Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Laptopping in Detroit Metro

Detroit Metro Airport
7:12 a.m. EST (4:12 a.m. my time)
listening to: "Chillosophy 3" compilation

This is the kind of time that i've always wanted to relish.
And now i can assuredly relish this time.
You know, the now time.
the here and now time.
i'm sitting here at my gate, A21, waiting for my flight to Grand Rapids in a couple hours.
and i'm stoked because i'm sitting at my gate, typing this out, surfing wirelessly via my lovely laptop that i adore oh so much.
in fact, i'm mr. plugged in right about now.
on my right sits my iPod, the battery near-death and in desperate need of rejuvenation, plugged into my firewire outlet.
on my left is my power cord, plugged in to one of the few plugs i've seen. but now armed with a laptop, my whole outlook in airports is all about finding a random plug i can use.
so that wasn't too difficult to do.
my headphone jack is running out of the computer as well, so i'm quite closed off from the world around me.
which is a cavernous terminal (to say the least) here in Detroit Metro but quite clearly the only nice part of detroit metro, i must say. the rest of the airport here sucks ass. for sure.
oh, i've also using the other plug for my phone to recharge.

i've got a few schedule while i'm here visiting michigan. which is cold ASS, by the way.
in fact, i'm going to check the temperature.
Ok, we're rocking out at 27 degrees. could be worse.
not to say i'm happy about it, but not unexpected.
this is my homeland, my native land from whence i did come.
but now, no longer do i live.

apparently there is more shitty winter weather coming though.
yucko.
we were greeted here in detroit by....no one.
seriously.
there was nobody at the terminal when we arrived, or i should say, nobody at our gate.
so we sat on the plane more than 30 minutes until they opened the goddamn doors.
thankfully, i was in no great rush, since i knew i was sitting here in the airport for a few hours until my flight left.
i even thought about the idea of me renting a car and driving to grand rapids rather than wait for my flight.
but why the hell would i want to do that?
this is why i fly.
so i don't have to make unnecessary shitball trips in the car when i don't have to.
better for me to be sitting here, writing about random crap i see, ya see?

i enjoyed a hearty (well..) breakfast at mcdonald's this morning after we were finally let off the plane.
somehow the rule about not eating at mcdonald's doesn't necessarily apply at airports. i chalk it up to lack of options.
combined with the fact that nothing was open when i first got here.

i must say, i am stoked i was sitting inbetween two thin women. a girl from SF (well, she just moved to Mill Valley, as she told me) originally from Detroit. she was kind of funny actually. because she was sitting in the window seat, she let me know that she was going to be needing to go to the bathroom soon enough. i was like 'it's all good' and did a cartwheel down the aisle.
ok, so the last part was in my head, but it was glorious, i tell you.
but yeah, later on, when it was obvious that me, being the unlucky dude in the middle, and the aisle woman, she who was cracking me up with her earnest sort of new ageness soccer mom type (she called her husband right before we took off to tell him to make sure and remember to cut out this article that she wanted saved for her, also did a 'i love you'), were getting comfortable because window girl goes, pretty bossy pants like, 'now you guys, don't get too comfortable, i'm gonna have to go to the bathroom you know (she hadn't gone yet, you see). it was pretty funny. we talked for a bit.
but yeah, i am happy i wasn't stuck in between two giants or loudmouths or screaming babies.
i was able to sleep, which i did, soundly, i might add. i was pretty damn tired. of course, the special cookie M gave me last weekend definitely helped. i was a little more messed up than i planned to be, but it also put me to sleep forthwith.

one thing i hate about coming to michigan is that i often end up flying Northwest and they consistently suck. this flight was better than many i've had but still, the planes seem chintzy and cheap. definitely the less is more type o shit, you know?

oh so, a good reminder for myself. juice up your iPod before you go on a trip. i felt like a dumb ass when i excitedly turned on my iPod, only to realize that the damn thing was pretty much dead.
and god, i had my laptop plugged in at work all day Tuesday. crapola motorola.
so that was just me being a dumb ass.

there's a fair amount of people already waiting for ol' grand rapids. and we don't even board for another hour. oh actually, i think we leave in little over an hour, 8:55 a.m. to be exact.
so we probably board in an hour.

man, i stink right now. and i didn't eat much. and that mcdonald's definitely hasn't hit me yet.
oh yeah, that's what i forgot to expand upon.
mcdonald's breakfast doesn't seem quite as bad as the meals. i mean, i saw 'super size me.' i know it's shit for food.
but i only had an egg mcmuffin, hash browns and an OJ.
not bad, right?

it's funny. many times, i see girls from grand rapids who are with boys but if i saw the same girls in san francisco, i'd think they were lesbians. the athletic not-so-girly types. i just saw a couple and the girl just didn't quite fit. it was funny.
a guy is walking by me right now very fast, just got off the plane. clearly, he has to go to the bathroom bad.
puto!

ok, i suppose i should use part of my time in my hour session here to check my email and shit.

i've got a full schedule while i'm here in grand rapids.
going to see grandma parks this morning, after i get my rental car that is.
then stop in to say hello to my moma, then go hang out with my friend kevin tonight, someone i haven't seen in several years.
also going to hit up troy, christine and some other peeps, kim kibby, rob, my brother, anybody i can.
i've got three days here. i go back christmas morning.
yes, a very quick stay.
it's funny, i see all this activity right now and i can't hear a goddamn thing because i'm wearing my big ol' headphones.
cracking me up.

aw yeah.
i'll probably add more if i see more this morning.
i've also got the new Lord of the Rings deluxe edition dvd, so i'll be checking some of that, though i may do that on the plane. who knows.

holy shit, so i just checked the weather in Grand Rapids right now and it's not looking too good for me.
here's the current advisory, i.e. what i have to look forward to in a couple hours.
>>Lake effect snow showers will continue across the area throughout the remainder of the morning. Visibility will drop to as low as one mile in some of the heavier showers. A few tenths of an inch of snow per hour is possible with the greatest amounts expected along and west of us31 near the Lakeshore. Travel may become troublesome due to the blowing snow and minor accumulations. Very cold temperatures in the teens and twenties will combine with gusty winds to drop wind chills into the single digits this morning.>>

lucky me! whoo hoo!
damn man, that blows.
ugh.
i suppose i should call my brother.
and send greetings of pure joy and thankless testimony. yes.

so there's one of these walkway things they have at airports to speed you along the long distances and it's funny, i keep looking at people as they go by, and when one catches my eye, i may stare a little longer than normal. and i see that they feel they're being stared at. they may glance back. it's interesting. two dudes just went by on the walkway going the wrong way, on purpose, as they seemed to walk with authority. or at least, adamantly.

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