Airborne Coelacanth
I've traveled back in time to tell the partial tale of my June 12th travels, and thus the blog entries will once again be out of order. I'm writing this now, because I am sprawled on the floor at the Denver airport struggling to stay awake.
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. I hit the snooze button once. I'm lucky I woke up again at all. I found my way to the airport and made it on the 6:20 a.m. flight to Denver as a standby with passenger room to spare.
Oh - I'm going to New York. Two days of travel and one day of used vacation leave at work for just one day of actual time spent with friends who are actively jockeying for my time. It was a relatively spur-of-the-moment thing with my inexpensive standby privileges in an attempt to spend at least a little time with Montgomery Burns and Hans Gruber before they engage further in their respective pending domesticated ways. I'm not sure if the trip will be prove to be worth for the effort and time, but I see those guys too seldom.
This time I unfortunately hit a full flight and am in the midst of a six-hour delay in Denver, thus canceling the disputed dinner plans this evening that were a result of said jockeying. I think that proves a three-day weekend is not sufficient for any future cross-country standby journeys, although I might be doing this exact same thing again for a wedding next month.
There's a real art to finding the right spots where to camp out at the airport. I managed to find the most secluded restroom, a trait I value highly in a toilet; this airport has an entire second floor above the gates that is barely used. Right now I'm in the middle of a "museum" of historic artifacts and photos (Denver-related, I assume...I'll scrutinize it a little before I leave) and sprawled out on the floor next to some electric outlets that are recharging the DS and the computer. The Denver airport has free internet, which immediately makes this one of the best airports.
I still have almost two hours of waiting before boarding. I spoke to Lando on the phone for a while. He's having hernia surgery in just over a week, which sounds like not much fun to me.
With a book recommendation he brought to mind my old idea to have a personalized license plate dubbed OUTLIER. That was when I was working as a statistician. "The Outlier" also seemed a cool name for a spaceship. And - of course - I brazenly fancied myself an outlier.
I'd like to take a nap. I'm hallucinating somewhat - insects and lights. I ate some chicken fingers at 11 a.m. local time, but it felt like it was 5 a.m. and didn't hit my tummy right. I can't nap because I'm alone and someone might rob me, the world's deepest sleeper. Traveling alone is lame in that respect. Going to the restroom and dragging luggage there is also irksome.
In the security line this morning, some guy - also traveling alone - asked me if I could watch his bag for him. I hesitated and then said I would. I've been so conditioned by the airport security spiel about strangers and unattended baggage that I guess it seemed like the wrong thing to do. He retracted the request after judging my hesitation. Or maybe he wanted to finish going through the line before using the restroom. Who knows?
"Why does the sun come up? Or are the stars just pinholes in the curtain of night?"
"Well, we made it."
"When we're airborne - with Germany behind us - then I'll share that sentiment."
I left that message in not-my-best-but-a-respectable Sean Connery voice this morning on Hans Gruber's voicemail. That was in LA before the Denver layover diminished my spirits.
I guess it's Sean-Connery-stream-of-consciousness-quotes day.
Now I have to make a Sean Connery icon just for this entry, although it's called "Airborne Coelacanth," so perhaps I should make a coelacanth icon. It was raining in Animal Crossing during the morning flight, so I was hoping to catch a coelacanth at 30,000 feet. I did catch many other good fish - including two hammerhead sharks - for an excellent profit, but no coelacanth. I think Airborne Coelacanth could be a good band name.
I also played some N+ on the flight. It's fun and addictive. There are simply too many video games in this world. Too many books. Too many movies. Too many times that I make the observation that there are too many of all these things.
I'd check the airport bookstore for that book my brother mentioned, but I am traveling extremely light and have not a square inch to spare.
So sleepy.
This was like the entries of old. I'm going to catch up on the comments and other Livejournals soon. Sincerely. I hope I grab a few decent photos in New York. I hope I don't get stuck there on Sunday night. The flight already appears full. I don't want to waste another day of vacation in the airport.
Earlier they were calling for someone named "DeGroot" on the airport PA. I thought maybe it was someone playing a Lost prank.
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. I hit the snooze button once. I'm lucky I woke up again at all. I found my way to the airport and made it on the 6:20 a.m. flight to Denver as a standby with passenger room to spare.
Oh - I'm going to New York. Two days of travel and one day of used vacation leave at work for just one day of actual time spent with friends who are actively jockeying for my time. It was a relatively spur-of-the-moment thing with my inexpensive standby privileges in an attempt to spend at least a little time with Montgomery Burns and Hans Gruber before they engage further in their respective pending domesticated ways. I'm not sure if the trip will be prove to be worth for the effort and time, but I see those guys too seldom.
This time I unfortunately hit a full flight and am in the midst of a six-hour delay in Denver, thus canceling the disputed dinner plans this evening that were a result of said jockeying. I think that proves a three-day weekend is not sufficient for any future cross-country standby journeys, although I might be doing this exact same thing again for a wedding next month.
There's a real art to finding the right spots where to camp out at the airport. I managed to find the most secluded restroom, a trait I value highly in a toilet; this airport has an entire second floor above the gates that is barely used. Right now I'm in the middle of a "museum" of historic artifacts and photos (Denver-related, I assume...I'll scrutinize it a little before I leave) and sprawled out on the floor next to some electric outlets that are recharging the DS and the computer. The Denver airport has free internet, which immediately makes this one of the best airports.
I still have almost two hours of waiting before boarding. I spoke to Lando on the phone for a while. He's having hernia surgery in just over a week, which sounds like not much fun to me.
With a book recommendation he brought to mind my old idea to have a personalized license plate dubbed OUTLIER. That was when I was working as a statistician. "The Outlier" also seemed a cool name for a spaceship. And - of course - I brazenly fancied myself an outlier.
I'd like to take a nap. I'm hallucinating somewhat - insects and lights. I ate some chicken fingers at 11 a.m. local time, but it felt like it was 5 a.m. and didn't hit my tummy right. I can't nap because I'm alone and someone might rob me, the world's deepest sleeper. Traveling alone is lame in that respect. Going to the restroom and dragging luggage there is also irksome.
In the security line this morning, some guy - also traveling alone - asked me if I could watch his bag for him. I hesitated and then said I would. I've been so conditioned by the airport security spiel about strangers and unattended baggage that I guess it seemed like the wrong thing to do. He retracted the request after judging my hesitation. Or maybe he wanted to finish going through the line before using the restroom. Who knows?
"Why does the sun come up? Or are the stars just pinholes in the curtain of night?"
"Well, we made it."
"When we're airborne - with Germany behind us - then I'll share that sentiment."
I left that message in not-my-best-but-a-respectable Sean Connery voice this morning on Hans Gruber's voicemail. That was in LA before the Denver layover diminished my spirits.
I guess it's Sean-Connery-stream-of-consciousness-quotes day.
Now I have to make a Sean Connery icon just for this entry, although it's called "Airborne Coelacanth," so perhaps I should make a coelacanth icon. It was raining in Animal Crossing during the morning flight, so I was hoping to catch a coelacanth at 30,000 feet. I did catch many other good fish - including two hammerhead sharks - for an excellent profit, but no coelacanth. I think Airborne Coelacanth could be a good band name.
I also played some N+ on the flight. It's fun and addictive. There are simply too many video games in this world. Too many books. Too many movies. Too many times that I make the observation that there are too many of all these things.
I'd check the airport bookstore for that book my brother mentioned, but I am traveling extremely light and have not a square inch to spare.
So sleepy.
This was like the entries of old. I'm going to catch up on the comments and other Livejournals soon. Sincerely. I hope I grab a few decent photos in New York. I hope I don't get stuck there on Sunday night. The flight already appears full. I don't want to waste another day of vacation in the airport.
Earlier they were calling for someone named "DeGroot" on the airport PA. I thought maybe it was someone playing a Lost prank.