kevin_standlee (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kevin_standlee) wrote2007-06-03 09:22 pm
kevin_standlee) wrote2007-06-03 09:22 pm
...Now the Bad News
Our drive back from Seaside was uneventful, although after we got past Kelso/Longview, it started getting pretty warm, and by the time we got to Portland, Lisa was starting to get cranky about the heat. Her temper was not helped by the van starting to produce a new squeak. She doesn't like squeaks. Anyway, she let me off at the Parkrose/Sumner light rail station and I rode into the airport.
Checking in for my flight to Oakland, I found that my 8:06 flight had been delayed until about 10:30 or so. That meant that I'd probably get back to OAK too late to catch the last BART train to Fremont. I'd certainly miss the last AirBART bus connection between the airport and the BART station.
"Any alternatives?" I asked. "Maybe to San Francisco, or bump me up to Seattle and on to either SFO or Oakland?" They said no, and that there weren't really any alternatives to me just waiting it out. They gave me a $6 food voucher and 1000-mile "sorry about that" certificate for my frequent-flyer account (I'll use that, all right).
After enduring mercifully quick Security Theatre, I noticed that the flight had been delayed even more, and as I compose this, it's showing an 11:25 ETD and a 1:02 AM arrival at OAK. Bleah. I'm glad I'm working from home on Monday, and I'm really glad that a meeting in Phoenix that my company was talking about having for my industry group this coming week was canceled.
There are some lucky things in this delay, however. First, I'm very lucky that Cheryl is still in California. She, bless her, is willing to drive up to Oakland after midnight and collect me, which will save me a >$50 shuttle bus or taxi ride. Second, if one is forced to spend four-plus hours hanging around an airport, PDX is one of the better places to do it. There are lots of food choices, and several "service centers" with mini-cubicles and power outlets, and the hotel has free wireless internet service. I'd much prefer being stuck here than, say, OAK, whose terminal is too small and has few amenities, and charges for wi-fi.
So I'm more or less settled in here typing away and catching up on the accumulated weekend of e-mail. I had dinner and even got some exercise, in the form of a lap-and-a-half around the ABC concourse, good for around 2 km by my reckoning, and my blood sugar responded accordingly. Things could definitely be worse.
Checking in for my flight to Oakland, I found that my 8:06 flight had been delayed until about 10:30 or so. That meant that I'd probably get back to OAK too late to catch the last BART train to Fremont. I'd certainly miss the last AirBART bus connection between the airport and the BART station.
"Any alternatives?" I asked. "Maybe to San Francisco, or bump me up to Seattle and on to either SFO or Oakland?" They said no, and that there weren't really any alternatives to me just waiting it out. They gave me a $6 food voucher and 1000-mile "sorry about that" certificate for my frequent-flyer account (I'll use that, all right).
After enduring mercifully quick Security Theatre, I noticed that the flight had been delayed even more, and as I compose this, it's showing an 11:25 ETD and a 1:02 AM arrival at OAK. Bleah. I'm glad I'm working from home on Monday, and I'm really glad that a meeting in Phoenix that my company was talking about having for my industry group this coming week was canceled.
There are some lucky things in this delay, however. First, I'm very lucky that Cheryl is still in California. She, bless her, is willing to drive up to Oakland after midnight and collect me, which will save me a >$50 shuttle bus or taxi ride. Second, if one is forced to spend four-plus hours hanging around an airport, PDX is one of the better places to do it. There are lots of food choices, and several "service centers" with mini-cubicles and power outlets, and the hotel has free wireless internet service. I'd much prefer being stuck here than, say, OAK, whose terminal is too small and has few amenities, and charges for wi-fi.
So I'm more or less settled in here typing away and catching up on the accumulated weekend of e-mail. I had dinner and even got some exercise, in the form of a lap-and-a-half around the ABC concourse, good for around 2 km by my reckoning, and my blood sugar responded accordingly. Things could definitely be worse.
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<== Mike ==>
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<== Mike ==>
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