The Random Crap Thread 2: It Hits the Fan.
- Thread starter North_Ranger
- Start date
Come to Texas. We don't do sweet sauces.
My son just ate 4 slices of pizza then had a smoothie afterwards. WTF you're only 8 years old, not 18!!
It starts...
We had a huge layover in NYC when we went to Ireland--anything with smaller wait times had higher ticket prices. I called it the "inconvenience discount". hehI'm trying to plan out my vacation. We're flying out to DC (from Brussels), and probably flying back from NY (to Brussels). If I choose the dates and those destinations, the cheapest I've found with a decent airline is US Airways - €583 pp. However, the departing flight takes 17+hours. Looking closer, this is because of a seven hour lay-over in Philadelphia. Now, in 7 hours, I can practically bike from Philly to DC (not going to do that though).
So I figured I'd try to book BRU/PHI and NY/BRU. Oh, hey, the ticket suddenly costs €776. That's just ridiculous. Dammit.
GasBandit
Staff member
Hell, I had a 7 hour layover once in Houston to go visit the folks back in colorado. It made me question why I even bothered with the puddlejumper to get me to Houston in the first place (I know the answer though... it's so I could park HERE and not have to drive the 3 hours back home after flying back).
At least in NY there's stuff to do right next to the airport. (Well, more LaGuardia than JFK). Philly? Eh.
A couple years after I moved in, I got to watch the >1 acre wooded lot across the street (I lived in a 1000 sq. ft house on the corner of a "T" intersection, I mean the lot across the stem of the T from me, not across the crossbar) get cut down, plowed under, filled with a basement, built up to 2.5 floors high for a 3500 sq ft house which sold for > half a million dollars in 2003. The family that bought it were speculators, looking to divide the remainder of the lot and resell it to make back a big chunk of their down payment, but the city designated that other lot as "non-buildable," so this was blocked. Then we had the big blackout and their sump didn't work for a few days and our water table is really high, so the 1300sq ft finished basement flooded. Then they abandoned the house and it went into foreclosure since without selling off the lot they couldn't afford the payments. It sat vacant for about 4 years until someone bought it for about $200k. The current owner actually lives somewhere else and only comes to the house on weekends, when he brings his kids and his dog over to make noise and run over our lawn for 2 solid days (I get the feeling this is his "divorce time" with the kids).
I miss the trees. They were much better neighbors.
--Patrick
Well, if you've never been to Philly there are plenty of historical sites to see and museums. Like the Museum of Art which features some beautiful silver pieces made by my ancestors
GasBandit
Staff member
This is an eloquent expression of a sentiment I've often felt, reflecting on my college days living in a not-so-mobile mobile home way out in the woods. It's hard to beat the freedom one feels at the ability to wake up in the morning, walk out in your front yard naked and whiz on a tree.
Of course, I don't miss the bugs, finding wildlife in my actual toilet (usually frogs), and the dial-up internet.
What I really missed was the ability to walk across the street on fridge-cleaning day and dispose of pretty much anything without having to make my house smell funny.
--Patrick
No, no, I lived in Philly for a number of years. I speak from under-whelmed experience, and nothing being THAT close to the airport. You might be able to see one of those with a 7 hour layover, and only if you knew where you were going. I meant with LaGuardia you could easily walk to things to do or good restaurants.Well, if you've never been to Philly there are plenty of historical sites to see and museums. Like the Museum of Art which features some beautiful silver pieces made by my ancestors
Also, that is very cool that your family has silver at the Museum! I probably wandered past it a number of times. My family got off the Mayflower and holed up somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania for a good 200+ years.
I just figure if you know you're having a layover that long you might be able to plan something ahead of time so you aren't stuck looking at the "lovely scenery" from the airport windows for hours on end. Getting out of there to just walk around Independence Park for an hour or two is better than wandering the terminal for 6 hours until the plane starts boarding. I hate that airport. lol
My dad's family came from Paris, France by way of Haiti. They left the island during the slave uprising there and settled in Philadelphia in the early 1800's.
fade
Staff member
There was a Prairie Home Companion once where they called subdivision and street names "epitaphs". I thought that was sadly appropriate.
All the grass off one side of my deck is dead because of this.
These days we get 4G out here in the woods, though I've never found a frog in my toilet.
GasBandit
Staff member
I'll take a frog in the toilet any day over a snake in the stove... which also happened once.
I wish I had that wisdom 2 years ago. I had a 3 hour and then a 6 hour lay-over in Norita Airport and I've still never seen any part of Japan aside from those walls.
And I hate the PHI. Any time family wants me to drive them there, I pretend I died.
If that makes you a bad mom then I am the worst. My daughter fell about a year ago and tore her chin open on the sidewalk. It was pretty ugly, so I took her to the ER and they wanted to Dermabond it closed. Being just a 3 year old, they had to wrap her burrito-style in a sheet to keep her from thrashing her arms and legs while they worked on her. It looked so ridiculous that I kept laughing. Her screaming like a banshee didn't stop my giggles. The ER doctor must have thought I was losing it or a sadist.
Awww, c'mon! Everybody knows if you laugh there's a better chance they don't cry!
My cousins were doing this when they were 5 while I let it happen (I was babysitting).
Friend: "And you feel no need to stop this?"
Me: "They'll learn better that way."
Moments later--clunk, thump, two voices screaming in unison "MOOOOOMMMYYYYYY!"
Comedy gold.
Shaddap!
DAMMIT! Its Pi-day and I don't have pie. WHATS THE POINT IN ANYTHING?!
I have a pain in my face, like I got punched in the cheek, and I don't know why.
GasBandit
Staff member
Did somebody you know start carrying around a new TV remote for no obvious reason?