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May 24, 2005
E3 - One Hellish Day of Travel
I decided to head to E3 for one day as our game was going to be showing on the floor and seeing how this will hopefully be my first project that I have worked on start to finish, I really wanted to see it on the floor. My itinerary was pretty straight forward leave OAK at 9:35 am, depart Bob Hope airport at 7:10 pm. The show was open from 8 am to 4 pm so it seemed like I was planning it just right.
The night before I got Sophie to bed on time (around 9 pm) and crawled in for an early night. Now, I don't know if she could sense that I was leaving or was just starting to get her cold but she was up every hour throughout the night. I finally just stayed up around 5 am and started getting ready. The morning was pretty uneventful, not too much traffic on the way to the airport; flight was on time, got to the convention center just fine (and without a map Mr. Ching!). So I first stepped into the convention center around 11:20 am. So far 4 hours of travel time clocked.
The EA booth was directly in front of the door at the south hall and I met up with Dan and Marc who were showing the game to various press, fans and buyers. Dan gave me the thumbs up on the report so far and we congratulated each other on the good show. I continued on my way, viewing various other fighting games and some Narnia stuff.
The whole of my day was broken into a couple parts. 1) Meet up with other folks from NSI and give them status on our latest milestone. 2) Meet up with other friends and congratulate them on their show. and 3) Hunt down swag with Joe for Owen and Laney. Once all that was done, I had a nice margarita with Joe and Matt and headed out to the airport.
I met my Super Shuttle outside of the convention center at 4:50 and we had one pick up before heading to the airport. I pulled out my book and started reading... for an hour. The guy got so lost that I finally asked if he needed help with the map. It seemed as though he was just turning down random streets and then turning around. I started getting car sick we were turning around so much. I started getting stressed that I wasn't going to make my flight. It was almost 6 and we still hadn't found the address of the second pick up. Thankfully, he did find it and we were only about 10 minutes from the airport.
I checked in, everything seemed fine, ran into some people I knew from the show, then there were fire trucks and a police car on the runway. Apparently there was an indicator out on the plane and we would be delayed. To be honest, I don't know why the fire men or police were there for a light but ignorance is bliss and if they want to tell me it was a light that didn't turn on, I'll buy it as long as it gets fixed and I get home to see my husband and baby. I had a drink with my friends whose flight was due to depart an hour and 20 minutes after mine. I ended up finishing that drink alone as their flight left on time, while my plane was still sitting on the runway.
We finally take off, and I get to OAK at about 10:20 pm. So far 9.5 hours of travel time for the day. But at least I have a private shuttle home, right? Well it seems that everyone's flights were delayed so my shuttle that would usually take just me straight north, had 4 other passengers all going to various Marin locations, Larkspur Landing (not bad, close to the highway), Fairfax (I like Fairfax, but not at 11:30 pm) and finally Western Novato. Western Novato was where I started to lose it. We drove so far out that I was certain we were going to hit Pt. Reyes Station. To top it off, on our way back, the driver turns south and gets on the freeway 2 exits south of where he could have.
I just started crying, silently in the back seat. Was it honestly too much to ask to get home on time, to see my baby in her crib? I thought about screaming at the driver, but decided that wasn't in my usual character. So I struck up a conversation with him. He turned out to be a very nice Lebanese man who gave some great marital advice and loved life. I was so happy to have talked with him that it made me forgive him for the 10 extra minutes we spent driving south just to head north again.
All in all it came out to 12 hours of travel time and 5 hours at the show. Definitely not worth the effort or loss of precious sleep. But it was still fun to see the game; I just think I'll stay overnight next time.
Posted by Brandie at May 24, 2005 9:34 PM
Comments
Brandie, great entry! I think you should do more blogging! Nice to see "the other half" contributing, and it adds more humanity to the site, because y'know, Jake never admits it when he cries :P
Posted by: Reed at May 24, 2005 11:21 PM
Ahhhh Brandie, I feel your pain. I had a similar situation (3 times in a row) back in January. I had to travel for 3-4 days each of the first 3 weeks of January and I knew this was going to be tough on the “mommy” in me!
My first trip was to Wisconsin – I dropped Hannah at the sitter in the morning and flew out of Binghamton to Milwaukee. I was supposed to be home Wednesday evening about 9:30 p.m. – Hannah would have just been going to sleep and I could have put her to bed . . . I was so excited to get home. Well, we were delayed in Milwaukee due to weather and the only flights we could find back East was to Syracuse. By the time we got into Syraucuse, it was 1:30 in the morning and there were no rental cars! We had to wait for a shuttle to bring us back to the Binghamton Airport and then drive home from there! Needless to say, I didn’t get home until about 3 in the morning.
The following week, I had to go to Atlanta for 3 days. Again, I left on Monday and was supposed to be home Wednesday evening. This time, everything was going fine and I fell asleep on the plane. After awhile, I hear the flight attendant saying we’ll be landing in few minutes in Syracuse . . . . I just assume she messed up, we were actually going to Binghamton! WRONG. During my snooze, the weather got so bad in Binhgamton, we couldn’t land, so they re-routed us in air to Syracuse! Again, by the time we landed, it was well after midnight and we had to rent a car and drive home in the worst snow and ice storm. It took over 2 1/2 hours traveling back roads because they closed the highway! Again, getting home at 3 in the morning!!!
Finally, the straw that broke me . . . . the next week, I was in Orlando for 4 days. I was supposed to get home at 3 in the afternoon on Thursday. When I got to the Orlando airport, there was a jam of people . . . . all flights were being delayed due to bad weather in Atlanta. Getting through security was a mess, but they guaranteed me I’d make my flight . . . . when I finally got to the gate, they were just closing the doors. I yelled to the attendants that I was coming, but they wouldn’t hold the door. When I got to the counter, the girl said, “Sorry, we’ll have to get you on a later flight” -- I just started crying! Bawling. Tears, hiccups, the whole nine yards!!!! I spent the next 6 hours in Orlando airport waiting for a flight . . . . then, again, got routed through Syracuse. This time, I was able to make it home at 2 a.m.!!!!!
It seems that no one can prepare us (the "new" mommies) with any words of wisdom or humor that will calm and soothe. I always swore that having a baby wasn't going to change me that much. I used to like getting delayed and re-routed . . . it was always an adventure!!! Now, it's an obstacle - an obstacle between me and my little baby!!!!! Next time . . . . I think I’ll take Hannah and a sitter with me!!!!
Posted by: Carol, Jeff and Hannah at May 27, 2005 6:43 AM
I think I would of grabbed the shuttle driver and forced him to take me to the closest cantina for four or five margaritas.. Of course I'm not great at that kind of advice. ha ha Mom
Posted by: Grammy at June 4, 2005 12:32 PM