoxiously loud conversation, accented by hand gestures, to be heard by onlookers (such as myself). Now these monkeys were putting on a show.

Lunch:
My brother Josh came and rescued me from my airport incarceration for lunch. It may have only been an hour of freedom but it brought a little sanity back and helped break up my twelve hour wait.

Fox Hole:
After lunch I decided to hunker down for the final 5 hour wait. Got some water, gum, and a Kitkat. Paid $3 for bottle of knock off smart water. It tasted like backyard hose-water. Yum. I found a nice corner that had an AC outlet nearby. I started charging my gear then jumped in my shallow carry on luggage fox hole and surveyed the inhabitants of gate 39. It wasn't long before it became obvious that I was squatting in some valuable real-estate. They, them, the masses, slithered by seething on account of my good fortune. They stared crimson darts, willing my bladder to call me away from my post. Nothin-doin'! I sealed up the water bottle and concentrated on all things desert related. Abandoning my post would force me to wander about with all the other upright luggage-burdened dregs! Not happening.

....who'm I kidding. I caved. I have the bladder of full term pregnant woman.

All Aboard!
The plane is here. Now we all stand... yes we all. Even those of us who know we won't be allowed to board or even get in line for another 10-15 minutes. It doesn't matter... the plane is here and we shall all stand. I can't speak for the others, but today... I stand in reverence. And because my butt hurts from sitting on the hard floor for two hours. I should end this journal after the plane lands in Sac and all my body parts are accounted for. For some reason, however, the real victory is that I lasted a 12 hour wait in Concourse "C" without losing my mind. Yay for me!