The people you meet on a plane......................

It's interesting how air travel has changed. I have a total aversion to paying in order to select a seat. In the past, we didn't have to do that. My preferred seat in order is an aisle, window, and lastly middle. My profile has the aisle seat as my preference and in the past, things have worked out. However, with fewer flights and fuller planes, the last two flights where I did not check in until mere hours before the flight, I got stuck in the middle seat.

I wasn't able to change my seat for the longer flight last time, but this time, the minute the 24 advance notice for check-in came in my inbox, I went in and selected for free, a different seat. I had an aisle towards the back of the plane. I don't really care where I sit - front, middle, or back. Just give me a seat.

Yes, it does take longer to get off the plane if you're in the back, but when you have to wait for luggage, does it really matter? Nope.

I may need to start paying for a seat in the future, as I heard the guy across the aisle (a big guy) mention that to the fellow who got stuck in the middle in that row. But I'm going to try my luck with checking in the full 24 hours in advance. I have to check a bag which costs about $35 with tax and if I have to pay another $25 to select a seat (or whatever the cost is) - well that starts to add up. I'm cheap!!!

Speaking of checking a bag, this is another behavior that I've had to change. In the past, I waited in the gate area until pretty much the last to board the plane. There was never any hurry to get on the plane, however, it seems that everyone has carryon and if you don't get on in a timely manner, your carryon may or may not make the overhead bin. And sometimes if it does make the bin, it's not near you!

So a few minutes before the check-in starts, I'm lined up in the correct zone line to get on the plane and get my carryon in the overhead bin near me!

And a huge thank you to Air Canada for accommodating me yet again with my checked luggage. When I checked in on the phone app, I was told excess baggage fees might apply when I said that I had one bag to check. I know - just let me pay. The app did NOT. OK - when I get to the airport and check-in at the kiosk, I can pay. However, I was not asked to pay for the bag at the kiosk. No pay, no baggage tag. I had to go to the check-in desk. By this time, I had weighed my suitcase and it was .3 KG over. OK - so I bought a couple of small things at one of the shops I was at and I also put the cords for the projector in there. That was enough to tip the scales. Being humble in an airport is a good thing. They let the bag go through without me paying extra for the heavy bag and without having to repack.

Yesterday was an interesting flight. I"m near the back of the plane - no big deal. But there were babies on this plane - two of them and neither of them were very happy. I don't know how to say this without stereotyping someone, but one of the mothers looked very "organic". Is that a good way to put it? Anyway, she wore big work boots, had tons of carryon with her. When she first came on the plane and walked past me, I noticed her - how could you not with all that stuff she carried. Next thing I know, there's a little kid wandering down the aisle. No adult in sight. Who does this baby belong to? OH - it belongs to the woman who made it down the aisle about 1 minute before.

She was also in the aisle seat about 2 rows behind me on the opposite side. Anyway, she spent a LOT of time with her big boots planted on the seat while she dug through her carryon in the overhead bin. I don't know how many times, the flight attendants had a wee chat with her to tell her to stop. I couldn't see what was going on, but holy - she was totally disruptive and I think she was holding the baby in one hand while she dug through her carry on with the other.

At some point, when I looked back, I saw a small green potty on the floor, but I don't think she used it? Maybe she (well her toddler???) did???   The kid was under 2 because it did not have its own seat. I'm sure her seatmates were thrilled. And one other time when I glanced back, she was digging through the carryon in the overhead bin and the hem (the BOTTOM HEM) of her T-shirt was practically at her neck?  I don't know how that happened - she was a little off it would appear.

Thank goodness, the ADHD man from that other flight wasn't on this flight. He would have been bouncing up and down the aisle between the two moms. Eventually, the baby behind me fell asleep, the other one not so much. But it all worked out!!!

It was weird to fly home first thing in the morning, but it was too late to fly home the night before. I arrived at the airport extra early - so I could have a leisurely breakfast at Tim's. Thank goodness I did. There was NO line when I arrived and when I left, the line was HUGE.

The girls were happy to see me and then it was heads-down as I got some sewing done. I have FOUR classes (well four different quilts and three classes) today. All of them required some prep work. Thankfully, I had done the bulk of it before I left but still had to piece a block which took quite a bit of the day. I also did some embroidery for one of the others. There's still a small bit of embroidery left for this morning.

I'll be sharing pictures of all the homework this coming week.

I was missing ONE thing that I wanted to share with one of the classes. Do you think I could find the darn thing? It was one of those things that I had moved to a new location a while back and could not find it. So I decided to try one more time this morning. Oh - shoot - I forgot what the front of the plastic bag looked like, but I found it. I also did a wee bit of tidying up in Studio U. When I'm home later today, I'll finish what I was doing. I'm trying to get the stuff out of the hall and into some form of organization with labels so I know where things are.

I love having those manuals on my iPad and YES - I was able to consistently get that menu when I was in iBooks. Just a slight flick upward at the bottom of the screen and it works. A couple of other people suggested touching in the center of the screen and that also works!!!  Two ways to get the menu up. That's good - if I forget one, I'll have the other to fall back on. I need some time to sit down with my embroidery software and practice what I read in the manual before I got on the plane. I'm super excited about all that the software can do. That's for another day!

And that's it for today.

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!