Catching an Early Flight

I'm not a morning person, per se. We like to go to sleep relatively late and the morning alarm is seen as more of a mortal enemy than a tool of convenience. This morning was exactly the type of morning I dread - a 4:30 AM wake up time to catch a 5:00 AM car to the airport. Other than truck drivers, policemen and workers at the Tokyo fish market, I'm not sure who else needs to be awake at 5:00 AM. Maybe nuclear power plant workers but I know I'm not one who should be on that short list.

My car picked me up a bit before 5:00... not that I really wanted him to get here that early but early is better than late. Of course, you quickly learn that at 5:00 AM, you really don't need to budget as much time for the commute to the airport as no one else wants to be awake either.

Walking through the airport at 5:30 AM, you notice the most random things...

• Even if you're short on reading material, newsstands in the airport are still closed. Of course, the Brooks Brothers store was open... !?
• Need to put a shine on your shoes? Better stick around because the shoe shine boy is still snoozing.
• Apparently Indian businessmen think packets of Turkey Jerky are fascinating.
• Starbucks tastes like liquid manna at 5:30 AM
• Walking through a relatively barren airport allows you to take in the architecture around you. I don't think I'd ever taken the time to look at the "skeletal structure" of IAH's Terminal E like I did this morning. The more I look at this terminal (and the more I think about the small waiting areas in Terminal B), the more I realize that the architects did a great job.

So... I write all this because I'm catching a morning flight to Atlanta for a quick business trip. Call it a glorified lunch... a quick day trip to meet with some clients auditing one of our workshops. I canceled my car rental and instead opted to take MARTA today when I realized that car rental would be an inordinate hassle thanks to last night's NCAA basketball championship game in the ATL. Rather than fight for a handful of cars and inflated prices, I figured I could take MARTA directly to my meeting. In 10 hours, I'll be back on a plane and on the way home...