In LA in limbo (is that redundant?)...
One of the pleasures/annoyances of travel is that often the ability to go or do is taken from you by the infrastructures that be and you end up with time to kill. (Very odd phrase that) Killing time puts me in a strange limbo frame of mind in which it is difficult to focus on work. Of course it's always difficult to focus on work for some reason or another and I am a master procrastinator, but there does seem to be something different about the distraction through enforced passive limbo waiting that occurs while en route.
In that mode I am stuck in the part of LA near the airport until it's time to board my rebooked 11:50pm West Coast time flight to Guangzhou. Continental forced me to miss yesterdays by circling 3 times above LA before landing an hour late. Naturally Hilton, the hotel that Continental booked me into, (a process which took about 3 hours if you include being sent from desk to desk and terminal to terminal, incompetent help, infrequent shuttle and long check-in line) has a 12:00pm check out time. (Naturally I retaliated by taking two long showers. So effective. To my credit I thought about getting rid of the travel and aggravation kinks, upping the endorphins, and lightening my mood by exercising, but naturally Hilton's gym is under reconstruction and my swimsuit is in the suitcase currently ambiguously "en route" to some unspecified location.)
What to do with the next almost 12 hours? Stay at the hotel floating through the lobby, the restrooms and the overpriced cafe? Head to the airport and do essentially the same there? In this case I chose the stay-longer-at-the hotel option, in part because I paid $10 for 24 hours of wireless connection here and don't want to end up in airport without such and in part because I'm guessing that the chairs here are more comfortable than the chairs there. Although I might qualify for the Continental first-class lounge because of my frequent flyer miles. Hmmm...
In that mode I am stuck in the part of LA near the airport until it's time to board my rebooked 11:50pm West Coast time flight to Guangzhou. Continental forced me to miss yesterdays by circling 3 times above LA before landing an hour late. Naturally Hilton, the hotel that Continental booked me into, (a process which took about 3 hours if you include being sent from desk to desk and terminal to terminal, incompetent help, infrequent shuttle and long check-in line) has a 12:00pm check out time. (Naturally I retaliated by taking two long showers. So effective. To my credit I thought about getting rid of the travel and aggravation kinks, upping the endorphins, and lightening my mood by exercising, but naturally Hilton's gym is under reconstruction and my swimsuit is in the suitcase currently ambiguously "en route" to some unspecified location.)
What to do with the next almost 12 hours? Stay at the hotel floating through the lobby, the restrooms and the overpriced cafe? Head to the airport and do essentially the same there? In this case I chose the stay-longer-at-the hotel option, in part because I paid $10 for 24 hours of wireless connection here and don't want to end up in airport without such and in part because I'm guessing that the chairs here are more comfortable than the chairs there. Although I might qualify for the Continental first-class lounge because of my frequent flyer miles. Hmmm...