Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Well, I was on an airplane today. Yuck. At least it was a short flight. In fact, it might have been the shortest flight of my life: Twin Cities to Chicago. The pilot warned of turbulance during take-off and landing due to both places being very windy.
As I walked down the hallway to my hotel room, a man pushing a cart for cleaning the rooms nodded at me and said, “Good morning!” I nodded in kind and said, “Hello.” Then I pulled my cellular telephone out of my pocket and looked at the time…He can’t possibly be right – it’s not STILL morning, is it? I thought.
But, in fact, it was still morning – it was only 11:32. But it had already been a long day.
After never falling asleep last night – a short night punctuated with Owen’s appearance by my bedside to request water – I got out of bed at 4:15. I left the house about a half hour later, walked three blocks, and then waited for the bus.
The bus arrived a minute late, and drove to the airport. Just after 5 AM, I boarded a tram to ferry me from the bust stop to the airport proper.
Despite a no-show flight attendant, our plane took off as scheduled right at 7:00. We landed in Chicago about an hour and a half later. I called the taxi company, who then sent a taxi to the wrong airport. So I called them again. This time, they sent someone to the correct airport, but I had to wait nearly an hour for him to arrive. The taxi ride to the hotel lasted nearly another hour. (I gotta lotta book reading done this morning.)
After paying the cab, a concierge assisted me with my bags, and showed me to the front desk. I checked in, the front desk lady gave me my room key while explaining, “Your room is just up those stairs, there’s no elevator, I hope that’s okay.” I took a quick look at the daunting 10 stairs and deemed it okay. “It’s okay,” I said. Then I went up the stairs, rounded the corner, and met up with the cleaning staff guy who wished me a good morning.
Thursday, 21 June 2012
The email that I received that gave me all the information I needed to know about the class I am in yesterday, today, and tomorrow, said to bring a calculator. As soon as I read that email, I reached into my desk drawer, pulled out my scientific calculator, and set it on my desk where I wouldn’t forget it.
Do you think I remembered it?
Actually, I did remember it.
The only problem was, last night, when I was unpacking my bag, I pulled out the calculator and suddenly it hit me: This thing isn’t as heavy as it usually is. I opened up the back panel and, sure enough, there were no batteries. No problem, I thought, I’ll just walk over to that mall I can see out my window and buy a pack of batteries.
So, in 90 degree heat, high humidity, and strong winds, I walked the five blocks (or so) to the mall. As I passed by all the stores, it occurred to me that almost no place in a mall sells batteries. Oh sure, I’m sure some stores do, but I couldn’t find anything like a toy store or Radio Shack that would have the needed supplies. I did locate the Sears, but I am loathe to spend money there, so I kept hunting. Finally, I asked a man working at guest services, and he directed me to some store called Street Corner News, or something like that. It was really tucked away in some dark arm of this sprawling shopping center, and it only took up about 50 square feet. There was hardly any room to turn around in there, but I spotted a small selection of batteries behind the counter. “Can I get a pack of those double-A batteries?” I said to the cashier. She obliged and I took off with my merchandise.
So, this morning, before heading off to class, I opened the pack of batteries, then picked up my calculator, opened up the back panel, and saw that my calculator takes triple-A batteries.