Quick Update
So the state of things since I left you a few days ago. I am out of my apartment. What I cared to store (including poor Miriam, though I may see about retrieving her once I settle in) is stored just down the street from where I used to live. Anything else I care about either came with me in one of four rather heavy bags or was shipped (most of Annie got shipped, though I kept her hard-drive with me -- the rest can be recovered with cash, but loss of data...). I don't feel really comfortable on any of these other computer, though Josh's is nice and may have convinced me to buy a new monitor for Annie. We'll see.
My trip was... Well, I got on the plane in Monterey at about 10:00. We had just enough time in the air to reach cruising altitude before beginning out descent into San Francisco. Got in there at about 11:00 or so, and was ready to get on my next flight at 1:30 when (at 1:20) they announced that there was a mechanical problem and the thing couldn't fly. Fast forward some six hours later and I've been through security 3 times, my bag's strap has busted, my bag has been completely unpacked and repacked twice (once by security, once be me to fix his repacking), and I've found that all of US Air's flights are overbooked and my only option is to take the very-delayed flight I had scheduled (which was leaving between 8 and 9), get into Philly at 4:30 am, and then wait for the 10:50 flight into DC.
The plus side is that after a few hours in San Fransisco, I found a group of people who had also been stranded by the same flights, and we sat and talked for the rest of the evening. The group included one brunette girl who had a certain air about her that I recognize, something... 'commanding,' but not in a domineering sort of way. As most of the rest of the group were guys not-obviously-fawning-over-her, she pretty much ran the conversation, and when she would hop up to get food or use the bathroom, things pretty much died to silence. It was amusing. Later, a rather pretty blond girl showed up, too; she wasn't exactly stranded, she just had a very long layover, but she was in the same group as the brunette girl and one of the other guys -- they were flying home from a trip to China. I rather liked her, and she had some amusing rhymes about not pointing and keeping one's elbows off the table.
And now I am home. And I have two weeks to find an apartment in Norfolk, buy a car, get insurance... Oh, and get this: still no Official Offer. Forms to fill out and phone calls to receive. I hate bureaucracy.
My trip was... Well, I got on the plane in Monterey at about 10:00. We had just enough time in the air to reach cruising altitude before beginning out descent into San Francisco. Got in there at about 11:00 or so, and was ready to get on my next flight at 1:30 when (at 1:20) they announced that there was a mechanical problem and the thing couldn't fly. Fast forward some six hours later and I've been through security 3 times, my bag's strap has busted, my bag has been completely unpacked and repacked twice (once by security, once be me to fix his repacking), and I've found that all of US Air's flights are overbooked and my only option is to take the very-delayed flight I had scheduled (which was leaving between 8 and 9), get into Philly at 4:30 am, and then wait for the 10:50 flight into DC.
The plus side is that after a few hours in San Fransisco, I found a group of people who had also been stranded by the same flights, and we sat and talked for the rest of the evening. The group included one brunette girl who had a certain air about her that I recognize, something... 'commanding,' but not in a domineering sort of way. As most of the rest of the group were guys not-obviously-fawning-over-her, she pretty much ran the conversation, and when she would hop up to get food or use the bathroom, things pretty much died to silence. It was amusing. Later, a rather pretty blond girl showed up, too; she wasn't exactly stranded, she just had a very long layover, but she was in the same group as the brunette girl and one of the other guys -- they were flying home from a trip to China. I rather liked her, and she had some amusing rhymes about not pointing and keeping one's elbows off the table.
And now I am home. And I have two weeks to find an apartment in Norfolk, buy a car, get insurance... Oh, and get this: still no Official Offer. Forms to fill out and phone calls to receive. I hate bureaucracy.