At work this morning, found that my original flight was going to be delayed...to the point I would miss my connection in Denver. So they bumped me to an earlier flight out of Kearney, so much for a nice lunch at home before leaving. Upon hearing I'd be leaving early, my coworkers came in and gave me a going-away card and gift. Yeah, I'll be teaching in the summer, but not everyone will be around then.
Inauspicious start...left iPod in the charger and noticed just as security opened. Round trip ten minutes (not exactly staying within all speed limits) and I got back just as the last of the other passengers was loading his bag into the X-ray.
Uneventful first leg. Speaking of legs, I strained something during my mad dash back home to get the iPod. Will have to take it easy in Denver, I have no desire to be limping around tomorrow.
Rather nauseating three-axis turbulence on the approach into Denver. Got a little under two hours to kill before boarding, and a suspicion I'll need to double-time it to make my return connection.
Innnnnteresting. The various vendors sell only bottled water, not soda. Must be an exclusive pouring deal with the restaurants at DIA.
DIA has a bird population.
I'm way in the back on the second leg, but it's aisle and the plane doesn't seem to be too packed. Although a lot are trickling in late, so I could end up hemmed in anyway. Planning to nap as much as possible on the leg, so I'm fresh for the drive down from the airport. There are kids a few rows back, but (hopefully) past the wailing age.
Yep, full flight or pretty near. At least the person sitting next to me is small.
Managed about an hour of dozing and woke just as the drink cart was coming by. Snacks were on a pay basis, but I brought my own.
Finished Web of Arachnos, moving on to A Mighty Fortress. I really wish Tor would get its head out of its hinder and stop charging hardcover prices for ebooks. A 1124 page paperback makes for awkward reading.
Hopefully landing on a four-across jet will be smoother than on a prop plane. If nothing else, inertia will dampen out the worst of the yawing.
Well, the magnitude of turbulence was worse as we passed through a cloud deck, but it was all translational, no sickening rolling or swerving.
A certain amount of paperwork hassle with the rental car, but at least it's a nice car. Ford Focus with GPS.
Turned off at El Dorado in search of TRU and dinner. Went the wrong way, but found dinner and asked directions there.
My desire to use the stairs at the hotel led to a quest for stairs as no one seemed to know where they were but they were all certain the stairs existed. Apparently the custodians don't know the stairs exist, as there was a very old and sticky coffee spill on them.
So...turns out I didn't pack any briefs, so I get to drive out to Walmart to get some. Ended up on a short detour down Avenue P 1/2. O_o. Turns out there's several half letter avenues. Yay urban planning! (Later addendum: While there's a letter/number grid system, most of the streets also have names, and the signs will show one thing large and the other small...inconsistently. So maybe you can see clearly that it's 25th Street, or maybe it looks like Rosenberg Street, depending on which block you're on.)
Well, it was a busy day. I think I impressed them, and they certainly impressed me. Got to see the campus, get up close to the new boat, and talk to most of the important people involved in the process.
My talk went over well, and the Q&A lasted nearly an hour, always a good sign. I did have to get some day camp kids out of the conference room before we could start, though. ;)
After dinner I explored some more on my own, spotted some new Transformers but left them on the shelf because they were too big for my carry-on. Did get some small knockoffs at Big Lots, though. The hotel breakfast didn't impress me, so I grabbed some muffins at Krogers to have for Friday breakfast.
Hotel wifi does seem a little more stable, my complaint to the desk had some positive effect. Also reported the coffee stain. (Later note: it was still there the next morning.)
Fairly uneventful drive in to Houston. I had no "bridge jitters" on the causeway, which is a good sign. The GPS continued to be only partially useful, leading me to the Avis exit rather than entrance. Oh, and it turns out the hotel and car will also be reimbursed rather than paid directly by the school, so I'm looking at a reimbursement over a grand.
Waiting in line at security, plenty of time before my flight. Looks like I can get 45 minutes of wifi free, will try that out once I'm through security and can use the entire time without interruption. :)
Coming up on the head of the line, time to stow the iPod.
They have ads on the security line bins. Yyyyeah, because people want to buy from someone they associate with airport security lines....
Well, the free wifi at Hobby seems to have about as much bandwidth as two cans and a piece of string. It'll load my bookmarks page, but stalls on anything bigger. And now it thinks my 45 minutes are up, after about 45 seconds of connectivity. Whee.
The BW3 down the way has free wifi too, using that.
Denver arrival turbulence sucks no matter how big the plane. At least I didn't get nauseous this time.
The implausible assignment of an Embraer 190 for my Denver to Kearney leg does seem to have been in error, it'll be the prop plane again. At least the turbulence layer is passed through more quickly on departure than arrival.
A bunch of people missed the plane despite a fifteen minute maintenance delay, so they had us shift around to balance the weight. This was good, since I'd been stuck in the 2A seat with no seat in front of it and therefore no place for my bag. I grabbed a two-seat part (this was a 3-across prop plane). Turbulence was still a bear, though, despite the larger size of the plane.
This is likely the last entry I'll make on the iPod, since there's no point hanging around the Kearney airport.
Here's hoping I return to Galveston before long....
