Cities I’ve spent at least one night in this year:
Next year should be a little less hectic.
December 29th, 2009 • 1 Comment » • Tags: self, travel •
Heather called me today and asked if my flight, scheduled for this evening, was on time. “Let’s see”, I said, as I logged into southwest.com. Houston. . . to St. Louis . . . loading . . .
“Hrmmm. My flight number isn’t showing up – that’s odd”. “All right. . .” goes to email, pulls up e-ticket “Nope, scheduled for 8pm, flight from St. Louis to Houuustooon…” Drop a beat. “Oh shit.”
Not only did I book my flight in the wrong direction, but I actually checked in last night and confirmed my flight itinerary without noticing the error. Thankfully, with the help of a lovely SWA agent and some frequent flier flights I had laying around, I’m getting to St. Louis tomorrow morning in plenty of time for Heather’s graduation tomorrow, and getting my money back for the incorrect reservation.
I’m pretty sure that before I started flying once a month, I would have checked my reservation a little more carefully. So beware, all ye frequent fliers, lest you make the same mistakes as I.
May 15th, 2008 • Comments Off • Tags: navel-gazing, travel •
I’m in San Francisco until Tuesday night at a conference. I’m staying right on the bay, so I ducked outside tonight for some fresh air and to take a few pictures. After spending 6.5 hours on a plane to get here, and then the next 4 in meetings, I needed to stretch my legs. For those of you who worry that the government isn’t spending your tax dollars wisely, know that I had to stop over in Phoenix because the direct flights were too expensive for the NCI. The experience has also convinced me that if I ever take a trans-atlantic flight, I should just load up on Ny-Quil before takeoff. I get a little stir crazy after about 2 hours.
The flight in is very picturesque. After hours of dull brown wasteland, the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas shoot up out of the desert, then give way to the lush green California Valley. The landing at SFO is interesting as well, because the approach is over the bay. Out the window, the water rises closer and closer, until you’re convinced that you’re about to splash down, but at the last possible second the runway appears to meet the wheels of the plane.
Sadly, there won’t be time for much tourism because I’ll be cooped up discussing integrative analysis of cancer biology. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to be here and expect to learn a lot, but I’m definitely wishing I could explore the kick-ass city right outside the hotel doors. Looks like I’ll have to come back with Heather one of these days. From the little bit I’ve seen, it looks awesome.
May 4th, 2008 • 1 Comment » • Tags: navel-gazing, photos, travel •
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