Attending Mass.

     Since the infamous events on 9/11 I haven’t been very keen on flying.  It’s not because I’m afraid something is going to happen to the plane, but because I hate going through all this security stuff they have in place.  I remember what it was like to fly in the late 1970s and 1980s. 

     But my nervousness about something going wrong was mostly in vain.  Sure, I had to nearly strip down to get past the metal detector but the people in Austin were quite pleasant about it.  For some reason we weren’t allowed to bring our $2.00 Dr Pepper bottles through the checkpoint.  I didn’t know they were so dangerous.

     We flew on Jet Blue airlines.  After reading about the things a lot of airlines were doing, I wasn’t very keen on flying at all.  But Jet Blue rocked.

     The flight took off ten minutes early (sucks to be you, Late Guy!).  The seats had TV’s in the headrests, which also had XM satellite radio (which I don’t like as much as Sirius but I guess that won’t matter much longer).  They didn’t give away headphones, but you could use your own or buy theirs for $1.  They had free snacks (blue potato chips being the company mascot, I guess) and stuff to drink.  Oh, and it only cost $15 to check your first bag.  The crew was awesome.  It was easily one of the best flights I’d ever had.  Oh!  And the seats were nice and roomy. 

     So we land, wait in line for 45 minutes to get the rental car, then puttered over to the hotel.  As soon as we got the keys to the hotel room, the fire alarm goes off.  We waited outside the place for another 45 minutes waiting for the police and Fire folks to show up.  45 minutes!  Thank God the place wasn’t on fire.  Scuttlebutt has it that someone was microwaving popcorn and left it in too long.  Anyway, all that got sorted out.

     The room is great.  Because of all the inconveniences we got upgraded.  We’re now in a two bedroom suite with a full kitchen.  Sure, that sounds awesome, but there’s only two of us and we’re only staying for two days.  Still, it’s pretty cool.  But their wi-fi coverage SUCKS!  I’m lucky to keep a connection at all, and it’s really slow when it is connected.

     Now that I’m on the East Coast, there’s some things that I’d like to do.  One of them is to go to Dunkin’ Donuts.  Oh, for a donut!  And coffee!  There’s a store right down the street.  Everything is stupid expensive around here, though.  Dinner ended up being two expensive bowls of soup. 

     Time to get this day rolling.  There’s a lot to do, and most of it needs to be done early.