Text 11805, 80 rader
Skriven 2014-04-05 01:18:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: end of AZ trip 449
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There was a pretty sizable crowd when the van showed up; it
just sat there for a while, enraging some of the customers.
Turns out the van has a spot where it's supposed to be, and
that spot was occupied for a while, so the driver really
couldn't do anything.

The vehicle soon filled up; several people couldn't fit on.
The driver promised them that another van would soon be by
to accommodate them. To give him credit, he did call his
dispatcher and describe the situation.

Of course, the parkers had priority, and so I was last off
the bus. I could have walked to the hotel from the airport,
twice, in this amount of time, oh, well.

Efficient checkin by a young fellow who is clearly cut out
for better things. My room was halfway down on the right.
It was fairly big, the bed fairly comfy. The toilet and
shower room smelled a bit mildewy, though.

I'd planned on eating at the Knock-Kneed Crab a couple
blocks away but had had enough food, plus it was dark
(not that bad of a neighborhood, but I might fall into a
pothole or something), so just went to the Circle K on the
next corner for salty snacks and a couple beers.

[Aside: I'd told Alex of this plan but had forgotten the name
of the joint and referred to it as "something like the One-
Clawed Lobster." Alex said, "you mean the Knock-Kneed Crab?"
"Yes, that's it." He just laughed evilly. I didn't take that
as a good sign.]

Word to the wise: Jamaican-style jerk Slim Jims have nothing
in common with Jamaica; Beck's Sapphire has nothing in
common with Beck's.

I tried to set the alarm, but the radio didn't work. Told
the guy at the front desk, who said that there was no reason
to equip the rooms with good clock radios, because the
guests would just steal them; that's how classy this place
is. So they buy truckloads of cheap pro forma appliances and
don't care if they work or not or if they walk or not.

The bed was comfy, and for me beer is a good sleep aid.

More importantly, the wake-up call I ordered as consolation
actually happened and actually woke me up.

UA1206 PHX IAH 0500 0925 738 3B

The desk guy hadn't let me reserve onto the 0400 shuttle,
so I had to take the 0300, with an 0200 wakeup call. It
seems that the 0400 would have worked okay, as security
took mere seconds, even despite this gem from the TSA
person working the belt, who made me take my computer and
liquids out - "You're PreCheck, but your bags aren't."

A yummy breakfast sandwich, to wit, a both soggy and tough
English muffin that tasted like moldy fruit housing an
egg puck topped with chopped and formed cured pork product
(but not too salty) topped with melted pasteurized process
cheese food. Given my lactose issues, it is a tribute to the
quality of the bread that I scraped the cheese off it - and
ate the cheese.

On the side your standard fruit cup and a tub of some sort
of yogurt.

UA 435 IAH BOS 1020 1459 320 7C Ch9^^

I was buried down in the double digits on the upgrade list
despite my lifetime platinum and annual 1K status. No big
worries, I just slept through the flight anyway, but this
time for a change lunch actually smelled good. Oh, well.

Again, Channel 9 was advertised and delivered.

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