I'm on a United flight from Charlotte to Chicago and I have achieved my holy grail - an entire row to myself! As it got late in boarding and no one was yet here, I tried to avoid getting too worked up. The last few times I thought I had a HG situation some latecomer came in at the last minute and harshed my empty row mellow. I have crap strewn through all three seats, all the armrests up, my legs stretched out and the laptop deployed. Aaaaahhh.

Another of the multitudinous fabulously wonderful things about living in the Grand Strand is flying out of Myrtle Beach International. I live about 10 miles from the airport, and had a 6:20 AM flight out. I left the house at 5:20 AM (?!), parked at 5:40, the shuttle bus drove straight to me and carried me straight to the terminal, I was checked in by 5:45 and at the gate at 5:50 AM. I lived 10 miles from Hartsfield in Atlanta, and I always left 3 hours before a flight. I'm a nervous flyer but I'm only nervous about making the plane. Once I board, I'm happy as a clam but I live in constant fear of missing flights. This was actually closer than I meant to cut it, but it turned out fine. Since there is free wifi at the gates in MBI, getting there early just means you can dork around as you wait. Next time I plan to leave earlier but it is nice to know that you aren't screwed if you don't. If I was still in the house one hour before a flight out of Hartsfield, I'd be on the phone changing my tickets because there would be no point in trying to get there.