I spent Sunday night in DSM, going to bed around 9:30 so I could have some sleep before getting up @ 3:50 A.M.! Never have I been up that early before!
One of my favorite things to do is people watch, and the airport is one of the best places to people watch. I was appalled by the woman wearing the black shirt, gray pants, taupe socks, and brown loafers...I can't say I've seen anyone wear the dark end of the neutral color spectrum all at once!
So I get onto the Fairbanks jet to Milwaukee (once again, small plane = walking directly out to the plane, no jetways) and my seat is not only the window seat, its the aisle seat as well! Each row had 1 seat, aisle, two seats...very strange. Also on the flight, I was excited to see the breaking of gender barriers - a female pilot and a male flight attendant. Now the male flight attendant is not a new phenom for me, but I can't honestly say I've seen a female at the helm...and I've flown a fair amount in the past few years...
Then switching planes in Milwaukee to a 717...Midwest has more room on those planes than I've ever seen...it was as if business class had turned into coach! So much leg room, big comfy seats!! Then flying into DC was wonderful...I was amazed by the amount of trees in Maryland, Virginia, etc. We flew in for the landing right by the Washington Monument...I could see the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial..all of that fun historical stuff! I couldn't see the White House from the air, but I attribute that to the massive amounts of tree foliage everywhere!
I changed into my suit @ the airport, and hopped in a cab to where my interview was going to take place. We drove right by the Pentagon, and the aerial shots of that building don't adequately portray its true size! It's huge!!
I get to the building (after $20 cab fare) and am so early I end up doing HW while I'm waiting for my skills assessments/interviews to begin. If you really want to know how that whole thing worked, let me know...just too much other stuff I'd rather type right now.
I had called a cab to take me back to the airport; one of the other interviewees had also called a cab, so we agree that we'll just share one instead of both of us paying more to go separately. My cab got there first, but his cab pulled up right after mind, and that cabbie started yelling @ ours for stealing his customer...we cringed while our cab drove away. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the guy got a call on his cell from the cab company...he didn't answer! ;) The cab ride back only cost me $10 since I shared. Speaking of cab rides...DC traffic is nuts!! I would definitely say its worse than LA because its crazier. LA traffic is usually just slow, but DC was wild!
I hop on my flight back to Milwaukee and have a woman next to me - she really took the whole pink thing too far (ie, everything was pink). I get up later to use the restroom, and notice more than half the plane is empty. Why didn't this woman get up & move?? She could move easier because she was in the aisle seat. I really wanted my bubble, but I would have had to crawl all over her again to get moved! Grrr! On a nice note, Midwest served warm, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies on my flight - in addition to the normal bag of pretzels! Yummy yummy in my tummy!
In Milwaukee, I had to buy hand lotion because I had forgotten mine, and my hands were super dry...so I paid $2.50 for 3/4 oz of lotion - wowsa, expensive. After a too-long layer in MKE, I get back on the Fairbanks puddle jumper. The flight is obviously not going to be full, even though the plane has just 30 seats. Who should come in and sit down next to me?? Yes, the pink lady! How crazy is that?? I've had issues trying to be seated next to the group I'm flying with, yet get placed right next to the random stranger twice in a row! Strange... Fortunately, the flight attendant pointed out that the flight wasn't full, and the pink lady moved to a seat across the aisle, thus giving me my needed bubble. I made sure to fill myself up on putrid airplane coffee on the flight to give me a needed jolt of caffeine for my late-night drive back to Ames. I did pass on the "chocolate cake cups" though - but why couldn't they be called chocolate cup cakes?? Because that's why they were...
So after a construction-filled drive back to Ames, I unpacked and passed out in my bed...what a long day! :)
