DEPARTURE CHAOS GALORE

OR

OK... maybe just a little.

We last found our erstwhile globe trotters waiting for their ride to try and beat the rain to FLL to find out what the latest DELTA Alert was all about… Nuthin’. 
Nobody knew Nuthin’.

OK... now armed with his Newly minted TSA PreCheck boarding pass [on his phone no less... no more paper for this guy] here's how it went when they headied into the TSA line with,

Wait for it…

You guessed it - 
Over-Stuffed Bags. 

Now, she promised to keep it light,

[Well it WAS all light weight stuff… individually, but she never promised that it wouldn’t overstuff her bag.]  And of course, DELTA and most others  have newly designed overhead bins and are now cracking down on carryon size with this nifty bag sizer that you couldn’t fit most women’s purses in [well at least not our Daughter-in-Law’s] so of course DL's bag far from fits and Cute L’il TSA Lady says…

“Un Unh - ya gotta check it in.”

“BUT Lady… we get this onboard all the time.”

“Un Unh. Ya gotta ask a DELTA agent – I can’t let that go through, regardless of your PreCheck status.”

So they call Nice DELTA Agent over who says, 
“Uh… can you maybe swap some stuff to another bag?”

It was the shoes [what else] all loaded on the outside pockets.

Sure… Chucky, aware of the new sized bins, knew it was gonna be tight  hell,… he always packs tight, so he left a little room in the laptop bag, and his bag, and her "personal item" carry on and a partridge in…  uh… wrong tune again.

Stuff swaping done, with a little shove here and a little grunt there and now her bag just wedges in halfway.  The nice DELTA Guy sees that Chucky is truly workin’ it and says, 

“OK I can let that through… enjoy your flight.”

Cute L’il TSA Lady Smiles, Checks our boarding pass’ and waves us through to:

TSA PreCheck – which is wide open, as is most of the other screening lines and we breeze through without having to bag lotions, disrobe, get x-rayed, wanded, full body scanned or deep cavity probed etc. until Chucky’s bag with his usual pouch of emergency tools makes the machine go BZZZZZZZZ.

“Is this your bag Sir," 
Says Smiling and Happy TSA Guy 
[Wow… that’s a first.]
"Can you step over here please?”

“The tool bag triggered an alert didn’t it?  It’s all on top, outside… right there." 
Say's nervously smiling Chucky.

"And yes they are all under 7 inches, Sir.”  

Says Smiling Chucky.  
[Always be polite to the Nice, Armed TSA Officers who have your timely departure to Paris in the palms of their very Handsome Hands.]

“I see that is true Sir, 
says Happy TSA Guy,
have a nice flight. Sir.”

Good thing Chucky didn’t pack his usual all-purpose travel tool with a file, saw, pliers, wire cutters, screw drivers and small blades [no Partridges]. 

Since they got their Global Entry Cards and PreCheck status just yesterday and he knew that the tools would register he made sure they were right on top - all legal sized and no blades.  In fact, he even left his usual travel cork screw home since it had a small blade.  No sense in messing up a good thing right outta the gate.

Speaking of gate…

Not Bad - 20 minutes from Curb to Gate.

Now to re-arrange the Over-stuffed Stuff before boarding…

Naaah Fuggehedaboudit.  
If it’s an issue in Atlanta we'll work it again.

This POST was started while waiting for DELTA flight 1527 to Hollywood for the connection in Atlanta [for which they have boarding passes, Real seats and a partridge in a… why is that tune repeating in his ear?].

So by the time you get it, THEY will be in either Atlanta, or Paris, depending on the Wifi in Atlanta.  The one at FLL STINKS.

We have Zone 1 boarding so stowing the Overstuffed Stuff should be easy, once we get past Very Tall Gate Agent, and of course when Chucky puts the phone with the boarding pass on the little Scanner Thingy… BZZZZZZ.

WTF!!! 
Now what?!?  Can this trip have more Left turns than Mario Andretti?

“Please see Senior Armando, who will check your passport.”

Apparently “International-Validate Passport” on the boarding pass didn’t register with Chucky since he made sure-TWICE that all the Passport info was correct in our file so Zone 1 was slipping past us as Senior Armando pecked at his computer. Glared at the screen, 
peck-peck-peck Glare-Glare-Glare… 
and so on till he finally walks us back to Seriously Tall Gate Agent, re-scans the boarding pass and…

DING - GREEN LIGHT! YEA!!!

The Overstuffed Stuff WAS a bit of a challenge in the newly designed “Miniature” overhead bins but do you think that could Stop Chucky?  Even Grouchy Blonde Flight Attendant was impressed that he got the bin to close when she swore that it wouldnt.

The Flight to Atlanta was uneventful and it was a bit of a lug and a train ride from Terminal 4 to Terminal 2 with a quick stop at the DELTA counter to make sure the “International-Validate Passport” issue wouldn’t pop up again at the gate then off to find a snack.

So… now the Wifi in Atlanta, is mediocre and since the stop for a quick bite took up most of the layover, he didn’t fire up the laptop until they got aboard DELTA Flight 84 to Paris.

Getting settled in was a chore with Chucky in and out of the overhead pulling chargers, laptop, iPad, and a Partrid... Ok enough with the damn bird… 

Time for dinner: Shrimp Salad or Chicken Something… or Vegetarian Lasagna and a Shrimp Cocktail… Can’t believe we’re even hungry but, yeah.

A little Wine with dinner, a full tummy but room for Coffee and a brownie and it’s time to nod off till Paris.

Stay tuned … the last check online showed the Train from the airport to Notre-Dame was still being Struck… 
Oh Joy…

In Atlanta DELTA International flights depart from Terminal 2 - at the very end, so it was Taxi-Taxi-Taxi until we reached Birmingham... 
OK, not that far... 
One quick right turn and our Driver Rockets Flight 84 Eastward into the night and...

THEIR ON THEIR WAY TO PARIS!

Ciao Pour L’instant,

Uncle Chuck & The Checking out Inflight Movies

Dragon Lady