first report:: middle of first work week

Bonjour mes amis! Just felt like posting an entry about first few days in San Francisco- but what is a blog entry of mine without a little complaining, especially about travel? Well, the best place to start is at the beginning, but since I don't want to post 21 years worth of stuff, let's start near the end (there's also some crazy Eric praise in here, but he deserves it and so much more. Thanut on the other hand, should suffer a veeerryyy minor injury, that keeps him from nothing except badminton and da shou qiang wahahaha):

Saturday
6 AM: Eric and I get done moving my stuff into storage (BIG PROPS TO ERIC, HE DESERVES SOME CRAZY PRAISE HERE FOR HIS HELP)

6:15 AM: I call the Lafayette Limo office, and ask them about a ~8:00 limo, only to find out, surprise surprise, that there's a 6:55 and 8:55 limo, and that she recommends the 6:55 one.
Well, the 8:55 is too late, and the 6:55 was too early- so we did the only thing we could- ERIC STEPPED IN ONCE MORE TO SAVE THE DAY! We couldn't get in touch with anyone else regarding a ride to take me to the airport, and since Thanut ditched to chill with Jean (*cough* of course *cough*) and play badminton (which I still can't believe took priority), the only option was that ERIC DRIVE ME TO THE AIRPORT IN ALL HIS MAGNANIMOUSNESS.

6:25 AM: We finally get all ready and return the U Haul, deciding that without any cash (I had like $3, Eric didn't have cash) for a cab, that we had no option but to walk. About 20 minutes or so, Eric assures me.

7:35 AM: We reach Wabash, and get Eric's car to go back to his place (ps- neither of us has slept AT ALL at this point). He plays GRID, and I watch for a little bit- then go shower, and we head out at 9. Of course, in true Mother Nature fashion, the elements all pool together to keep me from leaving West Lafayette happily; a massive storm impedes our progress, scaring both Eric and myself, and I call NWA to check the status of my flight. As we near the airport at around 10:30 (coincidentally, the 8:55 limo also reaches mere seconds after we do), we find that my 11:43 AM flight's been delayed by an hour+. Fantastic.

11:20 AM: FINALLY get through check in, and Eric (WHO WAS NICE ENOUGH TO STAY WITH ME IN CASE MY FLIGHT GOT CANCELED) and I got Starbucks.

11:40 AM: Eric takes off, since my flight hasn't been further delayed, and he needs to get back, should the weather get worse. At this point, I'm afraid to go outdoors, since after that kind of storm, there was at least a 67% chance of my getting struck by lightning, which would suck hardcore.

12:20 PM: I get to the gate (the security checkpoint was surprisingly uneventful, though the woman behind me was trying to carry 3 full water bottles marked 'shrine water' through, and got stopped) only to find out that the delay was extended by 30 minutes, because the incoming plane hadn't shown yet.

12:50 PM: With no sense of urgency WHATSOEVER, the gate person calmly announces (in bad English) that there is now a maintenance problem, and that we should not expect anything before 2 pm for a departure. I was okay with the delays up to this point, but now that it was guaranteed that I would miss my connection, I went to talk to her, and she transferred me- Schedded for a 5:30 PM departure from Indy.

Flights went pretty uneventfully, though there was some dude who was friendly, but totally wasted behind me, screaming that the first thing he'd do when he got to San Francisco was to smoke a 'huge doobie' (sp?). And oh yeah- my flight from DTW to SFO left from gate A78 at DTW- and my arrival gate was A6. I had a 30 minute layover, and I spent all of it walking to the gate. Un.pleasant.


Anyhow, that's my first post for this trip- expect a couple more soon, about work and the rest of San Francisco (which is quite nice, actually). Cheers folks, Shriram out.