Left on a jet plane

Uh, yes, as it turned out, I woke up at 3:56, and the chain of events that followed got me to the gate roughly an hour and 45 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart. The only problem was that the "self-service" check-in machines were having trouble printing the actual boarding card, so I had to stand in line at the gate to get one.

Then they made a "quiet" announcement, in the form of a text message on the LCD informational monitors at the gate, that they were selling upgrades to first class on the flight for $80.00. (Apparently, Delta Airlines needs cash.) I decided that, had I been given the option when I was making the reservation way back in May, I would have paid $80.00 to upgrade to first class. So I did, and I had scrambled eggs for breakfast, and there was an actual celebrity in first class, Jeanne Cooper of "The Young and the Restless." (I only spotted her because she boarded right before me, and I saw her name flash on the readout on the boarding pass scanner.) She was coming to Tampa to appear on the Home Shopping Network to sell jewelry, or so I overheard in a conversation she was having with a skycap at the baggage claim. Yes, the famous have to wait for their luggage, just like you or I.