[4:10 PM Pacific time]
Given my fortune cookie yesterday I just had to laugh as I sit here in the terminal at LAX waiting for my next flight.
This morning as I was getting ready to leave on a business trip I discovered that during the night the van quit working again. I didn’t have time to attempt any repairs so I’m sure it will sit broken in my driveway until I get back. I guess it’s time to get a new van.
It turns out that I’ve developed a kind of ritual when leaving on a business trip. I don’t pack until the day I leave. I furriously respond to all the e-mail I can before rushing out the door. I eat lunch at Granato’s and take half of the Muffeleta sandwich with me on the plane. I go to the restroom when the plane starts to board and first thing when I get off (I have a great dislike of answering nature’s call while in the air).
I have a terrible 5.5 hour layover here until my connecting flight. My work obviously places higher importance on cost than on convenience. So I’m sitting here looking at all the people going into the security checkpoint below while I sit on the restraunt level wondering if I should go check in or if I should just sit here and get something to eat (I have 4.5 hours left of waiting).
I’m not yet disclosing where I am going because it might make my trip seem more eventful than it really is. You will have to guess and be surprised (or not surprised if you guessed right).
Sadly, my fortune took me a different way today than visiting my good friend Joe (a big shout-out for Joe over at Cherish Bound). I’ll definitely come and visit when I get back. By the way, I pretty much eat lunch at that Maverick down the street every day. I like the tacos and the Cheddar Bratwurst and a 32oz Dr. Pepper.
Why don’t they carry Dr. Pepper on a Delta? For that matter, why is the snack and beverage service on Delta so crappy? I mean, other airlines are just as crappy but they are honest about it and make fun of themselves. I think Delta believes it is still the premier airline in the world and this is just a rough patch they have to muddle through. I think it is going to get worse and worse. But I digress.
I think I’ll have some sushi here….
[6:01pm]
About an hour ago I found a table in the food court directly under some air conditioning AND with a plug in the floor. I settled in for a long wait. I’ve been checking my e-mail and other things (like writing in this blog) while connecting to a cell-modem from T-Mobile. I’ve forgotten how awful it is to use a modem and the only thing I can say thank you for is AJAX which, as you know, only loads the stuff that is needed instead of the whole page. It actually makes some applications usable. Funny that. Some of the applications I always use on broadband I immediately gave up and moved on to sites that actually work.
For the past 30 minutes people keep eying my unused power outlet. I finally felt sorry for a 10 year old boy who was walking around with his grandfather looking for somewhere to recharge his GameBoy for a long flight to Australia. I suppose if I camp out here long enough I could pimp out my extra power outlet.
Another amazing thing is the fact that there are probably 10 really good places to eat here, some of them full-blown restaurants, but the vast majority of people are eating at McDonalds. I know that when I traveled internationally I always wanted to eat at McDonalds because it was familiar and safe. I have a feeling that when Josh goes to Japan in a few weeks he will be eating there for every meal. Still, it seems funny to me.
[6:10pm]
I just figured out how long my next flight is and I’m not happy. Not happy at all. Let me just say that it is longer than I thought it would be and that always sucks. But if I said how long it was you would have some vague general idea where I was going knowing that planes fly about 500 mph. I’ll keep it a surprise.
[6:56pm]
I’ve held out long enough. I’m going to abandon my prime location and power outlet to go get something to eat and pee. I also need to walk around for the next couple of hours to stretch my legs. I might not be able to update until tomorrow.