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Jul. 19th, 2004 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geekchickFirst off, I apologize to those of you in the SF Bay area who I didn't let know I was going to be out there (which would be pretty much everyone except for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
patgreene); the trip had to stay a secret, and I wanted to spend some time with C. that wasn't completely booked up with social obligations. I promise that next time I'll let more (i.e. "any") folks know I'm in the area.
We headed out on Wednesday, which was an adventure. Flying out of Dulles on a summer afternoon is often guaranteed to include a weather delay due to thunderstorms, but this time we got tornado warnings as well. The flight was more than an hour delayed getting in from Phoenix, although it was still listed as "on time" on the departures board even half an hour after we were supposed to be in the air. Folks who pay attention know that I don't have a lot of use for folks who rant and rave about having to deal with the fact that there are children in public spaces, but that hour and a half in the waiting area tried my patience beyond belief. There were a couple of kids who were jumping around on the arms of the chairs (I never did figure out who their parents were, they were just running around by themselves), and the older boy at one point just randomly walked off with someone else's stroller. They then hooked up with another set of rambunctious kids who were jumping around; a couple of this group of kids managed while jumping around on chairs to fall on a woman who was minding her own business and reading her book. When the woman politely asked the kids to go play elsewhere, two of the mothers started bitching about how horrible she was to say anything to their precious little angels, because (and I quote directly) "They're just kids." I had to move before I turned around to smack one of them in the back of the head. Yes, honey, they're just kids; you however are an irresponsible jerk for not keeping your kids in check a little better and letting them run around like hellions while stepping on random people." Then there was the kid who kept howling like a small, yippy dog at high volume for nearly the entire hour and a half. It's the parents I really have problems with; kids are kids and they do things like run around, but they do need to be taught reasonably appropriate behavior when they're out. If they'd just been running around, I'd have had no problem; it was the jumping all over people they don't know and then having their parents assert that being chronologically-challenged gets them a free pass that made me want to go postal.
Anyway. Once we got going, the flights were fine. We missed our connection in Phoenix, but they had boarding passes waiting for us on the next flight. We got in to San Jose around 11:30, got our car, headed to the hotel and promptly passed out.
Thursday we went to the grocery store and Fry's and I hooked up my Jamba Juice IV drip that I tend to have going when I'm out there. We had a slack day while adjusting, and I had to resist my natural impulse to call people and tell them I was there. It would've been bad to ask Brian to have lunch, seeing as how I was in Boston and all. Friday we went up to Berkeley, where I again resisted the urge to call Steve and/or Will to see if they wanted to do lunch (sorry guys, I owe y'all rainchecks) and did the traditional looting and pillaging of Amoeba and Rasputin. I found a shrink-wrapped copy of Current 93's "Cats Drunk on Copper" for $8, and my biggest score was a $10 (rather than $35) copy of a box set of "The Berlin Tapes" (with "Boxes") by Iva Davies/Icehouse. It's a bit...odd is a good word I guess, to hear Iva covering PIL's "Disappointed". *blink* *blink*
Saturday was the reason we were out there in the first place:brian1789's party, which he described here I wish I'd had better shots of the look of pure shock on his face when he walked around the corner and saw us all there. Even better was the dropping of the jaw when I walked up to him and "So you're not really in Boston?" Hee! It was a fabulous surprise, and I'm really glad that I could manage to be out there to contribute. Maybe this helps get the "people like you, they really like you!" thing through his head. ;) Several people travelled good distances to be there to celebrate with them, including two of us from the Right Coast; I think it's an indication of his level of surprise that he wandered around for the first hour or so like this:
I'm sorry I didn't have time to get you the titanium spork, dear, but I hope you enjoy the books. =) I met a bunch of folks and put finally put faces to names, liketenacious_snail, dawnd, akienm, mactavish and bikerscum (with whom I have friends in common it seems) among many others. After the party broke up, we went and had dinner with Brian and patgreene (mmm, martinis), after which we went back to crash and they headed out to meet up with his sweetie Nancy and her husband.
Sunday we poked around downtown for a bit and went to the Tech Museum to play for a few hours. So. Much. Fun. We then went back to Japantown (in San Jose) to kill an hour and a half before our flight. I had some of the best saba that I've ever eaten for $2. For the first time ever, I got out of a sushi restaurant for under $20. In fact, it was under $6. *boggle* The sushi boat thing was odd, the restaurants I know of around here don't do that particular style of presentation. Luckily we got to SJC early, as I was sure our flight to Vegas was 8:45. Close, except for being 8:25. D'oh. I've decided I need to go to Vegas for a weekend just to revel in the tackiness; anyone want to join me? I've already whined about the flight from Las Vegas to IAD, so I won't again. The lightning storm around 3:30 AM though was stunning: I could see clear sky and stars, while below us there were constant bolts of lightning illuminating the towering clouds from below and behind. Every once in a while a bolt would jump from cloud top to cloud top. I wish I'd had a camera, or better yet a video camera, as I can't really do it justice in text. Of course the woman sitting next to the window is probably just fine with me not having had either of those. =)
patgreene); the trip had to stay a secret, and I wanted to spend some time with C. that wasn't completely booked up with social obligations. I promise that next time I'll let more (i.e. "any") folks know I'm in the area.We headed out on Wednesday, which was an adventure. Flying out of Dulles on a summer afternoon is often guaranteed to include a weather delay due to thunderstorms, but this time we got tornado warnings as well. The flight was more than an hour delayed getting in from Phoenix, although it was still listed as "on time" on the departures board even half an hour after we were supposed to be in the air. Folks who pay attention know that I don't have a lot of use for folks who rant and rave about having to deal with the fact that there are children in public spaces, but that hour and a half in the waiting area tried my patience beyond belief. There were a couple of kids who were jumping around on the arms of the chairs (I never did figure out who their parents were, they were just running around by themselves), and the older boy at one point just randomly walked off with someone else's stroller. They then hooked up with another set of rambunctious kids who were jumping around; a couple of this group of kids managed while jumping around on chairs to fall on a woman who was minding her own business and reading her book. When the woman politely asked the kids to go play elsewhere, two of the mothers started bitching about how horrible she was to say anything to their precious little angels, because (and I quote directly) "They're just kids." I had to move before I turned around to smack one of them in the back of the head. Yes, honey, they're just kids; you however are an irresponsible jerk for not keeping your kids in check a little better and letting them run around like hellions while stepping on random people." Then there was the kid who kept howling like a small, yippy dog at high volume for nearly the entire hour and a half. It's the parents I really have problems with; kids are kids and they do things like run around, but they do need to be taught reasonably appropriate behavior when they're out. If they'd just been running around, I'd have had no problem; it was the jumping all over people they don't know and then having their parents assert that being chronologically-challenged gets them a free pass that made me want to go postal.
Anyway. Once we got going, the flights were fine. We missed our connection in Phoenix, but they had boarding passes waiting for us on the next flight. We got in to San Jose around 11:30, got our car, headed to the hotel and promptly passed out.
Thursday we went to the grocery store and Fry's and I hooked up my Jamba Juice IV drip that I tend to have going when I'm out there. We had a slack day while adjusting, and I had to resist my natural impulse to call people and tell them I was there. It would've been bad to ask Brian to have lunch, seeing as how I was in Boston and all. Friday we went up to Berkeley, where I again resisted the urge to call Steve and/or Will to see if they wanted to do lunch (sorry guys, I owe y'all rainchecks) and did the traditional looting and pillaging of Amoeba and Rasputin. I found a shrink-wrapped copy of Current 93's "Cats Drunk on Copper" for $8, and my biggest score was a $10 (rather than $35) copy of a box set of "The Berlin Tapes" (with "Boxes") by Iva Davies/Icehouse. It's a bit...odd is a good word I guess, to hear Iva covering PIL's "Disappointed". *blink* *blink*
Saturday was the reason we were out there in the first place:
brian1789's party, which he described here I wish I'd had better shots of the look of pure shock on his face when he walked around the corner and saw us all there. Even better was the dropping of the jaw when I walked up to him and "So you're not really in Boston?" Hee! It was a fabulous surprise, and I'm really glad that I could manage to be out there to contribute. Maybe this helps get the "people like you, they really like you!" thing through his head. ;) Several people travelled good distances to be there to celebrate with them, including two of us from the Right Coast; I think it's an indication of his level of surprise that he wandered around for the first hour or so like this:I'm sorry I didn't have time to get you the titanium spork, dear, but I hope you enjoy the books. =) I met a bunch of folks and put finally put faces to names, like
tenacious_snail, dawnd, akienm, mactavish and bikerscum (with whom I have friends in common it seems) among many others. After the party broke up, we went and had dinner with Brian and patgreene (mmm, martinis), after which we went back to crash and they headed out to meet up with his sweetie Nancy and her husband.Sunday we poked around downtown for a bit and went to the Tech Museum to play for a few hours. So. Much. Fun. We then went back to Japantown (in San Jose) to kill an hour and a half before our flight. I had some of the best saba that I've ever eaten for $2. For the first time ever, I got out of a sushi restaurant for under $20. In fact, it was under $6. *boggle* The sushi boat thing was odd, the restaurants I know of around here don't do that particular style of presentation. Luckily we got to SJC early, as I was sure our flight to Vegas was 8:45. Close, except for being 8:25. D'oh. I've decided I need to go to Vegas for a weekend just to revel in the tackiness; anyone want to join me? I've already whined about the flight from Las Vegas to IAD, so I won't again. The lightning storm around 3:30 AM though was stunning: I could see clear sky and stars, while below us there were constant bolts of lightning illuminating the towering clouds from below and behind. Every once in a while a bolt would jump from cloud top to cloud top. I wish I'd had a camera, or better yet a video camera, as I can't really do it justice in text. Of course the woman sitting next to the window is probably just fine with me not having had either of those. =)
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 03:02 am (UTC)(New Jersey grin)
The books were perfect, just like the Lego Mars rover at Christmas.
(I was wandering around for an hour slouching like that? What posture... makes my stomach stick out...)
And I'm still happy and glowy inside after the weekend ;-)
you *do* slouch
Date: 2004-07-20 08:46 am (UTC)Glad to know that you've still got happy glow going on for ya.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 06:01 am (UTC)And Las Vegas is a lot of fun - to check out all the glitz, people watch, etc. I'd be game. :-)