pres.umptuo.us

My name is Eric and I like running on an hour of sleep.

I arrived at LAX two hours ahead of my flight departure time. United Airlines decided to go “self check-in” with this e-ticket business, and naturally about 90% of the people who go up to the kiosks don’t know how to use it and need someone to help them with it. It’s amusing to watch the “paper ticket” lines move about ten times as fast.

After 30 minutes of standing in line, a representative informed me that if I had no bags to check-in (which I didn’t), then I could do the express check-in at the machines hidden under the bridge.

Thanks for telling me earlier.

Security asked me to dump out all of my electronics into a separate tray. I ended up having to slide in my luggage bag, messenger bag, tray with wallet and cellphone, and tray with laptop, camera, and iPod through the detector. I discovered that - A) I need to learn the ways of the Amish, and B) It’s fun holding lines up.

At the waiting area at the terminal, I sat across from a fellow playing with a PSP. At the end of my row a lady with a generous amount of cleavage sat facing me, constantly fiddling with her bag. Since my bags were placed next to me, I would glance that them every now and then just to make sure they were still there, and cause my tickets were on the bags, and cause I needed to take stuff out to keep myself entertained. I think that’s enough over-explanation to counter everyone’s thoughts that I kept glancing at her cleavage.

So anyway, after checking my tickets for the umpteeth time, I look back at the PSP guy and he has this sly grin on his face like he just caught me looking and he agrees with my actions. Like I would stoop that low…

On the flight there was an issue with not having enough pillows / blankets for all the passengers. The flight attendants asked that if anyone was not using theirs to hand them over for redistribution. I watched as someone a few rows in front of me handed his pillows in, and then the attendant said her thanks and carried them up towards the front of the plane.

Screw that, first class ain’t takin’ my pillows. Instead I held onto mine even though I wasn’t using it, noticed that the girl in the window seat (I was in the aisle) kept shifting around and trying to craft a makeshift pillow from the blanket she had instead of a pillow (This is feeling more and more like that opening scene in Enemy at the Gates — one man gets a rifle, another gets the ammo), and gave my pillow to her after about 30 minutes of trying to figure out how to offer the pillow without waking up the guy in the middle seat.

My iPod is my friend. They showed a movie agreed upon by many of the critics, and by many I mean none, to be unfairly snubbed by the Academy Awards — Guess Who. Luckily the airline headphones in front of my seat didn’t work, but I’m sure I pieced together the plot and got the message that, in the end, Ashton Kutcher really is the next Tom Hanks.

Orientation for ISWF is at 7:30pm Sunday, and the only flight I could find that wouldn’t leave me in a crazy rush to get there on time, as well as less than an hour between transfer flights, was a midnight flight out of LA, over to Chicago, and then a connection to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It’s still a 20 mile drive from there to Iowa City.

This is being written in Chicago, aka Gotham. Chicago was chosen to portray Gotham in Batman Begins, mostly because of its urban look with brick buildings, dark sidestreets and winding tunnels all giving the city a very “lived-in” feeling.

Unfortunately the airport looks nothing like that.

I’m sitting at gate F11 of Chicago O’Hare International Airport right now. It looks as if my hour flight to Cedar Rapids is aboard one of those little mini-jets. Never been on one of those.

I’ve realized this is my first time traveling alone as well. How empowering.

Arrival in Cedar Rapds should be 9:30ish, and then a shuttle to Iowa City for about half an hour. And thus this is my trip so far. I shall write more after orientation and I’m settle into my room. Unfortunately, I can’t check-in to my room until 4:00pm, so I’m going to have to leave my bags there and then wander the streets doing the tourist thing.

No, not the busload of asians carrying multiple cameras and wearing matching yellow hats.

I’m gonna be adding any photos I take during my trip to this flickr set, so keep checking.