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My Alabama Sojourn, Part III
Nov. 28th, 2004 06:36 pmFriday was better than Thursday. We went to see Dad's physical therapy class, because he was supposed to try walking again. Instead, he was doing lots of extremely painful exercises. I decided that if Dad can do those, I have no room to whine about exercising myself, and resolved to start exercising again.
After that, we went to Target and got a new car seat for Benjamin. The one he had was actually for an older child, and he could get out of it. This time we got one that goes over his shoulders as well as between his legs and around his waist, and fastens in two places. No way is he getting out of this one. Pen was very pleased.
After a quick lunch at Wendy's, we went home. Pen went to run some errands, and Benjamin and I played. He really liked cars and trucks, so we played with those. Also, I think he's ready for some easy puzzles, so I'll get him some for Christmas. Then Benjamin took a nap.
We went out for pizza for dinner, and brought a slice to the nursing home for Dad. We hung out there for a while, then went back to the house. Pen and I had a nice conversation, discovering that we both had played a variation of jacks when we were kids, and both liked to play the harder adult variations of mancala. She showed me some pictures from this summer of Benjamin with her family in Thailand. Her brother is really cute, and he plays in the Thai equivalent of a rock band. She played a CD that he made.
Then I went to bed, but only got about two hours of sleep, because I had to get up before 5:00 to get ready and to make it to the airport. Pen and Benjamin saw me off. We were worried that Benjamin wouldn't deal well with getting up that early, but he was pleased and excited at the adventure, and kept pointing out the moon.
My plane was late leaving, and due to a head wind, the flight took 40 minutes longer than usual, so I missed my connection in Houston. And had to spend NINE FUCKING HOURS in the Houston airport. I was unhappy about that. I got a lot of reading done. (In fact, I read three and a half books on this trip. I usually bring a ridiculous number of books with me on trips and never even touch most of them. Not this trip. I read two Jack Aubrey novels, a book lent to me by a friend from work, and am now about half way through BANNER OF SOULS, by Liz Williams.) I played Rollercoaster Tycoon once I found a chair by an outlet. I drank lots of Dr. Pepper.
About half an hour before we were supposed to board our flight, I went to the rest room. When I came back to the gate, the flight information was for Cleveland. It turns out they'd moved our gate to another terminal. I had quite a hike over long, marble corridors with no slidewalks to get there. We only loaded about fifteen minutes late. I actually had an aisle seat, but the guy in front of me moved his seat back so far it cut into my knees. He did move it up some when I asked him to, but the edge of the seat pocket dug into the part of my knee that doctors tap to test reflexes. I had to twist around a lot to find a non-painful position, which wasn't particularly easy and wasn't in the end non-painful, but it did involve me digging my knees into the back of the chair, so the guy eventually switched places with the guy in the window seat, who kept his chair fully upright.
We finally, finally landed, and just as I got up to the door, they made us stop unloading and wait until an Alaska Air flight finished boarding, since both planes were using the same gate. (San Jose doesn't have mechanical corridors that come out to planes. You still need to climb down the stairs and walk to the door.) I almost lost it. I pretty much remained civil. I did finally get off the plane and get a cab, and the cab driver tried to cheat me a couple of times by going the slow, expensive way, but I had no patience for that and set him straight. And then I was home.
After that, we went to Target and got a new car seat for Benjamin. The one he had was actually for an older child, and he could get out of it. This time we got one that goes over his shoulders as well as between his legs and around his waist, and fastens in two places. No way is he getting out of this one. Pen was very pleased.
After a quick lunch at Wendy's, we went home. Pen went to run some errands, and Benjamin and I played. He really liked cars and trucks, so we played with those. Also, I think he's ready for some easy puzzles, so I'll get him some for Christmas. Then Benjamin took a nap.
We went out for pizza for dinner, and brought a slice to the nursing home for Dad. We hung out there for a while, then went back to the house. Pen and I had a nice conversation, discovering that we both had played a variation of jacks when we were kids, and both liked to play the harder adult variations of mancala. She showed me some pictures from this summer of Benjamin with her family in Thailand. Her brother is really cute, and he plays in the Thai equivalent of a rock band. She played a CD that he made.
Then I went to bed, but only got about two hours of sleep, because I had to get up before 5:00 to get ready and to make it to the airport. Pen and Benjamin saw me off. We were worried that Benjamin wouldn't deal well with getting up that early, but he was pleased and excited at the adventure, and kept pointing out the moon.
My plane was late leaving, and due to a head wind, the flight took 40 minutes longer than usual, so I missed my connection in Houston. And had to spend NINE FUCKING HOURS in the Houston airport. I was unhappy about that. I got a lot of reading done. (In fact, I read three and a half books on this trip. I usually bring a ridiculous number of books with me on trips and never even touch most of them. Not this trip. I read two Jack Aubrey novels, a book lent to me by a friend from work, and am now about half way through BANNER OF SOULS, by Liz Williams.) I played Rollercoaster Tycoon once I found a chair by an outlet. I drank lots of Dr. Pepper.
About half an hour before we were supposed to board our flight, I went to the rest room. When I came back to the gate, the flight information was for Cleveland. It turns out they'd moved our gate to another terminal. I had quite a hike over long, marble corridors with no slidewalks to get there. We only loaded about fifteen minutes late. I actually had an aisle seat, but the guy in front of me moved his seat back so far it cut into my knees. He did move it up some when I asked him to, but the edge of the seat pocket dug into the part of my knee that doctors tap to test reflexes. I had to twist around a lot to find a non-painful position, which wasn't particularly easy and wasn't in the end non-painful, but it did involve me digging my knees into the back of the chair, so the guy eventually switched places with the guy in the window seat, who kept his chair fully upright.
We finally, finally landed, and just as I got up to the door, they made us stop unloading and wait until an Alaska Air flight finished boarding, since both planes were using the same gate. (San Jose doesn't have mechanical corridors that come out to planes. You still need to climb down the stairs and walk to the door.) I almost lost it. I pretty much remained civil. I did finally get off the plane and get a cab, and the cab driver tried to cheat me a couple of times by going the slow, expensive way, but I had no patience for that and set him straight. And then I was home.
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