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January 5, 2001 |
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I'm flying back to Seattle today. I finished my packing late last
night&… par for the course, I suppose. I have a nasty habit of staying
up the entire night packing the night before a flight. Chronic
procrastinator, ya know… I really don't think this is why I
leave packing to the last minute. I think it has more to do with wanting
access to all my stuff until last minute. I'm one of those folks who packs
things that I don't need. This is particularly true of electronic
gadgets.
Aileen woke me
before she went to work. We chatted for a few minutes and exchanged brief
goodbyes. I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep before I needed to
wake. One of the last things my sister got me was the soundtrack to the
movie Bounce, which I thought about picking up. Isn't she a
sweetheart? I thanked her for waking me and promised to call her a little
later.
Did I mention that Fred makes
exceptional breakfasts? He is truly a wonderful host. It would've worried
me at first, thinking that he really goes out of his way, but that's just
the way he is. Not only are his dishes delicious, but they are also
picturesque. In fact, Pam took pictures. Are we
easily amused?
We also talked for a bit while I finished loading the car. I'm going to
miss being here, cold weather notwithstanding. It was wonderful spending
my vacation with Pam at Aileen's. I just don't
think I would've been able to deal with the remainder of my family had I
stayed there. Life is easy between Aileen and I, and now also Fred. I
suppose is that we have learned to talk about things and communicate, which
is something we're still trying to develop with the remainder of my
family.
I took a few minutes to write the postcard to Pam… the one that I picked up last night. I dropped it off
at the mailbox.
The trip to the airport was uneventful. I sped, naturally. I like speeding. First, I had to return the rental. I had rented a car from a company I had never heard from before… In fact, I wasn't sure precisely where their office where I had to drop off. I remembered that it was near the airport and roughly where it was, and I'm normally pretty good about recognizing places I had been before. I wasn't really worried about finding it, the only issue was with the time.
I did find it with no mishaps. Now the only problem was checking out. First, there was the issue of the charge. You see… I rented the car for precisely thirteen days. One could interpret this as a week plus six days or two weeks minus one day. What's the difference? Over one hundred dollars. It took a few minutes to straighten that out, especially since I had confirmed the rate before I booked my reservation. Second, there was the issue of their shuttle, or more to the point their immediate lack of a shuttle. It took the shuttle about ten minutes to get there.
Since I was short on time, I ended up checking in at the curb and walking to the gate, where I had a few minutes before boarding. I called Aileen and talked to her for a few minutes, and thanked her for being so hospitable.
The first flight was mostly uneventful. I sat next to a man who was reading The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickam. The reason why the word Coalwood sounded so familiar is because it was the setting of the movie October Sky, which I got for Pam for Christmas. I made a mental note to get it for her, if she didn't have it already. She seems to have an abnormally strong fascination with biographies. Not that there's anything wrong with biographies, but those are the only books which she seems to buy. The man seated next to me seemed nice enough, he grew up miles away from where the town of Coalwood used to be.
The second leg of the flight was spent watching movies. I had brought my own movies and a portable DVD player. I know… electronic gadgets and myself are like a sickness. Some people have a thing for alcohol… others nicotine… I have transitors. I suppose that I shouldn't complain, since they are mostly harmless. Well, except for that little experiment that I have brewing at home. Nothing to worry about really.
The movies I watched on the plane were Ladyhawke and The Princess Bride. The former I had just gotten for Christmas from my cousin, Ling; it was on my wishlist. The latter, I had brought with me on vacation. The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies.
Otherwise, the trip was uneventful. I slipped to baggage claim to get my unusually large duffle bag. Okay, maybe it is not technically a duffle bag, but it is big. Probably big enough to carry a corpse if I needed it to, though I would have to cut it up. Unfortunately, I really don't think this bag is water resistant, at least not from the inside. Not that I ever had a need… I mean… It was an accident, dammit. Let's just leave it at that!
Where was I? Oh, yeah… I took a cab to Pam's, where I left my car. We went to drop Magic off at home before we went to dinner. I missed I Love Sushi.
January 5, 2001