6pm airport post

I am extremely miffed at this idiot guy who tried to make a bomb on an airplane, and at the response by the US government which has led to extreme, unnecessary, and completely superficial security measures that have eaten up an entire day+ of my vacation.

Yesterday Jeff and I spent 8 hours in the Toronto airport, including 3 hours boarding our plane, as every person (including every child, toddler, and infant) was patted down one at a time in the jetway, and every piece of carry-on luggage was manually searched. We finally arrived in San Francisco sometime after 1am, and although we had missed our connecting flight by 3 or 4 hours, at least the kind people at Air Canada had booked us on a new flight for the next day (not until 10:30pm getting us in after midnight, but better than nothing), and set us up in a hotel. We ended up getting to the hotel around 2am, and were finally in our room and able to go to sleep around 2:30.

In the morning, we decided to check our flight and see if there were any other options available, and we called United to check. They said no, we would have to wait for our 10:30pm flight, but we might be able to get on stand-by if we came a little earlier. At some point, I decided that I wanted to see if I could check in online to get on the stand-by list as early as possible and I discovered that while Jeff clearly had a reservation, I did not seem to, even though I had been handed a new itinerary by the Air Canada agent in the middle of the night last night when we arrived.

I called United to check, and they told me I had to talk to Air Canada. I became agitated and very assertive, and managed to find out that I was not in fact booked on that flight, and that because Air Canada had done the re-booking, I would need to speak with them to get them to book me a new flight. I called Air Canada, and after waiting on hold for an hour (Jeff actually held the phone and waited most of that time, which was very sweet), finally got an agent, who told me I was booked on the United flight, so if something was wrong I needed to talk to United. I had to be very very assertive, and explain that I had just spoken with United and that I in fact was not booked on that flight at all. After getting angry at me, the agent called United, and found out that I was in fact correct, I did not have a reservation, at which point she became much nicer.

She was very helpful, and started calling all sorts of different airlines to try to find a flight for me, either to Eugene or Portland, and at first told me I was going to have to stay another night in San Francisco, and take a 10:30pm flight tomorrow. I was once again very assertive and stated that I needed to get to Eugene tonight, and she continued to look. Then, the phone died.

We left the hotel and headed for the airport, and on the way there, the Air Canada agent called to say she had booked me on a flight to Portland tonight. When we got to the airport we went to the United check-in desk, and after a brief explanation of what had happened, the agent there was able to get me back on the 10:30pm tonight flight to Eugene, and both of us on the stand-by list for an earlier flight. We are currently waiting to find out if we are able to make in onto the plane. So today, we have spent a couple of hours on the phone with airlines, and about 4 hours in the airport so far, with a possible 3 1/2 more hours to go. But one way or another we are getting to Eugene tonight.

And then I fly again on Friday. Yipee.

5:30am airport post

I'm at the airport, and for the first time in a while I'm headed somewhere for more than a weekend! Today I leave for Toronto to spend Christmas with Jeff's family (he's already there), and then just after Christmas we'll be headed to Eugene until Jan 1st. Vacation!!! And not just vacation, but two whole weeks with my husband. Soooo excited!!!

Yesterday I was a little bit less enthusiastic about leaving, as things were not going quite as planned. Nothing like what Jeff went through on his way to Toronto, but I was stressed. I realized as I started packing that I didn't have a suitcase with me large enough for a two-week trip into wintery cold weather (the big suitcases are in Seattle, I just have a carry-on size), and after panicking briefly, I was able to borrow a bag from my friend Denise. Problem solved.

Also yesterday I was working hard at getting some work done on postdoc applications before leaving, and after a random series of events my computer froze, crashed, needed several re-starts, and then made all my work from the past week disappear (despite it having been diligently saved). I came very close to a melt-down, but fortunately I was not alone-- I was working alongside two friends here, Jeff J. and Denise, and while Denise kept me grounded, Jeff J. magically made all my work come back. It wasn't looking good at first, and it didn't happen instantly but my work was resurrected.

This was yet another moment where I found myself feeling so lucky for the amazing people I have found here. And I've been lucky at every stage of my life to be surrounded by incredible people who have become lifelong friends. So not to sound too sappy, but thanks to all of my dear friends, old and new, and happy holidays :)

Rain and cold!

So it turns out that there is actually weather in San Diego, if only occasionally. Winter has arrived, meaning that a little over a week ago, the heat came on for the first time (which means that it had not dropped below 65F in the apartment before then). It's very chilly tonight, predicted to get down into the 30s (maybe only 39, but still, colder than it's been), and yesterday a "winter storm" came through.

A severe winter storm, in San Diego, looks very different from what gets that label in other parts of the country. Yesterday's "winter storm" involved and inch and a half to two inches of rain, and several hours of gusty wind in the afternoon (~30mph). So it was legitimately a rainy, blustery day.

But the consequences? Over 400 traffic accidents, 42,000 people out of power, and general panic. Trees were falling all over, because the kinds of trees that are planted here (palms, eucalyptus, etc.) have shallow root systems, so getting the ground even a little mushy is enough to cause catastrophes.

It is pretty amazing how a little rain could cause so much trouble, when places like Eugene and Seattle have weather like this all the time, and it usually results in little more than people wearing raincoats. I'm a little bit at a loss...

The good news about the weather being a bit more "wintery" is that I did not feel stupid making a fire in my fireplace when Jeff was visiting last weekend. We had a lovely weekend of doing very little, that included making soup, baking apple crisp, and playing board games in front of the fireplace. I can't wait until next year when we'll be able to do that kind of stuff together all the time!

On starting to feel like I live here

So it turns out that once you get used to it, San Diego is a really nice place to live. And I'm starting to get used to the idea that I live here (even if it is only temporary). Some evidence:

1. When I visited Jeff last weekend (more on that at the end of the post), I was excited to go for a walk out in the rain, because "we just don't have rain where I live!"

2. Earlier this week I helped my downstairs neighbor with a fireplace problem (she needed to open the flue; her house was full of smoke), and didn't realize until much later how funny it is that she was making a fire. Why funny? Because although it is November, it was also almost 60 degrees outside, and it was 70 in my house with no heat on. But, I thought it was totally reasonable to be making a fire, because "my goodness, it really is chilly today!"

3. I now believe that if your car door will open the 6-8 inches required for a thin person to squeeze out, you've left plenty of room.

So see? I'm a real so-cal resident now :)

I had a much-needed visit with Jeff last weekend, and I am super excited to have another visit in just a few days (we'll both be in Eugene for Thanksgiving). We didn't do a whole lot last weekend, which was just the right thing to do. We've had a lot of action-packed visits, and what I really miss most is regular time together-- sitting around, watching DVDs, hanging out in pajamas. That's the stuff that relationships are really made of. So it was good to have that time together last weekend, and even though it was way too short, it's good that we'll have it again soon :)

Anybody in Seattle want to hire me?

I am officially over a third of the way through internship, and suddenly this means that I have to start looking for my next job. It seems like a cruel trick, being put through such a long and difficult process applying to internship, and then once I feel like I'm settling in, suddenly being reminded that I am going to be ejected in 8 months. I'm doing my best right now to find out what's available to apply to, and start networking a bit. Fairly soon I'll need to start writing application materials, and that's just no fun. Because really, ideally, I should also have my dissertation research submitted for publication when I apply for postdoc positions, to make me more competitive. All this means that in addition to working my regular full time internship job, I have to work after work on other stuff several evenings/weekend days a week. That's of course on top of visits to/from Jeff, and all the time required to make a long-distance relationship work. I'm feeling just a little bit overwhelmed. So if anyone has a job they'd like to offer me in Seattle, with no application process, no uncertainty or effort involved, be sure to let me know.

Life is generally good, internship is continuing to go well, and I am continuing to enjoy my new friends here. Random things I've learned recently:

1) I am not at all good at the celebrity version of Taboo. As an example, when I say "his first name sounds like a name for drinkable yogurt" people apparently don't immediately think of Kiefer Sutherland, and unfortunately I have no other means for getting people to guess his name since I don't really know who he is.

2) There was a 1985 Cindy Lauper music video based on the movie Goonies, that was 12 minutes long, included a to-be-continued segment, and also included WWF wrestlers. It's on youtube here.

3) Watching football is actually sort of fun. I'm thinking of choosing an NFL team to support (my college team is obviously the Ducks), and I've been considering the choice very carefully. I think it's down to the Chicago Bears, or the Minnesota Vikings. I'm torn between these two, so if anyone wants to push me in one direction or the other, please do. Once you choose a team you really have to stick with them, so it's important to make a good choice!