that's how I escaped my certain fate
Affordable air travel is such a marvel that it takes a certain breed to be able to complain about the details in the face of the stunning convenience. I must confess, if such a confession is in fact required of me at this point, that I am indeed a man capable of making such complaints. Any day that includes more than six hours in one or another airplane is just not a good day in my book. Last Friday and Sunday were pretty much lost to travel. No one got hurt though, and it was all in service of a good cause.
Let's see. Friday I drove to the Philadelphia International Airport, then flew from there to Dallas. I had about a two and a half hour layover in Dallas, and there was an exciting plan of meeting Ft. Worth area residents![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
heyjana and katybean there and having a meal at the DFW Hyatt. Yep, taking a couple Texas party girls to a hotel for an hour or so in the middle of a day; I'd been looking to add such a feat to my resume for years now. Alas it was not to be. Katy got sick (hopefully she is better now) and Jana refused to drive herself or some such. Tragically I didn't get Katy's voice mail informing me of this that afternoon, so I wound up wandering around the baggage claim area like a dork for about an hour before I realized I had been abandoned.
I flew on from DFW to Sacramento. I was pretty out of it by the time that I landed in California, with the time change and all, and all the hours in the planes behind me. I realized somewhere prior to this point (but too late to do anything about it) that I had left the wedding invitation somewhere at home. This meant that I knew the day of the wedding, and the city that it would be in, and not a whole lot more than that. Not a good prospect. I took a shuttle van thing from the Sacramento airport to my hotel. There had been rumors of getting together at the groom's house that night, but I didn't hear from anyone and I was pretty tired, so I sacked out pretty quickly once I was in my hotel room.
My great savior during this phase of the trip was that I had brought Perdido Street Station along with me to read, and I found myself really enjoying this book. The level of invention was just great and the guy is quite a writer in my opinion... both inspiring and at the same time seriously intimidating. The book really won me over anyway, and I would recommend it.
Saturday morning I called people around the country til I found someone who could go to the wedding website for me and supply me with the details that I needed; ultimately it was Jim D. who saved me (as always) but Mike P. was also available to help so that was cool. I wandered around the neighborhood around the hotel but most businesses in the area seemed to be closed or vacant. I did see a really cool Masonic temple, but I failed to get a picture of it. Well, not taking a picture might've just saved me my life - these secret organizations can get awfully touchy. The funny thing is the Elks had a giant meeting hall right around the corner that actually humbled the Mason's place.
That afternoon I also got the surprise of a phone call fromheyjana herself. That was nice of her to let me know what happened on Friday. I babbled about this and that to her.
Later I got dudded up and took a cab to the wedding. It was a Methodist ceremony, pretty short and to the point. I hadn't been in a church for awhile and was relieved that the proceedings did not call for any kneeling. I walked from the church to the reception, which I had been told was very "do-able"... it turned out to be a slightly annoying distance given the California heat and me in my wedding duds, but it was OK. The reception was atop some big hotel, right by the state capitol building. We even saw a "Take Back The Night" march on the Capitol from a balcony at one point.
The reception was quite nice - really nice I thought - and they did some neat things I had not seen at receptions before. I got to meet the bride, Melissa, finally and that was fun. Also talked to Jay (the groom) of course. A lot of the out-of-state invitees had not turned up, which I would say was due to tough times in the tech industry right now, so Jay seemed really glad that I was there. I was glad too, Jay is just one of the best people I know and I was truly happy to see his joy, his and his new wife's.
I got to talk to some of my ex-Apple croneys at the reception some. I have to say that... well... I am not saying that I am in any way above or better than these guys, I am certainly not, BUT, I am so glad I quit Apple and worked at EnterAct, etc. I think it resulted in a lot of personal growth for me - if I stayed at Apple I would still be the befuddled, vaguely good natured round guy, instead of the seething mass of twisted flesh and twitching limbs that I have become. Pamela G. was there, she is Jay's new sister-in-law now... she handled the orientation the day I started at Apple, and when she was introducing me to some people at the wedding, she commented how at Apple they used to "tease Chris mercilessly". Well shucks I thought everyone thought I was pretty cool! Oh well. They let me use a free Powerbook while I worked there so I guess it's all right. It was really nice to talk to David B., Tony C. and Chris C. again... also Jeff and Pamela... just very very great people... I dunno why I don't just list their full names. Indulge me in my freaky and ill-considered ways.
Sunday was another travel day, but I had finished Perdido Street Station on Saturday, so now I was reading Underground. Did I mention I was subjected to more than the usual security checking on this trip? No big deal really. I doubt we're any safer for it but I don't mind and I guess we have to at least try. Necessary but not sufficient? Something like that. The first leg of the return flight was from Sacramento to St. Louis and it was a real long amount of time to spend in a plane. I had about 20 minutes between flights in St. Louis (well, from disembarking to boarding - not take off) and I checked for voice mail... my phone showed 7 new messages and 1 missed call. What th-? Turns out it hadn't been showing me I had voice mail, until now suddenly. I still can't figure it out but... anyway I had messages going back for over a month, which really sucked and was embarassing; these included a call fromkatybean regarding Friday and more amusingly some lawyer telling me I should let our former landlord know he was about to get sued and possibly brought up on criminal charges. Yeah, sorry I missed getting involved in that....
I finally got back to the unending cockup that is the Philadelphia International Airport around 10:30 Sunday night... then I had to get the luggage (fine), wait for the shuttle to economy parking (took more than a half an hour, all the while shuttles for private parking companies circulated by regularly, taunting me like mirages), then find Prius and escape the economy parking lot. I may still hate driving but I do love Prius. I was finally back to my little home by 12:30. Was in bed about an hour later but couldn't sleep for some or another reason. Oh well.
Anyway that is about what I recall of my exciting journey to the capitol of the failed experiment on the west coast. It was costly but I am very glad that I went, and quite happy for Jay and Melissa. They are going to Hawaii for their honeymoon, and are going to swim with the dolphins there. Hopefully I will see them again before too long.
Oh geez and we are going to Orlando this Thursday. Yikes.
Also I saw a commercial on TV for Domino's Buffalo Chicken Kickers when I was hungry and deprived out in Sacramento on Friday night and now I want some. This is sad, but, you know, you should probably get me some anyway. Or, maybe I will have to get me some. Sometime.
Let's see. Friday I drove to the Philadelphia International Airport, then flew from there to Dallas. I had about a two and a half hour layover in Dallas, and there was an exciting plan of meeting Ft. Worth area residents
heyjana and katybean there and having a meal at the DFW Hyatt. Yep, taking a couple Texas party girls to a hotel for an hour or so in the middle of a day; I'd been looking to add such a feat to my resume for years now. Alas it was not to be. Katy got sick (hopefully she is better now) and Jana refused to drive herself or some such. Tragically I didn't get Katy's voice mail informing me of this that afternoon, so I wound up wandering around the baggage claim area like a dork for about an hour before I realized I had been abandoned.I flew on from DFW to Sacramento. I was pretty out of it by the time that I landed in California, with the time change and all, and all the hours in the planes behind me. I realized somewhere prior to this point (but too late to do anything about it) that I had left the wedding invitation somewhere at home. This meant that I knew the day of the wedding, and the city that it would be in, and not a whole lot more than that. Not a good prospect. I took a shuttle van thing from the Sacramento airport to my hotel. There had been rumors of getting together at the groom's house that night, but I didn't hear from anyone and I was pretty tired, so I sacked out pretty quickly once I was in my hotel room.
My great savior during this phase of the trip was that I had brought Perdido Street Station along with me to read, and I found myself really enjoying this book. The level of invention was just great and the guy is quite a writer in my opinion... both inspiring and at the same time seriously intimidating. The book really won me over anyway, and I would recommend it.
Saturday morning I called people around the country til I found someone who could go to the wedding website for me and supply me with the details that I needed; ultimately it was Jim D. who saved me (as always) but Mike P. was also available to help so that was cool. I wandered around the neighborhood around the hotel but most businesses in the area seemed to be closed or vacant. I did see a really cool Masonic temple, but I failed to get a picture of it. Well, not taking a picture might've just saved me my life - these secret organizations can get awfully touchy. The funny thing is the Elks had a giant meeting hall right around the corner that actually humbled the Mason's place.
That afternoon I also got the surprise of a phone call from
heyjana herself. That was nice of her to let me know what happened on Friday. I babbled about this and that to her.Later I got dudded up and took a cab to the wedding. It was a Methodist ceremony, pretty short and to the point. I hadn't been in a church for awhile and was relieved that the proceedings did not call for any kneeling. I walked from the church to the reception, which I had been told was very "do-able"... it turned out to be a slightly annoying distance given the California heat and me in my wedding duds, but it was OK. The reception was atop some big hotel, right by the state capitol building. We even saw a "Take Back The Night" march on the Capitol from a balcony at one point.
The reception was quite nice - really nice I thought - and they did some neat things I had not seen at receptions before. I got to meet the bride, Melissa, finally and that was fun. Also talked to Jay (the groom) of course. A lot of the out-of-state invitees had not turned up, which I would say was due to tough times in the tech industry right now, so Jay seemed really glad that I was there. I was glad too, Jay is just one of the best people I know and I was truly happy to see his joy, his and his new wife's.
I got to talk to some of my ex-Apple croneys at the reception some. I have to say that... well... I am not saying that I am in any way above or better than these guys, I am certainly not, BUT, I am so glad I quit Apple and worked at EnterAct, etc. I think it resulted in a lot of personal growth for me - if I stayed at Apple I would still be the befuddled, vaguely good natured round guy, instead of the seething mass of twisted flesh and twitching limbs that I have become. Pamela G. was there, she is Jay's new sister-in-law now... she handled the orientation the day I started at Apple, and when she was introducing me to some people at the wedding, she commented how at Apple they used to "tease Chris mercilessly". Well shucks I thought everyone thought I was pretty cool! Oh well. They let me use a free Powerbook while I worked there so I guess it's all right. It was really nice to talk to David B., Tony C. and Chris C. again... also Jeff and Pamela... just very very great people... I dunno why I don't just list their full names. Indulge me in my freaky and ill-considered ways.
Sunday was another travel day, but I had finished Perdido Street Station on Saturday, so now I was reading Underground. Did I mention I was subjected to more than the usual security checking on this trip? No big deal really. I doubt we're any safer for it but I don't mind and I guess we have to at least try. Necessary but not sufficient? Something like that. The first leg of the return flight was from Sacramento to St. Louis and it was a real long amount of time to spend in a plane. I had about 20 minutes between flights in St. Louis (well, from disembarking to boarding - not take off) and I checked for voice mail... my phone showed 7 new messages and 1 missed call. What th-? Turns out it hadn't been showing me I had voice mail, until now suddenly. I still can't figure it out but... anyway I had messages going back for over a month, which really sucked and was embarassing; these included a call from
katybean regarding Friday and more amusingly some lawyer telling me I should let our former landlord know he was about to get sued and possibly brought up on criminal charges. Yeah, sorry I missed getting involved in that....I finally got back to the unending cockup that is the Philadelphia International Airport around 10:30 Sunday night... then I had to get the luggage (fine), wait for the shuttle to economy parking (took more than a half an hour, all the while shuttles for private parking companies circulated by regularly, taunting me like mirages), then find Prius and escape the economy parking lot. I may still hate driving but I do love Prius. I was finally back to my little home by 12:30. Was in bed about an hour later but couldn't sleep for some or another reason. Oh well.
Anyway that is about what I recall of my exciting journey to the capitol of the failed experiment on the west coast. It was costly but I am very glad that I went, and quite happy for Jay and Melissa. They are going to Hawaii for their honeymoon, and are going to swim with the dolphins there. Hopefully I will see them again before too long.
Oh geez and we are going to Orlando this Thursday. Yikes.
Also I saw a commercial on TV for Domino's Buffalo Chicken Kickers when I was hungry and deprived out in Sacramento on Friday night and now I want some. This is sad, but, you know, you should probably get me some anyway. Or, maybe I will have to get me some. Sometime.