Since I have learned to use the lj-cut tag, I will not subject everyne to my personal book of Exodus over the last few days. While this is hardly 40 days and 40 nights, it is certainly a journey.
Suffice to say, in the short version, I made my plane, I landed safely, I made it to my destination, and am currently the only one up in the house, quietly digesting a very good burrito.
Phase 1 – Getting to the Airport
I ended up having to leave a little earlier than I intended on Wednesday. I had called a Shuttle Bus thing to get me to the airport, who told me, around 10am that morning, that they would be there between 3:30 and 3:50… Unfortunately, I had only checked 4pm as ok with the boss. Hopefully, noone noticed.
Got into vanage, made excellent time. In the 30 minutes it took to get to the airport from uptown Manhattan, I got three phone calls from my suide business – all technical dope problems. That was the only thing I was worried about while I was away – that something would happen and I would not be able to fix it remote. Nothing so dire yet, but the nickel-dime calls are really getting to me.
I got three more today, but that is getting ahead of myself. Calls will be made tomorrow to remedy all.
On my way into the airport, roomate Rich called to remind me about the one thing that I knew somewhere in the back of my head that I had forgotten, but could not recall until his call – payment of rent.
He covered, Chernobyl was put on stall for a bit, I just need to cut some checks and apologies when I get back. Perhaps I will get Rich a 10 gallon hat for his troubles.
On an unrelated side note – I got 227 emails today. That is really heavy for a Thursday. I am going to have to figure out a way to check my mail while I am in Maine, or I will come back to a quota-locked account.
I found my e-ticket kisok, had my tickets printed handily in record time…then proceeded to the gate. Noticed that gate had about 60 people in line at security stalls. 180 to pizza joint, figuring if in an air mishap, only bloody remains of me were going to be found somewere over a state like Alabama, they might as well smell of fresh basi and tomatoes. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for the Alabamites, no trace of my bloody corpse can be found within the state lines. Yet, I guess I should say, I still have to fly back.
After a slice, and a few more phonecalls, it was back to scope out the security line.
Phase 2 – Getting to the Gate
I know security is tight. I know the bad mans are out to get us. At least, that is what I keep saying so I am not incarcerated without process or other options under the auspices of the Patriot Act. However, is it really neccisary for me to remove my clogs, which have buckles that contain less real metal than my earrings, or the freaking sterling silver bracelet I wore throgh the beeper? My feet felt gross all flight, having shuffled through the filth of lord knows how many other people’s socky leavings.
Be sure to wear socks next flight all, that is my big advice of the eve.
The security people were all copping attitudes. I undestand your job sucks, I understand all the terrah of the world is flowing beneath your little wands and past your fake aluminum-painted-gold badges…don’t take it out on me. Play raquetball, get a shrink, torture houseflies with lighters – I don’t care what you do… DO NOT yell at me about “blocking your workspace” whilst standing at the end of a conveyor waiting for my shoes, because they were taken off six items from the rest of my stuff.
I know why they station cops at those things – it is not in case someone wants to plow through security, it is in case someone wants to give a little back of what security dishes out.
Temper flared, I went to sit in the incredibly hot waiting area for a silly amount of time until my flight boarded. I listened to a first class brit and american discuss the finer parts of the recent war, royalty and democracy, sars, cuba, north korea, and soccer vs football. All the while, I got the first two pendants in Zelda – Link to the Past. Tuned the talk-show duo out about 20 minutes pre-boarding to read. I ended up finsihing a 340 page book less than halfway through the flight. Glad I got a backup. Oh yeah, that brings me to….
Phase 3 – Flights and Everything After
So when I printed my e-ticket, I got to choose my seat. I chose something in the 20 rows, aisle, so I could get on early, and hopefully still bolt on landing.
Apparently, this same section was rather attractive to a pair of african immigrants, who did little but jabber, in some african dialect, about the visuals of “Two Weeks Notice” and order copius amounts of coffee all evening.
Luckily for me, the flight was not sold out, so I was relocated to a row ahead of them, with a compfy trio of seats all to myself.
Board of fare was a meatloaf sandwich, a bag of baby carrots, a mini soda, two packets of ketchup, and almolns-carmel cluster, and a mini bag of ruffles (with mini bag sized ridges). I opted to not buy the booze, as I wanted to meet richelle’s mom sober, and I have a really hard time spending 5$ on a shot of booze, even if it does come in a pretty complimentary container I can take home to store my vicious neurotoxins in.
Where was I?
Oh yeah, plane.
The instructional video is now no longer given by flight attendants (on Continental anyhow). They have mini flat panels that fold down fromt he overheads every three seats or so, and a prerecorded session is droned at you, with a myriad of awful actors, and phony best wishes by the CEO.
I much rather the flight attendant improving thier version. However, the slow visuals of the seatbelt apaprently helped the Larry and Valkie of South Africa – who up until had no idea how to get the bloody things on.
Flight was pretty much uneventful. Finished book, played much Zelda, then turned off after an inopportune death, realizing as I closed it that I forgot to save (doh).
Nearly fainted in pain during descent, when my slightly conjested sinuses condensed into walnut sized snot drills, and began boring towards my eyes via the forehead. I really didn’t think I was going to make it.
I did, but it was pretty unfun.
Richelle and her mom met me at the airport, without incidence – to that point. The wrap up of last nights trip and todays activities truly lie….
Phase 4 – ::clap clap clap:: Deeep in the Heaaart of Texas….
Apparently, Richelle and her mom were running late in picking me up. Wherefore, they made the last 30 mile stretch in 10 minutes, which apparently broke several land-speed laws. While no tickets were involved in that portion of the trip, on the return, Karma was paid in full. Richelle’s mom was doing 71 (the psoted speed was 70) when the local speed limit suddenly dropped 20 miles, thanks to a nearby township. Just beyond this magic point of no return was a lovely local rural policeman with a lazer gun, and a vendetta against speeders.
After we were pulled over, and some explanations were made, it became abruptly clear that Richelle’s mom’s insurance card was not going to turn up. Phone calls were made, answers did not come until today, when it was discovered that her car was, in fact, uninsured. Maybe I just shouldn’t be in cars at all, mine or other people’s!
Apparently, insurance was not transferred to new car – purchased in February. The cop was nice enough to issue a warning on insurance, was not nice enough to withold 115$ ticket.
Texas has no points system for driving violations. I wonder how insurance companies keep track. An interesting study for another sleepless night.
Home was gained shortly after the speeding escapade, with some quick good evenings, and a bit of sleep.
I say bit, because between the local canine (who is a pretty neat dog, despite its affection for me), and the clock which chimed on the hour in the living room (blessedly silenced for this evening) a bit was all I saw.
First impressions involve a large number of “Jack-In-The-Box” chain resturants, several derisive aggie remarks, and a surprising physcial and atmospheric resemblance to places in Florida which I have lurked in. Richelle’s family has a wonderful house, and thier dog likes me.
Today was very much a confirmation of the incoming impressions.
Richelle’s family is great. Her mom and she have a lot in common – since I love Richelle to peices, her mom and I are getting along really well. Her stepdad is a total card too, and I was pretty worried about getting along with him, but not so much anymore.
Day 1 in brief –
Woke up, traded anecdotes, until Richelle went to take a nap, and her mom went to the store for supplies.
I installed Windows XP on the machine I am currently using to write all this – after much troubleshooting, a bit of furtive cursing, and the addition of a new soundcard, and 128m of ram.
It runs reasonably well for an AMD K6 with shared video ram, and a 466mhz processor. The onboard sound is fried, and kept crashing Windows. If I had not had some warning about that, I would have probably succumbed to a “Hulk Smash!”(tm) moment well before I got it up and working, which I eventually did.
Richelle awoke, and expressed a desire to galavant, and show me the layout of the local area. At that point I had the machine patching, so I thought food sounded like a good idea (Around 1pm local time). Showers were taken, and preparations were made, when Richelle’s freind James appeared out of nowhere just before our exit toward vittles.
I got to meet him in person, which is really cool. He seems like someone who would be a real blast to hang out with – I can see why Richelle has stayed close freinds.
After about an hour, James had to go, and we deprted, ravenous, to fulfill Richelle’s gnawing desire for a cherry vanilla slush thinger. I wolfed down a burger, and we ended up in a Best Buy, where we appropriated several things:
- The new Castlevania game for GBA – Aria of Sorrows
- A muy cheap spindle of 100 700mb cd’s
- A CD-MP3/AM-FM Tuner player thinger for Richelle
- A DVD of “Spirited Away” (To Grimbil – I think your next party should be a halucanogenic anime getogether!)
- Batteries for MP3 palyer thinger
After Best Buy, we returned home for some more chit-chat, patching, getting computer up to date and virus protected, munching on chips and onion dip, and general chillin out. Richelle’s stepdad came home, and he took a bath in preperation for a dinner engagement he and his wife had with Bill’s son Travis (Richelle’s stepbrother), and one of his close freinds from Bolivia.
Richelle and I were left behind, and decided that we were going to go to Freebirds, which is a local burrito preparation place of much renound. Rightly so – they make damn good burritos. However, before we got to that point, I noticed Bill had forgotten his checkbook (one thing I cannot believe about down here – how many people take checks! I think _everywhere_ does – very odd), in his haste/confusion of looking for his still-missing camera. Bill, and Richelle’s mom both have cell phones – they left them at home. Travis has a cell phone – it was off. We ended up driving the checkbook to them, which is good, because they had no other way to pay. Bill borrowed my camera to take pictures, so there may be an early website update with the batch coming off the camera tomorrow. We shall see. Net connection here is steady, but hardly speedy (about 10k/sec =/).
So we went to Freebirds, where I got a wider view of Aggieland(tm), and the folks who make it up. It strikes me as an overlarge UCF, with a bigger millitary slant. Many of the vibes I am getting locally keep throwing me into mini-flashback about my first big Florida trip. I am trying to shrug them off and focus on the good time to be had in the here and now.
Burritos, as mentioned several tiems, were damn good.
After food, I fiddled with the wiring on the DVD palyer in the living room (center channel was off, making spoken parts of DVD’s relatively unhearable). I am probably going to rewire/diagram everything tomorrow, so that they are running all sound out through the tuner, allowing for 100% surround sound, DVD or otherwise.
Richelle’s folks came back, and we chitchatted about life, school, homeopathy, language, and a wide variety of other ecclectic topics. Bill’s storytelling methods remind me so much of my grandfather it almost hurts. I miss his stories sometimes… Bill is a real hoot, and Debbie is ust a pleasure to spend time with.
They all dropped off early. I wanted to stay up and watch discovery – which is running a special on mammals life cycles. The section it was covering concerned carnivores. In the first 10 minutes a rabbit, a baby bird, and a baby seal were all eaten by assored predators. Richelle went to bed, and I came in here to log all this – Note I didn’t mind the deaths, but I don’t like watching TV unless I’m watching it with someoen generally.
I am probably going to crack a peek at Castlevania before sleep tonite. Tonmorrow’s only agenda items involve knicknack appropriation, and eating of Ham which is going to be prepared by Richelle’s mom. I MUST rememebr to send Ed a postcard.