Homecoming, Part 2

3:44 AM CST
From what I have heard, they will start checking in at 4. They already turned the lights back on and the conveyer belt behind the US Air counter is moving. The self check in kiosks have finished booting Windows XP and are now displaying their usual menu. There is a large group of Army soldiers that arrived here over the past few hours, and I will wait for them to check in before getting in line. I spent the past few hours learning Common Lisp and trying out Adobe Lightroom CS4 before I started writing again. My flight will leave at 11:55 for Phoenix, and I’m just waiting to check in as soon as I can and go through security (for the second time) and hopefully by then some of the restaurants have opened.

I am writing this post as things happen and as time goes along rather than doing so after getting home since I will have a lot of wait time. I’ll keep writing these logs until I board my flight from Phoenix to SFO or until my battery runs out.


5:28 AM CST
At around 4:30, I checked in and went through security. Most of the stores were still closed but thankfully Burger King was open and I had dinner/breakfast there. I found it interesting to note that this was the first time I’ve had fast food in about 4 or so months. I found my gate, E35, which is actually full of people waiting for an earlier flight.

There is still a good 5 hours of downtime before I start boarding. I found a place with some power outlets to recharge my laptop and some seats to hopefully recharge myself. Like other airports, DFW has Wi-Fi, and, also like other airports, it unfortunately isn’t free. I actually realized once more just how much I seem to be relying on the Internet. I found that there is actually not that much to do on my computer without an internet connection. Most of what I do on my computer nowadays other than homework usually involves some a web-based service.

However, this is not surprising since I am definitely not the only one. I recently read an article on CNN about a study that showed that adults in America would rather forgo sex than Internet access. I am not going to comment more about that at the moment because my relationship with the Internet is comparatively dissimilar.

Anyway, I sometimes wonder if or when the Internet will reach its maximum capacity in terms of number of nodes or the amount of data being transmitted at a given instant, and when the core technologies of the Internet will be dramatically changed or upgraded. I read about the superfast network connecting the Large Hadron Collider to various servers throughout Europe. This fiber-optic network is supposedly 10,000 as fast as the Internet that we use. The Internet will continue to become more and more essential in the coming years, especially with the proliferation of cloud computing. Some speculate that in the future, operating systems as we know it will become obsolete and will be replaced with network-based systems.

But for right now, I am in a way finding that my lack of Internet access relieves me of a major distraction and has allowed me to take more time to think and write. I apologize for all the random tangents in this post compared to the last. There’s still a good 5 hours before I board my flight.


7:25 AM CST
I moved to a seat at Gate 35 now. It looks like sunrise outside. I can’t actually see the sun but there it is already somewhat bright and there is a red glow among the haze on the horizon. It is interesting because back in New Haven, it was actually really bright at around 7:30. Here, it seems like the sun hasn’t fully come up yet, but maybe it is because Dallas is in the South or because it is even brighter inside the terminal. In any case, it is good to see that the weather will be pretty clear today.

I’m finally feeling pretty drowsy now so I think I’ll get some sleep. I have my alarm set to 11:00 so I won’t miss boarding my flight.

2:22 PM MST
I actually got a lot more sleep than I expected.

After fortunately being awoke by my alarm, I boarded and we left Dallas. I didn’t really get a good view of Dallas as we flew in last night aside from a field of city lights drawing gradually closer. As we took off, the view was pretty amazing:


In the daytime, the endless field of lights is revealed to be an endless field of sprawl. For some reason, my mental prototype of a large city is a big clump of skyscrapers, leaving out the suburbs and industrial zones and everything else. In any case, though I'm not too fond of flying, the amazing aerial views never cease to amaze me.


After going through the layer of clouds and approaching cruising altitude, I got a good amount of sleep before waking up as we prepared to land in Phoenix. The shadow on the ground is us:


Now, I am waiting for my final flight in an unusually packed terminal in Phoenix (hence the picture preceding this post). A lot of people are sitting on the ground or just standing because all of the seats were full. As it turns out, a number of flights are being delayed. The flight to Las Vegas is delayed because the plane was late coming in. The flight to Kona is delayed due to "connecting problems." At Gate 29, we're waiting for the flight to Atlanta to leave before we would board our flight. However, for some reason, the plane didn't come in for the Atlanta folk so we will be flying before they do, and at least half an hour later than scheduled.

This will be it for now. I won't have a chance to write until I get home, but I am glad that home is now not at all too far away.