A Summary of my Vacation
Wed, 2004-12-29 19:22 — jrearick
A Summary of my Vacation
This has been quite the eventful week. I guess I'll sum up my week on a day to day basis.
Wednesday 12-22-04
I wake up, have breakfast with Gaila, and start packing. I drive to the airport with Gaila to send me off and return my car back home. On the way down I talk to Chris about some things that needed to be done for the MySQL server to move. My flight was supposed to leave at 4:05 PM but got delayed because there was no flight crew. Finally got in the air about 5:15 or so. Talked to an interesting woman on the plain who claimed to be an information systems consultant. She was kind of strange as she was constantly on the phone while waiting at the gate in Des Moines. She told me stories about running CICIS COBOL systems back in the day. She even liked the movie Office Space. She was still crazy though.
I arrive in Minneapolis about 6:30. Check the board and my connecting flight is "On Time". I call home to update my 'rents and grab a bite to eat. Ready to wait for my flight, I check the board again and find that my flight had been cancelled. They did not announce over the general PA system so I did not hear it when they announced at the terminal, so I found myself near the end of the line for rebookings :-( . I wait in line for the the courtesy phones to reschedule a flight. The first flight out of there for Syracuse would be late on the 24th. That wasn't going to work, so I change to go to Rochester the next day at 6:50 PM. Once I got a seat number and ticket I had to wait in line again to get some accommodations for the night. In line for getting hotel and meal vouchers I talk with a few girls who were in the same line. I find out that the flight was canceled because there was no flight attendant. No freaking flight attendant. :Rolleyes: So, I get into my own room around 10 PM. Give the 'rents, brother, Ben R, and Gaila a call to update them on the situation. I called Ben earlier to see if he could put me up for the night instead of waiting for an hour to get a hotel voucher. Unfortunately he was on his way back to Iowa when he called. After all the phone calls I made Wednesday, I'm glad that I was lazy and put my cell phone charger in my carry on. Though I really should have put a change of clothes in there :-(.
Thursday 12-23-04
The hotel room was really cold. I had to stay bundled under the covers and not move much as the sheets around me would be cold. I also developed a chapped lip that I am still suffering from today :-(. I should probably do something about that. At least I had a nice hot shower the felt really good.
I picked up the shuttle back to the airport around 3:40, about 40 minutes late. There was an accident on the interstate. I got to see the Mall of America on my way there, but didn't get to go inside. I heard there is a store made entirely out of Legos in there. Anyway, I get to the airport, go through security and grab a bite to eat before I go wait at the gate. I have to say, the Minneapolis airport is huge. The tram they have there is a real time saver too. Though, as reported by Meridith the last time she was there, I couldn't get the wireless Internet to work right, so I just played a puzzle game until it was close to boarding time.
On the flight I met this Freshman in high school from New Jersey going out to visit his grandparents on his way back from a ski trip in Aspen. Freaking rich spoiled brat was my impression. He said he liked to read books for fun which made me think he would be good for intelligent conversation. Though I find out that he doesn't know where Iowa is, they grow potatoes, and that cell phones work by satellites.
Anyway, I get into Rochester around 10 PM or so. Jason was just a few minutes away from the airport when I arrived. Though We didn't leave until around 11:00. My luggage got lost. Arg! So we put in a claim at the luggage office and head to Auburn, grab a bite to eat and go to sleep.
Friday 12-24-04
Got up, went to breakfast with Amaris (Jason's girlfriend) and her friends. We then headed out for a 2 hour drive to Amaris' grandparents' place and had Christmas Eve there. Quite a bit of fun, I even got presents. I will sum up my giftings later on in this post. After that we headed over to Amaris' mother's place another 1.5 to 2 hours away from there. We set up the hide-a-bed and went to sleep.
Saturday 12-25-04
Merry Christmas
We got up sometime in the AM hours and hung out making snacks and breakfast. Opened stockings and prepared for dinner around 2:00. Then opened presents. I got a few blurry pictures of some of that here. Some friends of their family show up and hang out for a while. We have some apple pie and ice cream before Jason and I leave.
We arrive back in Auburn around 11 PM or so and find ourselves stopping off at the bar so Jason can take me out drinking as he missed my 21st birthday. I had 3 beers (Yingling, Geness, and Killian) and 3 shots (Yagger, Jamensten, and Jose Peravo Tequila). Yeah, I really killed the spelling on those. I admit that I was pretty inebriated (just enough that I knew I wouldn't be driving). I remember what happened and I was able to walk on my own.
We get back to the apartment and find my luggage setting at the door and the heater had broken. I had to sleep in another room at 45 degrees. Thank God for electric heating blankets :D.
Sunday 12-26-04
Jason had to work most of the day so I stayed behind and watched all the West Wing, Enterprise, and Stargate that I had to catch up on. Jason got back and we went to Applebee's for dinner. Came back and opened the presents that were in the suitcase. Watched Hero on DVD and went to bed.
Monday 12-27-04
Jason had to work again, he also had to take on two extra assignments that came up. We were planning on going to Syracuse that day, but that didn't work out. I ended up watching a few random episodes of South Park and The Big Lebowski. At the end of the day we went out to a bar to eat and have a few drinks. This time was Sam Adams and Bass for me. We later met up with Amaris then got to bed early so we could make my 9:00 AM flight out of Syracuse.
Tuesday 12-28-04
Get up at 6 AM, get ready to go and pack. Leave for Syracuse for my 9 AM flight. We eat breakfast at the airport, I get past security and find my flight to be delayed for 30 minutes because the flight crew had a mandatory rest period. Good enough, as long as they are sober and I don't miss my connecting flight.
I get to Detroit and have to find where my next flight is taking off. Turns out that my plane landed at gate A75 and my other flight takes off at gate C23. To get from one gate to the other took a good 15 minute fast walk. There was no tram to carry people down the terminals. So I had to walk down the entire A concourse, walk under some tarmac to the C concourse and walk all the way down to the 23rd gate on that. I have to say, I really like those conveyers for people spread out around the airport.
My flight to Des Moines leaves pretty much on time. They had to check my backpack of all things for plan-side pick-up. Oh well, I didn't really need my laptop on the flight. I get back in Des Moines early for a change. Wow. My luggage was there as well :D. Dad picked me up and I went home.
When I got home I found an older ADC model 17" Apple LCD Display setting next to the tree. My Powerbook as DVI, so I'm going to have to think about what to do about that.
I gave my parents a turntable. They were so impressed and excited about it as I would be with a new computer or something. They had to immediately hook it up and start playing records.
I finally got around to checking my email and found 160 error messages from the scholarship system came in, starting on the 22nd. Turns out that the sit hasn't been working the entire time I have been gone on break. Great. At least I only got one physical person emailing me about the problem. I had to fix that problme really quick and let people know that there was a problem and that I fiexed it even before I had to come back to work. Oh well.
After I fixed that stuff, I ended up going to Adrienne's with Colin to eat some pizza and watch Dodge Ball. I got back home and went to bed.
So that has been my week. I miss Gaila so much. She's planning on calling sometime this evening when she has time so we can catch up. I still don't know what's going on around here for New Years, I suppose it will be in State Center with Meri, Colin, and her friend Stephanie and her husband, and whoever else from Ames is going. I'm so tired.
To tack on to this entry, Nick recently posted his OS. I decided that I should take it again. Last time I was Windows 98. This time, Apple Dos.
This has been quite the eventful week. I guess I'll sum up my week on a day to day basis.
Wednesday 12-22-04
I wake up, have breakfast with Gaila, and start packing. I drive to the airport with Gaila to send me off and return my car back home. On the way down I talk to Chris about some things that needed to be done for the MySQL server to move. My flight was supposed to leave at 4:05 PM but got delayed because there was no flight crew. Finally got in the air about 5:15 or so. Talked to an interesting woman on the plain who claimed to be an information systems consultant. She was kind of strange as she was constantly on the phone while waiting at the gate in Des Moines. She told me stories about running CICIS COBOL systems back in the day. She even liked the movie Office Space. She was still crazy though.
I arrive in Minneapolis about 6:30. Check the board and my connecting flight is "On Time". I call home to update my 'rents and grab a bite to eat. Ready to wait for my flight, I check the board again and find that my flight had been cancelled. They did not announce over the general PA system so I did not hear it when they announced at the terminal, so I found myself near the end of the line for rebookings :-( . I wait in line for the the courtesy phones to reschedule a flight. The first flight out of there for Syracuse would be late on the 24th. That wasn't going to work, so I change to go to Rochester the next day at 6:50 PM. Once I got a seat number and ticket I had to wait in line again to get some accommodations for the night. In line for getting hotel and meal vouchers I talk with a few girls who were in the same line. I find out that the flight was canceled because there was no flight attendant. No freaking flight attendant. :Rolleyes: So, I get into my own room around 10 PM. Give the 'rents, brother, Ben R, and Gaila a call to update them on the situation. I called Ben earlier to see if he could put me up for the night instead of waiting for an hour to get a hotel voucher. Unfortunately he was on his way back to Iowa when he called. After all the phone calls I made Wednesday, I'm glad that I was lazy and put my cell phone charger in my carry on. Though I really should have put a change of clothes in there :-(.
Thursday 12-23-04
The hotel room was really cold. I had to stay bundled under the covers and not move much as the sheets around me would be cold. I also developed a chapped lip that I am still suffering from today :-(. I should probably do something about that. At least I had a nice hot shower the felt really good.
I picked up the shuttle back to the airport around 3:40, about 40 minutes late. There was an accident on the interstate. I got to see the Mall of America on my way there, but didn't get to go inside. I heard there is a store made entirely out of Legos in there. Anyway, I get to the airport, go through security and grab a bite to eat before I go wait at the gate. I have to say, the Minneapolis airport is huge. The tram they have there is a real time saver too. Though, as reported by Meridith the last time she was there, I couldn't get the wireless Internet to work right, so I just played a puzzle game until it was close to boarding time.
On the flight I met this Freshman in high school from New Jersey going out to visit his grandparents on his way back from a ski trip in Aspen. Freaking rich spoiled brat was my impression. He said he liked to read books for fun which made me think he would be good for intelligent conversation. Though I find out that he doesn't know where Iowa is, they grow potatoes, and that cell phones work by satellites.
Anyway, I get into Rochester around 10 PM or so. Jason was just a few minutes away from the airport when I arrived. Though We didn't leave until around 11:00. My luggage got lost. Arg! So we put in a claim at the luggage office and head to Auburn, grab a bite to eat and go to sleep.
Friday 12-24-04
Got up, went to breakfast with Amaris (Jason's girlfriend) and her friends. We then headed out for a 2 hour drive to Amaris' grandparents' place and had Christmas Eve there. Quite a bit of fun, I even got presents. I will sum up my giftings later on in this post. After that we headed over to Amaris' mother's place another 1.5 to 2 hours away from there. We set up the hide-a-bed and went to sleep.
Saturday 12-25-04
Merry Christmas
We got up sometime in the AM hours and hung out making snacks and breakfast. Opened stockings and prepared for dinner around 2:00. Then opened presents. I got a few blurry pictures of some of that here. Some friends of their family show up and hang out for a while. We have some apple pie and ice cream before Jason and I leave.
We arrive back in Auburn around 11 PM or so and find ourselves stopping off at the bar so Jason can take me out drinking as he missed my 21st birthday. I had 3 beers (Yingling, Geness, and Killian) and 3 shots (Yagger, Jamensten, and Jose Peravo Tequila). Yeah, I really killed the spelling on those. I admit that I was pretty inebriated (just enough that I knew I wouldn't be driving). I remember what happened and I was able to walk on my own.
We get back to the apartment and find my luggage setting at the door and the heater had broken. I had to sleep in another room at 45 degrees. Thank God for electric heating blankets :D.
Sunday 12-26-04
Jason had to work most of the day so I stayed behind and watched all the West Wing, Enterprise, and Stargate that I had to catch up on. Jason got back and we went to Applebee's for dinner. Came back and opened the presents that were in the suitcase. Watched Hero on DVD and went to bed.
Monday 12-27-04
Jason had to work again, he also had to take on two extra assignments that came up. We were planning on going to Syracuse that day, but that didn't work out. I ended up watching a few random episodes of South Park and The Big Lebowski. At the end of the day we went out to a bar to eat and have a few drinks. This time was Sam Adams and Bass for me. We later met up with Amaris then got to bed early so we could make my 9:00 AM flight out of Syracuse.
Tuesday 12-28-04
Get up at 6 AM, get ready to go and pack. Leave for Syracuse for my 9 AM flight. We eat breakfast at the airport, I get past security and find my flight to be delayed for 30 minutes because the flight crew had a mandatory rest period. Good enough, as long as they are sober and I don't miss my connecting flight.
I get to Detroit and have to find where my next flight is taking off. Turns out that my plane landed at gate A75 and my other flight takes off at gate C23. To get from one gate to the other took a good 15 minute fast walk. There was no tram to carry people down the terminals. So I had to walk down the entire A concourse, walk under some tarmac to the C concourse and walk all the way down to the 23rd gate on that. I have to say, I really like those conveyers for people spread out around the airport.
My flight to Des Moines leaves pretty much on time. They had to check my backpack of all things for plan-side pick-up. Oh well, I didn't really need my laptop on the flight. I get back in Des Moines early for a change. Wow. My luggage was there as well :D. Dad picked me up and I went home.
When I got home I found an older ADC model 17" Apple LCD Display setting next to the tree. My Powerbook as DVI, so I'm going to have to think about what to do about that.
I gave my parents a turntable. They were so impressed and excited about it as I would be with a new computer or something. They had to immediately hook it up and start playing records.
I finally got around to checking my email and found 160 error messages from the scholarship system came in, starting on the 22nd. Turns out that the sit hasn't been working the entire time I have been gone on break. Great. At least I only got one physical person emailing me about the problem. I had to fix that problme really quick and let people know that there was a problem and that I fiexed it even before I had to come back to work. Oh well.
After I fixed that stuff, I ended up going to Adrienne's with Colin to eat some pizza and watch Dodge Ball. I got back home and went to bed.
So that has been my week. I miss Gaila so much. She's planning on calling sometime this evening when she has time so we can catch up. I still don't know what's going on around here for New Years, I suppose it will be in State Center with Meri, Colin, and her friend Stephanie and her husband, and whoever else from Ames is going. I'm so tired.
To tack on to this entry, Nick recently posted his OS. I decided that I should take it again. Last time I was Windows 98. This time, Apple Dos.
I hope everyone had a good holiday. My apologies for such a long entry.
Which OS are You?
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