San Mateo, CA – Dead Laptop & Sunny California (4/8)

So my laptop’s hard drive died at approximately 4am the morning of the 2nd of April and for that reason, on top of teaching this past weekend and exhausting myself the prior weekend at Boston Tea Party, I’ve not been capable of getting more Vagabond Cafe posts up.

So, I’ll attempt to start anew from here and then tackle the backlog.

I flew in to San Francisco yesterday from Cleveland, OH with a layover in Charlotte, NC. Now why exactly I flew south a few hundred miles to then cross the country I can’t explain but that’s the way airlines work.

The upside, Charlotte’s airport is now one of my favorites. The majority of the terminals are open and airy with moving walkways lined with plants and windows. The shops are unobtrusive, coffee readily available, and WiFi for free (a disappointment when you don’t have a working laptop).

Most of my flights these days have been a couple hours at most since I’ve basically hopped across the country but North Carolina to California is a coast-to-coast long haul. Five hours in air plus taxi time and I wanted to stretch out down the aisle after about an hour or two.

Another hour in and the parents of the two year old behind me were readily becoming my least favorite people. The child was fine. He was quiet, occasionally whacked the back of the seat but more often than not just had a little wander up or down the aisle. The parents… well I’ll say they were a bit more wearing.

Upside to my flight: extra seat to myself. Downside: only one meal on a five hour flight when I usually eat every two or three hours.

I touched down in San Francisco about twenty minutes late, snagged my suitcase (which is in dire need of replacing), and caught the Bart. As an annoyance to get to the Caltrain from SFO you need to go north on the Bart then back one stop on a different line to Milbrae. If you miss the Caltrain I hope you enjoy waiting.

Lucky for once, I managed to walk off the Bart an directly onto the Caltrain. I pulled out my phone to update my ride that I made the train and low-and-behold: battery dead. Last thing Rye knew, I was at Milbrae waiting for the train.

So while I traveled south on the train, Rye drove north to pick me up at Milbrae. Passing each other in the night, I disembarked at Redwood and not seeing his car walked to the dance venue – luggage in tow. It’s only about an eight minute walk, so I didn’t mind. Thankfully we got a hold of Rye before he camped out for me somewhere I wasn’t going to be. Problem? Not so much.

I hung out at the dance until it closed down then headed back to Carla & Rye’s to crash. I settled in on their incredibly comfy guest bed (memory foam is my friend) with David Sedaris’s memoir Naked and promptly passed out.