Escaping from California is much tougher than I expected. The fires near Los Angeles have created a smoke screen that has played havoc with flights out of LAX. I arrived here at 9:30 so that I would have plenty of time to get through security. I like to get to my gate early. Some people do this to see if they can get on an earlier flight. Not me — I like to sit comfortably, listen to my music, read or work on my computer. I missed my chance – the 1:00 flight left at 4. I could have been on it, but I did not realize what all of those people standing in line were doing until it was too late. I was to leave at 2:30. Now, I will leave at 10:30 (P.M) if I can get out at all. That puts me in Minneapolis sometime early tomorrow morning. No fear – that is almost the time the first flight leaves for Grand Forks. If everything goes well, I should make it home about 8. This is exciting — I don’t think I have stayed up all night since my college days (or the last time I had to finish a grant).<\/p>\n
Aside from my ability to stay awake, I am actually in pretty good shape. I have my fully charged iPod and PowerBook. According to the iPod, I have enough music to get through 1.4 days without repeats and two books (The Second Coming of Steve Jobs and Lies and the Lying Liers Who Tell Them). Unfortunately, I have about 10 hours of battery life. I am now through Steve Jobs (he is back at Apple) and about three hours into Al Franken. Steve Jobs is not a very nice person, but I still like the Mac. Al Franken is both funny and scary at the same time — read this one. <\/p>\n
This would be tolerable if LAX was wireless. I asked and it is not. Some people are very grumpy, almost irate, because their flights were cancelled. I am a litttle grumpy because I cannot connect to the net. I feel sorry for the gate agent who has to deal with these other people. Still, I did have to ask about wireless. I claimed that I can access wireless in Minneapolis. She said MSP is a big airport. I think GFK (Grand Forks) has wireless. Grand Forks is not a large airport. <\/p>\n
Must save energy – transfering power from laptop to iPod.<\/p>\n
When I left LA, temps were in the 90s. When I finally reached ND again (8:10 in the morning), it was 30 and snowing. They had to de-ice the plane before it could leave. There is something about walking off a plane and across the tarmack in a tee shirt and a snow storm that will wake you up. I teach until 1 and then get some sleep. Over 30 hours — not bad for an old guy.<\/p>\n