Observations on Traveling

Thursday, January 27, 2011
If I was a middle-aged woman who just HAD to read those insipid Stephanie Meyer vampires are sparkly books, I don't think I would advertise that fact by reading them on an airplane. I tend to think of those books in the same category as masturbation - there's really nothing wrong with it, but it is something you should do in the privacy of your own home, rather than in public.

I forgot to write down the alphanumeric identifier where I left my Jeep before leaving the airport parking lot. This means I will spend at least an hour wandering around DIA short term parking, looking for my vehicle, cursing like the sailor I am.

I really need to get another charger for my Blackberry. I always forget the damn thing when I travel, and then have to conserve the battery, which is a huge pain in my ass.

Is there anything more pathetic than pudgy, balding, middle-aged men trying to pick up women in a hotel bar?

No sightings of Yetis as yet, but I am hyper alert to the possibility. Only so I can run them over with my rented Ford Focus, of course. Because I'm all about the hate - it's just who I am.

Yetis and Kimby aside, I really don't want to return to Detroit any time soon. The weather is crappy, the roads are terrible, and the recession has been very hard on this community. It's depressing.

13 comments:

Random Michelle K said...

2) Michael and I txt each other our airport parking area.

3) Get an extra mini USB cable and keep it in your computer bag; assuming you travel with a laptop. Otherwise, keep an extra charger in your suitcase. Since Michael & I are traveling frequently, I have extra mini & micro USB cables in my travel bag. Makes life much easier.

1) As a reader of genre fiction, I have to disagree with you. As long as she's not touching herself inappropriately WHILE reading the book, good for her for reading fiction of any sort. I found that shiny magazines (esp the food pr0n ones) keep me distracted while traveling. I figure whatever it takes.

mom in northern said...

Have you considered taking a picture of your "spot" with your cell phone? I understand it works..

Tom said...

If that creeps you out, then what should I do with women in a bar? I mean, at least I'm open to paying attention to the word "no" and it's just barely (!) possible that she might enjoy killing a bit of time that way. Hmph!

Nathan said...

I haven't been to Detroit since about 1994(?) and it was pretty depressing then. I can't imagine what it's like now.

OTOH, since there's nothing to disrupt, I hear there are action movies shooting on every other block these days. That could be fun to watch for a little while.

Anne C. said...

Heh. Maybe the sci-fi/fantasy/food pr0n keeps away unwelcome conversation. If you're reading something socially acceptable, it's more likely to be a conversation starter - "Oh, you're reading [insert Oprah book]? I read that with my book club and we all thought it was soooo tragic what happens on the last page!" - rather than a conversation repellent. ;)

Panza = The latest Oprah book, a re-telling of Don Quixote from the perspective of his squire. (Ok, that actually sounds interesting, dammit...)

Steve Buchheit said...

Nathan, action movies require camera crews. I think you're mistaking the Eyewitness News cameraman for such.

WendyB_09 said...

I have a little roll bag that is just big enough to keep my laptop cords, a phone charger, an extra USB cable and the cable to my camera.

Since I have both an iPod & an iPhone, I have 2 chargers. One lives at home and one lives at the office.

When I get ready to travel, I charge everything chargable the night before, then pack all the cords in the roll bag as I disconnect the toys in the morning. I toss the cord bag into my suitcase so I'm not tempted to pull out a cord someplace and leave it there.

And we'll let your fellow traveler have her vampire books...it's better than her reading the latest David Weber book which is a vampire book disguised as scifi!

vince said...

Please don't run over any Yetis you find. I mean, it's not like they're Glen Beck or something. Besides, Yetis once saved my life when I was doing some.... well, special work for an agency I can't name while doing undercover work in the Himalayas.

My mission had been successful, but that was comfort when I was freezing and starving, knowing that one of those would eventually kill me if the bullet wounds didn't. Sure I was tough, but tough has it's limits, and the bullets weren't impressed, although the weather did admit that it was rooting for me. Bastard wouldn't help me, though.

I had finally gone as far as I could and was making sure that when I froze my last defiant gesture at the world would be preserved forever (or until global warming changed the local climate) when I was rescued by a hunting party of friendly Yetis.

Amazingly, I was able to communicate with them as they had been taught American Sign Language by a Tibetan monk who had taught at the Lenny Bruce School for Deaf comedians in another life.

After a week of eating things I couldn't identify and didn't want to, and "special" care by a lovely young Yeti whom I'll always treasure, I was helped to return safely to Kathmandu, Nepal, where my mission had started.

If you see a Yeti, be nice and mention my name. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.

Dr. Phil (Physics) said...

I should point out that Detroit's had a decent makeover since 1994, and now has some decent places to eat and a shuttle train and moving walkways and isn't so bad.

Dr. Phil

unnuff -- the opposite of enough

Nathan said...

Steve,

Actually, film production is one of the few things doing really well in Detroit recently. I'm not shitting about the whole "nobody to disturb, so knock your brains out" mentality. And Michigan has a pretty attractive Tax incentive for filmmakers these days.

I spoke to a friend not along ago who had just finished a movie in Detroit. He said that on any given day, there might be two or three other movies shooting action sequences within 15-20 blocks of each other. They also had to get their walkie-talkies recallibrated(?) 'cause they were picking up crosstalk from the other shows.

nzforme said...

>Is there anything more pathetic than pudgy, balding, middle-aged men trying to pick up women in a hotel bar?
<

Yes. Pudgy, balding, middle-aged men reading sparkly vampire books.

Janiece said...

Tom: It's not that it's a bar. It's a hotel bar. And attempting to pick up women when you're traveling on business is squicky. But not as squicky as chubby, balding, middle aged men reading the Twilight series, so there's that.

Maybe Kimby and I will end up in an action shot this evening when we meet for dinner - probably being chased by Yetis.

John the Scientist said...

More squicky - did they have that indentation on their left 4th finger that indicates they'd taken off their wedding ring for the night?