ZIH ✈️ MEX ✈️ YUL

We set the alarms for 4am. I was up about 1:30 and fell back asleep until about 3:20am. I realized it was fruitful to try to get more sleep. Dominique happened to be up around the same time so we decided to finish the prep for the place until Sigi arrived about 5am to ensure we got into a taxi without odoing anything stupid.

We trudged up to level 5 on the elevator and were off to the airport. When we arrived the place appeared not to be open. As it turned out it was open but a couple was standing outside as it was cooler than inside. We entered and got to the end of a line in front of a number of checkin counters that were deserted. About 15 minutes later the staff arrived and started checking people in about 20 minutes later.

Gong show #1
Our tickets included one checked bag each, however there was a 1,750 peso charge for the bags. That's about $37 CAD for each bag. Dominique pointed out that there was a disclaimer on our receipt from where we booked the trip about how the airlines may charge more for baggage. So, with our prepayment of $60 at the time we booked coupled with the $73 at the airport meant we were paying a whopping $66 per bag to have the pleasure of getting our luggage to our destination ... to have the pleasure of getting $$ extorted by AeroMexico. We were honoured to have the opportunity (NOT).

We took off from ZIH at the expected time. Then the announcements started which led to ... tada 🏹

Gong show #2
As we were landing, the announcements started in both languages. They continued for what seemed like 10 minutes. We could not understand anything and the repetition was ridiculous. Here is a sample of one such announcement ... please advise if this is English, Español, or Swahili:

Tkdksl ujkhn dko usosks lsjkskj iu 87 jdskslllso. Theisil ghey tyehey wkdmdj 67,2 dudus.

Just when we though they were done, it would start again. Oh my! Do these people think we are that stupid that we need to be told to stay seated with our seatbelts fastened ....

17 f'ing times!!!! 

Then we experienced, for the first time in the history if commercial aviation what is called a wohs gnog ... in otherwords, a backwards gong show. We exited the plane after a 10 minute taxi and a 12 minute wait for the ground crew to return from Costco where the stairs were purchased to allow the plebs on the plane to disembark.

On our way into terminal 2, we asked about immigration and were told to go up the stairs, expecting to stop to inform the authorities of our leaving the country. We were still in the secure area and .... guess what!!!! ... no stop at immigration required. We parked ourselves in the terminal and await our flight out of here at 1:55pm. We will watch about when our flight may appear on the big screen.

As we noticed when we used AeroMexico to get here in October, AeroMexico personnel in the yellow vests are everywhere. We have to take their advice but smartly check more than once as some of them may, not due to their ignorance, have given us incorrect information. It's just that there are 12,909,382,000 different questions to ask at an airport the size of Benito Juarez and there people are doing the best they can to be helpful. Take a bough AeroMexico 🙇‍♀️ ...

Dominique is of the opinion that she can walk around the terminal and find a coffee. That is a certainty and hope it will not have the souring milk we encountered yesterday at Irma. We anticipate there could be 10 or more gong shows before we leave Benito Juarez. Stay tuned for more updates ... as per the following, the football represents common sense as could possibly be practiced by commercial airlines but isn't ...

The boards that display the departures share their screens with .... tada ... guess what ... advertisements. Our 1:55pm flight shows the letter M beside it's details. We found out from a security guard that M is the concourse name and it will get a gate number about one hour before it is due to leave. The rom we are waiting in was full to the rafters then all of a sudden ... poof, close to empty.

I went for a stroll around the concourse and, for such a large and busy airport, the selection of shops is pitiful. The bestt hing I saw was a Tumi store. As I started my stroll I passed the 👫👫 washrooms. In walked right into the men's and guess what was in front of the women's? You got it ... a line up. I alwayes wonder why in airports, and indeed all public places, why the women's facilities are not twice the size of the men's. When washing up after doing my business, I experienced one of those faucets where one has to displace a leaver and hold it to keep the water running as one runs soapy hands together. How can one rub hands like that while one of them needs to keep the water on? This is yet another example of the DIDUI syndrome ... Design It Don't Use It. If I ever get an opportunity to design something I suspect I will never use, I will lasso a few people off the street to advise me.

I am reading a Grisham book and it's been a while since I tried one of his. Even though my interest in the NHL has waned over the past 20 years, I am still interested in the playoffs that start after the April 18 last regular season matchups. We have four of our seven teams in the race this year and, if I ever have to side with one of them as the contenders get trimmed every series, I'd stick with the Oilers or the Canucks.

We sent an email to our real estate pro (Dave Resnick). We are curious about what may be available on our part of town. We have no plans to see and buy somewhere else as of yet. However, if the fools who ran the board at our current place get a hold of the building again, those plans would change to active. 

We discover about 90 minutes before departure that our gate is 79. There is quite a crowd around the lounge at gate 79/80 which are side by each. Dominique watches the crowds there and, about 12:45 the capacity of the waiting area by 79 shrinks, and we move over there. The boarding begins about 1:20 and we taxi for some time then take off. We were in seats A and B with someone else in C. A few minutes before takeoff, the guy in C moves to another seat and we were left with B unoccupied. Yippee. The announcements from the crew are annoying as usual. 

Not long after we were in the air, the as____e in front of me puts her seat back. She now has two times more space between her and the seat in front of her, whereas my space is cut more than 30%. These dicks are just that. So I went through my seat back banging exercise and eventually got the look from her. Poor baby.

I moved to the unoccupied middle seat where the person in front of me did not out recline his seat. Dominique watched a movie and I read and napped. They fed us a light meal which was nice. We arrived in Montreal on time and cleared customs and had our bags within 20 minutes. For some reason the kiosks that scan one's passport did not like Dominique's passport, so we had to get in a special line to speak with an agent who manually gathered the info needed to proceed.

It took a while to hook up with Joe but we did find each other between zones B and C. The drive home was about 1h15m. We spent over 2½ hours fidgeting with stuff and crashed about 2:50am.

Maggie, you've had quite a day.  Hasta mañana Señora Calabash, n'importe donde estás.