Wait and Balance

October 9, 2024

It was nice to be able to sleep in just a little this morning. We woke up and had breakfast in our hotel, the Hampton Inn LAX/El Segundo, without having to rush to be somewhere. We took care of the arrival paperwork for our next stop, online, and did some other busywork. Then we headed to Target to buy some toiletries and sundries. We had a 50-pound-per-bag weight limit coming to LAX, but on our next flight we will have a 70-pound-per-bag limit. So we left some of the heavier items out until we got to LA.

It was either the misty marine layer or some kind of air pollution that reduced the visibility here today. I am content to let the day pass leisurely as we wait for our flight late tonight. It’s going to be challenging, so we might as well take it easy after we have removed all of the packaging from all of those toiletries and repacked our bags. 

The sky cleared up by late afternoon, so we ventured out to look for some California icons (and eat something).

A yucca plant

IN-N-OUT. We did not eat here, but we wanted to.

I am going to jump ahead to the evening and say that LAX is not my favorite airport. It’s just too big.

There was a huge traffic jam at what seemed like all of the terminals. We got dropped off at the International Terminal and it was a zoo. There was nobody to even ask where we should go or what we should do. We saw some kiosks so we stopped there and printed out our baggage tags. But then we didn’t know if there was a bag drop ir if we had to go to our airline. There were people everywhere, but nobody to ask. Eventually I found out that we would have to go over to a different section of the enormous terminal. Then there were several different lines for our airline and it was unclear which one we should be in since we already had our tags. We finally got that sorted and they pointed us to where we needed to go to pass through security, only it turned out to be the wrong place because we had TSA Pre-Check. We finally got there and got through TSA and then we had to ask where the Star Alliance Lounge was. By the time we got settled in the lounge, we were pretty frazzled.

My point in all of this is that LAX is chaotic, crowded, and confusing.

We had an hour to wait for boarding, after basically waiting all day. I’m not sure what the balance part is. I think it might be the inner peace that comes with getting to the airport early and having some time to sit quietly and chill.

Ken is chill now that we are in the lounge.

I promise this is going to get more interesting very soon, so stay with me!

Today’s fabric is corduroy - for all the lines we waited in. The distinctive raised “cords” or “wales” make corduroy instantly recognizable. Corduroy’s durability makes it a good choice for trousers and jackets. It has existed in Europe since at least the 18th century, but corduroy nmay have originated in Fustat, Egypt in 200 C.E.

Raise your hand if you are now thinking about this guy: