Only two more flights to go

Only two more flights to go

It is 2.45 Oxford time and I can say (in ways of a general resume for the day) that flying is an experience one should get paid for, not the other way round. When we arrived in Heathrow yesterday afternoon I believed at the time that the check-in process was quite chaotic. There were long queues everywhere, of course, and the security checks were not made easier by the fact that I was traveling with two laptops, not one. Having packed and re-packed our hand luggage several times we had to board pronto, so all we could do to get lunch was try out the drinks- and chocolate machines in the boarding lounge. These, alas, turned out to have the sole purpose of swallowing change and after L. had invested £1.20 and Y. another 20p we boarded without further ado. The flight was acceptably pleasant, though, and I even watched James Bond. I was also very impressed by Y.s ability to fall asleep while writing.
Arriving in Chicago, however, impressed me far less. Some further queuing opportunities were provided, but over and above these it was especially aggrieved by the fact that only a third of our luggage had travelled with us. The discovery that one of the suitcases got ripped in transit was somewhat less annoying as a result. I was also very unimpressed with the American Airlines service when we tried to find out what had happened to the other suitcases. They finally let on that they were travelling via Paris and would arrive in Cuzco later.
It was hence a heartbreaking experience to see my rucksack disappear once more on the conveyor belt...to be taken to the plane to Miami, then on to Lima, then on to Cuzco...or perhaps not, as it were.
The journey has not been without moments of reconciliation, though: having had to unpack my hand luggage once more to check in for the flight to Miami I was then asked to divide it into four different plastic trays in a specific way. When I subsequently tried to march through security with my main bag on my back because I had by then forgotten that it was still there one of the conveyor belt security guards just exclaimed 'Don't worry, we're all driven into madness here', which earned him a general cheer from his colleagues.