Whirlwind

I've made it to the AVS conference. There was one lady still lingering at the registration desk when I squeaked in at 5:05 who was able to find my materials and get me sorted for my class tomorrow. I'm excited for the class. I agitated for it quite a bit and it paid off. Now to find out if I can learn anything useful!

Not sure yet if I should take the light rail or a taxi to the airport tomorrow. Class ends at 5, my flight is at 7. It took 35 minutes to take the bus to the train to my stop. I don't know how horrid wednesday evening security is at SJC, but by the cattle corral it looked prepared to house a small town at any given time. After my wait at the courthouse clerks office yesterday, I'm none to keen to stand in another line like that. But hey. There's one flight leaving later if I need it, and I'm not sure how many people will be grabbing taxis, or if the taxis will move any faster in rush hour. Ok, now that that worry is vomited out to the world, I can stop it festering.

It was kind of funny. I stopped at the info desk at the airport to ask how long it would take a taxi to get me to the Convention Center (not the Civic Center! - apparently I stop paying attention after "C") and she saw my back pack and bright orange courier bag and maybe thought I was a budget traveler. So I spent $2 and 35 minutes to get here (and yay, they have free email stations!), had a lovely chat with a now-student-former-airman on the train, and I feel less trapped by circumstances because I know how the public transit works.

I have a weird relationship with public transit. I've used it all over Europe, but I don't usually like taking it by myself for routine trips. I resented every moment I spent commuting on the T, so I didn't spend many moments commuting on the T. If I ride with someone, its GREAT! If it gets me somewhere novel once or twice, I'm in! But if it takes 3X as long as an easier option? I'm out. But I did realize today that I do like *knowing* how the system works. Don't know if that's because I like systems or if that's because I like options, but either way, I feel somehow more lighthearted, less trapped, and less dependent having taken the light rail option. So whichever way I use to make my escape tomorrow, I'm glad I tried it.