I had rented an intermediate size car. In a new city, it is easier to maneuver on unknown roads with a smaller car. Plus I was going to stay in a downtown hotel. With all the narrow streets and construction going on, it is always a good idea to get something that can turn in tight corners like a small car.

Except, Avis had other ideas for me. The had a shining Nissan Titan ready for me. These puppies are really big and really high. If you know the car I have been driving for the last 17 years, you can fit my car and a half within this truck’s dimensions. And Avis had no other car.

So, for the first time in my life, I drove a pickup truck!! I almost needed a ladder to get up. Although, I have to say – it was filled with all sorts of gadgets that made driving and parking fairly smooth. My current car does not even have a reverse camera!!

As our flight wrapped around San Antonio anticlockwise to approach the airport, I spotted what you see in this picture while looking out of the window. The Delta map showed we were due north west from the city.

At first glance, it looks like a small airport with a single active runway (and a feeder one). Then the details become a little more interesting. There are no buildings around it!! In fact, it appears that there is no concrete or asphalt. It is just cleaned and leveled ground.

First I thought that it might be used for crop dusters. But it seems too long for crop dusters. Plus there is not a single plane standing there. There are no hangars. The airplanes could not have been towed away anywhere since the only connection into the runways are a couple of narrow dirt roads.

Perhaps, an airport under construction? A private airport? But there is absolutely zero construction machinery around.

An abandoned effort to build an airport?

Would anybody know or venture to guess?

The view of the island never ceases to amaze me. Today is one of the rare times I am headed to La Guardia instead of JFK and the plane came up the Hudson River side. That gave me a clear view of Manhattan. I can even clearly see Brooklyn Bridge and the area where Natasha lives!!

Strolling down the aisles of Walgreens, waiting for my medication to be ready, this caught my eye. Tests to see if you have marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy in your system…

My question: Who uses this?

Surely the cops are not going – “Let’s pick up some of those tests on our way to the beat”. Parents aren’t forcing the kids to take these tests. Are people taking these before going for drug tests for jobs and all that?

Who buys these from Walgreens?

Any ideas?

This way he can check how good he is looking in between bouts of smashing the ball out of the opponent’s reach!!

I logged in to Delta to check the progress of Sharmila’s flight from Atlanta to Dallas.

I am not too sure I understand what it is doing!!

Impressed that Uber still has not figured out who my driver will be but is sure that he or she is 5 minutes away!! And this has been going on for a few minutes now…

As I rambled on from the Skyclub to my gate, I thought I heard my name come up on the PA. Sure enough, the lady at the gate was looking for me. I could not possibly think of one good reason that might have led to the summons. I had not checked in any luggage, I had no connection flight, the aircraft equipment was already there and I could not be upgraded.

When I walked up to the lady, a bit nonplussed, something caught my eye. And then I realized what was happening. To remove any shred of doubt, the Delta lady said – “We are going to embarrass you a little”.

And embarrass me she did.

Turns out I became a 2 Million Mile Flyer with Delta today. I had received the notification this morning from them.

The Delta agents made a public show of giving me the certificate and a Delta backpack. They announced the whole thing on the PA system, made all the waiting passengers clap (twice – since the first one was not good enough for the Delta folks) and took pictures on their phones and mine.

Then they announced my name to board the flight first!!

That was a turn of events I was not prepared for.

Interestingly enough, I made Delta 360 a couple of months back and yet for all the flying miles on Delta, I just reached the half way mark to my American Airlines miles. That is over 4 million miles – most all of it from international flights from Dallas. With Delta, almost all my flights are domestic.

Every week – mostly Thursday evenings – I would be there after yet another exhausting week returning home. Usually with Garry or Karthik or Sunjay. That was more than a dozen years back.

Felt good to revisit that spot this morning.

If you come out of O’hare airport or approach the same, you are likely to notice a lot of signs helping you to the Kiss ‘N Fly parking lot. Seeing such a sign from the train that I boarded from the rental car center to the terminals, two questions immediately popped to my mind.

1. First, is this where you kiss the wrong spouse and subsequent events inspire you to fly? (or for that matter, why insist on the kissing part?)

2. Why Kiss and then Fly? This is where you wait for incoming passengers – to pick them up. When you drop them you take them straight to the departure area at the terminal. Should it not be “Fly and Kiss” or perhaps “Kiss and Drive” away? The chronological flow betrays the knowledge of grammatical sequencers.

What did you say? I need some serious help? 🙂