3.06.2009
kaboom!
yesterday was fun here! (when isn't it, actually?)
Nicole and i putzed around the house for a bit and then went to help Joe with traffic control on the reserve - he had found "unexploded ordinance" on the lava flow last week and the military was coming to blow it up. we were out with other rangers and some police helping to close off the road, telling people why they couldn't snorkel, etc. for a couple of hours and then....ka-boom! we were about a mile away, but it was friggin' loud. and very cool. Joe took some video footage from nearby and it was, well, a ginormous explosion!
Nic and i ran some errands after that, including stopping at the store to pick up ingredients for enchiladas. i made 'em last night and they turned out okay, i think, despite the fact that it's impossible to keep corn tortillas from cracking in this climate.
today has been mellow - Nicole and i were heading out to window shop but she got a call to help disentangle a whale. i couldn't tag along, so instead headed to browse some shops but mostly just headed east and hung out near a beach and read for a while. got back to the house and Joe was home! we went hunting for shells and checked out tidepools for a bit. now we are both back at the house and no end is in sight for Nic - poor things (her and the whale).
looks like it'll be a mellow night - maybe watch some Psych (i brought season 2) and Flight of the Conchords. woo!
Nicole and i putzed around the house for a bit and then went to help Joe with traffic control on the reserve - he had found "unexploded ordinance" on the lava flow last week and the military was coming to blow it up. we were out with other rangers and some police helping to close off the road, telling people why they couldn't snorkel, etc. for a couple of hours and then....ka-boom! we were about a mile away, but it was friggin' loud. and very cool. Joe took some video footage from nearby and it was, well, a ginormous explosion!
Nic and i ran some errands after that, including stopping at the store to pick up ingredients for enchiladas. i made 'em last night and they turned out okay, i think, despite the fact that it's impossible to keep corn tortillas from cracking in this climate.
today has been mellow - Nicole and i were heading out to window shop but she got a call to help disentangle a whale. i couldn't tag along, so instead headed to browse some shops but mostly just headed east and hung out near a beach and read for a while. got back to the house and Joe was home! we went hunting for shells and checked out tidepools for a bit. now we are both back at the house and no end is in sight for Nic - poor things (her and the whale).
looks like it'll be a mellow night - maybe watch some Psych (i brought season 2) and Flight of the Conchords. woo!
march 4, 2009 - getting to Hawaii
so i had this brilliant plan to get to Maui midday so that i'd not lose a whole day traveling. well, the best laid plans...
got to the Monterey airport in plenty of time for my flight before 8am only to have them tell me that there was a "water delay". i'm still not really sure what that means, but the plane that was my flight out was late getting in because of a "water delay" at SFO. by the time it landed, we got on board (including some poor woman on crutches), took off, and landed at SFO, i figured i still had enough time to make my connection. it was just after 9 and my Maui flight was scheduled to leave at 9:21. i was ready to head off the plane first but the flight crew decided to let the woman on crutches off first - that makes sense, and i have a tremendous amount of sympathy for people on crutches. the SFO crew was to bring a ramp up to the plane so crutch lady wouldn't have to try to make it down the stairs. took them 5 minutes to figure out the ramp wasn't working. 5 more minutes to bring her crutches, 5 more for her to get down the stairs and for me to get off the plane. by the time i made it to the gate for my connecting flight (there was much running), i was 3 minutes late. 3. mostly because my flight decided to leave how many minutes early? 3.
so instead of leaving at 9:21 (or 9:18) i was set to leave at 1:50. hooray for bringing the lappy, boo for $6 spent on 24-hour internet access, but hooray for internet. kept me sane during my wait.
ready to board the plane at around 1:15...then there's about a 20 minute delay because the copilot is late - his incoming flight has also been delayed. we finally board the plane, just have to wait for the copilot. oh, 30 minutes later, the captain tells us that the copilot's incoming plane has a problem with its landing gear, they have to do an emergency landing. fortunately that went fine but it caused about another 90 minutes worth of a delay. not sure what time we finally left but i had fun watching puddles dry on the runway.
made it to Maui at 7:30, a mere 7 hours later than was planned.
but i'm here, everyone is okay, and i'm not at work. :-)
got to the Monterey airport in plenty of time for my flight before 8am only to have them tell me that there was a "water delay". i'm still not really sure what that means, but the plane that was my flight out was late getting in because of a "water delay" at SFO. by the time it landed, we got on board (including some poor woman on crutches), took off, and landed at SFO, i figured i still had enough time to make my connection. it was just after 9 and my Maui flight was scheduled to leave at 9:21. i was ready to head off the plane first but the flight crew decided to let the woman on crutches off first - that makes sense, and i have a tremendous amount of sympathy for people on crutches. the SFO crew was to bring a ramp up to the plane so crutch lady wouldn't have to try to make it down the stairs. took them 5 minutes to figure out the ramp wasn't working. 5 more minutes to bring her crutches, 5 more for her to get down the stairs and for me to get off the plane. by the time i made it to the gate for my connecting flight (there was much running), i was 3 minutes late. 3. mostly because my flight decided to leave how many minutes early? 3.
so instead of leaving at 9:21 (or 9:18) i was set to leave at 1:50. hooray for bringing the lappy, boo for $6 spent on 24-hour internet access, but hooray for internet. kept me sane during my wait.
ready to board the plane at around 1:15...then there's about a 20 minute delay because the copilot is late - his incoming flight has also been delayed. we finally board the plane, just have to wait for the copilot. oh, 30 minutes later, the captain tells us that the copilot's incoming plane has a problem with its landing gear, they have to do an emergency landing. fortunately that went fine but it caused about another 90 minutes worth of a delay. not sure what time we finally left but i had fun watching puddles dry on the runway.
made it to Maui at 7:30, a mere 7 hours later than was planned.
but i'm here, everyone is okay, and i'm not at work. :-)
