A little while back, I had to travel. If this was just a single flight or a single trip, it probably wouldn't have been all that noteworthy. In this case, though, I had a couple of trips back-to-back, so that made things a whole heck of a lot more interesting.
To begin with, I was flying back to SFO from a work trip fairly late, at 11:30 PM. That wasn't exactly ideal, but that's how it worked out due to circumstances of work meetings. However, I also had to take a flight out the next morning for a personal trip. To be precise, I had to take a flight at 6AM the next morning. That wasn't ideal, either, but circumstances about when I had to land dictated that that was the best flight for me to take.
Okay, so I had to take two flights; one of them landed at 11:30PM, and the next one took off at 6AM the next morning. Given that, I figured that the best plan of action for me was to simply stay at the airport until my second flight took off. I didn't think that it made all that much sense to drive home just so that I could drive right back to the airport a few hours later. What's more, I was worried that I wouldn't wake up in time for my second flight if I fell asleep at home. At some point, your body just decides that it needs sleep, regardless of what external stimulus you apply (e.g., things like alarm clocks).
So, I decided to simply stay at the airport between my two flights. However, my car was already in the long-term parking lot, so I figured that I could drop off a bunch of business-related luggage between my flights. Essentially, I could treat my car as a locker in between my two flights. The idea was that I didn't need all of my luggage, and I could easily drop off a chunk of it in the 6.5 hours or so between my two flights. Besides, I had a good chunk of time, and it's not like I had anything better to do.
That meant that soon after I landed, I found myself on a shuttle to the long-term parking lot, to consolidate luggage and make my load lighter before my second flight. I'm pretty sure this wasn't a common use case for the long-term parking, as most people get to their cars and then drive away from the parking lot. However, I had a plan. So, I walked to my car, unloaded all of my unnecessary luggage, and then walked right back out. I have a feeling that the security folks looked at me funny, but they didn't say anything to me.
At this point, I hopped back on the (next) shuttle and headed back to the terminal. I had several hours to kill, so I figured I'd just get a little bit of work done and kill some time in the process. I proceeded to do exactly that, and I managed to get a good amount of work done. It was an odd time to answer emails, but I knew that's when I had free time, so I figured it was better than not getting the work done. I wrapped up and walked over to the terminal to wait until my flight was supposed to take off. I still had at least a couple of hours, so I was mostly just planning on waiting around.
However, that's when I realized that I still had my cologne in my bag. That particular cologne happened to be in a container larger than 100mL, so it was going to be problematic when going through security. I liked that cologne, so I wasn't thrilled about the idea of having it taken from me or having to throw it out. So, as much as I hated to have to do it, I had to take a second trip back to the long-term parking lot. I had plenty of time, so that wasn't the concern. Still, though, it felt weird to make a second trip to the lot in the same night. Also, it sucked to have to put in more effort when all I really wanted to do was take a nap.
Regardless, I felt like I had to do it, so I hopped back on the shuttle. The second time around I had fewer things to drop off, so I finished my unloading very quickly. That meant that I walked back out much quicker than the first time around. That also meant that the security folks saw me in much quicker succession, so I'm certain that the second time they noticed me walking in and out so quickly. If they had any questions about my presence the first time around, they certainly had them the second time around. No one said anything to me, but I'm sure I caught a raised eyebrow or two.
Luckily for me, the shuttle came around quickly the second time around. It got me to the terminal long before I needed to hop on my flight so I had plenty of time to settle in. Still, I couldn't help but laugh about my interesting use of my car as a locker. Also, I figured that I may have earned myself a spot on the long-term parking lot security team's watch list. Having two flights in short succession of each other sure can suck some times.
To begin with, I was flying back to SFO from a work trip fairly late, at 11:30 PM. That wasn't exactly ideal, but that's how it worked out due to circumstances of work meetings. However, I also had to take a flight out the next morning for a personal trip. To be precise, I had to take a flight at 6AM the next morning. That wasn't ideal, either, but circumstances about when I had to land dictated that that was the best flight for me to take.
Okay, so I had to take two flights; one of them landed at 11:30PM, and the next one took off at 6AM the next morning. Given that, I figured that the best plan of action for me was to simply stay at the airport until my second flight took off. I didn't think that it made all that much sense to drive home just so that I could drive right back to the airport a few hours later. What's more, I was worried that I wouldn't wake up in time for my second flight if I fell asleep at home. At some point, your body just decides that it needs sleep, regardless of what external stimulus you apply (e.g., things like alarm clocks).
So, I decided to simply stay at the airport between my two flights. However, my car was already in the long-term parking lot, so I figured that I could drop off a bunch of business-related luggage between my flights. Essentially, I could treat my car as a locker in between my two flights. The idea was that I didn't need all of my luggage, and I could easily drop off a chunk of it in the 6.5 hours or so between my two flights. Besides, I had a good chunk of time, and it's not like I had anything better to do.
That meant that soon after I landed, I found myself on a shuttle to the long-term parking lot, to consolidate luggage and make my load lighter before my second flight. I'm pretty sure this wasn't a common use case for the long-term parking, as most people get to their cars and then drive away from the parking lot. However, I had a plan. So, I walked to my car, unloaded all of my unnecessary luggage, and then walked right back out. I have a feeling that the security folks looked at me funny, but they didn't say anything to me.
At this point, I hopped back on the (next) shuttle and headed back to the terminal. I had several hours to kill, so I figured I'd just get a little bit of work done and kill some time in the process. I proceeded to do exactly that, and I managed to get a good amount of work done. It was an odd time to answer emails, but I knew that's when I had free time, so I figured it was better than not getting the work done. I wrapped up and walked over to the terminal to wait until my flight was supposed to take off. I still had at least a couple of hours, so I was mostly just planning on waiting around.
However, that's when I realized that I still had my cologne in my bag. That particular cologne happened to be in a container larger than 100mL, so it was going to be problematic when going through security. I liked that cologne, so I wasn't thrilled about the idea of having it taken from me or having to throw it out. So, as much as I hated to have to do it, I had to take a second trip back to the long-term parking lot. I had plenty of time, so that wasn't the concern. Still, though, it felt weird to make a second trip to the lot in the same night. Also, it sucked to have to put in more effort when all I really wanted to do was take a nap.
Regardless, I felt like I had to do it, so I hopped back on the shuttle. The second time around I had fewer things to drop off, so I finished my unloading very quickly. That meant that I walked back out much quicker than the first time around. That also meant that the security folks saw me in much quicker succession, so I'm certain that the second time they noticed me walking in and out so quickly. If they had any questions about my presence the first time around, they certainly had them the second time around. No one said anything to me, but I'm sure I caught a raised eyebrow or two.
Luckily for me, the shuttle came around quickly the second time around. It got me to the terminal long before I needed to hop on my flight so I had plenty of time to settle in. Still, I couldn't help but laugh about my interesting use of my car as a locker. Also, I figured that I may have earned myself a spot on the long-term parking lot security team's watch list. Having two flights in short succession of each other sure can suck some times.
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