Category: Personal Stuff
My New Profile Picture
Now, normally a new profile picture wouldn’t be news but I’m actually pretty excited about this one because I had it professionally done. I had to get some serious photos done for other purposes so I decided while I was at a professional photography studio that I’d have a couple of fun pictures done. And this is the result:
There! I don’t ever recall having a flattering picture of myself. But now I have one that flatters me and strokes my ego. I’m very pleased with how it turned out and the books I used as props sum up my range of interests, from memoirs to science fiction to historical fiction.
Okay, that was my little vanity indulgence for the day. Normal, non-ego related posting will resume tomorrow.
Recovery Mode
I haven’t been posting all that regularly since returning from my New York trip in part because I’m still adjusting to my regular life. Going from a couple feet above sea level to my normal 2000-ish feet above sea level wasn’t even the most challenging part. No, it was the fact that instead of walking everywhere and taking the metro, now I have to drive everywhere again. You don’t realize just how much you do adjust to life in a different place in only a week but I am definitely having a harder time than I thought acclimating. It’s weird sleeping in my own bed and it’s even weirder using my own shower, which has pathetically low pressure compared to the lovely hotel shower.
So I’m still in recovery mode and I hope you guys will stick around until I’m back to my normal.
My New York Trip Day #9: The Journey Home
Since I counted the first day of my New York trip as the one where I left home, I think it’s only fair to count the day’s journey back home as well. It was certainly an interesting one.
My flight to Toronto was scheduled at 6:05am at La Guardia airport. First, the cab driver didn’t know what ‘WestJet’ was or which terminal the airline was out of so we spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for it because he wouldn’t accept that it wasn’t in Terminal B. (For the record, it’s located out of Terminal D because they’ve partnered with Delta.) Once there, I looked around and saw a lot of people sitting around with no WestJet employees in sight. Westjet’s service is generally seen as superior to Air Canada (who are comically terrible) but man, I really was not happy with the service. No employees were there so I went to the desk to check the little sign which said that employees are there from 3:00am until 12:00am or something. It was 3:00am by the time I got there because for international flights you have to check your baggage in 90 minutes ahead of time. Fast forward half an hour later and three employees finally show up, taking their sweet time getting organized, with absolutely no sense of urgency.
That pretty much sums up the rest of my experience at La Guardia airport.
After the late employees finally decided they would graciously allow us to check our baggage, I went to where everyone was supposed to go through security only to find out…security doesn’t ‘open’ until 4:30am! Isn’t that just great? At an international airport (an INTERNATIONAL airport), things are not done on a 24 hour schedule. La Guardia is officially worse than most gas stations and convenience stores, which are open 24/7 in most major cities. Of course the TSA was there at 4:00am but didn’t start with passengers until exactly 4:30am. Not a minute early because that would require ambition. They were the usual amount of rude and decided to pat down a woman whose clothes were so tight that she definitely wasn’t hiding anything they couldn’t detect on the full body scanner that everyone was forced to go through. It was very hard not to roll my eyes but I didn’t exactly want to get extra special attention from the creepy lady doing the pat downs so I resisted the urge.
Also, why does nothing open at La Guardia until 5:00am? This is an international airport, is it not? Even Edmonton International Airport, a relatively small airport, is much better at keeping at least some food kiosks open than La Guardia. In New York City. I just cannot comprehend why an airport this large is not open on a 24/7 schedule.
So once I finally, finally landed in Edmonton I was faced with the ridiculous parking fees (which were definitely higher than what was posted). When I finally got out I was faced with the four hour drive home, which was a cakewalk compared to dealing with the perpetually rude staff at both La Guardia and Pearson airports.
Needless to say, I am not impressed with WestJet. The sad thing is? Air Canada is worse. Canadians have pretty much no choice when they fly anywhere and the two main companies have a stranglehold on the market. I think it’s time for some more competition in the market. Or at least another airline that attempts to treat its paying customers like human beings.
My New York Trip Day #8: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver!
So on my last full day in New York I decided to see if I could get into a live taping of John Oliver’s show, Last Week Tonight. I mean, why not? I didn’t get tickets because they’re almost impossible to get even if you apply the second they open but I heard there was a standby line. So although they really don’t start putting people through security until 5:30 I showed up at 3:30 and chatted with people in the standby line until the awesome lady who manages tickets came out and took our names. Then, when the surprise monsoon started we all waited in Starbucks down the block until she texted us to come. So I got in and one of the ladies told us there was one seat left. Since the other people in line were couples who didn’t want to be separated I volunteered for it and she led me to the stage. And there I found out that it was a front row seat, not more than 15 feet away from the desk! It was amazing and John Oliver’s long form FIFA piece was a thing of beauty (even more so in person).
But other than that, on my last day I went to the Museum of Natural History and saw a few exhibits, most notably the dinosaur one above. I obviously didn’t get to see all of it because I was only there for a few hours and that place is massive, but a little taste of it was great. I walked to the museum through Central Park and saw Belvedere Castle and the obelisk that stands there so I counted it as a great day. Despite the absolute monsoon later on in the day, I barely got rained on and I think my last day was one of the best there.
Seeing John Oliver live was definitely one of the highlights of my trip, though. It was amazing!
My New York Trip Day #7: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Again)
Today I decided to go back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and see everything I didn’t see the first day that I still wanted to see. Which was mainly (of course) the Egyptian exhibit.
The Egyptian exhibit, for those of you that hven’t been there, is massive. It’s truly enormous and the thing is that there’s so much stuff packed into it. In the Roman and Greek exhibits at least most stuff is spread out but in the Egyptian one there’s stuff crammed into every single corner. There are study galleries everywhere and even the main exhibits have so many things in them. Everywhere you look, there are commemorative scarabs, beads, combs, cosmetic boxes and every sort of little trinket you could imagine. Continue reading