Perplexed looking for a guide

On the Boston/SFO Shuttle

Like a lot of people at Sun I tend to travel to the Bay area a lot. My last trip, which I'm still trying to finish has been a doozy. It started with my rental car. Now, I don't need much, I've only got a carry on bag and a laptop. So why did Avis give me a Minivan?? Just parking finding a sufficient parking space for the thing took effort, and once I found a space, with it took a major dose of Boston parking experience to parallel park it.

The business part of the trip went well, we have over 160 submissions to Innovation@Sun in October! That great response and I this to be a great conference. Meetings, more meetings, and then its time to head to the airport.

I've been looking at for a new cell phone for a while, and I've tried out a number Verizon 8830 (poor IMAP support for email), Nokia E62 (good IMAP, lousy interface), etc. At the airport I thought I saw something magical. As I was heading towards the shuttle from the rental car spot, I saw someone typing on their cell phone with one hand....and each time he typed a little puff of steam rose from the cell phone! A ha, just what I need to be eco-responsible, a steam powered cell phone! Or was this part of the advertising campaign around the new Harry Potter book? As I got closer, my wonder changed to dismay. He was holding a cigarette. How could this be in California? I though cigarette's had been banned! My search for a cellphone continues.

Next, get to the gate, to head home for a few meetings on Friday, and nice weekend with the family and then back to California on Monday. Or so I thought... The boarding time comes and goes, and finally they announce that plane is being serviced for an electrical problem and if it isn't ready in 20 minutes they will cancel the flight. And then they mention that the plane has been in the service bay since last night for this problem. If 12 hours wasn't enough time to fix the plane, then I doubt 20 more minutes will help. So race to the service desk, ahead of 100 others, and discover that every flight to Boston for Thursday and Friday is booked. But no problem, they can route me through Chicago, and I might find a standby spot on another flight to Boston, there's three possibilities after I arrive. I agree, I haven't been to Chicago in a while.

When I arrive in Chicago, the first thing I discover, is that 2 of the 3 flights to Boston have been cancelled. And the one remaining flight is running a little late. The plane at the gate ahead of the Boston flight (2 hours after its departure time), is still there. That flight is being rescheduled and the plane towed to the service bay. Needless to say, there are no standby spaces on the flight.

A few hours later, I'm in some airport hotel, (the shuttles where broken, and it only took an hour to send a replacement). Hungry and ready for bed. What else do I have to do, I'll write a blog entry....

But you know, that idea of a steam power cellphone isn't bad. I wonder if its been patented yet?

Posted at 07:50AM Jul 20, 2007 by rezippel in Personal  |  Comments[0]