Wiscon 33 - Day 1 Part 1
May. 21st, 2009 05:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julieandrewsWherein nothing too geeky happens, but those who are living vicariously through me may want to read this part anyway.
Got up earlier than I would have gotten up to go to work, because it's rush hour traffic to take the bus to the airport. I could've taken the later bus, which was much faster, but then gotten to the airport (Okay, I'm in the hotel room now and can totally hear the old Knight Rider theme coming from somewhere...) later than they tell you to arrive.
I didn't avail myself of the free wifi on the bus, which I later regretted when both airports' wifi wasn't free. :P~~~~
Waited at the airport, la la la. Bought a Variety puzzle book for too much money, and then failed to find any pencils for sale. Idiots. Waiting at the airport... Lots of kids showing up for this flight. Utoh. Didn't end up seated near any of them (near the exit row is good for that), but the woman next to me decided she was going to cough. Without covering her mouth. So, okay, maybe she's a smoker, and she's not actually contagious with anything. Not that that excuses her behavior, but I could fool myself into believing she wasn't giving me something nasty.
But then the drinks cart comes around and she asks for orange juice. Not a good sign. Then, she blows her nose on the napkin. A little while after that, she adds sneezing to her repertoire. At that point I'm just waiting for the flight to end, so I can get off the plane into some fresh air and soap and water. :P Highlight of that flight? Warm chocolate chip cookies. They do make for a yummy breakfast.
Second flight -- smaller, shorter, hotter, stuffier. Can't wait to get off that one for some fresh air all by itself.
At the Madison airport, I noticed several hand sanitizers: one in the bathroom, and one just coming down the escalator to baggage claim. Kudos, Madison.
As you might expect, the small flight to Madison was full of Wiscon people. But unless you recognize people or are outgoing enough to ask, you don't necessarily know that. Until it comes to waiting for the shuttle.
The first one that came was too full, but fortunately another came along a little faster than the previous driver's 25 minute estimate. Bonus, got to see the Weinermobile at the airport. Seemed rather random. But apparently there's some bratwurst festival going on this weekend.
You'd think arriving at the hotel at 3:30ish you could go to your room, take a shower, take a nap.. but no. Because my room (and other people's) wasn't ready yet. So I checked my bag in and went to forage for food. Went to the very-nearby pizza place. Last year I had the penne pasta pizza. So this year I had to have something different. Pesto sauce, cheese, and mushroom. With some spinach and feta cheese that had contaminated the slice from the other half of the pizza. But that's okay, I picked that one. And a salad where you can pick your own ingredients. And key lime Stewart's soda, which is actually as meh as I remembered it being, but it sounded good at the time.
And now I'm in the room, trying to decide whether to take a nap or go straight for the decontamination shower. The shower will mess up my hair if I nap after it. Decisions, decisions...
Plan to go to the bookstore readings in an hour. TTFN.
Got up earlier than I would have gotten up to go to work, because it's rush hour traffic to take the bus to the airport. I could've taken the later bus, which was much faster, but then gotten to the airport (Okay, I'm in the hotel room now and can totally hear the old Knight Rider theme coming from somewhere...) later than they tell you to arrive.
I didn't avail myself of the free wifi on the bus, which I later regretted when both airports' wifi wasn't free. :P~~~~
Waited at the airport, la la la. Bought a Variety puzzle book for too much money, and then failed to find any pencils for sale. Idiots. Waiting at the airport... Lots of kids showing up for this flight. Utoh. Didn't end up seated near any of them (near the exit row is good for that), but the woman next to me decided she was going to cough. Without covering her mouth. So, okay, maybe she's a smoker, and she's not actually contagious with anything. Not that that excuses her behavior, but I could fool myself into believing she wasn't giving me something nasty.
But then the drinks cart comes around and she asks for orange juice. Not a good sign. Then, she blows her nose on the napkin. A little while after that, she adds sneezing to her repertoire. At that point I'm just waiting for the flight to end, so I can get off the plane into some fresh air and soap and water. :P Highlight of that flight? Warm chocolate chip cookies. They do make for a yummy breakfast.
Second flight -- smaller, shorter, hotter, stuffier. Can't wait to get off that one for some fresh air all by itself.
At the Madison airport, I noticed several hand sanitizers: one in the bathroom, and one just coming down the escalator to baggage claim. Kudos, Madison.
As you might expect, the small flight to Madison was full of Wiscon people. But unless you recognize people or are outgoing enough to ask, you don't necessarily know that. Until it comes to waiting for the shuttle.
The first one that came was too full, but fortunately another came along a little faster than the previous driver's 25 minute estimate. Bonus, got to see the Weinermobile at the airport. Seemed rather random. But apparently there's some bratwurst festival going on this weekend.
You'd think arriving at the hotel at 3:30ish you could go to your room, take a shower, take a nap.. but no. Because my room (and other people's) wasn't ready yet. So I checked my bag in and went to forage for food. Went to the very-nearby pizza place. Last year I had the penne pasta pizza. So this year I had to have something different. Pesto sauce, cheese, and mushroom. With some spinach and feta cheese that had contaminated the slice from the other half of the pizza. But that's okay, I picked that one. And a salad where you can pick your own ingredients. And key lime Stewart's soda, which is actually as meh as I remembered it being, but it sounded good at the time.
And now I'm in the room, trying to decide whether to take a nap or go straight for the decontamination shower. The shower will mess up my hair if I nap after it. Decisions, decisions...
Plan to go to the bookstore readings in an hour. TTFN.