Last night I went to bed at 9:30, fell asleep pretty
quickly, but woke up at 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I finally gave up
and looked at my phone and read but never got back to sleep, finally getting up
with the alarm at 5am.
According to my Fitbit, I got in 3,624 steps yesterday and
last night I slept for 4 hours and 11 minutes for a sleep score of 58.
I dragged the first heavy bag (remember, no elevator) down
the steps and hoisted it into the trunk of our car. My back was starting to
bother me a little so I took an Advil and it kicked in immediately. I put the
remainder of the bags in the trunk.
We left the Airbnb on schedule at 5:30. The Google maps girl
did us wrong and gave me a crazy route to the airport. For the last turn into
the airport rental car return area I was in the right lane of 5 lanes and she
told me to turn left. I continued down that road about 5 minutes until I could
do a U-turn and head back north to Zemke Road. I returned the car without
incident, we took the train to terminal 1, got our boarding passes, checked our
bags (including the carry-on they suggested we check for free), went through
TSA and stopped at Tortas Frontera near our gate – B14. We shared a taco
with 2 cups of coffee and the tacos were difficult to eat and contained
jalapenos they didn’t mention on the menu.
Jacob and Annie James
This is what my fingers look like when the cold weather
hits:
I received a message from United our flight is delayed
because of storms between Houston and Chicago. The original departure was
scheduled for 10:40 and now it’s been changed to 12:52 and it also said we will
only have 8 minutes to get to our new gate, C2, for flight UA1675 departing at
4:25. ☹ We may be staying overnight
at a hotel in Houston. ☹
Our flight didn’t depart until 2pm and landed in Houston at
4:20 so by the time we taxied to our gate and exited the plane our connecting
flight to Medellin had already left.
Houston, we have a problem; Sorry, I’ve been dying to say
that.
They had a flight to Bogota but it was full. We quickly and easily reserved the
same flight to Medellin for tomorrow. Teresa was starving so we stopped at
Panda Express and shared orange chicken, black pepper angus, and fried rice for
$15.27. Downstairs we waited at Claim Check #1 but didn’t see our bags on the
side so we waited a while to see if they came down the conveyer belt.
I looked at the screen and it said:
Chicago – Arrived in Claims
Denver – Arriving in Claims
We waited at a desk for a while but no one showed up. I
found a claims guy and asked him about where our bags from Chicago were. He
pointed to the row of bags along the side we had already checked. I asked him
what “Arriving in Claim” means and he said they are coming down the chute now.
I questioned him about “arrived in claims”, being past tense doesn’t that mean
they should already be here? He agreed and pointed to the row of bags again. I
told him there not here so where else could they be? He pointed to a far away
room in a corner. I went there and after a short wait in line was told that
this room was only for local baggage. I asked where I would find “international
baggage” and she pointed to a girl nearby. I asked her and learned our bags are
kept in a secure area until our flight tomorrow when they will go on our plane.
We took their little train to the airport Marriott but were
told they are full for tonight but the lady gave me a sheet with a list of over
a dozen nearby hotels with their telephone numbers and addresses.
I called the Sheraton (3 miles away) and was told they have
rooms available and they would send over a shuttle to pick us up. I asked
ChatGPT how much the Sheraton would cost and was told in the neighborhood of
$148 including taxes and fees for a sample September 25-26 stay.
I waited about 10 minutes before going outside where I found
a small bus that took us 8 minutes away to the Sheraton. (Although later I
found everything is branded as Marriott Bonvoy; bait & switch?) I checked
us in and the lady quoted me $199 and asked me if I approved that. I told her I
was expecting something closer to $150; I asked her if they don’t have a senior
discount or one for gringos? She laughed, checked her computer and asked, “how
about $169”? I told her that was much better and put it on my charge card.
I asked the guy at the desk if they had any emergency
bathroom supplies and he gave me a comb, a deodorant, 2 toothbrushes and 2
tubes of Colgate toothpaste.
We went up to our room – at the end of a long hall naturally
and got settled. Turns out I have my bathroom kit in my backpack so we/I had a
brush, deodorant, and toothpaste.
I left at 7:15 and went down to the bar. They had 2 large
screen TVs with some college game, one screen with what looked like a soap
opera, and the Lions vs Bills game was on the main screen right in front of the
bar where all the seats were taken.
I took a seat outside and checked my phone and saw the Bills
were leading the Lions 14-7. A few minutes later I noticed they changed the TV
nearest to me back to the game so I took a seat inside. I left at halftime and
stopped at their gym where I did a few arm exercises with 5# and 10# dumbbells.
Back upstairs I read for a while until Teresa was ready to
go to bed at 9:30.
Each of our double beds had a duvet and a comforter in
addition to a sheet. Have I mentioned I don’t like duvets? Unless a room is
extraordinarily cold, I sleep with a top sheet. A duvet forces you to sleep
with 2 sheets and a blanket. Enough said.
RELEASE ALL THE
EPSTEIN FILES NOW!
FUNNY
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