One Leg Down

We're in Minneapolis. The mimosas are going down nicely. Flight #2 is on time, according to the big board, though we haven't been to the gate yet, so who knows if we have a plane. I've learned, over the years, not to be presumptuous. Really, until you're in your local accommodations, keep on your guard.

On the road

Smooth sailing so far. Alarm went off, taxi showed up on time, and we only hit two red lights. The security line was not impressive. Still, it's no time to get cocky. Our plane isn't here yet, and we do have a connection to make. Also, I'm going through my morning travel panic - what have I forgotten?

Stupid twitter isn't working this morning, but I can live with that.

Maureen got me a magazine. Onward...

Plight 2670

We arrived in Minneapolis and quickly logged into Delta.com.  There, we were happy to discover that our connecting flight was delayed.  It was going to be tight, but with a little luck, we'd make it to the gate on time.

After a good half mile jog, I arrived at the gate (Maureen was a mere 50 yards behind).   I looked up at the board and saw the destination "Cedar Rapids" listed.  With desperation in my voice, over the telltale alarm clock style ring of the jet bridge, I ask, "Toronto?"

See the previous post "Words You Hate To Hear" for her response.

Back On Track

We got some lunch and a drink, and we're getting back on track mentally.  We're on vacation, we're not at work, and we still get to hang out in Toronto for a solid week.  Life is good.

Words You Hate To Hear

"Yeah, they just pulled the jet bridge away.  Sorry."

Cuss.

At Long Last

Were on a plane!

Playground Tactics

Our plane emerged from the hangar, and is now sitting a few hundred yards away, doing nothing, except for taunting us.  The board still says we're leaving at 9:00.  But it's 8:57 right now, so I'm thinking that's not going to happen.

After Thought

We left for the airport at 4:45 this morning.  If we had just driven to Minneapolis, we would have easily made our connecting flight.

Sigh

You know how sometimes a sequel is okay, but not as good as the original, but the third or fourth in the series almost assuredly sucks?

Well, we've been delayed again.  New departure time out of Des Moines: 9:15, arriving in Minneapolis exactly one minute after our connecting flight leaves.  So now it looks like we'll miss our first film.  Sorry, Ms. Ambrose.

Again

So as it turns out, we weren't leaving at noon, but rather they just didn't know when we were leaving.  I guess they figured if they sent a confusing enough message, we'd probably get in touch, which was the desired outcome.

Anyway, they rebooked us through Minneapolis, and not too much later (7:00) than we were originally scheduled.  So that's nice.

Of course, no sooner than we finished our rather flagrantly priced airport breakfast sandwiches, we received another message from Delta.  Our new flight has been delayed, departing at 8:00, arriving at 8:39.  I guess we're going SST.  Unless they really just mean, "Hey, could you give us a call?"

The Miracle

Delta says our flight has been delayed.  Our original itinerary had us leaving at 6:35 AM, arriving at 9:39 AM.  Our new departure time is noon, but still arriving at 9:39 AM.  Delta has discovered time travel.  They're going to make billions!

Good Bye, Canada

I'm at Pearson Airport, sadly awaiting departure from our neighbors to the north.  Only ten more reviews to write.  Stay tuned, I'll be busily pumping out reviews for the remainder of the weekend...

Moving In

Well, we're here.  There's a surprising lack of drawer space, and only four hangers.  Other than that, I guess things are okay.  The internet connection is of the old style cable connection type, so my mobility around the room is somewhat limited.  I can't quite get my legs under this desk, as I don't think it was designed for my 6'2" frame.  But I think I can reasonably reach the bed with the network cable, so I guess I'll live.

We've got more important things to tend to anyway.  Subway passes, food, movie tickets and film festival shirts leap to mind.  Seven hours to the first movie.  Off into the city we go...

Detroit

Detroit achieved, on time. Toronto flight says on time as well. It all seems so easy today. I'm not going to let my guard down, however. I know how these things work sometimes.

Tiny

Annoyingly enough, blogger.com only seems to work in HTML mode when using my iPod Touch. I have no idea how this will work out...

Checked In

Boy, 4:00 really does come early in the morning. The cabbie was late, went to the wrong building, and then stopped at a green light, but otherwise she was just great. :-\

The things you learn when you get up this early -- like, I'm pretty sure the newspaper delivery person smokes in our hallways.

The airport is looking a little tattered this morning. I'm sure that they're working hard to bring us a nicer airport.

Only 14 hours to the first film...

The Room

A quick word about my accommodations, and then I need to scarf down some food before I get to my next film.

This house is old. While that in itself is not bad, I don't think much has changed since the 80's. And I don't even mean that in a good way (Mike). In fact, I'm pretty sure the towels were once liberated from a 1980's era Motel 6. There is little light, I'm afraid to close the window for fear it might just fall out, the breakfast glasses have chips in the rims and I'm afraid I'm going to slice off my lips, and I've probably inhaled at least three fruit flies at breakfast every morning. Paint and wallpaper alike are peeling off the walls, and I fear that if I use one of the provided space heaters I might send the entire house up in flames. It's a good thing I my body generates so much heat at night.

Then there's my private bath. I can only walk in about three feet before the severely sloped ceiling meets my head. It's due to this fact that the shower curtain closes around the shower head so closely -- it's a challenge, if not an impossibility, to avoid touching it. Sometimes, I feel like it's drawn to me like a sock is to a sweater fresh out of the dryer.


One of my favorite things, is this sign:

There are jokes lurking here, and I'll let you make up your own punch lines, but I should point out that there is no waste bin in the bathroom.

Arrival

I successfully avoided any travel disasters and have now checked into my room, which "has character". My wifi connection is spotty, and may or may not belong to my host. We'll see how this works out. For now, I have to get moving. I have cash to withdraw, tickets to pick up, etc.

Welcome to Canada, eh?

Since I last wrote, I called my B&B host in a panic when I misread my confirmation e-mail and thought my arrival date was set for Monday. Nope, it's today. He thinks I'm an idiot now.

Next up, I set a container of OJ on my tray table on the flight to Toronto and opened it, not thinking about the fact that we were on a steep climb. You don't have to have a vivid imagination to figure out what that outcome was.

I'm now writing from the Airport Express Shuttle bus, which will take me to the beautiful Hotel Chelsea, where I'm not staying. From there, I'll take a taxi to St. George near Dupont, where my host will look at me and think, "So that's the idiot..."

Isn't it a cool city that has a wifi connection spreading throughout the downtown area? Bus blogging -- you just can't do that in Des Moines.

One leg down

The first leg went relatively smoothly. My iPod was dead, but I was asleep before I would have had the chance to turn it on. I was in an exit row, which is great, but those seats don't recline and my head spent a great deal of time bent forward at a near 90-degree angle. When we arrived in Detroit, in the words of our pilot, "some genius parked a van right in the middle of our gate," so we had to wait five minutes while they found a driver.

I found a working outlet next to a seat at the gate of my next flight, and my iPod is charging away, though I'll probably once again sleep right through any opportunity to use it.

It's raining here in Detroit, and the clouds are apparently affecting the satellite feed for the TV. CNN sounds like Max Headroom. Strangely, though, Fox & Friends was coming in loud and clear at the Middle Eastern breakfast place on the walk to my gate. They were advertising tonight's program "Governor Sarah Palin: An American Woman", fresh on the tails of their other famous exposés "Dogs: Animals with Four Legs" and "Apples, Wagons and Communists: Things Commonly Identified With the Color Red". But enough political commentary.

My flight leaves in 75 minutes and I should probably get a plan of action together. See you in Toronto.