sundries

[rm]

It's trying to decide if it's snowing or raining. I dropped Patty off in Zurich earlier so she could do more shopping, and I had to go back to work, so -- sadface -- but we'll be together again on Friday! She should be at the airport to get back to the UK now.

This visit was SO GOOD and SO NEEDED. Last night, I spent many, many hours booking our UK stuff. This is the plan, because you care:

- I arrive in Cardiff on Friday evening, and she'll pick me up at the station (oh, hey, does anyone know how much a cab is between LCY and Paddington?)

- On Sunday we check into the St. Davids and do absolutely nothing for 24 hours.

- On Monday we check out of the St. Davids and then take a train to Hereford and the bus from there to Hay-on-Wye where we spend the night at The Swan.

- Tuesday we come back to Cardiff.

- Thursday, I cook Thanksgiving dinner for whoever is around.

- Sunday, we go down to London and stay at a ridiculous hotel. We also go to our favorite restaurant in Brick Lane and wander around Camdem.

- Monday we do something until about 2 or 3 when we have to head to Paddington, where she catches a train back to Cardiff, and I catch a train to Heathrow for my 8pm flight.

Needless to say, I spent A LOT of money on rail tickets last night.

Anyone have any opinion on taxis from LCY to Paddington around 1pm on a Friday? Cost and time? My bags are really heavy and I don't really want to use the tube for the trip, but if it's going to be a total clusterfuck to be above ground, I will.

One of the 6 variables that needed to be resolved for me to visit Patty for a week in India when that trip happens got resolved yesterday. There are, however, 5 other variables that remain unanswered, so we just don't know anything yet. If not this time, some time, but the possibility feels particularly portentious now, if complicated.

Random crap I need to get done: the TEDWomen contest thing; my DragonCon 2011 app.

This may make me a bad person, but South Park is about eleventy billion times funnier in German. This is less true of Family Guy and The Simpsons.

Thank you so much for the D&J support yesterday. We still have a lot of work both as artists and fundraisers to do, but it helped us start breathing again!

The engagement of Prince William has been announced. When Prince Charles married Diana, I was eight, and my best friend Elyse got up super early so she could watch it all on TV. It was a very, very big deal. It seems strange that next year we'll be watching something of some sort like that again.

Internet rage over new TSA policies are absolutely, positively making the news.

Fred Goldhaber was once the only teacher at the Harvey Milk School. He passed away on Monday.

The age at which people generally come out has gone from 37 to 17 in just two generations. When I tell you the world was different when I was 17, even in NYC, I really, really mean it.

Comments

[rm.livejournal.com]

I land at 12. I figure by the time I get my luggage it will be 1. My train is at 3:45, so that's fine. Mostly it's a matter of how much money do I want to spend/how heavy to my bags feel.

[austengirl.livejournal.com]

City Airport was certainly efficient to fly out of, hopefully the reverse is true as well.

Annoying that there's not really a direct line from City to Paddington. From experience, Bank station is massive and connecting between different lines can take awhile. I think there's been ongoing engineering work/station improvements and it looks like some elevators or escalators might be out of service. The other possible connection point to the Circle line, Tower Gateway/Tower Hill, looks like it could also be a bit of a hike. I am not a fan of the underground when I have luggage.

[marymac.livejournal.com]

LCY DLR to the Jubilee line at Canning Street, to Bakerloo line at Baker Street gives you least changes and longest on one train (and the fastest line). DLR is fully accessible, Canning Street is mostly accessible, Baker Street isn't but also has escalators that work, so it comes down to how good you are at escalators with bags.

Keep off the Circle and District, they're working on that one and it's not circular at the minute. Awkward, that.

[rm.livejournal.com]

This is AMAZINGLY useful. Thank you.

[marymac.livejournal.com]

No problem. Long acquaintance with TFL's website and delayed flights comes in handy sometimes.