Hello Boston, It's Been a While

[kevin_standlee]

Specifically, I haven't been in Boston since the previous Boston SMOFCon, which was at the airport hotel and thus didn't even require going outside, just walking through the corridors. This year's SMOFCon is in Boston, but at the Back Bay Hilton, which required taking a Logan Express bus. The scheduled route should have taken us a couple of blocks from the hotel, but by the time we got to that point, the only people left on the bus were the four of us attending SMOFCon, including Westercon 72's chair (and NASFiC Utah in 2019 bid chair) Kate Hatcher, who uses a power wheelchair, and the driver very helpfully stopped for us right across the street from the hotel.

Aside from having to be up at 2 AM PT so I could be at Reno airport two hours before my 6 AM flight to SFO, all was well on this travel. I breezed through Terrorization and had enough time for breakfast before my flight. When the flight arrived at SFO gate 88, I found that the outbound flight to Boston was at gate 89, so there was no problem with the relatively short connection time. I had an empty seat next to me on both legs, which makes the trip much more tolerable, but these new United seats are hard on my back. Also, with the move to all in-flight entertainment going through your mobile device instead of through the plane, there's no more "From the Flight Deck," and to me, listening to the ATC traffic was one of the things I liked about flying on United.

I did manage to get about an hour of fitful sleep. (I don't sleep well sitting up.) I bet it will be easy to sleep tonight, though!

Comments

[garyomaha]

I remember listening to "From the Flight Deck" back when I occasionally flew United. That was a welcome feature. But other airlines' schedules, prices, and (slightly) better comfort drew me away and I haven't flown United in years. Not that I look forward to flying in general at all.