I won’t lie, it has been a rough start to my vacation. I am suffering from what is becoming an increasingly-common dermatological problem for me, one that I may have to have looked at when I return to the States.
This Is Not Your Father’s Cab Service
Around 2:15pm I hailed a Lyft to the airport. I fortunately didn’t have to wait long as there was a driver loitering in the East Atlanta area. My driver, Timothy, threw me for a loop when he declared that he’d only been driving since Monday when I went through my list of small talk questions I use with Lyft/Uber drivers.
Timothy was in the area because he lives in East Atlanta, and he had recently been laid off by Earthlink.
I should have remembered that Earthlink’s office is now in The Proscenium, which is where I currently work, but this trivia fact escaped me before I told him that I work for “XYZ Corp”.
The ride to the airport was fine, and 10% cheaper than it would have been otherwise thanks to a currently Lyft promotion. I was at the airport with plenty of time to spare especially since I am not TSA PreCheck which meant that I had exactly one person in front of me in the security line.
Greetings From Somewhere Over Western Europe
My Apple Watch reads “1:35” which means that it is 6:35 below.
This has been one of the most frustrating flights of my life. I paid for Delta’s “Comfort+”, plunking down and additional $99, for a few inches more of legroom and the ability to board earlier than I normally would. All was going okay until the woman ahead of me decided to recline her seat as far back as it would go, essentially robbing me of any of the extra space for which I had sprung. I’m not proud to say that I was like a bull in a China shop upon getting up to pee, bumping her seat multiple times in the process. Things got even worse when the guy in the seat next to me passed out later in the flight, and nearly had his head on my left shoulder a few times. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep which will make today “interesting”.
Huh, as I type we’ve just hit a nice patch of turbulent air. Discomforting…
Hitting The Rails
It is my goal to post this prior to getting on a train from Frankfurt to Düsseldorf. If I can find a WiFi hotspot I will accomplish this. If I cannot I can either use some of the precious “international data” I’ve purchase from AT&T. [update: I missed this goal, but there is free WiFi on the ICE train on which I sit currently. I am really tired due to my lack of sleep on the plane. This train ride is about ninety minutes long for me, which should put me in Düsseldorf around 12:30pm local time. I will treat myself to lunch and then see if I can check in early. I’ll fight the urge to take a nap and will opt for a shower instead.
Due to poor planning on my behalf I currently have a hotel reservation until Sunday even though I will remain in Düsseldorf until Monday morning; upon checking into my Düsseldorf hotel I am going to see if I can extend my reservation for one more night at the same rate. The Tour de France is starting in Düsseldorf with the Stage 1, a short prologue, taking place on Saturday and then the start of Stage 2 is in Düsseldorf on Sunday.
Cheers,
Paulie [frankfurt->düsseldorf/de]
I don’t think airplane seats should recline, period. Of course, I’m the person with good posture who always sits spine-straight anyway. I never ever recline my seat. Even my car seat has no inclination to it. But, honestly, where it comes to sharing space on public transportation like this, I wish they’d just fix the seats so they can’t at all.
Guten morgen, heir Neusslein. Wie getes ihnen den?
Like Stacy, I rarely recline my seat, but I haven’t flown INT in a long time. My normal procedure is to reset my body clock before leaving, so getting on the plane, I’m ready for a few good hours sleep. It has served me well.
Somehow, I completely forgot you and the TdF were going to be in Duesseldorf together. I don’t know who will be working it that I know- likely no one as Randy just got back from the Giro. Barb, is Kevin wrenching?
I actually rode that thing with wheels that has been collecting dust in the man cave. About 18 on the CX. I took a short (long) cut on some of the trails at Bear Creek. Had to cross a deep creek (on foot) and grabbed my bike at the stem. Managed to knock the computer off into the water!! Still working but not sure for how long. F.
Happy Friday (for me)!!
-FP
Kevin is in Mallorca on vacation with the family……… so I’m guessing not Tour for him
I would be okay with no reclining, because it’s not like it reclines enough to be useful for sleeping. I almost wish that I had those seat jammers that make it impossible for the person to recline.
I fell asleep on the train to Düsseldorf. Oops. However, I awoke with plenty of time to spare; I had also set an alarm on my watch juuuuuust in case.
I’ve seen some mention of the Tour already. 😉 The Tour has saved me 6 Euro already because the Düsseldorf Card for local transit was discounted by that much.
It has not rained here today, hoping that holds up for tonight. It’s 16:05 so I’m signing off for now as I plan my evening.
I hate recline on seats – it is so annoying.
a little nap probably helped actually.
We decided we’d go to spin class at the Y just off 75 at Moore’s Mill – its right before 75 N traffic gets bad for Allan, and I can go 75 S with barely any traffic. We’ve gone twice this week, hopefully next week will be at least 2 nights. Vanessa (HoPo) works out there too, ran into her on Monday. The one in East Cobb takes much longer to get to, even though it is closer for me.
Here’s a shocker – I am sitting in a bar drinking too many Alt Biers. More on this tomorrow…
I took another nap, that one may not have been advised but it wasn’t taken by choice, it just happened.
Tour teams are being announced at this moment in the old city (Altstadt), I am 1.2km. My plan is to walk there and drink more and eat some dinner before catching a local train and passing out in my hotel room tonight. Riding started Saturday, chance of rain currently at 90%.
Rain, bike racing and a huuge field of riders. What could possibly go wrong?
If I am sober when I get back to my room, highly unlikely, I will plan my attack for Saturday.
BTW -John & Kat Karnes are drinking their way around Munich…….. guess that isn’t like next door……… hahahaha
Not next door, but where I will wind up after Heidelberg and before Vienna.
Shoot… I should’ve handed off the last of my Euros to you! Just got back from France on Monday and had untold riches of about 10€ hanging around at the end of my journey. Hope you have a great time in Germany.