Sunday, January 03, 2010

Buen Viaje

The day after Christmas, I dragged myself out of bed at three in the morning. I only missed one turn on the short journey from the Holiday Inn to National Airport. No gas stations were open, so I hoped that the needle being on “Full” would be enough. I’d probably driven 40 miles since I’d filled up the car.

I left my lousy, stinky rental Hyundai at the night drop, listening closely as the keys hit the bottom of the metal box and hoping I’d gotten the process right. I shouldered my backpack and headed to the terminal.

I arrived at around 4:20 a.m. Damn—the check-in area was a mess. Some jackass had tried to something stupid on a plane the day before so we all faced extra security. Long lines faced me at the e-check-in section but the actual human line was short so I went through that.

I got through security, bought breakfast, and pulled out my netbooki. I was going to try to sign up for Boingo, where for $9.95 a month you can use airport hotspots. That would be a good deal since I’d be traveling a lot over the next few months.

But what popped up on my screen was even better. Google had made some kind of free airport wifi deal for the duration of the holidays.

Er, free? Yeah, I‘ll take that.

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