Adventures on planes, trains and automobiles….and a great hotel.

Rented the car and ran about as needed. Rental pickup was interesting...there was one woman at the counter with a line of 8ish people, all looking reasonably annoyed and giving off “we have been here too long” vibes. I noticed, however, that there was a small “self serve” kiosk at one end that was unused and, given my pleasure of using the JetBlue kiosks, I thought I’d give it a try. Several touch screens and no more than 3 minutes later, I had a receipt and Slot Number where I could find my car. The agent was still taking to the same woman.

As I have mentioned before, having a good GPS is an amazing thing. I’d have never bought one myself, but have trouble thinking about functioning without it at this point. I did not spend one moment looking at maps or trying to figure out where I was going. I just dropped the address into the GPS and let it lead me.

The flight back was one of the more painful I’ve suffered in recent years. The seat and legroom was lovely (exit row, 36 channels of Sat TV...though it was the redeye and about 3am “my time” when I left...so sleeping was a higher priority). The plane was totally full. I was at the window next to this early middle aged couple giving off “first flight ever” vibes. He was trying to be pretty cool about it, but she was a twitching bag of neves...seriously. For the fivish hour plan ride, I do not think she ever stopped moving, She fidgeted right, She fidgeted left. She shuffled her feet around, She adjusted her coat over her (each time partly over me). She put her hand on my thigh...not once, not twice...on the order of 5 times or so. I honestly think that she thought it was her leg as she always seemed a bit confused that she could not feel it… All the while, her SO/husband was on the aisle, trying to be mellow and cool… He served her drinks...that is, when they gave us our drinks, he gave her a glass and would pour about 3-4 sips into her glass and refill it.

It went on like this for hours...fidgit, fidget, touch, shuffle, fidget, touch, shuffle, fidget, fidget, touch. AARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!! Also, there were two wildly cute 2ish year old twin girls. Wildly cute in the airport. Wildly cute for the first two hours in the air...less so later. They spent the last 2-3 hours wailing….steadily...the cool thing in being twins is, of course, if you are tired of wailing, your sister can spot you for a few minutes. Also, you can try to pair your wailing...so that it remains steady, with no noticeable breaks...for hours. Mind you, I have these really nice noise suppression ear buds (they fit inside the ear cannel and fill it). They are outstanding on planes...especially ones with wailing small humans. Not so good in cars or when walking…as you really can’t hear anything else.

The final straw was, and I am not making this up, that as we approached the gate we were told to stay in our seats as security would be boarding the plane to resolve “an issue”. So they open the door, TSA and some other patched human come on board, walk to my row and asks fidget lady and her husband for their IDs...and then escorts them off the plane. Don’t ask. I have no idea. It was, however, a perfect end to a horrid flight. [N.B. JetBlue and its minions were great, as always…]

In the end, the day is shaping up well. I was able to the AirTrain (the logo is a plane with track coming out the rear) all the way to the Jamaica Station. Then I got to take the E train all the way to 53rd and Lexington...then up the wildly deep escalator to the 6 train one stop to Grand Central Station. Then I took the Track 32 train up the Hudson to the Tarrytown Station. FOUR TRAINS. I should mention that I am really fond of trains in all their flavors. I know, I know, if you use the subway/comm. rail daily, it’s no big deal...but I only get to ride trains of any flavor when I go to big cities...what fun.

I am now in my room at the Tarrytown Marriot. As I have said before, it is just a great hotel and very convenient for easy in and out from the city and the GM is a book guy...oh, and it has the best mattresses of any hotel I’ve been in quite a while. Admittedly, having spent about 12ish hours on planes in the last 36 hours, my opinion may be skewed. Suzanne is driving down with the van and the books (on her birthday...I have to think of something suitably doting to make amends) and should be here in a few hours. Into the city tomorrow for set-up and the show starts Friday (8am to 8pm *shudder*) and I have a breakfast to attend and the big show and any number of other things. It should be a great weekend. I’ll try to keep you posted...