Aaron dropped me off at the Oakland airport at about 6:15pm on Sunday. My flight was supposed to be at 7:00, but was delayed to 7:30 because the flight before us was taking so long to board and passengers were late. However, when my flight started boarding at just past 7:00, we left the gate almost immediately b/c there were only 4 people on the 737 that was to take us from oakland to phoenix! There were more crew than passengers, and right after taking off at about 7:15 (the shortest taxi I've ever experienced), I got invited to sit in first class. How do you like them apples! Not bad for the cheapest possible flight I could find.
Once I got to Phoenix, it was a different story. We were supposed to leave at 10:45, but they didn't even start letting people on until 10:50 b/c the flight oversold, and they had been looking for volunteers to stay behind for half an hour, in exchange for $300 vouchers to anywhere America West flies for 1 year (including Mexico and South America), overnight stay in Phoenix w/ meals, limo back to airport for 1:00 flight arriving at jfk at 7pm EST, w/ limo from jfk. This was upped to $400 by the time boarding began and up to $500 by the time the time second group called. I was in group 5, so I wasn't sure if this state of affairs meant that I might not get on. I tried not to worry though and watched Devdas while I was waiting to board. Once I got on the plane, there were several empty seats, but they still asked for one more volunteer to stay behind for the $500 deal b/c we were still over weight regulations! I really wish that the crew wouldn't tell you things like that, b/c removing one more guy and his baggage doesn't make me that confident about the weight of the aircraft being safe for travel. Anyhow, the rest of the flight was unmemorable; I watched Cheaper by the Dozen b/c it was the in-flight movie and I didn't have pay the $5 to rent headphones since I had my own, then I watched the rest of the songs from Devdas and all the songs from Kabi Kushi Kabie Gham. When we landed, it took a loooooong time for our baggage to come to the carousel and then I got whisked to a "taxi" that turned out to be a towncar so it cost me over twice as much ($65) to ride to Astoria from JFK, but at least my driver was Russian and funny; kinda reminded me of my grandpa...
So, I got here at 6:15ish on Monday morning, and when Renee answered the door, I felt bad b/c it was obviously before she was supposed to get up for work. She directed me to the couch where I immediately passed out until 10:15. I woke up thinking that I should IM Aaron so he knows I got here OK, but it turned out that Renee had already done that for me... but I was already up so I showered, walked to get some coffee at the only Starbucks nearby b/c Renee said that other coffee shops my not use filtered water and got a nice, drippy cheesesteak from the gyro/pizza place nearby... and chinese print bag for $6.99 to hold my camera and stuff w/o looking like a tourist.
Then I got on the subway to go meet Renee in Manhattan when she got off work. It's different from Muni and BART in that it's a lot older and bumpy, but at least I was able to get a 7-day unlimited ride pass. It amazed me how many blocks we covered so quickly, since we started at 59th after going under the river and I got off at 8th, just 10 minutes later. I walked to Washington Square, which is right at the beginning of 5th Avenue and walked up to Union Square, where I was to meet Renee. I was an hour early and couldn't think of anything to do or anywhere to go, so I went into the nearby Virgin Records and listened to the entire new Alicia Keys album. I think I'll download it when I get home.
Washington Arch... under construction
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It felt about 80 degrees in downtown SF today. Perfect for a glass of wine at dusk...I miss my drinking buddy!
Posted by: cody at March 16, 2004 06:43 PMugh... don't talk about drinking... I think I'm going to be sick...
Posted by: Kristina at March 17, 2004 07:22 AMI'm glad you're having fun baby and, while in some ways I'm enjoying this little stretch of solitude, I know I'll be happier once you're home again.
Especially with that FBI t-shirt...another phase in my master plan to trick people into thinking I'm Irish will be complete!