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Well, I made it back from the NW all in one piece. It seems that there MUST be some weirdness associated with any trip I make to the Seattle area. I'm just glad that I got it out of the way immediately upon arrival.
In retrospect, my arrival sounds like an acid trip to me. We landed a few minutes early. I'd upgraded to first class, well, because it was only $75 and the seats were WAY more comfortable than the coach seats. So I made my way down to baggage claim. Here we hit snag one. I can't see D, and I'm not sure where I'm supposed to meet her. So I make my way to the pay phones (still no cell phone for me) and I call her cell...only to discover that she wrote down the wrong arrival time and is still in Bremerton. It will take about an hour for her to get there, and we agree that I will go to the "nearby Red Lion Inn" to wait. I'm told to "just ask any bus driver, they'll know where it is." When you get instructions like that, just be very afraid...but more on that later.
So, I head back to baggage claim, having been away for about 5 minutes. In that 5 minutes, the bags have come and almost everybody has disappeared. As I approach the claim area, I see a guy in full kilt kit (red plaid kilt, sporran, white socks, plaid garters, hat, etc.) grab a bag that *could* be mine and run off toward the escalator. I'm pretty sure he wasn't on the flight (after all, it's hard to miss a guy in a red plaid), but he's too far away for me to yell "HEY! I think that's my bag!" As it happens, it WAS my bag, and I spend the next 20 min or so in the baggage claim office with two people who speak very little English trying to explain that (a) someone took my bag, and (b) no, it was NOT in place of this bag that was left on the carousel as they are COMPLETELY different, and (c) I'd really like to know how I'm supposed to get my bag back as it has some very important papers in it that cannot be easily replaced. Finally I managed to leave the office, having given them my name and where I'm staying so they can deliver my bag (assuming they find it). I then proceed up the escalator -- supposedly to the bus terminal...although the guy who gave me the directions turned out to be so VERY wrong about that.
But when I get to the top, sitting there next to a pillar is my bag! I go through it to make sure that (a) it IS my bag, (b) nothing's been taken, and (c) nothing's been added. As I'm checking the bag, a customs officer comes running up to me, yelling "IS THAT YOUR BAG?!" I said "yes, it was taken from the baggage carousel by someone else, and I've been in the baggage claim office trying to get it all straightened out..." Well, she'd already reported it to the police, so I spent the next 10-15 minutes dealing with the police. GAH!
I then figure out where I need to go to catch the bus...only NONE of the first three drivers I speak with seem to know anything about the Red Lion Inn. The fourth says that "maybe" he knows one, but it's about 15 min. away. I was so tired and frustrated that I just got on the bus and went. However, WRONG place...there IS a Red Lion almost across the street from the airport, but I had no way of knowing that... And I get off at this OTHER Red Lion and think, no...this is wrong. And to make it weirder, there's some group in there singing Jesus hymns in a language that I don't recognize very loudly. Trust me, they WERE Jesus hymns.
So once again, I call D, who's just made it to the other Red Lion, and she knows where this one is and says she'll be there in about 10 min.
Bizarre, eh?
But the rest of the trip was great... I got to spend time with D, and we went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...it was pretty interesting, although I'm still rather creeped out by the portrayal of Willie Wonka -- an odd sort of mix of Michael Jackson and Dr. Evil. Just a bit far on the pervy side.
I also read/finished HP and the Half Blood Prince. I have some theories, but will indulge in no spoilers. I got quite a bit of transcription done. I was able to see![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
frodo_jim and his family, and celebrated Lammas with Sea Star. It all be good.
In retrospect, my arrival sounds like an acid trip to me. We landed a few minutes early. I'd upgraded to first class, well, because it was only $75 and the seats were WAY more comfortable than the coach seats. So I made my way down to baggage claim. Here we hit snag one. I can't see D, and I'm not sure where I'm supposed to meet her. So I make my way to the pay phones (still no cell phone for me) and I call her cell...only to discover that she wrote down the wrong arrival time and is still in Bremerton. It will take about an hour for her to get there, and we agree that I will go to the "nearby Red Lion Inn" to wait. I'm told to "just ask any bus driver, they'll know where it is." When you get instructions like that, just be very afraid...but more on that later.
So, I head back to baggage claim, having been away for about 5 minutes. In that 5 minutes, the bags have come and almost everybody has disappeared. As I approach the claim area, I see a guy in full kilt kit (red plaid kilt, sporran, white socks, plaid garters, hat, etc.) grab a bag that *could* be mine and run off toward the escalator. I'm pretty sure he wasn't on the flight (after all, it's hard to miss a guy in a red plaid), but he's too far away for me to yell "HEY! I think that's my bag!" As it happens, it WAS my bag, and I spend the next 20 min or so in the baggage claim office with two people who speak very little English trying to explain that (a) someone took my bag, and (b) no, it was NOT in place of this bag that was left on the carousel as they are COMPLETELY different, and (c) I'd really like to know how I'm supposed to get my bag back as it has some very important papers in it that cannot be easily replaced. Finally I managed to leave the office, having given them my name and where I'm staying so they can deliver my bag (assuming they find it). I then proceed up the escalator -- supposedly to the bus terminal...although the guy who gave me the directions turned out to be so VERY wrong about that.
But when I get to the top, sitting there next to a pillar is my bag! I go through it to make sure that (a) it IS my bag, (b) nothing's been taken, and (c) nothing's been added. As I'm checking the bag, a customs officer comes running up to me, yelling "IS THAT YOUR BAG?!" I said "yes, it was taken from the baggage carousel by someone else, and I've been in the baggage claim office trying to get it all straightened out..." Well, she'd already reported it to the police, so I spent the next 10-15 minutes dealing with the police. GAH!
I then figure out where I need to go to catch the bus...only NONE of the first three drivers I speak with seem to know anything about the Red Lion Inn. The fourth says that "maybe" he knows one, but it's about 15 min. away. I was so tired and frustrated that I just got on the bus and went. However, WRONG place...there IS a Red Lion almost across the street from the airport, but I had no way of knowing that... And I get off at this OTHER Red Lion and think, no...this is wrong. And to make it weirder, there's some group in there singing Jesus hymns in a language that I don't recognize very loudly. Trust me, they WERE Jesus hymns.
So once again, I call D, who's just made it to the other Red Lion, and she knows where this one is and says she'll be there in about 10 min.
Bizarre, eh?
But the rest of the trip was great... I got to spend time with D, and we went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...it was pretty interesting, although I'm still rather creeped out by the portrayal of Willie Wonka -- an odd sort of mix of Michael Jackson and Dr. Evil. Just a bit far on the pervy side.
I also read/finished HP and the Half Blood Prince. I have some theories, but will indulge in no spoilers. I got quite a bit of transcription done. I was able to see
frodo_jim and his family, and celebrated Lammas with Sea Star. It all be good.
