Text 4909, 102 rader
Skriven 2008-04-04 06:26:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 100
================
Getting from Washington to Boston by the westerly route
(not via Dedham).

0326
US1242 DCA CLT 0545 0711 319 2A

I was the first to check in at the US Air counter - my
brother had driven me to the airport before bed, and I got
there right at 0430 when the kiosks open. I was surprised
not to be first through security (of course - I'd forgotten
about the phenomenon of Web check-in, which I won't do, and
which I think is the most salient security risk in the
system today); this took a rousing one minute. The Club doesn't
open until 0530, so arriving early was kind of useless.

The agents boarded us nobs (stampede) followed by "all
remaining passengers" (just a handful). I swear that the pitch
on the US Airbuses is worse than on the UA ones, and the seat
was uncomfortable to the n-1th degree (I imagine that coach
seats would be uncomfortable to the nth degree. New
spiffy-looking blue seat covers (there's this advertised
initiative to improve the product), the old dirty rusty tray
tables, so no fundamental changes, just window dressing.

Quite pleasant service. I asked the genial steward for a sleep
aid, and he came back with a Bailey's and vodka on the
rocks, a pretty good choice, making the cream palatable by
diluting the sweetness. It aided my sleep, and next thing I
knew it was 0645 and we were in Charlotte.

I had time to do my BBSing and e-mail using dialup at the big
Charlotte club and got to my next gate (in B, the next terminal
over) just in time to hear an announcement for voluntary bump
opportunities (with $200 compensation). As I had places to go
and things to see, I didn't take this golden opportunity.

US1701 CLT SFO 0800 1053 320 2F

The powers that be cleverly substituted a 320 for the originally
scheduled 321. This may not sound important to you, but in fact
this means 4 fewer seats in first class and 26 fewer in coach, so
I guess my point is that US Air screwed up big time, as that meant
4 angry elites and some unknown number of discommoded regular
customers. Likewise new seat covers, lousy pitch. Good service except
for too much pushing of the Signature Visa card, cranked way loud
over the PA (the first class attendant apologized to us for this).

Virgin Mary for drinkie, as it was a little early yet:
unfortunately, it was probably worse for me than a booze
would have been - the can admitted to dosing me with 83%
of my daily allotment of sodium. Nodded off.

At some point I was wakened by the scent of good country ham and
wondered whether I was being too hard on US Scare and too easy on
United. Breakfast: rubber cheese omelet; cubes of Spamoid that
smelled far better than they tasted; elderly potato cubes; fruit
cup: okay grapes, a strawberry half of which was rotten, some
crunchy hard melon slices and a couple squishy fermented ones;
possibly the worst croissant I've ever experienced. I have not
been too hard on the airline after all. I wonder if they issue
the crew with spray bottles of good food scent to spritz through
the cabin before serving what they serve.

We landed about 20 or 25 late. Our taxi in took us past a
couple aircraft in the new Delta livery, which to me is
singularly unattractive.

The BART worked perfectly and got me to Z Space nice and
early, and I was greeted by my friends Roberta and Bob at
this funky performing arts minispace above a scooter
dealership. Had a good visit before people showed up. 

This was a reading of Act I of Roberta's play Play Dirt, a
sort of morality tale, framed in baseball terms, depicting
the squandering of genius and the downfall of arrogance.
It's not a happy story; I understand that Act II (finished
last week YAY) is no cheerier, but I'm looking forward
to it. An enjoyable and worthwhile though sobering
experience, shared by what ended up an overflow audience.

What does one do after such an exhausting session? Eat. So
a couple mutual friends Jim and Jerrie and Roberta and I
went off in search of yet another branch of Henry's Hunan
(Bob had to run off to work or someplace). Roberta led us
toward town on Folsom, and we went quite a ways down - I
mentioned that we were more than halfway to my next destination,
the Caltrain station, and it was determined that the restaurant
we sought was in fact on Bryant, whose numbers do not correspond
at all to those on Folsom. So back we went on a tour of a part
of SoMa that we wouldn't perhaps have cared to visit after
dark. Roberta admits that she is geographically challenged.

A stimulating walk, and we were well rewarded (and relieved)
by the appearance of Henry's, an if possible less descript
room than any of the other Henry's, which are well known as
purveyors of spicy, salty, slightly greasy authentic food and
the site of many FlyerTalk BBS gatherings. There were a few
other diners, which was surprising as it was mid-afternoon.

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