A Longer, and Much Worse, Commute

Last week I commuted to Orlando for Microsoft Tech-Ed. It wasn't actually a commute: I flew there on Sunday, mainly rode busses during the week, and flew back to Killeen on Friday.

As badly out-dated as Austin-area roads are, they do not compare to the under-engineering of the Orlando airport. It took 90 minutes for my checked baggage to be delivered to the baggage claim area, and when I asked American Airlines people if that were not unusual, they said, "No."

But the real evidence of an airport out of control came to light on Friday. I arrived at 7:00 A.M. for a 9:10 A.M. flight to Dallas. The only reason I made my flight is that it was delayed. A woman at the AA counter said "We advise travellers on summer weekends to arrive 4 hours before their scheduled departure."

I saw brutal things, including this episode which is burned into my mind: A crippled and retarded girl, perhaps 12 years old, in a wheel chair, was made to walk through the metal detector. She could hardly stand, but managed to stagger through. While the security people were talking to her obviously distraught mother, the girl wandered off with a tripping gait and a big grin on her face. Once of the Transportation Safety people tackled her and almost knocked her to the floor.

I don't think I'll fly to Orlando again. Maybe to Tampa and drive, but not even that if I can help it.

More species

In my last post I neglected two humble species that occasionally make my commute more pleasant. The first is the Mexican Freetail Bat, _Tadarida_brasiliensis_. Probably the best known colony of these mammals lives under the Congress Avenue bridge in Austin. In July, August and September, you can see about 1,200,000 individuals leave their homes in cracks underneath the bridge around dusk for a night of foraging on mosquitos and other insects. Less well known is the colony that lives under the I-35 railroad overpass in Round Rock; the numbers are less, probably no more than 700,000, but these bats don't mind getting up close and personal with commuters. If you cross the overpass at the right time, you are likely to see bats surfing the slipstream from your windshield. The bats heading up or down Brushy Creek look like long ropes: it is only when you get to the overpass that you see the individuals that make up the cloud.

The second species is the Western Box Turtle, _Terrapene_ornata_. This gentle reptile (gentle, unless you are a curious puppy with your nose in front of the carapce) starts moving in late spring. In May and June, I'm likely to see at least one daily trying to cross a road. A disturbing number don't make it. When my children were small, I used to stop to pick up one or two a year. I'd put it in a box for a while, then release it in the back yard. Most managed to dig under the fence and escape; those who stayed I eventually took back to the side of the road to which they were heading when I interrupted them.