A myriad of crushing detail...

Why didn't I think of these minor, yet important things - e.g., printing out a copy of my CV - last night? Or, more accurately, why didn't I do anything about them last night? (I thought of them, all right... geez.)

It's 7:15 in the morning as I write this, and I have now to decide what can be done in the next, oh, 20 minutes or so.

Yikes!

Cheers...

In L.A.!

I spent the better part of 8 hours in the air and at airports today, and now am in my room at the Millennium Biltmore in downtown L.A., a scant $35 cab ride from the airport.

The trip this morning, from Pagosa to Farmington, was uneventful. We got a call on the road from Drew, to the effect that there was a "situation" developing at the post office. I called the store around 2:50 pm Mountain Time and was told that there was a hazmat team and some FBI types coming from Durango to visit the downtown post office. I can't imagine Pagosa Springs being a target of any kind of bioterrorism attack, though. We are so utterly... unimportant. On the other hand, I concurred with Drew's decision not to pick up the mail from the post office today, and to play it by ear tomorrow and subsequently.

For the second time in as many trips, I set off the metal detecting portal at the airport, and for the second time, I was treated to a very thorough wanding and pat-down. I really didn't mind this as much as being led away from my carry-on items. I can honestly say (and did, to the gate agent) that my carry-on was out of my possession and vision for about two minutes.

With everyone in the area being real busy wanding what seemed to be every third or fourth person, I wonder just how attentive the security folks were being to make sure that, primo, nobody was shoving undesirable items into carryon items belonging to strangers and, segundo, that nobody was simply taking such items and vamoosing back out into the "insecure" terminal.

Next time, I will take off my belt and shoes before passing through that portal.

Everyone was "ID mad" at the airports. You needed to have not only a ticket but a picture ID to enter the security area. You needed to show the ID again when you checked in, and again a third time when you actually boarded the plane. Considering I had to fly on three aircraft to get from home to L.A., I think I've shown my license to more people today than over the course of the past couple of months.

I laid over at the Salt Lake City airport for the first time today. I like it a lot more than the Albuquerque "sunport," which tries (and fails) to mimic some grand, majestic edifice with its muted tones and high ceilings. All Albuquerque was good for was the tables in the "food court," which allowed me to consume some ice cream and then rehearse my presentation in peace.

The SLC airport is very utilitarian, with low ceilings, well laid-out facilities, and a minimum of walking for the sake of walking. The L.A. airport reminds me of Bush Intercontinental in Houston, which is to say I found it to be a generic warren that discourages having your eyes stray from your path.

Anyway, I arrrived too late in the day to pick up my credentials (which should be a hint regarding travel to next year's conference in Atlanta). Worse, I missed the first-eve reception, arriving in time to see the last of the food and drink get hauled back into the depths of the kitchen.

On the way out of the reception hall, I ran into some cronies from the Slavic Division, so I joined them for a few minutes before retiring to my room.

At any rate, I have an early wake-up scheduled to allow me to get down to the conference area first thing tomorrow.

Cheers...