I’m back to work; or rather, sitting around in a crew room hoping to work.

I checked my voicemail as the plane landed at O’Hare. Sure enough, there was a message waiting for me. I made a phone call. The voice on the other end told me he’d meet me between the Christmas trees next to the airplane inside the connector between Terminals 1 and 2.

Despite having no idea what the other looked like, we were able to identify each other easily. I handed a total stranger $350 cash in an airport terminal, and he gave me an envelope which I stuck in my pocket. It looked like an amateur drug deal, or at any rate something out of a Coen brothers’ film.

(Hat Tip to Rachel.)

I’m on ready reserve until 3am, which means I should be released by midnight. If I’m not, I shouldn’t have to do anything tomorrow, and I’ll probably go home, and come back on Friday. They’ll probably release me at midnight, though, at which point we’ll see if the keys in the envelope in my pocket are worth the $350 I paid for them. ($100 of that is a deposit I should get back.)

It’s far from the best deal on a crash pad, and it’s not as close as I’d like, but it’s the only one I was able to find on short notice. $50/night for hotels adds up quickly. I figure it’s just for a month– after that I should either have a line or be in training for the Dash.