0630 US3251 BDL PHL 0530 0646 E75 3F

Cruelty of cruelties, I got my buddy Dave to take me
to the airport at 4:30; the place was surprisingly
hopping, and they had to open a second line at security
(which as usual these days took seconds). The Club doesn't
open until 5:30, what good is that.

Loaded up in orderly fashion. Two FAs on this quite full
express flight, one quite sullen though model-gorgeous,
the other somewhat more cheery though much less pretty.

I had an empty next to me, until the last pax boarded. A
POS, spilling out into my seat, but apologetic. Turns out
she gets panic attacks. I helped her as best I could, giving
pep-talks, advice, whatever a violist can do. Exhausting.
We switched midflight (the fact that the seat belt sign was
still on threatened to give her yet another attack) so she
could lean against the side of the aircraft and zone out.

A fairly bumpy flight; we landed about 6:35 or 40, but as
our gate was occupied, we sat around until a little after 7,
which annoyed a nonzero number of passengers, including me.

I'd told Miss Panic Attack that I'd try to get her a better
seat on her next flight - she'd been assigned aisles,
whereas she prefers huddling against the window, but as we
docked a bit late, there was no time to do anything. I hope
she's okay.

Being guilty of guilt, when I got to my gate and discovered
it not boarding yet, I went back to try to keep track of the
pax just described. Couldn't find her, and by the time I
gave up, it was boarding time (zone 3) for my next flight.

Oh. There was a bright orange apparently abandoned bag at
the end of the moving walkway nearest the US Airways Club.
I was in a hurry and didn't investigate further and didn't
bother to call anyone. I figure that anybody wanting to
disrupt an airport could just abandon bright orange bags
and then phone in sightings. Closed airports could cost
almost as much as exploded airports with much less risk
and investment. Anyhow, haven't all the bags been screened
already?

US1143 PHL MSY 0740 0952 734 2C

My seatmate was grumpy and self-important. He expanded his
personal space, using as much armrest space and underseat
storage as he could get away with and otherwise bored me.
No further information available.

A fairly okay flight, but instead of breakfast, we got the
standard snack basket. No problems there, as we had Biscoffs
and cranberry-nut mix. We landed very close to on time.

The E2 bus costs only $1.60 and takes 45 minutes to
Tulane and Loyola, whereas the shared van costs $30 and
might take anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes, and a cab,
who knows. Of course, there's a mile walk at the end of
the line, but wandering through the Quarter isn't such a
great tragedy.

Lunch at Cafe Madea's on Common St. a few blocks north of
the Pere Marquette. This is a most unprepossessing tiny
storefront that when I walked by had really appetizing
smells coming out of it. The special was red beans and rice
with fried chicken or pork chops; I got the chicken, which
was atypically not extremely crispy - it had been floured
lightly and garlicked and was very tasty. Three drumsticks.
The red beans and rice was lovely, the beans done all
creamy and soft, the rice somewhat below average, what there
was that you could find under the beans. A big chunk of
smoked pork riblets gave lots of flavor. With this I had a
can of some local pineapple soda, Big Shot or Top Hat or
something, which was nasty and gave me a 200 Calorie hit
of HFCS.

The other offering of the day was the turkey wing with
cabbage - this smelled pretty good. There are I believe a
la carte offerings as well, but I get the feeling that to
order any of them would put the help out - there appeared to
be only two of them, and they were very busy.

Stayed at Bienville House, 320 Decatur St., a funky (in both
good and less good senses) place right near Jackson Park. A
better location could not be had. The complaints about this
place tend to revolve around noisiness (it's the Quarter,
duh), so I got a cheap windowless room by choice, and it was
lovely. The room was nicely appointed, with two comfy double
beds and sturdy, fairly okay furniture; and as the a/c runs
continuously, there was no mustiness problem. Wi-fi is $10
extra, but there's a computer in the lobby that can be used
for small lookups and chores (10-min limit), so that's what
I did. Some cheap stuff branded Gilchrist & Soames, giving
one a false sense of anticipation, in the bathroom; it was
average at best.