3:33 PM EST - I'm sitting here at my favorite of all places, the airport. In this case I'm at the airport in Charlotte, NC, and I can only assume I'm at an airport since if I look outside all I can see is fog.

The esteemed folks at US Airways have pulled the old bait and switch on me for this flight. I purposely purchased all of my tickets this winter on flights with large aircraft, as I always do. The bigger the airplane, the less like an airplane and more like a crowded train it feels. If possible, I'd like to fly on a plane where I can't see any windows so that I more easily pretend that I'm on the top floor of a very tall hotel with small beds and no room service.

But a few weeks ago, I got an email from my friends at US Airways informing me that my flight, originally scheduled on one of the big planes with a name like "737" or "747" (presumably denoting the number of seats they can cram into the aluminum tube) has been changed to a smaller plane, with a name involving the phrase "Regional Jet". So I pay for a US Airways Seven-Thirty-CattleCar and they give me NoName Regional Airlines, where it's quite possible I'll have to walk out onto the tarmac and climb a flight of stairs to get onto the aircraft, much like the crew departing to visit King Kong in the original movie. At least if it's too snowy to land in KC we'll still be able to make it to Monkey Island.

3:46 PM EST - I was supposed to be up in the sky right now, but my flight has already gotten delayed twice. As much I enjoy the foggy scenery of Charlotte, NC, with their middling football team, nondescript hockey team, and semiprofessional basketball team, I would rather not spend the night here. The Regional Jet I'll be riding on today hasn't even left yet to get here, so I'm not exactly closing up my laptop to leave. Try telling me now that air travel is faster than driving.

Posted by: Rachel at December 2, 2005 3:44 PM

Posted by: Rob LeGrand at December 3, 2005 1:54 PM