Travel and Lodging....

[j_cheney]

Now that I've updated my website, Carpe Libris's website, the wotf24 site, and done various other filing work, I can start to recap the last week.

I suppose I should start with the preface that at my age, I have a pretty good idea what works for me and what doesn't. Two things that don't are a)travel and b) socialization.

Travel makes my digestive system freak out, I do bizarre things with water retention, and I have a bad tendency to be congested when the plane takes off, resulting in agonizing inner-ear pain. All that aside, I actually do enjoy travelling for pleasure. I don't like it so much for work, one of the reasons I'm no longer a buyer. It got really old, despite my being much younger then.

We flew United, in four legs. From OKC to Denver, the personnel were fantastically nice to me and displacedtexan. They arranged for wheelchairs all the way, allowed him to preboard, and put him in a good seat. DIA, which I've never visited before, was really awesome, particularly the Cantina restaurant. DIA to LAX was good, too.

We were delayed, sitting 3 hours in the plan at DIA while they fixed the hydraulics on the landing gear right under me. Always reassuring. As tights as things are these days, they can no longer just take a malfunctioning plane out of service, so that was our only hope of getting there.

Flying back was a different story, as LAX is a ZOO with terrible signage and unhelpful personnel. Sorry, there's no way around that. Our flight finally left about 1:15 late (and we had 1:23 layover in DIA). Fortunately for us, a skycap whisked displacedtexan to the far end of the terminal at a jog, and we were luck that the last leg of our trip was also delayed (again, maintenance). The people at DIA were far more helpful that those at LAX.

Unfortunately, I was horribly congested with con-crud by then--despite copious amounts of Sudafed--and the landing was NOT FUN. There was so much pressure that my nose suddenly started running copiously. I was rubbing my jaw with my fingers and holding my shirt to my nose with my palm. My ears have still not completely cleared, but they're much better. ;o)

Lodging? Our hotel was in Agoura Hills, outside Malibu. The personnel there were lovely and helpful, which is good because, we were mostly stuck in the hotel. There wasn't anything within walking distance (particularly for displacedtexan) so we ate almost every meal in the hotel restaurant, which got expensive. (There were actually three restaruants in a nearby mall (which also has a running shoe store), but as they were more expensive than the hotel's restaurant, that limited our interest in them.) I wanted TACO BELL pretty badly, and will go do that for lunch today, I think, which will surely cure my con-crud.

But the hotel was nice and the personnel, as I said, lovely. I wouldn't mind staying there in the future, but I will rent a car next time. ;o)

I realize this doesn't actually have anything to do with the workshop, so I'll not tag it that way. displacedtexan and I are glad to be home with our dog and our bed and I with my desktop....

Comments

[orogeny.livejournal.com]

Welcome home!

[ruralwriter.livejournal.com]

I wanted TACO BELL pretty badly

Are you my long-lost sister?

I used to travel for work, but I, too, fly badly. I kinda miss traveling sometimes, but then I remember how painful flying is for me (it triggers migraines for me...really-really bad migraines).

[stephenstanley.livejournal.com]

Yeah. LAX. Waited in lines for two hours. Good thing we left the hotel at 11. We boarded the plane with ten minutes to spare. ONLY ten minutes. I haven't gone through security at a large airport in five years (I've travelled through large airports, just not security) and that was Orlando and my brother was working for TSA there. Jeez, going through Customs, or even Heathrow, wasn't as horrendous as LAX. Lucky for us Leslie panicked (before you and I connected in the lobby) and insisted on leaving the hotel earlier than Joni had scheduled.

I also remembered why, when I lived in San Francisco and travelled to LA on business, I always flew into and out of Burbank. LAX was a pain when it was a fraction of the size it is now.

Great meeting you and everyone! Made all the "negatives" worthwhile.

[aliettedb.livejournal.com]

Welcome home!
(LAX doesn't score highly on my list of nice airports to be: last year, I spent 3 hours waiting for my turn at LAX immigration--and I was in the American Citizens queues...)

[snickelish.livejournal.com]

Wait, wait, wait. Socialization doesn't work for you? You fooled me. I'll be most interested to read that post, when you write it. :)

[gabriel-writes.livejournal.com]

Glad to see you are home and well on the mend. But, it got me to wondering if perhaps your Con Crud is more due to the effects of L.A. smog. Horrible air conditions there. Instant triggers of my asthma.

Keep on healing.

[albogdan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm leaving in the morning and not looking forward to the lost day, but I'm glad we got to exhaust you all week with socializing!!

Hey, my book was passed around the table (without me) for signing and I didn't notice it missed you. We'll have to watch for when we'll both be at the same con so I can bring it along and fill in that lonely space in front of your story!