sundries

[rm]

Beach. BEACH BEACH BEACH BEACH. Seriously, I love going away with Patty. We travel really well together, even though are travel styles can be pretty different.

S1 has sort of died for me. I keep trying S2 and hate all the options.

I really wish the super in our building would understand that some of us actually have jobs. He stops me this morning to tell me he has to have someone check our plumbing, as they are checking all the plumbing in the building (this is good because we have a water pressure issue with the cold water in the kitchen, and there's clearly still some leakage going on from the bathroom shower above us), but being all shocked that we need this to be scheduled and can't wait at home all day on random days when the plumber may or may not even show up (has happened before) because we have jobs, annoys the living fuck out of me. Luckily, the management company will call to schedule now. SO ANNOYING.

Hrrrrr. I'm taking two RT flights on Delta in the next month, one of which with Patty. I wonder if I should pick up a 30-day pass for the Delta Sky Miles club thingy or whatever. Could make the whole thing less miserable. Normally, I wouldn't spend the cash, but it would get a lot of use. Talk to me, people.

The decision on the stay in the Prop 8 case is coming down today. I will be surprised if it is not maintained, but we'll see.

Did you all catch Rachel Maddow last night? She is so, so effective on DADT. All the West Point graduates and what not make for very effective media of course. No one really gives a shit about the 19-year-old private getting screwed by this mess. But I lived a good chuck of my life in the very weird narrative shadow of West Point, and it just hits me, hard and strangely. That cadet. Wow.

Haven't read it yet, but AfterElton asks if slash has made the world better for gay men. Glad this discussion is happening somewhere other than the table of the frustrated at WriterCon (man, I never wrote up that slash panel that I felt was so problematic. I really should share that little handout with the world).

I haven't talked about the global economy in a while. Things are getting messy again. And then there's the wheat situation in Russia. If you only read the financial news sporadically, read it this week and next. And be thankful this is happening in August when the markets are kinda slow and the whole world isn't paying attention and having panic reactions. (On the other hand, it takes less to cause market gyrations in August, so that should also be a concern).

Amazon is doing an interesting thing which means hopefully soon I can tell you about an actually interesting thing. (I'm not a tease, I'm impatient).

copperbadge, please comment on the following horror immediately: Chicago-based meat cupcakes.

First woman in the New York Philharmonic's brass section.

Am I seriously going to have to create a quasi-functional Covert Affairs fandom all by my fucking self? Because while I'm fascinated from a fanthropology standpoint by the spate of "Annie dreams about her and Auggie's wedding" fics, I was never that person even when I was fourteen. Even my badfic was way more weird than that. So... yeah. Help?

Last night on Angel: "It's not always about holding hands." I love Wesley SO MUCH. Also, thank fuck, Connor is finally squicked by Cordy and everyone else seems to have figured out that she's evil (although that confrontation ended on a cliffie). Cordy's evil dress (maybe that's how they figured it out) is still stupid and I loved Wesley snarking about the last time Cordy was impregnated. Also, RTD, still a Wesley/Angel shipper -- and my god, the way they look at each other! I'm so bad. Also, all femmeslash should contain Fred. It's not that she's that hot, it's that she's hot in like EVERY pairing. Also, Gunn and chick who has never had sex because she's electric? cliche, cliche, cliche, but it was sort of ballsy that they actually went there. Also, that crack about a turgid supernatural soap opera? That was beautiful.

Comments

[ckd]

So, the DL Sky Club.

I've had Crown Room access in the past, though I don't at the moment. I made Platinum Medallion one year, which at the time included free CR membership; later, my then-spouse had a membership and would take me in when we travelled together. On the occasions when I spent miles for BusinessElite flights to Europe, that included lounge access for those flights as part of the deal.

The main thing for me was that it was a nice, (usually[1]) quiet place with comfortable chairs, places to plug in my laptop, and a clean bathroom. I don't drink so the free booze didn't matter to me (though water/soda never hurt) and there were usually some reasonable snack options (though I have no idea how they are for GF).

The 30-day pass becomes a much better deal when you're making connections through the hubs, since if you're there for 2 hours between flights you can get an hour and a half of lounge time.

My recommendation? Check the list of clubs to make sure most/all of the airports you're going from/to/through have 'em. Add up the number of hours you're likely to spend in lounges based on your travel plans. Decide if a nicer airport environment is worth $X/hr.

[1] Depends on location and hours. BOS was usually fairly quiet. ATL in the middle of a hub push? Not so much.

[ckd]

Oh, one other advantage I forgot to mention: travel disruptions.

This applies in two ways:
1. If your flight is delayed, you have a nicer place to wait.

2. If your flight is delayed/cancelled/etc, you have a separate and better desk you can go to to get rebooked. The line will be a lot shorter, and lounge staff agents tend to be a bit more experienced and may be able to do something for you that the gate agents can't or won't.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, part of this is the special, special hell that is ATL.

And the quiet is the big issue for me, as I get sensory overload with ease (which I c an usually manage, but the idea of doing Dragon*Con without Patty and then having to deal with that fucking airport is just super UGH).

[azn-jack-fiend.livejournal.com]

Ah... I remember one year I happened to go through Hartsfield on a very special summer weekend where three massive events hit us at the same time:

- Pride
- Megafest: huge evangelical conference run by T.D. Jakes, a superstar (and homophobic) preacher
- The Bush Surge: troop deployment from Fort Benning

The airport was packed from wall to wall, the A/C had run out and so giant fans were running everywhere. It was definitely hellish.

Under normal circumstances I like Hartsfield though. The planning and layout make sense to me. I always get lost in LAX, that's my least favorite airport.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I loathe LAX, mainly because they only food I can eat in the whole thing is See's Candy. Makes me nuts.

When ATL is quiet, I'm good (and it has been sometimes), but I've also had flight delays there and burst into tears randomly over troop deployments. But the worst for me is that whole MARTA thing that's like sports fans vs. nerds that seems to happen every damn DragonCon. I also think it was ATL where we got stuck in the middle of a very scary security drill involving running and shouting and exhortations to get down. Not a fan.

[ckd]

The good news is that there are multiple lounges at ATL (looks like 8, with two of them "open but under renovation") and some of them are larger than others. I don't remember which one it was that was smaller than the old BOS lounge used to be, but even that one was a lot quieter and less crowded than the gate areas nearby.

Sounds like the lounge may well be worth it to you.