Well, it's definitely nice to be back. I'm still having a bit of a hard time adjusting to this new schedule. The days definitely seem shorter than they once were, and, ironically, much more intense.
As I alluded to earlier, the trip back was a terrible pain in the ass. There's nothing fun about being packed like sardines in a chartered airliner with 300 other people and all of their accumulated germs. Being stuck in Baltimore for a night wasn't that awful, though getting a hotel room in the midst of a horse-racing extravaganza (the Preakness Stakes, I believe) was tricky.
No offense to any US Airways employees out there, but I doubt I'll ever fly their airline again. Spreading out a 200-student college band across every counter you have, thereby causing dozens of people miss their flights for a group that's leaving 2 hours later is just ridiculous. When I tried to reason with their shift supervisor, I was informed that the lot of us should have just come to the airport earlier. What follows is almost comical--if you're (depending on your point of view) either a sadist or a masochist.
[Dapper gentleman-traveler from afar] Yeah, uhm, but we were all here 2 hours prior to our flight's departure, and all the lines were already clogged up.
[Exasperated Supervisor] No, you weren't, sir, because I would have seen you.
[DGTFA] Perhaps this was because some of us at the end of your massive line weren't even within the terminal itself?
[ES]Well, at any rate, these people were here before you!
[DGTFA] Conventional wisdom would point to a mutually-benefactory solution... such as setting one single terminal for all of us who need to leave in the next hour.
[ES] You folks have already missed your flight? (question mark isn't bad grammar in my case--but it was in hers)
[DGTFA] No--in fact, we have yet to miss even the pre-boarding call. We can still, easily, make our flights if you allow people who have been waiting in line for about an hour and a half to go to a different desk.
[ES] I'm sorry. But there's NOTHING I can do (emphasis not mine).
Of course, this led to even more arguing... but to no solution. With no higher form of US Airways bureaucrat to appeal to at 0630, I was advised by the nice TSA folks to sit back and relax while our flights needlessly left us behind.
Fast forward a day to better times.
I ate at the wonderful Oak Steakhouse with some fab company last night. It's times like these when my life seems awfully charmed: one day everything follows a cycle of violence and dead calm, and the next I'm dining on five-star goodness-- each bite leaving me smiling like an idiot. I'm simply lucky to have a sister with good cullinary connections and sense.
I'm going to try to fit in matinees for Sin City and Revenge of the Sith today, if possible, since there seems to be no real chance of any ride-worthy waves popping up today.
OK, that's all for now. Check out the new pics I posted if you feel like it.
As I alluded to earlier, the trip back was a terrible pain in the ass. There's nothing fun about being packed like sardines in a chartered airliner with 300 other people and all of their accumulated germs. Being stuck in Baltimore for a night wasn't that awful, though getting a hotel room in the midst of a horse-racing extravaganza (the Preakness Stakes, I believe) was tricky.
No offense to any US Airways employees out there, but I doubt I'll ever fly their airline again. Spreading out a 200-student college band across every counter you have, thereby causing dozens of people miss their flights for a group that's leaving 2 hours later is just ridiculous. When I tried to reason with their shift supervisor, I was informed that the lot of us should have just come to the airport earlier. What follows is almost comical--if you're (depending on your point of view) either a sadist or a masochist.
[Dapper gentleman-traveler from afar] Yeah, uhm, but we were all here 2 hours prior to our flight's departure, and all the lines were already clogged up.
[Exasperated Supervisor] No, you weren't, sir, because I would have seen you.
[DGTFA] Perhaps this was because some of us at the end of your massive line weren't even within the terminal itself?
[ES]Well, at any rate, these people were here before you!
[DGTFA] Conventional wisdom would point to a mutually-benefactory solution... such as setting one single terminal for all of us who need to leave in the next hour.
[ES] You folks have already missed your flight? (question mark isn't bad grammar in my case--but it was in hers)
[DGTFA] No--in fact, we have yet to miss even the pre-boarding call. We can still, easily, make our flights if you allow people who have been waiting in line for about an hour and a half to go to a different desk.
[ES] I'm sorry. But there's NOTHING I can do (emphasis not mine).
Of course, this led to even more arguing... but to no solution. With no higher form of US Airways bureaucrat to appeal to at 0630, I was advised by the nice TSA folks to sit back and relax while our flights needlessly left us behind.
Fast forward a day to better times.
I ate at the wonderful Oak Steakhouse with some fab company last night. It's times like these when my life seems awfully charmed: one day everything follows a cycle of violence and dead calm, and the next I'm dining on five-star goodness-- each bite leaving me smiling like an idiot. I'm simply lucky to have a sister with good cullinary connections and sense.
I'm going to try to fit in matinees for Sin City and Revenge of the Sith today, if possible, since there seems to be no real chance of any ride-worthy waves popping up today.
OK, that's all for now. Check out the new pics I posted if you feel like it.
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Well - Happy belated birthday!
Kisses