[Leica] Home from London

[imra at iol.ie (Douglas Barry)]

Well, that's a relief for you, Brian, and for us!
Douglas


On 17/03/2020 01:26, Brian Reid wrote:
> I am safely home from London. Below is the email I sent my extended 
> family about the trip.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  
>
>
> The flight was uneventful. When we landed, the pilot told us to remain 
> in our seats until the arrival team came on board and gave further 
> instructions. The usual collection of arrogant entitled middle-aged 
> men with criminally oversize carry-on bags ignored those instructions 
> and pushed their way through to cluster near the exit door, as they 
> always do.
>
> A crew of 4 medical-looking people with clipboards came in and fanned 
> out around the airplane. Delightfully, they ignored the hyper entitled 
> men (who were by now pushing to be allowed out the exit door) and went 
> row by row to people who were still in their seats. We were each 
> handed a form to fill out with the facts of our visit (where have you 
> been, what symptoms might you have, etc).
>
> They took us out into the jetway in batches of 12. We were met by 
> people who looked like they were EMTs borrowed from ambulance 
> companies, who interviewed us, scanned our foreheads with no-touch 
> thermometers, and listened briefly to our airways. I checked out fine; 
> no fever, no bronchial sounds, and I had been nowhere but Battersea. 
> My EMT signed my form and I was told to wait over there.
>
> Three or four people in police uniforms were just standing around 
> watching. I didn't see any behavior that needed the attention of the 
> police, but I'm sure there has been and will be.
>
> From there we were escorted to passport control. One escort per group 
> of 12. I have "global entry", but in 5 years of using it, it has never 
> worked once--the camera always takes a picture of the top of my head 
> when I look down to see where the fingerprint scanner might be. So 
> then (as always) I had to get in the passport line and talk to them. 
> At least as a global-entry reject I get to butt into the front of the 
> passport line.
>
> I figured that the escorted batches of 12 were like the metering 
> lights on freeways. They ensured that the backed-up people would 
> remain on the airplane instead of clogging the hallways like in the 
> news photos you've probably all seen.
>
> From there we parted with our escorts and were sent to baggage claim. 
> We got our bags. I wore fresh latex gloves. I needed to open my 
> checked bag to get out the bottle of pump-spray isopropanol to douse 
> the suitcase (you don't know who might have handled it) and then 
> doused my hands after ditching the gloves. I also doused my hair for 
> good measure.
>
> An unusually large set of dogs was sniffing suitcases. I've always 
> seen one dog, or occasionally two, but there were at least 10 circling 
> around Baggage Claim 4. They ignored me. Good thing I didn't have any 
> peanut butter in there this time. I don't know what they were looking 
> for. Contraband Purell?
>
> I went outdoors to the "meet drivers here" section, and waited for my 
> driver. He drove me home quickly, filling the time with his usual 
> collection of funny stories about his past. I guess he doesn't care 
> that I've heard them all 20 times.
>
> A shower felt good.
>
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