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December 25, 2003
Travel Travails
Going home for christmas should be easy.
I took a break from deadline fever to get out of the office around 9:30 (it was a half-day anyway), zipped by the UPS location to pick up a couple of packages they didn't want to deliver without signatures, then drove down to Fall River. As has become my normal practice, I fly using the Providence, RI airport rather than the closer Manchester, NH airport, as that lets me leave my car with Julia and Lou (and provides an excuse for us to hit the Legal Seafood near the airport, as we plan to do upon my return).
I drove through the new I-93 southbound tunnel in Boston, which is open but seriously unfinished (one lane is still blocked until they can complete the expansion of the older tunnel and the exits, some of the roof is still unfinished, and there's a brief open space between old and new tunnels). Still, the drive through Boston went from a stop-and-start crawl to a nice, regular speed (even if that was 30-40 mph), and that's an improvement. One can only hope it will be even better with a 4th lane.
Julia zipped me to PVD quickly, check-in was a complete non-event (no lines anywhere), so being 2 1/2 hours early somewhat worked against me. I picked up a bit of lunch, then found a plug for the Powerbook and did some editing on my game world notes to pass time. Of course, having forgotten the HeroQuest rulebook, I'll have at least one more editorial pass still to do, but the nomadic stuff is very nearly complete and the cityfolk are only a day or two's work behind. I think my February date to actually start seeking players remains intact.
The flight from PVD to Pittsburgh was uneventful (I happened to be seated behind two people who had also been at Trilogy Tuesday, so we traded some praise of the mighty Peter Jackson to pass the time when I wasn't writing myths), but after a quick jog from terminal to terminal (stopping only to snag some overpriced sour cherry candies), I found my flight to Cincinnati delayed by 1 hour. Then by 90 minutes. Then by 2 hours. And, at last, after 2 1/2 hours of delays, worried looks at the maintenance folk swarming over our plane, and carefully-caveated promises, canceled. Of course, by this time (8 PM on Christmas Eve), the airport had all but shut down around us. US Air set me up at a nearby Embassy Suites for the night, gave me a $10 voucher to turn into either dinner or breakfast, and a boarding pass for an 9:15 flight on Christmas Day. And, since it would have taken nearly an hour to retrieve my suitcase from the airport, I was sent off with just my carry-on (Powerbook, iPod, a wad of cables, and cellphone). Thankfully, the Embassy was able to provide toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, and other such necessities.
So, as it looks now (I'm typing this at 6:40 on Christmas Day), I'll be getting to Cincinnati around 16 hours late, and badly needing a change of clothes.
Merry Christmas to all!
*****
Following up from the airport an hour later... Security was again quick, the food voucher turned into a nice spread from Au Bon Pain, now it's just to wait on today's plane (and whatever quirks it might show). So now it's just a 2 hour wait, then into the air.
Oh, and no plugs anywhere near any seats. For some reason (likely this airport's reading of security requirements), they're all blocked off if there are chairs nearby, so there's no way to keep laptops charged. And so this is all I'll write just now.
*****
And now I'm all hooked up to the 'rent's cable modem and working A-OK (after a bit of fiddling). The replacement flight went perfectly, landing early despite time spent de-icing.
And now, it is down to gifts and such... And to keeping Cosmo the kitten away from my iPod's headphone cable.
Posted by ghoul at December 25, 2003 12:54 PM
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