I was only back in Vegas three days before I had to hop on a plane to the East Coast for the American Library Association Midwinter conference. This means that I was only at work for about three days in five weeks and that after putting 5,000 miles on my truck during the Holiday Road Trip I would also be earning some flight miles as well.
I arrived in Philly and took the advice of a co-worker (who is from the city) and hopped on the train. So easy. It is amazing: from the airport to the convention center I didn't even have to go outside! I did have to hit the street to go to my more frugal hotel, the Hampton Inn but the walk was only about 4 blocks. I soon met up with my former boss and conference roommate (who I totally love and miss and was so happy to see)!
The next day we went to the LITA preconference on User-Centered Design for Websites (Day One) and Usability (Day Two). It was an intensive two-day workshop and I think I managed to absorb a lot of information that will help out with my work on the library's web site and on the digital collections. The only problem was that my brain wasa basically full by the time the actual conference started. I attended my required meetings (ACRL Arts Section, Library Research Roundtable, LITA Digital Library Interest Group, and New Members Roundtable) as well as the CONTENTdm meetings for users of the software we build our digital collections with. But, that was the boring stuff. There was also a bit of fun.
In addition to being reunited with my old boss, I also saw all the UNLV people, a friend from library school who is the digital projects librarian at Drake University, and even met a few new friends and contacts along the way. There was a great party, put on by Thomson at the Philadelphia Art Museum (of Rocky fame) where we got to tour the galleries and eat free food- though not at the same time! There was the night we went to the Afghan restaurant, Kabul ,and the couple trips to Chinatown for cheap and delicious dinners.
One of the best things about the conference was that the convention center literally sat above the Reading Terminal Market with all varieties of tasty food vendors, produce stands, coffee and tea, gifts, and sweets. It rocked! I could eat there a month and not try everything. We had falafel, crepes, Italian hoagies, Indian food, pastries, coffee, and I even tried the Amish pickles. Yum. This place really made the conference.
I got the minimum of required sightseeing in: Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's grave site and the historic buildings in Old Town. I wish I would have had more time to explore, but this conference was rather busy and I just didn't get to do much beyond scratching the surface. In fact, I only had one Philly cheesesteak- a bad one- at the airport on the way home.
It is good to be home safe and sound, though I will miss my friends until the next conference or visit. I saw the ad above as I was running to the train to catch my flight. I thought it was pretty funny that even the Hard Rock was trying to wrangle a few of the 100,000 librarians in for a bite to eat. Though we all know its true...librarians do rock!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Too Many Hours in the Airport
It was rather weird being a tourist in my hometown and frankly, I got pretty annoyed with the rampant sports-fanatisicm! The Rockies, Broncos, and god only knows how many other local sports teams were playing this weekend and last night there were loud commotions all night long in celebration of the Rockies win. (Perhaps, I am just jealous because I was preparing for a presentation and not wasted beyond sense.)
I didn't get to the mountains, so this trip doesn't count as a real trip to Colorado. Nerdy librarians, fancy conference hotels, and a brain full of technology is definitely more work than play...but at least I got a decent breakfast burrito, which more than I can say for Vegas....
More about the techie stuff over at my digitization blog...
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Why I Will Be Boycotting Super Shuttle Forever
Okay, so I consider myself a somewhat intrepid traveler. I generally can handle the whole hostel scene, have been known to hitchhike here and there, and I stay cool under pressure even when I am out of my comfort zone. But this past week's experience totally takes the cake as far as terrifying travel experiences.
It all started in Washington, DC as I was trying to make my way home from the annual conference. I had confirmed my reservation with Super Shuttle and was at the assigned place (my hotel lobby) at the correct time (3:15 pm). When the driver showed up, I tried to give him my confirmation and he said, "yes, come with me, let's go!" I asked, "are you sure that I am the only one?" He rushed me into the van and grabbed my luggage. I sat down next to another librarian and promptly began a really nice conversation about digitization of rare books as we set off towards the airport. About 20 minutes into the drive, the woman mentioned something about her flight and the Baltimore airport...which, immediately concerned me...so I blurt out, "But this van is going to Dulles, right?"
The Super Shuttle driver gets a suprised look on his face shortly followed by a very angry look and begins a long process of trying to figure out how he picked up the wrong person. He then says something into his phone about dropping me at another hotel for another shuttle and veers through three lanes of expressway traffic to exit. The next thing I know he pulls over and tells me, "get out, get out another shuttle will be here in 5 minutes!" I am confused and feel pretty dumb, but I am thinking, "uh okay, well they are going to have to pick me up pretty fast if I am going to make my flight!" I tell the driver I want to get a cab instead and he insists that his dispatcher will call me in 5 minutes! I ponder, "is a shuttle coming or is the dispatcher calling, or are we just in an alternate reality where everything takes five minutes??"
Well, none of the above. The driver gives me my luggage and speeds off. Only then does it really sink in that the driver has abandoned me on the side of the road in front of a liquor store and some place called the President Inn. This place has bulletproof glass in the lobby, and I am fast realizing that I am seriously in a bad neighborhood. I proceed to call my husband and freak out, call Southwest Airlines and freak out, and then try to get information on a cab from the guy at the front desk while trying to contain my freaking out. During this trying moment, Super Shuttle calls to tell me there is no driver coming to get me and that they "apologize for any inconvenience".
I then attempt to call a cab company on my cell phone and I am told that the company does not go to that neighborhood. I go back to the desk and the front desk clerk tells me that he can "call this guy who owns a cab". When the guy shows up he isn't even driving a real cab and of course he wants $125 dollars to go to Dulles in rush hour traffic. I have $26 dollars on me. I panic and call my husband again to help me down from an even more intense stage 2 freakout. The suspicious driver assures me I could have been raped, robbed, killed and worse from what Super Shuttle has done, but that he will, "take care of me." I am not comforted. But, my options are not looking good and time is ticking away.
It was the stupidest thing I've done, and goes against any advice I would give others, but this is what I did: I got in the weirdo cab and he drove me to get cash out at an ATM in a scummy gas station where I was sure I would be attacked and/or that the cab driver would drive off with my suitcase. After getting my cash out and rushing back to the relative safety of my new friend the cab driver, he demands to see my money and checks that it is real. He then starts driving while giving me some story about how he has to drive me to a Greyhound station where he can transfer me to a cab that has air-conditioning...stage 3 freakout!!
I don't know if I am going to live through this, but I keep my phone on and I update my husband with my location in case he has to recover the body. We show up at the Greyhound station where he takes my money and counts it out and gives another guy my money and keys to a parked cab. This old geezer with no teeth (literally he could be a resident at the bus station, for all I know) tells me to hop in, but that he has a bad back, so can I get my suitcase? He also demands another $20 bucks before he'll put the cab in gear.
In my new cab (which actually resembles a taxi), we start driving through DC. I recognize North Capitol from previous visits and now I know what exact ghetto I am actually in. Somehow, amazingly, we make it through DC and onto the freeway where we seem to be driving in the general direction of Dulles. The guy is swerving a bit, but miraculously I actually make it to the airport. I had to bolt through the security checkpoint and run to my flight, oh and I had to do something about all that built up adreniline but I was in one piece.
Why Super Shuttle sucks so severely I am not certain. I heard that their regular drivers were on strike; but that still doesn't explain dumping me off in the middle of nowhere. They are claiming that they will reimburse me for the cab ride, but I don't think I can ever stomach a ride like that again. My word of advice: boycott Super Shuttle. Not everyone is going to be as lucky in finding the Hood Express to get them to the airport and my intuition says that I cashed in a good amount of karma to make it through this brush with fate.
