home again, at least for a bit....

[lagilman]

Home: safe, sound, and sleepy. Amtrak is making serious hay off the current gas price woes, and doing it well -- the trip there and home was smooth, simple, and cost less than the gas it would have taken to drive. And I got work done. Wins all around!

A good convention all around, except for the drunken co-ed lacrosse players in the hallway last night/this morning. I had words with them at midnight when I went into my room, called down to the front desk at 2, and then again at 4am. When I checked out I had a few Words with the manager ("If that had been our group, you would have shut us down. I don't expect Marriott to privilege drunk college students over other paying customers. What's the deal?") The deal was they had no excuse and offered a make-good. I accepted without pushing it further only because the manager admitted bluntly that they screwed up -- and because I was busy cherishing the OMG HURT look on the faces of those players as they were being loaded into the bus at 7am this morning. They were drinking beer, and ended up hung like a hangman's rope. Me, I was drinking single malts, and got up to hit the gym and have a lovely breakfast, sans headache. Experience trumps arrogance!

And now I have to feed/console the felines, sort the mail, and start in on the proofs for THE NIGHT SERPENT that of course came while I was away...

Comments

[fiction-theory.livejournal.com]

Amtrak is making serious hay off the current gas price woes, and doing it well -- the trip there and home was smooth, simple, and cost less than the gas it would have taken to drive.

Amen! I love trains, and I wish more people would travel on them. I have to say, if given a choice between flying and a train, I'd still go for a train (even if it took longer), because train stations are infinitely less painful and annoying than airports.

Experience trumps arrogance!

Hahahaha. A round on the house for experience, then? ;)

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

If only they were faster in the States. The Downeaster from Boston to Portland is so slow that it is faster by car and not too much less expensive. It takes 3 or 4 times the time that I can make the same distance between Lille and Paris (250 km in 60 minutes).

[lagilman]

Actually, considering gas prices, it's not less expensive any more -- we're up to $4 a gallon and expect it to go higher. Meanwhile, Amtrak hasn't raised their fares, far as I've been able to determine. For a family of five it might not make financal sense. For a single person, it's a sigificant difference.

Also, comparing the system to Europe is a non-starter, since although the trains have been upgraded significantly in recent years, as have the tracks, the terrain and safety considerations slows the trains down from optimum speed. Going full-out through heavily-populated areas, especially where the tracks are shared by commuter trains, really isn't a viable option (I had this conversation with an MTA engineer a while back and asked).

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting explanation. But for me, trains have to be fast and inexpensive to justify the inconvenience of moving to someone else's schedule. I know that makes me sort of non-environmental, but that's my opinion. Also in my opinion, if Amtrak wants to get people on the train, they will need to upgrade their system. But what do I know? I haven't lived in the States since the 1980s.

[lagilman]

The system has been significantly upgraded since then, including the Acela high-speed trains. There is a limit to how much "upgrading" of the equipment they can do when the tracks run through pre-existing towns that object to high-speed trains roaring through, tho....

(and I can't say I blame the towns, either, much as I sigh over it)

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

When they put the TGV through from Paris to Lille, they laid new track and kept the old for the commuter rail.

[lagilman]

Um, maybe I wasn't clear enough on the point of my last comment -- to do that here they would have to, oh, at very least destroy much-needed parking for commuters, or possibly buy up and tear down housing or schools or businesses. The rails aren't run through nowhere -- often they go straight through the center of town (my own hometown for an example). Where they can, they are. Where they can't...they can't. You work with what you have, and suck up to the rest. Saying "this is how they do it somewhere else" only works if the conditions there match up.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

It is true that there was/is a lot more free space between Lille and Paris than between Boston and Portland. Point taken.

[mt-yvr.livejournal.com]

It's the OTHER version of "older and have more insurance". "Older and learned how to do what you THINK you're doing. Well."

:P

Yay!

[lagilman]

Hee. Yes.

(also, that hotel is amazingly dry. I was pre-warned and watered-up. Methinks the youngsters thought they were invulnerable)

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

The good thing about "The Labyrinth" is if you're not at the center of the disturbance, you know nothing about it until you read about it on LJ. Sorry the problem landed on your doorstep, though.
It was great seeing you, regardless. And for once, I think I can trump the single malt. I was drinking absinthe--complete with sugar cubes. A first for me. :D
Cheers and grins,
Jean Marie

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

absinthe? I thought that was outlawed?

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

It was, but most of the restrictions have been lifted. Seems they finally figured out most of the problems were caused by the alcohol content (around 170 proof), not the wormwood. Which doesn't mean American distillers can produce the traditional formula. They still can't add wormwood. However, it's perfectly legal to buy the real thing overseas and have it shipped to you. My hosts purchased theirs from a distiller in the Czech Republic via GreenFairy.org.
It was a fabulous sensory experience. Don't know that I'd have the nerve to drink it regularly, but I had to try it. :D
Cheers,
Jean Marie

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for answering. I didn't know any of that.

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

Neither did I until Sunday night. Happy to share. Cheers and smiles, Jean Marie

[lagilman]

I've had absinthe (here and in the UK) and not had my socks knocked off by the taste, but I know lots of folk who adore it....

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

I think it's like single malt or port--it's either to your taste or it isn't. It gave me the "drinking perfume" buzz I get from good port, drugging the nose as much as pleasing the palate. Scotch is much more challenging for me--the difference between smoke and heather, and sun-ripe fruit. I prefer Darjeeling to Lapsang Souchong (sp?) too. The Italian in my heritage trumps the Celt every single time. LOL Cheers and grins, Jean Marie *who's still soooo jealous of your new Precious*

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

loaded into the bus at 7am this morning..

in a perfect world, that bus has no bathroom on it, but if it does, it will be clogged within 15 miles of leaving, with a lack of proper ventilation.

Good for you to stand up to the hotel about their lack of attention to a valid guest complaint.

[elaine-brennan.livejournal.com]

Considering that at least one of the lacrosse players had no problem stripping down and using the courtyard as her own private bathroom area, I shudder to think what that bus could turn into!