Happy Birthday Jon...and other random thoughts...

Those of you who are not quite as devoted (read: obsessed) to Jon Stewart as I am may not know that today is his birthday. I think he was sillier than usual tonight, which I always enjoy, and he also interviewed Tom Waits, which was awesome - especially when he played a song. Good show Jon, and Happy Birthday!


P.S. A certain someone in my lab insists on spreading the rumor that he is 74 - not so!

Okay, enough of that. I promised last week to blog about my trip to Houston. Better late then never right?

My trip to Houston was really quite stressful. Or at least getting there was. All week I had been looking forward to having some time to myself to read, or sleep, or listen to music while on the plane. I was supposed to fly out of London, clear US customs in Detroit, and then hang around for 2 hours until my flight to Houston. Easy right? Here is how things went down:

1) First of all, I got to the airport in London WAY too early. Then, my flight was 45 minutes delayed. When I first noticed the delay, I did go up to the counter and ask if this was going to affect my connection. The nice man at the Northwest desk did what all employees of airlines do - he smiled, typed random things into a computer, and concluded that he really couldn't say one way or another. So I sat and read and tried not to think about the fact that I was now going to have only 1 hour to clear customs and get to my next flight.

2) We finally took off and you could feel the tension on the plane. No one flies from London to Detroit unless they are connecting to somewhere. When the plane landed we all exploded out the door and raced to customs. The first part went very quickly, but then you have to stand and wait for your luggage so you can clear the second half of customs. Minutes ticked by. When I finally got to the area where you recheck your bag and clear security again I was routed into what I refer to as the "no hope line". Despite the fact that I still had almost 20 minutes to make my connecting flight, it was decided that it was too late to recheck my bag, and that they needed to come up with a new plan for me.

3)The woman who I dealt with next was amazing. I wish I had asked for her name. I got to her desk and I was clearly angry and still sure that if I ran, I could make the flight. She looked at me, and looked at my bag and said she thought I could make it too. Now this was going to require a little bit of finesse, because my suitcase can only be described as gigantic, and certainly not a carry-on bag. It is one of those old fashioned garment bags that business men used to carry before everyone got wheelie luggage. But she said that as long as I did not have any liquids in it, she thought they would let me carry it on. So I frantically rip all of the shampoo, conditioner, hand cream, and foundation out of my bag, chuck it in the garbage and run like hell to security.

4) Security does not share the nice Northwest woman's view on my bag being a carry-on bag. I have now lost it and am yelling. The security people are yelling back. There is swearing on my part and I get sent back, defeated, to the Northwest counter.

5) The woman looks at me, smiles, tells me to get my liquids out of the garbage (which I did), and says not to worry, she will get me to Houston tonight. I trust her, she has a calm voice. I am now sweating, angry, and almost crying. I am also deeply regretting have used obscenities at security (afterall, at some point I need to go through). She tells me that the new plan is to send me to Cleveland, Ohio, where I can catch a connection to Houston. I can check my bag, I can walk to the gate, all is well. I thank her many times, recheck the bag and clear security without making eye contact with anyone.

6) I am now feeling pretty good. I check my boarding pass and see that I still need to hustle to get there, but overall things are much calmer. I get to the gate and see that the flight is not yet boarding so I head to the washroom and wash my face. I now feel like a normal human being again, not the angry, angry woman at security. When I get back to the gate the flight is still not boarding. Hmmmm. I very calmly go up to the desk and ask the woman what the delay is. Apparently there is no crew - they are coming, but the flight is delayed. Okay I think - no worries. Then I look at my boarding pass again and see that I have 30 minutes to connect in Cleveland! There is no time for crews to be late! I go up to the desk again and the agent is not happy to see me. I say that since there is no way I am ever getting to Houston tonight, is it better to be stuck in Detroit or Cleveland. She smiles and says that they are equally good (read: bad), but that she thinks I should still try and make the connection in Cleveland. I say fine but am sure that I am not going to make it.

7) We finally board and the flight is now 20 minutes late. I spend the hour pouting and drinking orange juice to ward off starvation (there has been no time for eating). I wonder if my hotel in Cleveland will have good cable. I think about the last time I was in the Cleveland airport (visiting the ex-boyfriend while in undergrad). But as we begin out descent I look at my watch and think - there is still a chance. The flight lands and I have exactly 6 minutes to make the connection. I practically plow people down getting out of the plane and start to run. I have to run 15 gates. I can do this. People are passing me in those silly little carts and saying "Houston? Keep going!" It is like running a race with people cheering you on. I get to the gate and pretty much throw my boarding card at the poor agent. I concentrate on breathing deeply and not having an asthma attack. I board the plane. Hurray! I now estimate that I spent about 4 minutes in the airport. That has to be some sort of record.

8) Now I can relax a bit. I am still starving but I am now flying Continental where they at least give your peanuts. I am quite sure my luggage will not be there when I arrive so I start making plans about what I will sleep in, when my luggage might come etc. The flight to Houston is very smooth and finally somewhat relaxing. When we land I make my way to the baggage area thinking that I will wait until all the luggage is gone and then go to the counter to see about having my bag delivered to the hotel the next day. I have even looked up the address so I am prepared. I am looking around for the ground transportation desk and pass several baggage carousels. What is sitting there on the carousel, practically glowing? My bag! My bag has arrived. It still contains liquids. I am in Houston. It is Thursday night. Phew.

The conference itself was good. My poster session went well and I got to talk to some interesting people. The number of really relevant talks seemed smaller this year, but I still heard some cool stuff. The best part was getting a break from being a professor for a few days and getting to hang out and be a grad student.

I have to say though, that Houston as a city is not so exciting. There are lots of tall buildings:


An aquarium that I visited:


And a very cool section of town where the light rail line ran over some fountains:


While on a walk I encountered George Bush Sr.


And also came upon some people setting up for what was going to be a gorgeous wedding:


After our walk around town, and visit to the aquarium, #1 labmate and I had to hurry back to the hotel to see our friend's talk. Alas, our progress was slowed by this:

Yes, that is a tree - on a truck. Said tree was taking out parts of lamp posts left and right, and it was decided that perhaps pedestrians should not walk beside it after one of the falling pieces almost hit some guy in the head! They appeared to be taking a whole bunch of trees and planting them here:


(that is the view from our hotel room)

Strange, empty city...and not very representative of Texas as a whole I don't think. I did not see nearly enough cowboy hats and belt buckles to be happy. Did have some authentic Texas BBQ though. Yum, ribs!

Alright, that's the end of my rambling for tonight. Later this week: the London by-election, the Quebecois as a nation, and some knitting!

'Night
me and julio