WHARRGARBL
WHARRGARBL
So, I'm going to China for this conference, right?
I am supposed to appear in Beijing on 25 July, and disappear from Beijing on or shortly after 31 July. Because of the bureaucratic/nationalistic crap I mentioned here, I just got confirmation that I'll be able to go yesterday. I didn't want to buy plane tickets until I was sure I'd be able to travel, so I'm only able to get them now.
I'm getting paid back for my expenses by my advisor. However, since it comes in part through Department of Energy money, they have this rule: you must travel on a US-owned carrier to get reimbursed. Now, I'd ideally like to fly out of Huntsville or Tucson/Phoenix.
So, searching on cheaptickets.com, I found:
Air China US carrier
TUS/PHX 1038 2487
Huntsville 2076 2362
Atlanta 1043 1746
Los Angeles 967 1179
Also, the Chinese Embassy is in LA, so going there in person would save the extra $100 I'd pay someone else to do my visa application for me.
This whole "You have to fly on a US carrier!" thing is retarded. As a taxpayer I don't want to foot the $thousands surcharge for folks to fly on Continental instead of Air Uzbekistan -- I want my government taking the cheapest option possible. If they want to subsidize the domestic airline industry they can start an inquiry into why their prices are so high and their service so damn bad. (I don't know about Air China, but your average European airline gives you food and a newspaper and a flight crew with a sense of humor, all for a <$100 ticket... whereas the American airline industry has had their humanity removed via transorbital lobotomy with a rusty spork*)
So I'm thinking about heading to LA. I can buy my ticket, apply for my visa in person, go to Yosemite or some other awesome place in California -- maybe even go see the Conrans -- for a few days, then come back to LA, pick up my visa, and be off to the Land of The Mythical Ten Baidu Creatures**. And since it saves him mucho $$$ overall, I can probably get Doug to pay me mileage to and from LA.
Parking my car in LA is also probably a hell of a lot safer than parking it in Tucson. :)
Whatdy'all think?
This is getting convoluted enough that I won't be surprised if I wind up being imprisoned on a tiny island, rescued by a sexually-repressed Spiderman, and abducted by pirates before it's all over***.
*And then they took the spork away at security
**Doug's last words to me before he left: "Don't sneeze near any governmental officials. They'll quarantine you for swine flu." (They're still super-bitter about the Western reaction to SARS.)
***No spiky dildo jokes please.
So, I'm going to China for this conference, right?
I am supposed to appear in Beijing on 25 July, and disappear from Beijing on or shortly after 31 July. Because of the bureaucratic/nationalistic crap I mentioned here, I just got confirmation that I'll be able to go yesterday. I didn't want to buy plane tickets until I was sure I'd be able to travel, so I'm only able to get them now.
I'm getting paid back for my expenses by my advisor. However, since it comes in part through Department of Energy money, they have this rule: you must travel on a US-owned carrier to get reimbursed. Now, I'd ideally like to fly out of Huntsville or Tucson/Phoenix.
So, searching on cheaptickets.com, I found:
Air China US carrier
TUS/PHX 1038 2487
Huntsville 2076 2362
Atlanta 1043 1746
Los Angeles 967 1179
Also, the Chinese Embassy is in LA, so going there in person would save the extra $100 I'd pay someone else to do my visa application for me.
This whole "You have to fly on a US carrier!" thing is retarded. As a taxpayer I don't want to foot the $thousands surcharge for folks to fly on Continental instead of Air Uzbekistan -- I want my government taking the cheapest option possible. If they want to subsidize the domestic airline industry they can start an inquiry into why their prices are so high and their service so damn bad. (I don't know about Air China, but your average European airline gives you food and a newspaper and a flight crew with a sense of humor, all for a <$100 ticket... whereas the American airline industry has had their humanity removed via transorbital lobotomy with a rusty spork*)
So I'm thinking about heading to LA. I can buy my ticket, apply for my visa in person, go to Yosemite or some other awesome place in California -- maybe even go see the Conrans -- for a few days, then come back to LA, pick up my visa, and be off to the Land of The Mythical Ten Baidu Creatures**. And since it saves him mucho $$$ overall, I can probably get Doug to pay me mileage to and from LA.
Parking my car in LA is also probably a hell of a lot safer than parking it in Tucson. :)
Whatdy'all think?
This is getting convoluted enough that I won't be surprised if I wind up being imprisoned on a tiny island, rescued by a sexually-repressed Spiderman, and abducted by pirates before it's all over***.
*And then they took the spork away at security
**Doug's last words to me before he left: "Don't sneeze near any governmental officials. They'll quarantine you for swine flu." (They're still super-bitter about the Western reaction to SARS.)
***No spiky dildo jokes please.