Leaving on a jet plane, Part Deux

RDU airport, 4 o’clock

And so the journey begins.  The check-in line at RDU was practically nonexistent, as I would expect for 3 pm on a Monday afternoon.  The nice and clueful gate agent recognized my business class upgrade from LJ, which meant that I got my 60-lb and 68-lb bags checked for free.  My backpack and small roll-aboard went through security without incident, although one of the security guys did ask about the string hanging from the laptop.  Once I popped out the stylus for this Tablet PC (which is connected to the PC by way of the string), he seemed satisfied.

Since I won’t be using my personal cell phone on this trip, I left it at home with an extended away message on the voicemail.  Sitting here in the airport without a cell phone or internet access (I’m waiting to Dulles to see how much it costs there), I feel cut off from the US already.  I’m amazed at how much I’ve come to rely on the instant gratification of cell phones.  Without a new work cell phone number, which I’ll get with the purchase of a SIM card in Ghana, I had to default to the “old-fashioned” method of setting a time and place to meet my colleague, Dorella, in Accra.  Well, maybe not completely old-fashioned method, as setting up the meeting spot was done through email.

Update from Dulles around 8 pm:

My “free” business class upgrade got me Red Carpet Club access and, more importantly, free WiFi to post this.  (I put “free” in quotes because the amount of time that my wonderful husband, LJ, spent on planes to get the upgrade means he would not consider it to be free!) 

Over the last week or so, I’ve been filling some of my food cravings before I head off to cuisines unknown. There was the pork BBQ and Bo’s sweet tea at my going-away party last Saturday, and a burger and fries from Cloos’ last night.  Indian food has made a strong appearance, in both the North and South Indian varieties.  Dinner tonight was a yummy turkey melt with an Octoberfest beer at Gordon Biersch here in Dulles.  Now it’s time to fire up a good book on the Kindle, sit back, and wait to board my overnight flight.