It's only life, after all.
Sep. 20th, 2002 07:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyranoThe girl from Gilmore Girls is in a film of Tuck Everlasting. xXx was still #8 at the box office last week. And
Saturday:
Despite flying standby and non-revenue, things went pretty uneventfully. San Francisco to Fresno to Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls, I got on each planned flight. There were even 47 empty seats on the first one. And for me, with my general opinions in hurtling through the air in a tiny overcrowded overheated metal box, an empty seat next to me is a fine thing.
Met the parents and Guilliermo (the neighbor) at the airport and went to Skipper’s and had deep fried fish with deep fried shrimp and deep fried fries and deep fried clam chowder. This was a treat, because I hadn’t been to a Skipper’s since living in Oregon. They don’t seem to exist in California. We went home, I petted the dogs, got caught up on all the news (what there is in Idaho) and caught the very last seat on the flight to Salt Lake City on Sunday morning.
Sunday:
Got to the hotel around noon, and they let me check in early since the room was clean. My key didn’t work, so I got a new one and asked about the dataport (they didn’t know what to tell my laptop, but the guy who did would be in that night), unpacked (hmmm. Laptop over here, stereo up here, clothes in the wardrobe....) and left a message for Naomi and Diana (my girls from the gate at SFO) which I discovered later they never got, telling them which room I was in. Then I ironed everything that I’d packed and hung it back in the wardrobe again.
About three o’clock my brother Rollin picked me up and took me to his house for dinner with JJ and the three kids. We played X-Box for a while, then he took me back and I met Jon, my roommate, asked at the front desk about the dataport again, and went to bed. Slept fitfully, waking up every few hours, which made it easy to get up on time.
Monday:
Got up, finally got the 411 on the dataport (when they say ‘dataport’ what they mean is ‘telephone line’ and since I got no dial up I’m screwed and hauled the laptop here for the sole purpose of transcribing what will eventually become hellaciously long LJ entries), had a pretty passable ‘continential breakfast’ and headed to class, at the Crossroads Mall.
There were introductions, company history, and a long lunch. I discovered Panda Express in the basement food court, and I got two helpings of Orange Chicken. This was a treat because I hadn’t been to Panda Express since living in Oregon. They don’t seem to exist in California. Mmmmm. Orange Chicken. Mmmmm. Batter dipped deep fried chicken bits.
Then we talked about flying priveleges and other benefits, which was exciting and made me think again about moving to Seattle where I might be able to survive on a job like this. And then it rained! Woo! Yay! Really rained. And I went out and got wet and tried to walk back to the hotel (it was only seven blocks) but Naomi talked me out of it and so instead we all clustered under the awning waiting for the van to come shuttle us back to the hotel. Naomi and Diana and I went back to their room, ordered pizza (because they didn’t want to go anywhere to eat, especially in (horrors) the rain), we sat on the bed and played rummy, studied some for the airport code test on Tuesday, talked about boys, and watched the ending of _Miss Congeniality_. And then sleep again. Fitfully, again. I’m not tired in the morning, so that’s good at least.
Tuesday:
Walked to class in the morning, watched the sun come up over the mountains. Very dramatic start to the day. It was weird watching people actually stop at the crosswalks when the signs said Don’t Walk even though there was no traffic. People in suits, young kinderpunks (and there are a lot of them around here), everybody patiently and politely waiting for the light to change. Spotted a couple of used book stores on the way in, and a Peruvian restaurant Naomi had mentioned the night before.
This is where I take a moment to talk about the dramatic shift that takes place in the seven blocks between hotel and mall. My brother affectionately termed the green lawn across the street from our hotel ‘Crackhead Park’. A lot of homeless people. Joy O’Neil, one of the girls in our class, was apparently asked on Monday night how much it would be for sex while she was walking between the hotel and the Wendy’s at the other end of the block. Broken, closed down storefronts, trash-littered alleyways. And in the middle of that seven blocks it transforms into the sparkling clean consumer-safe beautiful downtown Salt Lake City with the quaint brick walkways and tiny shops scattered around.
And now back to class. Our two instructors, one of them looks like Jan Brady and the other is a very big black man with a tiny high pitched voice. Both of them were very nervous at the beginning, uncertain, but they were much better by the end of Tuesday. We covered basic station security (which it is a federal offence for me to discuss with any of you monkeys), and there was lots of talk about guns, law enforcement officers, prisoners, air marshalls and passengers with disabilities. There was also more ORANGE CHICKEN. (Yum.)
I walked back to the hotel. On the way I investigated the two book stores. One of them was big but had very little that I was interested in. The other was chaotic, dingy and run by people who made me cringe as I listened to them talk dirt about the people they knew. And the books were in complete chaos, so I was going through shelf by shelf kind of like a treasure hunt. Of course, that’s exactly what it is. It’s places like this book store where you can find ‘Gentleman Junkie’ (which is painfully out of print) for a buck and a half. However, all I found was a paperback copy of Jim’s new book for two bucks. I’ll probably stop by later in the week to peruse the rest of the place.
There’s lots of architecture in downtown Salt Lake City that reminds me of the stuff that I love in Portland, that area between Powell’s and Union Station. Lots of filigrees and columns and human figures and lion heads and fruit and all sorts of things. I’m sure Cindy knows what this style is called, but I don’t.
And then, suddenly, it appeared on the street ahead of me. Salt Lake City Hall, looming up out of the trees growing around it like a Bavarian castle fortress. With towers and windows and all sorts of *things*. I wish I’d had a camera because I’d love to have some pictures of what I saw that afternoon.
And it pretty much looks like that’s all that’s going to happen tonight. I may go down and soak in the hot tub with my new book or something. (Which I did.)
Wednesday
In honor of the Japanese businessfamilies in town for the International Marketing Summit, our continental breakfast now includes steamed rice and soy sauce. Class was pretty much all about HazMat. At lunch, down in the food court was a three-piece old guy jazz band. They were pretty good, but I was sad they didn't have a vocalist and they played way too slow. "It's a mall, not the ambassador's dinner, guys!"
Anyway, the presence of the band sparked a conversation among the SFO gate bunch about dance. And I thought some more about going back to class. There's some sort of 'contribute part of your paycheck for education fund' benefit thing at SkyWest that I need to investigate. I'd really love to go back to school again. Maybe even end up with a degree some day.
After class, Naomi and I went to St. Mary's (about four or five blocks from the mall) to Mass. She wanted to receive sacrament, I wanted to see the gargoyles.
I'm not Christian any more, but I'm still very spiritual. I'm drawn to the ritual, the magic of deliberate and repeated action. It was impressive. I find a great deal of peace in the silence of a large and empty space with people meditating, thinking quietly and intently.
I love the quality of sunlight passing through stained glass. I love beautiful huge impressive buildings with vaulted ceilings and gargoyles. (Although some of the grotesque imagery disturbs me.) I love Bach.
I miss Latin. Latin made services special--it was a language used pretty much only in ritual, and it invoked a 'church space'. It was a uniting thing--it was universal. Every church used the same service, spoke the same words. If a German merchant from Stuttgart travelled to France in 1264 and attended services in Nice, it would be just like he'd never left home. Anyway.
We listened to a nice man play the violin at the Temple Square Assembly Hall, and then went to a taqueria for dinner where there were huge burritos and it made me miss La Bamba.
Then there was food coma and a failure to pack. Eventually, though, I pried myself off the bed and stuffed all my things into my bags and went to bed.
Thursday
I hauled the 234973229473 pounds of luggage to class. Lisa told me that I was mean to her in her dream Wednesday night, but wouldn't tell me what I'd done. I think it was naughty and I think she liked it secretly. But I bought her warm chocolate chip cookies for being a nice teacher and drew a coyote for her. We talked a lot in class about the FAA and ramp/luggage stuff, and then reviewed for the final. We had to cram a lot of stuff into the end of it because she thought we were staying until five and whoever planned our flights had thought we were staying until three and so our flight left at four-thirty. We compromised, and fled the mall at three-thirty or so. There was lots of chaos, but things still worked out in the end. I got on the flight I was supposed to, as did Naomi and Diana. I haven't heard yet what happened to Jian.
Then I went to gaming and stayed up way too late and killed some stuff and got some eeps. (I'm up too late again tonight.) I got to talk to the housemate a little bit before bed and told her I'd see her in the morning. Which I didn't because I slept through the alarm. I'm gonna try it again tomorrow morning.
Friday
But I had yummy lunch with Ellie, and sort of dealt with my traffic ticket, which involved getting completely lost and wandering around San Jose for about an hour. Which I hated, and it stressed me out so I didn't go to CostCo and buy bread and cheese. Maybe tomorrow after work. Before movies with Ellie. Before stopping by CZR's amazingly briefly. Before going to bed on time so I can get up for work on Sunday.
I probably forgot lots of stuff. So maybe I'll fill in gaps later. Or not. Suck up and/or deal.
Saturday:
Despite flying standby and non-revenue, things went pretty uneventfully. San Francisco to Fresno to Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls, I got on each planned flight. There were even 47 empty seats on the first one. And for me, with my general opinions in hurtling through the air in a tiny overcrowded overheated metal box, an empty seat next to me is a fine thing.
Met the parents and Guilliermo (the neighbor) at the airport and went to Skipper’s and had deep fried fish with deep fried shrimp and deep fried fries and deep fried clam chowder. This was a treat, because I hadn’t been to a Skipper’s since living in Oregon. They don’t seem to exist in California. We went home, I petted the dogs, got caught up on all the news (what there is in Idaho) and caught the very last seat on the flight to Salt Lake City on Sunday morning.
Sunday:
Got to the hotel around noon, and they let me check in early since the room was clean. My key didn’t work, so I got a new one and asked about the dataport (they didn’t know what to tell my laptop, but the guy who did would be in that night), unpacked (hmmm. Laptop over here, stereo up here, clothes in the wardrobe....) and left a message for Naomi and Diana (my girls from the gate at SFO) which I discovered later they never got, telling them which room I was in. Then I ironed everything that I’d packed and hung it back in the wardrobe again.
About three o’clock my brother Rollin picked me up and took me to his house for dinner with JJ and the three kids. We played X-Box for a while, then he took me back and I met Jon, my roommate, asked at the front desk about the dataport again, and went to bed. Slept fitfully, waking up every few hours, which made it easy to get up on time.
Monday:
Got up, finally got the 411 on the dataport (when they say ‘dataport’ what they mean is ‘telephone line’ and since I got no dial up I’m screwed and hauled the laptop here for the sole purpose of transcribing what will eventually become hellaciously long LJ entries), had a pretty passable ‘continential breakfast’ and headed to class, at the Crossroads Mall.
There were introductions, company history, and a long lunch. I discovered Panda Express in the basement food court, and I got two helpings of Orange Chicken. This was a treat because I hadn’t been to Panda Express since living in Oregon. They don’t seem to exist in California. Mmmmm. Orange Chicken. Mmmmm. Batter dipped deep fried chicken bits.
Then we talked about flying priveleges and other benefits, which was exciting and made me think again about moving to Seattle where I might be able to survive on a job like this. And then it rained! Woo! Yay! Really rained. And I went out and got wet and tried to walk back to the hotel (it was only seven blocks) but Naomi talked me out of it and so instead we all clustered under the awning waiting for the van to come shuttle us back to the hotel. Naomi and Diana and I went back to their room, ordered pizza (because they didn’t want to go anywhere to eat, especially in (horrors) the rain), we sat on the bed and played rummy, studied some for the airport code test on Tuesday, talked about boys, and watched the ending of _Miss Congeniality_. And then sleep again. Fitfully, again. I’m not tired in the morning, so that’s good at least.
Tuesday:
Walked to class in the morning, watched the sun come up over the mountains. Very dramatic start to the day. It was weird watching people actually stop at the crosswalks when the signs said Don’t Walk even though there was no traffic. People in suits, young kinderpunks (and there are a lot of them around here), everybody patiently and politely waiting for the light to change. Spotted a couple of used book stores on the way in, and a Peruvian restaurant Naomi had mentioned the night before.
This is where I take a moment to talk about the dramatic shift that takes place in the seven blocks between hotel and mall. My brother affectionately termed the green lawn across the street from our hotel ‘Crackhead Park’. A lot of homeless people. Joy O’Neil, one of the girls in our class, was apparently asked on Monday night how much it would be for sex while she was walking between the hotel and the Wendy’s at the other end of the block. Broken, closed down storefronts, trash-littered alleyways. And in the middle of that seven blocks it transforms into the sparkling clean consumer-safe beautiful downtown Salt Lake City with the quaint brick walkways and tiny shops scattered around.
And now back to class. Our two instructors, one of them looks like Jan Brady and the other is a very big black man with a tiny high pitched voice. Both of them were very nervous at the beginning, uncertain, but they were much better by the end of Tuesday. We covered basic station security (which it is a federal offence for me to discuss with any of you monkeys), and there was lots of talk about guns, law enforcement officers, prisoners, air marshalls and passengers with disabilities. There was also more ORANGE CHICKEN. (Yum.)
I walked back to the hotel. On the way I investigated the two book stores. One of them was big but had very little that I was interested in. The other was chaotic, dingy and run by people who made me cringe as I listened to them talk dirt about the people they knew. And the books were in complete chaos, so I was going through shelf by shelf kind of like a treasure hunt. Of course, that’s exactly what it is. It’s places like this book store where you can find ‘Gentleman Junkie’ (which is painfully out of print) for a buck and a half. However, all I found was a paperback copy of Jim’s new book for two bucks. I’ll probably stop by later in the week to peruse the rest of the place.
There’s lots of architecture in downtown Salt Lake City that reminds me of the stuff that I love in Portland, that area between Powell’s and Union Station. Lots of filigrees and columns and human figures and lion heads and fruit and all sorts of things. I’m sure Cindy knows what this style is called, but I don’t.
And then, suddenly, it appeared on the street ahead of me. Salt Lake City Hall, looming up out of the trees growing around it like a Bavarian castle fortress. With towers and windows and all sorts of *things*. I wish I’d had a camera because I’d love to have some pictures of what I saw that afternoon.
And it pretty much looks like that’s all that’s going to happen tonight. I may go down and soak in the hot tub with my new book or something. (Which I did.)
Wednesday
In honor of the Japanese businessfamilies in town for the International Marketing Summit, our continental breakfast now includes steamed rice and soy sauce. Class was pretty much all about HazMat. At lunch, down in the food court was a three-piece old guy jazz band. They were pretty good, but I was sad they didn't have a vocalist and they played way too slow. "It's a mall, not the ambassador's dinner, guys!"
Anyway, the presence of the band sparked a conversation among the SFO gate bunch about dance. And I thought some more about going back to class. There's some sort of 'contribute part of your paycheck for education fund' benefit thing at SkyWest that I need to investigate. I'd really love to go back to school again. Maybe even end up with a degree some day.
After class, Naomi and I went to St. Mary's (about four or five blocks from the mall) to Mass. She wanted to receive sacrament, I wanted to see the gargoyles.
I'm not Christian any more, but I'm still very spiritual. I'm drawn to the ritual, the magic of deliberate and repeated action. It was impressive. I find a great deal of peace in the silence of a large and empty space with people meditating, thinking quietly and intently.
I love the quality of sunlight passing through stained glass. I love beautiful huge impressive buildings with vaulted ceilings and gargoyles. (Although some of the grotesque imagery disturbs me.) I love Bach.
I miss Latin. Latin made services special--it was a language used pretty much only in ritual, and it invoked a 'church space'. It was a uniting thing--it was universal. Every church used the same service, spoke the same words. If a German merchant from Stuttgart travelled to France in 1264 and attended services in Nice, it would be just like he'd never left home. Anyway.
We listened to a nice man play the violin at the Temple Square Assembly Hall, and then went to a taqueria for dinner where there were huge burritos and it made me miss La Bamba.
Then there was food coma and a failure to pack. Eventually, though, I pried myself off the bed and stuffed all my things into my bags and went to bed.
Thursday
I hauled the 234973229473 pounds of luggage to class. Lisa told me that I was mean to her in her dream Wednesday night, but wouldn't tell me what I'd done. I think it was naughty and I think she liked it secretly. But I bought her warm chocolate chip cookies for being a nice teacher and drew a coyote for her. We talked a lot in class about the FAA and ramp/luggage stuff, and then reviewed for the final. We had to cram a lot of stuff into the end of it because she thought we were staying until five and whoever planned our flights had thought we were staying until three and so our flight left at four-thirty. We compromised, and fled the mall at three-thirty or so. There was lots of chaos, but things still worked out in the end. I got on the flight I was supposed to, as did Naomi and Diana. I haven't heard yet what happened to Jian.
Then I went to gaming and stayed up way too late and killed some stuff and got some eeps. (I'm up too late again tonight.) I got to talk to the housemate a little bit before bed and told her I'd see her in the morning. Which I didn't because I slept through the alarm. I'm gonna try it again tomorrow morning.
Friday
But I had yummy lunch with Ellie, and sort of dealt with my traffic ticket, which involved getting completely lost and wandering around San Jose for about an hour. Which I hated, and it stressed me out so I didn't go to CostCo and buy bread and cheese. Maybe tomorrow after work. Before movies with Ellie. Before stopping by CZR's amazingly briefly. Before going to bed on time so I can get up for work on Sunday.
I probably forgot lots of stuff. So maybe I'll fill in gaps later. Or not. Suck up and/or deal.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Yay thoughts of Seattle!
Date: 2002-09-20 10:58 pm (UTC)Not to tempt you overly, but my apartment in Kirkland (which is sort of Sunnyvale/Mountain View-ish in affluence) is $999/month for a 1036 square foot place. You can easily get something _nice_ for $700/month, and if you look at combinations of bad neighborhoods/dingy/small, you can get less than that.
The traffic is still problematic, because the freeways are too small (often go down to two lanes), but the drivers are substantially better.
And Luana sometimes comes up to visit. :-)
Howl on, wicked Coyote.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 01:05 am (UTC)If you have the spare time, check out Ken Sanders Rare Books. Melissa Sanders is an old friend of mine, and the store is a lot of fun.
If you get the chance, I do seriously recommend Main Street in Park City. It's quite picturesque, especially at this time of the year.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 07:45 am (UTC)It's all just thinking at this point. But our lease comes up in a few months, if I can survive until then somehow, and I need to find a way to live sustainably. Should that mean somehow finding a way to afford living here, well.... you know how much I hate change, and especially how much I hate moving. I like the friends I have here, even if all of them /are/ moving to Seattle. (:
But this is me being pragmatic and saying 'even though nobody has a job here the rent is still mega insane so it's not going to get better any time soon'.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 07:46 am (UTC)(I could never tell the two ValMalls apart. It's a failing I plan to conquer some day.)
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 07:48 am (UTC)(Making a list of stuff to do, in case I get sent back to SLC for computer training.)
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 08:49 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-09-21 11:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 11:08 am (UTC)Valley Fair is on Stevens Creek between 280 and Winchester (across from Santana Row). It's all nice and swanky and has all the hip stores.
I couldn't keep them straight either until I'd visited each a couple of times.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 11:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 11:58 am (UTC)You could move anywhere and it would be financially easier.
Before going back to school, remember why you left in the first place. Academia hasn't changed. Hopefully you have.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 02:32 pm (UTC)And yeah, I could move anywhere except maybe Manhattan and Tokyo. However, I want to be within an hour or so of the ocean. I hate the east coast. I want to move to a city where I know people there already. And I hate LA. So I've restricted myself that much already.
I left school because I was tired and frustrated and felt like I wasn't making progress. I'd stopped taking classes to learn things and just wanted the god damn degree. I've changed over the past five years though, and really want to start taking classes again.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 02:35 pm (UTC)Um. So do you know what you're up to this month?
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 07:56 pm (UTC)And which month would be "this month"? September is almost over and October hasn't yet happened, despite the plethora of Halloween candy in my local grocery.
And, naturally, exactly what is supposed to happen is entirely dependent on exactly what day it is. If you really want, I'll email you the exact list, but it's long and involved.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 08:19 pm (UTC)The nub of my gist here is a general alert that I still think I'll be in Los Angeles for two of the four and a piece weeks in October. I've been told to become a member of the Hilton or whatever hotel I'm staying in because there's lots of goodies to be had in the 'special friends of the hotel area', and I might be able to impart my largesse on others. Not to mention that I'll be around and might have lots of free time on my hands.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-21 10:30 pm (UTC)There are about a "metric assload" of hotels near LAX, so I'm not quite sure what kind of largesse you will be able to impart.
From Aberdeen
Date: 2002-09-23 03:00 pm (UTC)What would you do if you went back to school?ò
no subject
Date: 2002-09-23 08:45 pm (UTC)If I went back to school I'd take language classes (probably more German and ASL) and maybe literature and history and political science and computers. Between getting a degree and the stuff I actually want to learn, my plate would probably be full.