Notes:
– Having trouble sleeping before an early morning thing is sort of normal for me. But, I set my alarm. Even if I need to get up at 5 AM. I should be good. Or so I thought. I woke up again In the middle of the night. No problem. Drink water, visit bathroom, back to bed.
But, when I got up again at 6:15, with no alarm? Well, can I just say I was alarmed?
Seems like the alarm clock that I rarely use and recently reset was on PM when it should have been on AM! The alarm never went off.
But, luckily, I was packed and ready to go! Got a car to the airport and sailed through the terminal.
Here is to more challenges and narrowish escapes! And thanks to the stranger who let me cut in front of him at bag check!!!
Okay, being on a flight and hearing about everyone’s connections, I can’t but be excited for everyone’s trip! The lady next to me is reading a guidebook to Europe – Provence I think! (Confirmed, going to a wedding of her brother!)
– TIP to the not so nice sitting next to me: try not to wear terrible perfume when flying. KTHXBYE.
– ACTUAL TRAVEL TIP: As odd as it may look to other travelers, even when I don’t have a stinky row mate, I will put a scarf or bandanna around my face when I fly. Why? Because it keeps my nose and face from drying out in the super-dehumidified air. And, it seems the nose works best at filtering out things that can get you sick when it is kept moist inside. And, you get to feel mysterious when you do it.
– Why oh why do they make terminals like American’s ORD when they can make them like American’s SFO?
– I think I am the only person in the airport who is wearing a tie. Okay, I am wearing jeans and a hoodie, but I am packing too light to wear a suit.
– After being away from the East Coast for most of a year, these things struck me:
> HOW GREEN IT IS – I know SF is an arid place to begin with, but when you look at the east coast, well, I now really understand “lush”.
> How things smell – yep, all of that water creates an interesting olfactory-scape
> How pretty the sunsets are.
– My parents and I went for a walk. And then, it got to the time for “the talk”. “Mark, we have some computer problems.” This time: my dad got an android tablet that has cellular data. Personal favorite moment: Getting Dad to say “OK Google”. It turned into, “HEY GOOGLE.” Which doesn’t work. And showing him Hangouts and we can video chat. I’m looking to showing him some places I am at along the way.
One of the most interesting things was to see how my Dad didn’t figure out the user interface. “No Dad, it’s called a touch screen because you don’t jab at it like a button.” “Oh, you have GIANT fingers, maybe you should use a stylus…” “How do you think you make the video fill up the window. Huh, yeah, that should work. Wonder why they didn’t do it like that…”
And then there was seeing him sing along to Ukrainian folk music on YouTube.
– I am going to admit it here: I am totally taken by the Game of Thrones Audiobook. They reader is very skilled, and the story is amazing. And I am having a great time visualizing the whole thing in my head.
READING AND RESEARCH
– http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/san-francisco-psychics-astrologers-tech-silicon-valley-startup-spirituality/Content?oid=3819687 – Interesting when you read it, as it speaks VOLUMES about the depersonalization of tech, and the human craving for it. Also, I give great palm readings…
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