tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Dec 16 12:26:29 1995

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Back from Boston

I too am back from Boston.  The trip out began badly, the plane leaving here two
hours later than it was supposed to.  But once I got there it was gratifying to 
see that Krankor had waited for me and we went off to an IHOP to talk about 
pancakes in Klingon (we settled on chabmey beQ) and other silly bits that 
invariably happen when it's late and we're hangin gout.

It was a great pleasure for me to meet Mark Mandel, to chat with him not only 
about Klingon but about fandom and linguistics and other topics that came up in 
conversation.  I envy him his position of getting to meet a number of KLI 
members as a result of this project.  Of course, I'm hoping to lure him down 
this way for qep'a' wejDIch, and then everyone will get a chance to see him.

It was also great to visit (though only briefly) with Bart Barker as well. Bart 
arrived in mid afternoon, driving in through the snow.  I had to leave while he 
was just starting on the encoding, in an effort to get back to my hotel and to 
catch my shuttle to the aiport.  

Now comes the real down side of the trip:

The snow apparently was heavier than the airport wanted to deal with, and they 
closed.  Mark and I made a valiant effort to get me back to the hotel in time 
for my shuttle, and while we succeeded (thanks again, Mark!) it was in vain.  
The flight was canceled, and the shuttle never did show up.  I had to check back
into the hotel and try to get out the next morning on an 8:30 am flight.

Unfortunately, the only shuttle available to get me to the airport was going to 
be coming by at 4:30 am!  Okay, no problem, go to bed, get *some* sleep, set the
alarm for around 3:30 - 4:00 and cope.

Somewhere in the middle of the night there must have been a power interuption, 
and my (or should I say the hotel's) alarm clock burped and reset.  I got up, 
did my morning routine, packed, and proceeded down to the loby to check out and 
await my shuttle.  After I checked out, I commented to the lobby staff that 
their clocks must be wrong, they read 1:00 am, not 4:00.  They gave me the look 
you normally reserve for the criminally insane and politely told me it WAS 1:00 
am.  Hu'tegh!  So, I check BACK into the hotel, go back to the room, and try and
get a couple more hours of sleep.

Back down in the lobby at the REAL hour of 4:00 I wait till 5:00 for the shuttle
to arrive.  Clear sailing (driving) to the airport and there are all the other 
displaced passengers from last night, equally eager to get the hell out of 
Boston.  I checked into my 8:30 flight, and managed also to get a stand-by 
posting on the 7:30 flight (the airline had canceled the 6:30).  I actually got 
on the 7:30 flight out, and was going to be back in time to give the Final Exam 
I was supposed to deliver at noon.  But, Philadephia was fogged in, and we never
left.  Finally, about 10:00 am they canceled the flight and we all got off the 
plane.

No problem, Ithought, I have a seat on the 8:30 flight, and maybe THAT one will 
go.  But, I was told it too had been canceled, indeed ALL flights to 
Philadelphia had been canceled.  So, okay, maybe I can rent a car.  I can't 
spend another day trapped in Boston!  Then I found out that while I could afford
a car rental, the drop-off fee for a one-way to Philadelphia was three times the
car rental!!!  Fortunately, I was able to beg my way onto a car with another 
displaced Philadelphian, and it looked like I was going to be driving back.

And then, my ride got told he had a seat on the 3:30 flight out, so he returned 
his car.  Now I was stuck again.  I called the airline, and said "hey, I want a 
seat on the 3:30 too" and was told there weren't any.  I was more than a little 
frustrated, by now, and the airline rep did some searching for me.  She told me,
that the 11:30 flight was boarding just that minute, and if I ran, right now, I 
could get one of the two remaining spaced, go, go, hurry, do it now!  So I ran. 
I got to the gate and there were no airline personnel about.  The flight wasn't 
boarding. And there was a line with more than 80 people standing in it, in 
addition to the folks who were already ticketed to be on the flight!

With a sigh I returned to ticketing area, where the lines were long enough to 
wrap back down the hall towards the next airline's area.  It would have taken 
over an hour to stand in line, so I didn't, and got someone to get me a 
supervisor.  When she came up I apologized for taking up her time, especially 
given the kind of day SHE must be having, and I explained my situation.  I had 
two questions for her, 1) were there any flights that were actually going to 
Philadelphia, and if so, 2) how was I supposed to get on one?  She went over to 
one of the desks, punched up some information, and it turned out that the 8:30 
flight (remember the 8:30 flight?) wasn't canceled after all, was boarding now, 
and that my seat was still good.  She called up to THAT gate, told them to keep 
my seat, and I rushed up there and actually got on the plane.  Half an hour 
later (about 12:30 pm now) we took off and I eventually got all the way home.

So, to recap, the Klingon aspects of the trip were fantastic.  I am very pleased
to have been able to join Mark and the others who have made the trek to Boston, 
and I appreciate the hardships others incurred getting there to participate and 
contribute to this project.  I'm reassured to see the efforts that Simon & 
Schuster are making in this project go beyond the minimum needed for a quick 
buck.  We can only hope that Liz Braswell and Keith Halper are involved in the 
next Klingon audio project from S&S.

But, the mechanics of getting to and from Boston itself, well, let's just say 
the weather conspired against me, and leave it at that.

Lawrence


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Dr Lawrence M Schoen, Director   :: The KLI is a nonprofit ::
:: The Klingon Language Institute   :: tax exempt corporation ::
:: POB 634, Flourtown, PA 19031 USA :: DaH HuchlIj'e' ghonob  ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::  [email protected]  ::  [email protected]  :::  215/836-4955  ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

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