Tuesday evening, an earthquake occurred off the coast of the Kamchatka region of Russia. It caused tsunami floods in that region, as well as Japan and Hawaii.
The waves hitting Russia were up to 12 feet high. Many Russian ships and nuclear powered submarines were damaged, in a nearby port.
Warnings were spread across the US west coast on Wednesday morning, but fortunately, the wave hit southern California at a low tide, so damage was minimal.
There are hundreds of boats in the San Diego marinas, I’m sure the owners were crapping their pants when they heard.
Strange that if I had stayed a couple days later, I could have been affected.
For my second ticket, I wanted to go and hit as many panels as I could. I browsed over the schedule, but there wasn’t a lot of good panels on Sunday. All the really good ones were on Friday and Saturday, the 2 days I was not able to go. 🙁
I headed out rather early, at the bus stop before 8, when the convention doors wouldn’t open until 9:30. I just wanted to get a good spot in line.
Surprisingly, they had the doors open early, there were long lines inside for many of the panels. I don’t know which, all the 10:00 panels sounded boring, but I don’t know all the different artists, so maybe there was some really good comic or manga person I never heard of.
I headed straight to room 7A, which had no line, because the first panel was “Pop Culture and the Christian Church”. No, I hadn’t converted, I was there for the second panel, which was going to be about the plans for Star Trek in the next couple years. I just wanted to make sure I had a good seat.
I was actually the 4th person in the room, including the sound tech.
I chose a seat and started playing solitaire on my tablet, just to kill time. I didn’t even finish the game when a couple in the row behind me asked if I wanted to play Uno. Well, why not, it’s better than draining my battery.
They were local, but the lady had attended UCF and had some family in Tampa area.
We played Uno Flip, which I had not played before, but I did manage to pick up the variant rules and got a couple wins.
It was hard playing on the rows of chairs, I was kneeling on mine, while having to reach over the seatback to get or place cards.
After a few minutes, a group of young ladies sat in the following row and joined us. The time flew by, it didn’t seem like an hour.
The panel really wasn’t that bad. Each artist talked about there own recent project and how it came to be, with just a bit of preachiness. The last man didn’t even have a book to push, he talked about the latest Superman movie and how it was comparable to real life. I haven’t watched it yet, but wasn’t spoiled by anything he said either.
One man was named Robert Fuller, which is the same as an actor that was on “Wagontrain” which dad watches a lot, so it made me laugh when I realized that.
Apparently, halfway through, the AC kicked into high gear, it got cold, fast. I was thinking of going out to the hallway, but then I would loose my seat.
I enjoyed the Star Trek panel, but was shivering throughout, so I ended up going out near the end. The exit door was right next to a balcony. I figured the best way to warm up is to get into the sun.
The balcony was on the backside of the center, facing the bay, so there was a cool breeze blowing. Not what I wanted.
Wednesday I had walked back there and knew there were a bunch of television promotion events, Abbot Elementary, King of the Hill, and Adult Swim. I don’t care about the first, and the second had a 2 hour line, so I went to the Adult Swim promo. I haven’t watched Cartoon Network in several years, but I recognized most of the activities.
Unfortunately, several of the items had broken in the previous days, so there was only a giant inflated slide. It wasn’t too long of a wait and it was fun, but I had hoped for more. I didn’t even know what show it was supposed to be from.
Down around the corner, there was an Alien: Earth promo, but it also had a long wait. It is a show in the Alien movie universe.
Since it wasn’t any warmer down there, I went back up, heading to room 9. They had an all day panel, swapping out local film makers occasionally. It was called a “children’s film festival,” so I thought it was going to be a screening of kids movies, nope, it did have a few shorts shown, but it was mostly about talking with university students who make films for kids (as a school project).
I did get to quickly meet the star of one of the shorts, prior to coming in. It was called “Super Human Anxiety” and was about a girl who has super strength that gets stuck in an elevator and has a panic attack. Pretty much a PSA for mental health advocacy.
The actress was Alexis Jacquelyn Smith, who actually is in the IMDB, with a few roles in shorts, but also shows and movies.
I left after that, roaming around checking out the costumes.
By 1, my stomach was making noise, so I bit the bullet and decided to get an $17 burrito. As I approached the counter, I see Tim Russ, who played Vulcan Tuvok on ST: Voyager. I offered to let him cut in, but he just waved me off and said no. The talent doesn’t stand in line.
There were tables in a large area, but you couldn’t sit to eat as too many people were “resting” there, holding seats with there bags. I found a spot without anyone there, but also no chair, so I knelt down and ate.
Looking at the schedule again, I didn’t see anything worthwhile, so I went down to the exhibit hall. I had already seen nearly everything, but why not check it out more.
I spent a few hours until nearly closing, then went out towards the buses. On the way, I see the sign for the Marriott. They have events going on there also, so might as well go.
They didn’t have any signs or maps to know where to go, and I ended up in the game room. There was about a hundred people at consoles playing some game I didn’t recognize. I’m not even sure if they were all playing together or not.
Among the more interesting costumes I saw, the flower maiden from Midsommer, a seven year old Wednesday Adams, Galinda and Elphaba from Wicked, and the shrunken head man from Beetlejuice.
Walking count: Today, not much, maybe only 3 miles, but I am about to go to Denny’s, so that will double. Total: well over 30.
Even though I have flown over the Pacific Ocean several times, I’ve never actually seen it. (I prefer aisle seats, so can’t see out the window.)
The coast is only 3 miles away, but I have already walked way more than anyone should ever do, so I Ubered over to the edge of a park.
There were cliffs here, maybe 60 feet high. Certainly higher than you’d want to fall. Luckily, there was a set of stairs leading down to the “beach”.
At the bottom, there was a small area of sand, but mostly rock shelves and just stones about head size. You could walk around, but it was precarious. I was convinced I would end up either with soggy shoes, busted head, or salt-ruined phone. You will have to read to the end to find out which…
It is called the “pacific” but it is no calmer than what I have seen on the Atlantic or Gulf, so bad name?
My free tourist map had stated there were caves. Nope, they are just deeper indentations into the cliff wall. If I can touch the back with one hand and the other is still outside, it isn’t a cave, IMO.
The rock shelves had small pools in them, small crabs and sea anemones flourished within. But it did mean you’d have to constantly watch where you step.
After checking everything out, it wasn’t a large area, I headed back up the stairs and walked southward along the ridge, looking for another way to get down to another beach area.
I mentioned before how San Diego feels so foreign, this was no different. The top of the cliff area felt like a desert, dry and dusty, with brown prickly grasses and bushes.
I did see an actual sandy beach area, with a couple of women and their dogs, but I saw absolutely no possible route down. Well, actually going down would be easy, but you’d not like the landing nor would you ever get back out.
I never rains in southern Cali, but when it does, man it pours.
There were many washout areas, causing even more chances to slip and end up at the bottom. I managed to find a spot where people had carved out a few stepping holes, so I didn’t fall and die. I know, you are so relieved.
Once at the bottom, I would walk along exploring the area, trying to dodge the waves from washing over my shoes as I slipped around an outcropping.
A couple of men with 2 young girls were down on the same beach. One was digging in one of the “caves” and was trying to uncover something partially buried. I had climbed up shortly after them and noticed they had all left their shoes at the top of the cliff, I should have thought of that.
I went down the coast for a bit longer, but I was looking at a map on a information sign and realized I was basically at the end of the park. So I headed inland, hiking through the desert, climbing higher and higher. I zigzagged through the bushes, finding dead ends and loops back, not going forward.
Eventually, I did find a path to a parking lot and was able to get to where I could get a ride back to the hotel.
Climbing that far left me quite sweaty. I should have gone to the room and rested or cooled down, but I still wanted to go to the Chinese History Museum, so I was dropped off at the bus stop and rode to the convention center.
I had thought the museum would be local history, but it was more general Chinese history. It was good and not much admission.
Without anything else planed, I just went back over to the crowd to costume watch.
There were 4 ladies in “princess” outfits standing together. A little girl walked up and was awed, she had princess-overload.
I have seen quite a few Fantastic 4 outfits, but I just realized that many of the t-shirts are just the ones given out by the blood bank for donations.
I went to eat then went back to the room for a nap, nearly 3 hours.
Tomorrow will be another busy day, so I should rest up.
Walking count: Hard to measure a zig zag path, but probably about 3 miles on the cliffs and 3 downtown, so total to date is 25 miles.
Ok, I will tell you now, a wave did wash over my shoe once, but it is leather so my feet stayed dry. Although, time will tell if salt spray will ruin my phone or not.
Since I had nothing better planned, I headed off to Tijuana, Mexico, this morning.
OK, it was closer to noon before I actually got out of bed, but it was technically still morning.
There is a train that goes right to the border. I cheated a bit as I took the convention shuttle downtown first. The ticket was only $2.50, each way. I didn’t know what time I would return, so I just got a one-way.
When I had renewed my passport, I decided to spend a bit extra to get the passport card. It is only good for land crossings of Mexico and Canada, no cruise or flights. I don’t know why I did, at the time, I had no plans to drive over 1200 miles to the border. I did think that if I had lost my passport, the card would be useful in proving who I was to the consulate to get a new passport. At least now I can say I actually used it, even if I still had my passport in my bag.
There are over a dozen stops on the way, almost all are literally just a platform with ticket machines, sitting out in the middle of nowhere.
The ride took about 45 minutes, dropping us within 100 feet of the border control, which was surprisingly simple, just about 2 minutes to pass through, including getting a visa and bag scan.
We had to then walk down a pathway, with fences on both sides, maybe 200-250 feet long, then pass through a one-way carousel, before being in Mexico proper. There is no way to re-enter, so I wonder how there are so many vendors inside the pathway.
There were a hundred or so taxis lined up, ready to take your money, but jokes on them, I don’t have any. 😛
I had no real destination, just wandered down street after street.
There was nothing note worthy that I passed, except a couple of pit bulls that were “knotted”. If you don’t know what that means, I’m not going to tell you.
I saw a few statues on concrete pedestals, in the medians of the roadway, but I saw no signs stating who they were supposed to be, maybe generic Mexicans and Aztecs.
I spotted a restaurant, it didn’t look great, but it smelled wonderful.
My original plan was to just use my card. I know, I know, I was going to do the same exact thing I avoided yesterday. But this was different, yesterday I had US cash in a US town. Today, I had no pesos and didn’t want to have to exchange more than I needed.
Unfortunately, they did not appear like the place that had “technology”. I went to an exchanger next door and swapped $40 for 721 pesos. Over kill, I was certain.
I went in and just pointed to the menu on the counter, for a 4-piece meal, 159 pesos or about $8.50. After a minute, the guy gives me this reasonably large bag of food. WTF did I order?
The tables were occupied, so I decided I would walk a bit more, looking for a park or a shady bench. No such luck, they don’t believe in benches.
I did find a small window ledge on a building, with shade, so I sat and took a look at what I had.
The first container was a ~10 oz polystyrene cup w/lid, filled with frijoles marrones (brown beans), they were awesome. I shouldn’t be eating them, because farts, but I downed the whole container, including the broth.
The second was a pinkish rice. It tasted good, but had been squished into the cup too much and was hard to scoop, and a bit cooled off.
The next was a vegetable soup, pass.
I then decided I better eat the chicken before I got full. Fuck, this was the best chicken I have ever had. Seriously, it was magnificent. Slightly salty, smokey, and spicy, in just the right amounts. Also tender as heck.
This place was called “Rey de Pollo” (King of chicken). I think it might have been a chain restaurant, but they certainly are the kings.
The only downsides were that the 2 legs were a bit skinny, compared to American drumsticks, but I’ll take a scrawny delicious one over a fat, tasteless one. The other pieces were, i think, a back and a thigh.
Also included were a bag of chips and small baggie of salsa(?), or maybe it was just smashed up tomato. What am I supposed to do with a bag of sauce? It had some small soft tortillas, but I didn’t know what they were for, there wasn’t anything to put in them, unless I was supposed to pick the meat off and have small tacos.
Before I got on the train, I had to pee, but there was nowhere at the train station. The wasn’t any toilet on the train either, it was only 4 cars long. And as I stated above, the other stations were just open platforms, so I couldn’t even jump off to do my business, and catch the next train.
Sitting there eating, certainly didn’t help the situation.
I finished up and started walking in the same direction I had been beforehand. I went up an inclined road, going over the Rio Tijuana.
Sears is still alive in Mexico, apparently.
If you remember the movie Grease, there is a scene of a car race in the LA river. River being a loose term for a completely concrete ditch, with a trickle running down the center. In times of great rain, it will fill substantially, but normally, just a trickle.
This river was very similar.
On the other side, I spot a small shopping center, an open air mall. I head in and am rewarded with a sign for the “sanitarios“. I know the term baño, for toilet or bathroom, but I guess in a poor place like Tijuana, you might want to specify that it is clean, or at least it flushes.
I wandered around, never really passing anything worth while, for a few hours. Lots of construction, but even more destruction, neglect, graffiti, and trash.
Not much to see, plus I didn’t really want to use my iPad to show off my iWealth™.
Everywhere I went had huge amounts of traffic and dust. I doesn’t rain often, so the dust doesn’t get washed away.
Eventually I got too tired of walking, and I was getting a little redder each day, so I started to find my way back.
It did seem to take longer to get back than the entire time I had already been there, but I am sure that was just my skewed perception.
Entrance to Mexico
I pass a long double lane of stopped cars, they are going to go through the border crossing. Glad I ain’t one of them.
Under an bridge, a man is selling drinks and fruit. Well he had them for sale, he wasn’t really doing much “selling” himself. I see on his menu an orange drink I had seen before, a type of fizzy orange soda, with juice, much like Orangina. It is a bit tart, not very sweet, just like most Mexican oranges.
He looked in his cooler, but didn’t have one, so he zipped down to another vendor to get one. They didn’t have any either, must be popular, but he went further up the road to a second vendor to check. It was 40 pesos, and I dug out that amount in coins while he was gone.
While standing in the shade was better than walking in the sun, I didn’t want to wait around, so I started walking back up the road, meeting him on the way. He was successful, and I paid him.
I then find out why 2 lanes were stopped for so long, while the third was moving, the right lane was for local traffic, that exited left, while the left 2 were held up for the border. Police had barricades to prevent blockage. It seems to me, that it would have been better to have the 2 right lanes be border lanes, and the let all flow naturally, but I seem to make sense whereas the police don’t.
Finally, I get back to the area I had come through the carousel, but didn’t know how to go back in. I was also being accosted by even more taxi drivers.
Following the map directions, I go along, passing a line line of people. After the convention, I didn’t even notice the line, too used to it already.
This line was long enough, that I had to notice at some point. It was over a half mile long, no joke. This was the line of people trying to cross into the US, and that’s the line I was going to have to get into. Crap!
I checked the border control website for more info, maybe I could go into another line as a citizen. Nope, nothing about that, just that there was 2½ times the normal Friday foot traffic. Perhaps they were also going to Comic-Con, either as guests or just to spectate.
I am walking back down the sidewalk, checking the slow Mexican internet for possible faster routes, when a man asks me if I want to take the bus across. Well, no I don’t, but I also don’t want to stand in line for hours.
He says the price is $10 or 200 pesos. I still have 500, so I go that option.
He takes my passport card and enters it into his machine and issues me a ticket. I board and a few minutes later we drive off.
We don’t drive very far, maybe 150-200 feet before everyone exits the bus to go through the checkpoint. Inside there is even a special “bus passenger only” lane.
Just the usual, take your photo, look at your passport, ask the question of “Are you carrying anything illegal?”, and we’re through.
I exit right next to the train, just on the other side as when arriving, also closer.
I go to the machine to get my ticket, but they only take credit. It is only $2.50, WTF? Same machines as when I got on, but no cash option.
Since no one had ever checked my ticket on the way down, I decided to chance it. I didn’t buy a ticket. I just got on with the intention of saying, “I thought I had selected the round trip, oh I’m so sorry.” But never needed to. Take that San Diego Transit!
I exit near the convention center, not where I originally got on, as I wanted to go to the Chinese History Museum.
On the walk there, I found a street that was closed off to traffic, because it was filled with gobs of conventioneers, many in costumes posing for photos. So I hung for a bit.
But I didn’t know the hours of the museum, so I high tailed it over there. When I arrive, I see closing time on Fridays is 4, and it is shortly before that, but it is already completely closed. I notice another sign specifying that they are temporarily closed on every Friday. Dangit. Maybe I can swing by tomorrow.
I go back to the party street, spotting Deadpool driving a sports car. That has to be illegal, but I’m not going to tell someone that can’t be killed, that he can’t do that.
Walking count: At least another 5 miles (mostly in Tijuana), total so far 19.
I went to the desk this morning, to ask about the convention center shuttle. The clerk didn’t know, as the hotel had not “partnered” with Comic-Con this year.
I had info that it was on a nearby street, but arriving there and walking down a block, I saw no signs indicating where. Also, no one else was standing anywhere, so no one to ask.
I still had time, and I was hungry, so I walked up to a Von grocery store, that I had seen the night before and bought a couple of bananas, that were eaten before I got back to the pick up street.
Again, I see no one around. I pull out my iPad and start a search, to verify. As I am doing this, a man comes up asking me about the bus, but also has knowledge of where a stop is.
It isn’t too far, about a mile, at another hotel. He even offers to give me a ride, since he is going anyway. Super!
We find the right spot and the bus comes in few moments.
This is the first pickup area, so we have to go through the rest of the route before passing right by the pickup again. Better than being the last to be picked up, only to have a full bus, I guess.
The bus drops us off rather far from the convention center, as the road in front is completely closed. I don’t know why the buses can’t go through. I guess I got more walking to do.
It is just after 9 and they open at 9:30, so I pick a doorway, with less of a crowd, and wait for the doors to be opened.
Even though I see attendees inside, they are not opening the doors, not until almost 10.
I was systematic, I went straight to the back and then to one end of the hall, then went front to back down each aisle. I stopped occasionally to browse the wares and to try to cross the river of people.
It took over 3 hours to make my way through to the far end of the hall, just once!
Spiderman costumes were popular, as well as various Harley Quinns, Fantastic 4, princesses, and Star Fleet uniforms. Some people just had store-bought masks (lame), while others had elaborate hand-made costumes and colored skin.
With the sheer number of people, it was impossible to even think about photographs.
It was now definitely time for lunch, so I went to the back aisle of the hall, where the food sellers were.
Well shit, every one of them had signs specifying they were cashless. I don’t want to pay interest on food, so I skipped them. Maybe something outside the hall would be ok.
I went upstairs, to where the panel rooms were. Everyone had a line. But I did see a large open area and there was food being sold.
I found a nacho/taco place that didn’t have the cashless sign, so I got in line. I ordered some nachos, as the tacos had onions already mixed in and I didn’t want to fart.
As I get to the end, I got to hand over my money, but the clerk stated they could not accept cash. I lied and said I was from Europe and my credit card wouldn’t work here. Surprisingly, he let me have it, even refusing my money. Wow, I thought I was screwed, but got free food.
Unfortunately, all the dining tables were full of attendees just resting, so I ended up just sitting on the floor against the wall and ate. It was quite good, but now I can’t go back. 🙁
I then headed over to the panel rooms, each had a schedule near the door, but nothing seemed interesting. Mostly a bunch of comic artists I had never heard of.
Getting tired and sore from walking, I went back to the hotel and crashed out for a couple of hours.
Upon returning, I went back up to the panel room, as there was one I wanted to check out, the Worst Cartoons. The room was full, so I got in line, hoping someone might leave. Maybe 5 minutes later, I was led into a very dark room where a large screen was showing some crap cartoon from the 60’s.
People laughed at the cartoons, just out of sheer idiocy of the story and dialog.
Others shown were a Popeye episode with Olive was a beatnik, and a truly low budget short, that didn’t even get “inked”, just the original pencil sketches.
There was another panel after this, in the same room, so many of us stayed in there. Which I think is one of the problems with getting into the panels, too many people are “squatting”.
The panel was called “Klingon Lifestyle Presentation”, which I thought was going to be about theoretical societal norms in the Klingon homes. Instead, it was a skit play on a fan-based storyline involving Klingons, Ferengi, Orions, and Star Fleet officers.
It started out as a video, onboard a couple of ships, but then it went “live” when the crews went to the planets surface.
It was rather funny, even if the acting was hammy, but then again, so was the original Trek.
Once it was over, the convention was basically over for the day, so I headed out and went back to my room.
As I reach it, I remembered I wanted to go back to the market to get more stuff, but it would have been a tight race to get there before closing. Never mind that, I had found a Denny’s on the map nearby, so I went there.
Unfortunately, I was near the shuttle stop, so I then had to back track. I saw there was a Ralph’s market across the street and someone I asked said they were open until 1am. Awesome.
I went to the Denny’s first, I was hungry, after all, but I went to the market after, to get a half gallon of milk and juice and some more bananas.
There is a mini fridge, but no microwave, so I can keep it cold, but can’t heat anything up.
Walking count: Hard to say really, but at least another 8 miles (mostly inside), total so far 14.
I arrived in San Diego and it felt odd to not have to immediately pull out my passport. Every trip I have made, in many years has been international, in destination.
I headed towards the exit, but I had a thought while on the plane, maybe the hotel has a shuttle. So I asked at the info desk, “How do I get to the hotel shuttles?” He asked which hotel and I told him and he replied they had no shuttle.
Fine I will just Uber then. Holy crap, a mile and a half ride was going to be nearly $45. Forget that, I will just take the city bus.
It was not easy following the Google Maps directions, as there were so many different levels of “roadway”, but I managed to fine the bus stop and sat to wait.
Checking the directions again, I noticed it was 28 minute estimate for the next bus. It was only an 18 minute walk, so screw it, I’m walking. I had nothing but time anyway.
It wasn’t a hard walk. I found the hotel and check in was swift and easy. I dumped my stuff in the room and headed out to find food, as all I had so far was a tiny bag of chips on the plane.
I headed out with the intention of going to a Mexican restaurant I found in the map, 3/4 mile away. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go that way, as there is a fence surrounding the property. Trying to find my way around, I spot a Subway sandwich shop. It isn’t what I want, but I am hungry and I’m still in the hotel parking area still.
I am surprised, they actually have whole wheat bread, without oats and nuts on top. I can’t find that at home for several years now.
He makes my sandwich and then rings it up, $15.51!!! WTF, this same sandwich in Florida, or anywhere else, would only be $6+tax. But since it was already made, I couldn’t just say no.
I don’t know if it because it is close to the hotel or because everything in CA is high priced, but I went back up to my room to eat. Partly because I didn’t want to find out how much the drinks were.
After turning on the TV, which had a message welcoming me, by name, I flipped through a few channels, finding that the on-screen descriptions did not match any of the shows on any channel.
I decided to bring my Amazon Fire Stick, so I checked the back of the TV (which had a decent swivel base) and inserted it and switched the input to the second HDMI port.
It booted just fine, but when I went into the network settings to connect the WiFi, it had a problem. On my other devices, they would auto-load a webpage, then I would have to click a link to bring up another page to enter room number and last name (the password). Unfortunately, this device didn’t like doing that and froze on the network page, forcing me to cut the power just to get back to the home.
Oh, well, I guess I don’t need to watch TV anyway.
I do have a few episodes download on my iPad, and I can watch streaming on it as well, but so much easier to see it on the larger screen.
It is only 7pm, but it is ten back home. I am exhausted, so I just go to bed.
I am woken at 4:45am by several texts. I had a problem with my RV a week ago, so I had dropped it at a service center.
The CSR had put the wrong info into the work order, so several days were wasted. I had gone in on Friday to clear it up and got the work order fixed.
As it was later in the day and their estimator would not be in until Monday, I expected a call then. After landing, on Tuesday, I had a text from them, but I needed to get to the hotel, and then forgot about them.
Even getting a text at 7:45am would be too damn early, as I am a night owl. Besides they don’t even open until 9am.
I tried going back to sleep, but I was already awake, so I got up and showered. I had to wait a bit for the breakfast to be open, 6:30.
I wandered around the first floor a bit just looking around and found a tourist info stand and got a free San Diego map.
As I walked through the dining area, I glanced at the menu. $18 for just eggs!!! All the prices were high. Never mind, I’m going out on the town anyway, I’ll get something somewhere else.
I took a seat in the “business center” and browsed the map. I decided on going to Balboa Park, which I had seen at home also, so I took an Uber there.
The ride was pleasant enough and was reasonably priced. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until I was getting out, I forgot to go to get food. And also, it was only 7am, nothing here would open until 10. I wandered about a little in the park, then walked to a nearby place to get a breakfast burrito. It was just a hole in the wall place, so I walked back to the park to find a bench to sit and eat.
I sat right in a puddle on the bench. Well, it will dry. The burrito was good, as chorizo is always good.
I wandered a bit more, finding a cactus with a tall flowering stalk. There were dozens of humming birds fluttering around, drinking its nectar.
There were also thousands of bees flying around, hitting every possible type of flower. None bothered me, so I didn’t bother them.
After so many trips to foreign countries, this was the most “alien” place I have been. Nothing felt “normal”, which I suppose is good, as what’s the point of traveling if everything is the same as home.
In Florida, most trees don’t have a lot of flowers, at least not for long. Here, every type of tree seems be blooming. There are pines and oaks, of course, but they are different species than Florida. There are so many different trees that I don’t even think I have seen before. I was looking at one tree and noticed a spiky plant in its branches, but as I look I realize, it isn’t in the tree, it was the tree. The base had long ago lost its spikes and appeared more like bark.
I spotted a baobab tree, with its tendrils hanging down, ready to become new trunks to support the tree. The sidewalk went under a huge magnolia tree, perhaps 75 feet across, with a trunk bigger than I could get my arms around even halfway. Our magnolias just go straight up, not out.
I see the twisted, gnarled trunks of perhaps mesquite bushes. There is a pine/fir tree that has a huge knotty base maybe 8 feet across, I would love to have that as it would have some fantastic grain pattern.
On the east coast, so many of our “ornamental” plants came from Europe and Asia, it is nice to see a variety of native plants.
Finally, it is 10 o’clock and the places are opening. I selected an art museum, as it was free. It wasn’t very large, but it had some nice stuff.
I walked past a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, but obviously, no plays at this time of day.
Then I went to the “Museum of Us”. It was a general history museum of humanity. They had some ancient relics but also some modern items. They had a room of secret confessions, people would confess something on a postcard and mail it in, anonymously. They were tame confessions, nothing criminal, like “I hate my mom’s boyfriend, I’ll never eat with him” or “I can’t tell grandma that I’m gay, because she’ll leave me out of her will.” Stupid stuff like that, but interesting somehow.
There was a room that explored our desire and disgust of eating different animals. My personal theory is that we eat ugly animals (cows, pigs, fowl), but not attractive (rabbits, cats, guinea pigs) or extremely ugly animals (camels, worms, insects) unless we have no other choice.
It also included a cannibalism exhibit. Starting off, they show posters of many movies that had a cannibalistic theme or content, like Silence of the Lambs, Robinson Caruso, or Apocalypse Now, before moving on to tribal ceremonies involving human sacrifice and famous cases of forced cannibalism such as the Donner party and the Andean plane crash.
Afterwards, I wandered about town, looking for lunch. I went far, walking through neighborhoods, just seeing the different house styles. Almost went up the ramp to Interstate 5, but caught myself.
I walked quite far, going through “Little Italy”, but I didn’t want overpriced Italian food. I did ask someone as I passed, where to find good, inexpensive food in that area, but he didn’t know, as he was a newcomer.
After walking many miles and hours, without finding a restaurant that wasn’t outrageous, I decided to head back to the room, to rest. I called for an Uber, but after several minutes, it still hadn’t found me a driver. I walked up to the next corner, for shade, and saw a Chinese takeout place, and it was reasonably priced. I canceled my ride search.
As I wait for the previous person to order, I notice, there is no bathroom, so I get my rice with orange chicken to go, and call another Uber, this time it was only 1 minute away.
I asked the driver where he was from, he just said “west Africa.” So I guessed Somaliland, and was not only right, but impressed him as well. Most of the world sees the entire area as “Somalia”, but Somaliland is a self-governing area that is fighting for independence. Further more, they are a “safe” area, unlike Somalia, which has a very high murder rate and pirates that attack ships in the Gulf of Aden.
I watched an English man on YouTube who travels a lot. He made a trip to Somaliland and at one point there is a money-changer sitting on the edge of the street, surrounded by piles of different currencies, in cash. He had never been robbed. That is something that even someone in the US could not do.
I ate my food, then crashed for a couple of hours.
I checked, there were people in the pool, so I got on my swim trunks and went in for a while.
While in there, I realized that I haven’t swam in many years. Probably the last time was when Sherri had rented that house for the weekend, that had a pool. There is nowhere local that is worth going to anymore and the good springs are too far away, so I haven’t gone into the water for a while.
The water was warm enough, but the wind started picking up and was chilling my head too much, so I had to get out.
Helene was not really powerful in our area, being on the north side where the wind was coming across the state.
There was a oak tree blown over. We have never had any significant sized branches lost before, but because of the highway widening project, the state has removed 4 businesses from near the house and every single tree on those properties. We have no wind buffer anymore.
The damage.
The large oak in the front yard, next to the Georges’ house was uprooted and fell over. Fortunately, it only hit the corner of the portico roof. The only real damage was the crappy wall that Bob had built, it was already wobbly and I should have pushed it over before the neighbors had moved in. It was directly in front of my RV, but it went the other way, phew.
I had noticed it late that night, because it was blocking most of the light from their front light. I went out first thing once the sun was up and began cutting away some of the smaller branches away from the walkway.
The next day, I was at Tru-value rental first thing and reserved their 50′ man-lift. They won’t let me tow with my car (insurance reasons) so I went home and reserved a truck from Enterprise, then went to their office to wait for them to open.
After sitting outside quite a while, I get a phone call. The agent says they have no trucks available, despite the website saying they do and the fact I can see several sitting there. I call others in the area and only one has a truck, but when I ask to verify it has a tow hitch, he states they never allow towing with their vehicles, even though I specifically have rented a truck there before with the precise purpose of towing.
After giving up, I went back out to Tru-value to cancel the man-lift, but I find out they can deliver it for another $125, which is cheaper than the truck rental was going to be anyway. I had it rented for Saturday with Sunday included.
Saturday went smoothly, but since I had used my car to reposition the lift and I was parked in the road, I moved it at the end of the day. Sunday morning I placed it back, but could not get it to “level”, every time I tried to use the controls to lift or move the basket, the siren would blare. Not a sound I want. I tried multiple times, over 5 hours, repositioning it, lifting and retrying to get it even. Every time, the bubbles were showing level, front-to-back and side-to-side. WTF!
They are closed on Sundays, so there was no one I could even call. Monday I was able to get someone on the phone. Turns out, there is a small sensor wheel on the bottom of each of the outriggers that has to be fully extended, otherwise the machine won’t work. One of the sensor wheels was cocked just a bit and was hitting the side of its slot and wouldn’t extend out. I wasted an entire day because of that. I later had to pay for another day (and delivery), without them even giving me a discount.
All that I could do myself.
I spent 6 days cutting branches and piling them up, using the man-lift to get the majority.
Unfortunately, the man-lift could not reach everything (there were branches that were in the way of the basket), and I was left with the main trunk and one branch poking into the ground, which supported the trunk. If I tried to cut that branch, not only would it absolutely pinch the chain saw bar, but it would also fall right on top of me, there was nowhere to run once it started to come down.
I had to call for actual tree guys to come to “finish” it. One company came out and gave me an estimate of $11,000, which was higher than the estimate I had gotten a few years ago to remove the entire tree (before the roof was redone). I did get one to do it for $350, but their skid steer did tear up some of the grass. It will grow back eventually.
My pole saw started sparking internally, so i bought a new one. After dissection, one of the brushes was “frozen” and wouldn’t make good contact any more. Normally the spring pushes the graphite brushes against the rotor, but this one was stuck in place. Oh well, I bought it at Harbor Freight, so what can you expect.
All in, I spent almost $3,000, not counting the money lost from not working.
Milton is only a week later. Hurray!
While there was no significant problem with the wind or rain, we did loose power for nearly 72 hours. The power flicked a bunch that evening, but around 10:30 it just went out.
After a few minutes, I could tell it wasn’t going to come back on, so i shut down my computer and web-server and their UPS’s, and having nothing else to do in the dark, so we went to bed.
The next morning, I was worried about another tree that I would have to deal with, but nothing was wrong. I was surprised and relieved.
The neighbors brought out a generator and proceeded to run it for many days and nights. Right outside my window.
I ran an extension cord from the RV to keep the fridge and freezer cold. But I ended up disposing of most of the fridge anyway.
Unlike some people, I have little in the freezer anyway, so little loss there. Before going to the store to refill the freezer, I did do a defrost and cleaned it well. Have to do it sometime, so might as well when there isn’t much to shove into the fridge overnight.
I did not run the generator all the time (unlike the neighbors), after I had turned it on Friday morning, I heard a load screeching coming from it. Either I have a loose belt or my generator’s water pump is froze up. At $300 per hour, I really hope it is the first. Either way, I can’t get my hands or tools in there to do anything myself.
We had power by Friday afternoon, but I still could not go to work as the gas was in short supply in the area. Good, more lost income. I did not work for 18 days, over half the month.
I was able to go to Gainesville for the UK game, it was Homecoming, so I did make a bit of money, but not enough to cover all I have already charged up.
I still have a huge pile of debris from the oak tree, too much for the city to collect for free. I want to rent a chipper, but it is $400/day plus delivery, so i will have to wait. Maybe the city will get tired of the pile and give me a break and take it away. Fat chance.
We flew out on Saturday, to Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon. It must not get a lot of traffic, as the airport only had one baggage carousel.
We had a car rented, so we went to the rental area. The attendant took our info and led us outside to get a van to the pickup area. While we waited, three pickup trucks go by, nothing unusual about that, except they had flashing red and blue lights and masked guards in the back along with a mounted gun. Crap, where have I decide to come?
I go into the rental building and the lady taking care of me doesn’t know any English, of course. She asks a few questions via Google Translate, but spends a lot of time tapping on the screen. She then has me “sign” the screen and runs my credit card. She takes me outside to the car, a Yaris. It is white (thankfully in that sun) and I immediately notice the lack of the metal portion of the gas tank cover and a large dent on the trunk.
There are also “streaks” in the trunk from luggage wheels. She documents everything and then Mom and I load up and leave.
I have the address for the hotel, but Waze gives me some bad directions. For example, it might say I need to turn left in 3.2 miles, so I get into the left lane, but as I get close, it suddenly changes to take an exit on the right. I would have no way to cross 3 or 4 lanes in such a short distance, much less doing it safely. I would have to continue on, and make a U-turn as soon as I could. I don’t know if this is common, but they do have many “retourno” lanes marked. I later tried Google maps, but got similar results.
After checking in to the hotel, we went out to get snacks and some water for mom’s CPAP. We ate out and then crashed out, it was only 8, but that’s 10pm back home and it was a long day.
We headed out fairly early the next morning. It was 3½ hours to Torrèon, in the next state over, Coahuila.
The drive was mostly uneventful, the town of Saltillo is near Monterrey, but there is almost nothing after that. We were mostly about a mile or so from a mountain range on each side of us, and just cacti and scrub bushes on a flat sandy ground between.
There were ruins of adobe buildings every so often. We stopped near one so mom could get a smoke, and I went behind to wee.
Occasionally, we’d come upon a small village. By small, I mean less than 10 buildings, total. Calling them villages is an exaggeration, but I have no word for anything smaller. The buildings also were better than the old adobes. At least one was obviously just pallets attached together to make walls and a tarp as a roof. There is very little rain, so that should be enough.
Most villages would have huge speed bumps to make you slow down. They were not so tall that the car would scrape the bottom, but they were not easy on the shocks (or our bodies). I’d have to go over at about 5km/h, otherwise it was too much. A few had local police ready to ticket anyone who didn’t obey. With the speed bumps, how could anyone speed? I couldn’t even get near the posted limit.
The car did not start out with a full tank, so I did have to stop. I think all stations are “full” service, I didn’t see any that you would be able to operate yourself. No different that New Jersey, in that respect.
It came to about 800 pesos, around $45, so no different than filling my car would have been. I was able to pay him directly, but mom had gone inside to buy stuff. Only I had all the cash, so I still had to go in as well.
I used the translator on my ipad to ask the service agent about checking the air in the tires, but he said something and shook his head no. That was another problem with the car, when I picked it up, the “check tire” light on the dash was on. I had done a check, by pressing on each tire, all seemed to feel the same. Crossing the desert with a low tire light is not fun.
We managed to get to the AirBnB in Torrèon a few hours early, so we started looking for lunch. I found a nearby place that had a sign advertising “street food” I ordered 2 of the “regular solos,” which apparently was just a cone of fries with sauce. They had no seating, so we sat in the car to eat. In the plaza, there was a Little Caesar’s with drive through line literally around the building. There was also an agua fresca stand (water with fruit), a cinema with all American movies, and another police truck with gun mount.
There is a securiy gate at the AirBnB, but it was open all weekend, fortunately, bandits take Saturday and Sunday off, so we were safe.
We went for some breakfast food, since we had a kitchen and a fridge. Honey Cheerios do not taste anything like Honey-nut Cheerios. Perhaps because they are made by General Mills, here, but by Nestlé in Mexico. The orange juice was good, but a little bitter.
First thing Monday morning, I made a bunch of peanut butter and apple marmalade (which had small chunks of apple) sandwiches to take to the eclipse. I wanted to eat something local, but I knew that there would be a lot of people there and I didn’t know if many places would even be open. The peanut butter was unusually smooth, no risk of tearing your bread.
Nazas, in Durango state, is a small town. There was a group of police at the start of town (of course) and some locals handing out flyers listing various events that were going on. The flyer also had phone numbers at the bottom that we could call and someone would translate for us, for free. I know that no one here would do that.
I had a spot picked out north of town, down a small dirt road. It looked good on aerial view, but Google had no street view, so I didn’t know if I’d have been able to pull off safely. There could have been a fence or a “curb” where road graders had dug down.
We decided to try out the local’s event. Following signs down a very dusty road, we wound back to a small park next to Rio Nazas, a modest, but fast moving river.
There were lines drawn out onto the ground for campsites, which many had taken advantage of. They had a section filled with various food vendors as well as the obligatory trinket hawkers.
They played music from speakers on a raised stage, that they also “narrated” the eclipse from. From what I listened to, it was all American music. So much for “local culture.”
The sand was super fine, like confectioner’s sugar. This must be what walking on the moon feels like. Unfortunately, it was too easy to kick up and my shoes were quickly nasty looking.
Someone offered mom their chair in the shade. I then noticed really tall grass nearby, it was wild corn growing beside the river. No ears dang it. On the ride back, I did notice some occasional bunches of corn near the highway. It must fall out of trucks.
I briefly spoke with a Japanese man from near Tokyo, who came all the way just to photograph the eclipse. I suppose that’s no crazier than the two of us going.
The eclipse at that location was about 4:28 of totality, the longest along the entire path, hence our reason for being there. It really didn’t feel like it was that long. There was just one bright spot (a Baily’s bead) near the lower right.
In 2017, I saw mini eclipses on the ground, because of the thousands of gaps between the leaves, acting as camera obscuras. I saw the same this time, but the trees were mostly long needled, so the effect wasn’t as pronounced. Also the kids I pointed it out to, either didn’t care or didn’t understand.
After the end of totality, most people were leaving. There was more to see of the eclipse, but most don’t care. There were other events going on, including live music and a canoe race down the river.
Obligatory “staring at the sun” photo.
We waited, but still managed to get stuck in the traffic.
I didn’t see anything on the route out of town, so good thing we had sandwiches.
After getting back to the room, we washed the dust off and then went out to eat.
One of mom’s patients told her about a statue of Jesus, the largest in North America. I found it on the map and figured it would be better to go there first before the restaurant. Once we arrived, there was a small walkway going up the side of the mountain. Hell no, neither of us was going to climb a mountain on foot. So we skipped it.
While sitting at the restaurant, on the 2nd floor, I am looking around at the scenery and spot something atop another mountain. I pull out the iPad map and it was the statue we had been looking for. I have no idea what the first place was, it was 30 minutes away, so definitely not the same. I couldn’t find it on the map again, either.
I had a “Hawaiian” burger, 2 beef patties with small ham cubes and chunks of pineapple. I don’t understand why people want to make tall burgers, if it is larger than my mouth, it is too big. It did taste great and had a wooden skewer holding it together, which I poked myself with several times as I ate.
There was a park next door, with carnival rides and such, so we browsed it briefly, before going to see the statue.
It was about 20 minutes away, so as I’m driving up, it is getting dark, the first time we’ve stayed up long enough to see it. The parking area is only partway up the mountain, so we would still have to climb. Again, no.
Strangely, with the majority of Mexicans being Catholic, I only saw a small number of churches, maybe 4 total. There were small shrines along the roadways, however. Even 20 miles from any building, there one would be. Who was visiting or maintaining these?
All the fun was over, we had to drive back to Monterrey to fly home. If there is one thing more boring than driving through a desert, it has to be driving the same road again.
I had originally decided to drive along the freeway, partly to see the local sites and stop if desired, and partly because I didn’t want to pay a toll and then have the rental company charge me again.
Well, there really were no local sites to see, and the toll was about 22 bucks, so I was going to risk a small double charge.
The freeway mostly travels between the mountains, on the level ground. The toll road travels mostly parallel, but does go through more passes. At one point, we are going uphill. There seems to be a half lane on each side. I see a couple of semis, without trailers, riding along this half lane. I presumed it was so I could see past them if I was to pass. Nope, it was because 2 trucks, with trailers were basically riding across the center line, passing others on their side. Geez.
I notice some electronic signs, something about migration of monarch butterflies. I saw a few pale yellow butterflies, but I think monarchs are orange.
I really wish I had a camera on the front of the car with a screen that had live translations. Too many signs I have no idea what they meant. I am certain I broke a law or two, simply because I didn’t know better.
Some of the multi-lane roads had different speed limits for each lane, like 60-50-40 km/hr, with them painted on the roadway, but most were worn away or faded.
On the way to the airport, I see a couple of men trying to chop the flower stalk of a yucca or agave plant in the median. I had presumed they didn’t want the more than 20 ft tall stalk to fall into the road, or that they didn’t want the plant to spend energy on reproduction. But shortly after getting home, a video was posted that compared asparagus and agave plants. Perhaps they were going to eat it.
I awoke on Wednesday morning, about 8am, that would be 1am at home. I quickly showered and dressed, loaded the remaining items and left.
My checkout was easy, I had asked the day before, just leave. They don’t issue any keys, so nothing to return. They collect the money at check in, so nothing left to pay.
A quick metro to the train station and walk out to the platform. I realize that the platform was brand new, the tracks had the granite stone holding everything in place, but there was still a gap between the tracks where you can see the dirt. Also, the rock isn’t covered in brake dust yet and no trash was present.
Russians have very few benches, for some reason, so I stand and wait. Not long, the train pulls up and I enter.
The AeroExpress was just as long as before, slow. I had done a Google map test, it was faster to drive a car to the airport, than to take this train, even though the train doesn’t have red lights. It would have also been faster to take the metro to the end of Line #2 and then the airport bus. But since I had already paid, and I have no car here, this is the route I must make.
Besides, I have many hours prior to boarding, so I really am in no hurry.
SVO artwork
We arrive at the SVO airport platform and must enter a security checkpoint. Just a quick x-ray and metal detector. Apparently normal at Russian airports.
I enter the large “common” area. There is a extremely large wall display of the upcoming flights. When I say extremely, I mean it. It must have been 50 feet tall and 300 feet long.
Despite the size, my flight was still not showing. I was that much early.
After browsing around a bit, checking all the restaurants, I see my flight listed, but check in isn’t for another 4 hours. I told you I was early.
I decided on a “bar” that had a clearly posted menu, with English. The prices were reasonable. I ordered a pork hamburger and fries, 840₽. I handed her 850₽, she gave me 10₽ in change, but it was all 1₽ coins.
The pork was good, but had no sauce. The fries were a bit soggy and had no salt. I see no salt anywhere and the clerk had disappeared. This is breakfast, so I eat anyway.
I was going to order a salad, not only for nutrition, but to use the all of the last of my coins. I already know that probably no exchange in the world will take coins, the bastards. But the food is lackluster and I don’t see her any where, so screw it.
Finally, check in time arrived. It was a quick and painless process. I enter the door for customs, nothing to declare. The guard asked me if I had more than $10k equivalent, I denied, I’m not rich after all. He allows me to pass.
Another door and security checkpoint. Again, simple, put everything on the conveyor and walk through metal detector. No shoe removal, no electronics separation, no BS, no problems. TSA PreCheck is easy, but not as easy as going through Russian checkpoints (but there are a lot more of them).
Last door, then passport check. The officer asked for my continuation documentation, I handed over my flight printout from Orbitz, not really proof, but accepted. Passed.
I then have to walk down the hall to the end, because of course my gate is all the way down there. Every store in this area is “duty free.” There is Beluga caviar, wines, perfumes, hand bags, expensive electronics, etc. All the duty free shops accepted rubles or Euros, I guess in case you had already exchanged your money.
I see a PS5 for €699, about $750. But after a quick check of Amazon, I could buy one for only $500. No savings, no thanks.
I verify the display at the gate is right, then sit at a seat with power. And wait. I still have over five hours until boarding.
I pull out my iPad and watch some TV episodes. (After I arrived home I find I watched 14 hours of video, probably about 17-18 if there had been commercials, just from sitting at airports.)
At some point a plane docked and unloaded at the gate, good my plane is here. Later I see a mechanic covering the engine cowls, odd if they are going to be leaving soon.
Flight is at 9:15pm, boarding is about 8:50, so I watch one last video that will end at 8:30. That will ensure I can go ahead and hit the toilet and re-fill my water. But as I finish the episode and stow everything back in my bag, I notice the gate has gotten much emptier. I recheck the display, the next flight is showing, not mine. I then have to go down the hall to find a master display, they’ve changed my gate to the other end of the hall. Seems oddly familiar, as if this happened recently.
The hall is quite long, maybe 200 yards and I had to go down an escalator. arriving at the new gate, they were boarding.
This was the first time anyone had ever separated my boarding pass. I had just been wondering why the boarding passes have a perforation, if no one ever separates. Well I guess some do.
Stepping passed and walking down the small hallway, we all step out side, another bus to the plane. Geez, does no one in Russia get to step directly in or out of a plane to the terminal?
My approximate flight path.
I had looked at my flights recent paths. I see it stays well away from the Ukraine border. Originally I was going to take Turkish Air from Moscow all the way home, but I had Aeroflot credits so I opted to use them for this flight.
There is no way Ukraine would fire upon a Turkish airliner, but I didn’t think about how I wasn’t going to be in a Turkish plane for this flight. I didn’t think about it, until now. Oh crap.
Needless to say, I did not die in a fiery explosion. We landed smoothly and parked at the gate in Istanbul.
I am on an international flight and leaving on another international fight, not entering the country proper, just the customs territory, no security needed.
Oh, things are not that simple.
I had to walk down about a mile to change terminals.
I had to check in with Lufthansa to get my next boarding pass. Then passport control and security. WHY?????
I had just exited a plane and had no access to check baggage. What could I possibly have done to require a new check of my stuff?
While at the gate, I see that I haven’t worn my coat since I arrived in Russia, so I jam it into my suitcase. I also determine that I don’t want my backpack at my feet. My foot had gone numb on the latest flight, the bag took all the space, so I couldn’t move.
You are supposed to place the case in the overhead bin and your personal item is to go under the seat. Nope, I immediately placed both in the overhead. If I need something, I can get it later after takeoff.
Oh, so much better.
I have a one hour, fifty five minute layover at Frankfurt, great. If things ran smoothly.
We load onto the plane and the plane pulls out from the gate, but then captain makes an announcement that Frankfurt airport has a landing strip closed for repairs, so we have a tight window to land. OK, sounds simple. We had to sit 37 minutes waiting for the right time to leave. Why didn’t they just have everyone wait in the terminal? Why sit there burning fuel for no reason?
I did crash out before we took off though.
I realize there is a bad side to using foreign airliners, the safety briefing is in the native language and then again in English, twice the boredom.
The landing and take off in Frankfurt is at the same terminal and both flights are on Lufthansa, maybe this will be easy.
Nope, arrivals and departures are on different levels and to access the other you must go through security.
Because of the change of gate at SVO, I didn’t get a chance to refill the bottle of water. At security, I still had the bottle, which was confiscated and disposed of. No problem, I have another bottle. I can just fill it at Frankfurt.
Because of the take off delay and security, (and another gate change) I arrived after they started boarding. I am way back, but I was able to get both bags stowed. The doors closed very shortly after I sat. So close to being left behind.
Okay, I have a 10 hour flight, no water and I didn’t get to go to the toilet. Great.
Plus side, I had no neighbor, so I could stretch out a little more and I had double pillow and blankets. I had tried laying down, but the seats have just enough contour, that they have a hump as you lay across two. No good. I could move over and stretch my legs into my seat’s leg area though.
I did sleep a bit, but not enough.
The meal was quite good, but small. I’m glad I ate at SVO.
An hour before landing, I need to go, but I’ve never used an airplane toilet. I don’t really want to, it doesn’t seem like something to yearn for, but if I am delayed, I might not get the van to Warner Robins.
We land at ATL. Hurray!
Goodbye Russia, hello real toilet paper.
Even though I am in the section of passport control exclusively for US citizens and permanent residents, there seems to be several people who are not.
The officer at passport control asks where I’m coming from, I answer and he gives me a quizzical look.
“Is this the best time to be visiting Russia?” he asks, like he’s my mother. I explain the need to go now versus loosing my flight credits and my visa expiring soon. He returns my passport and welcomes me home.
I’m not out of the woods yet, I have to find the shuttle to domestic terminal, so I can get the van back to Warner Robins. My email from the transport company stated, “A quick 10 minute ride.” BS, it was over 25 minutes, but I arrived at the van right on time.
I spoke briefly to the lady next to me, who was also on my flight. She lives in Frankfurt and has family in Warner Robins. Coincidence.
I get to Ari’s house, but when I try to put my bags in the car it is locked. Everyone knows I never lock my car. I go in to get the key and press the unlock button, nothing. I get closer and retry, still nothing. Ari says she had just moved the car a few days ago to mow, but now I have nothing.
A jump start attempt latter, still nothing. The battery is on the trunk and I can’t open the trunk without power. But an internet search later, I find out there is a key slot on the trunk, completely filled in with grunge, I had seen it before, but thought it was nothing.
We are able to jump directly on the battery, but as I run around the neighborhood charging the battery, I notice a little bit of a thump. Checking the tires, I see one has exposed steel. It is almost 8pm, very few places are open. The one I check, is open, but is booked with appointments.
I am able to buy a new battery, just in case, and they loan me tools to change it. Cool.
I decide, I have a spare, if it does go flat, then I can fix it then. Didn’t blow out, so no problem.
It is a long way home, we arrive right at 1am. I arose at 1am on Wednesday, it is now Friday. I’ve spent 48 hours on a plane, in a terminal, or in a car. I’m really to go party!
By “party” I of course mean sleep.
I grab my phone and iPad out of the car, but leave everything else, it can wait.
I do a quick check of the house, all seems normal. I go to bed and fall asleep almost right away. I haven’t done that in years.
After passing security and finding my gate, I had the munchies, more boredom than hunger.
I browsed around the terminal for something that looked good and found a gourmet pizza place that had reasonable prices. Not just airport reasonable, but outside reasonable, less than $11 for a 3-topping medium.
Only, they have an ordering kiosk and it only accepts credit cards. I have cash and don’t want to use my card, just in case it triggers a security alert with the bank.
All restaurants and stores, at least inside the secure area, only accept credit cards. I’m sure it is so that the airport gets a cut of sales.
Unfortunately, the banks and credit card companies no longer have a method of telling them that you’ll be traveling. So any transaction may be the one that sets off their algorithm, and cuts off my ability to use it.
Obviously, I won’t be able to use it in Russia, because of the sanctions, but I may need it in Warsaw, Istanbul, or Frankfurt airports or in Tallinn.
Also, the benches at the gate had AC and USB plugs, but none of the ones I tried worked, but later I managed to get the seat next to the wall, with an outlet.
I noticed my boarding pass was “Group 8.” Crap, I was in the last group to get on, so I had to put my case several rows forward. Worse, I was in row 32, out of 33. There were only 2 people behind me. That’s what happens if you don’t pony up more moollah for an assigned seat up front. Also, I was on the window, so I had to wait for the guy next to me to get up and leave first.
No real problems, but just aggravating.
The real problem was that I had to change terminals in O’Hare, and that means going back through security. Wait… my second boarding pass doesn’t have PreCheck on it. Crap and more crap.
I asked the guard and they said if it doesn’t say it, I don’t get it.
So I get to trod along with the other peons through a not too long checkpoint, but I had to remove my shoes and electronics.
I asked the “terminal manager” (his words) and the answer is that even though I paid fro Precheck, the airlines have to also pay. I guess Polish Air won’t. Still, the boarding passes were printed by AA and it should have carried forward.
My 2nd and 3rd boarding passes don’t have any gate info. Looking at the departure listings, my flight was too far down the list to be shown. That’s OK, I look at the Orbitz app. Umm, it doesn’t have a gate, either. I pull up the Polish airlines app, no gate there, either.
Even my “flight tracker” app won’t tell me. It has ALL the answers.
I went pee, then refilled my water bottle (which I had to dump because of the checkpoint) and found another departure board that had a second screen, so I had my gate number. Hurrah!
Interestingly, my iPad was able to change time zone on its own, even in airplane mode and at 28,000 feet. Not sure, but I presume that since I was getting GPS, it “knew” I was in Central.
But, on the ground, my phone could not find the signal, not for several minutes.
Plus one for Apple’s TZ recognition, but then minus one again for the bad reception.
