Siggraph 2006: Getting There

Getting to Siggraph was an absolute tatter. I don't like heights, so I don't fly (and, at 33, if I don't want to fly, then darn it, I'm not going to fly). I was more than willing to drive Giles, my darling MINI Cooper S, but work wasn't keen on expensing that much mileage. Plus, driving in Boston is a nightmare.

So I took Amtrak. Sort of. I knew the train out east tended to run behind, so I left a day earlier than normal, on Thursday July 27. I had a 9-hour layover in Chicago, and the city was 90 degrees with definitely the highest humidity I have experienced. In short, the city was one gigantic armpit. So I went to the well air-conditioned art museum and melded with the Magritte, Hopper, and Wood.

Back at the train station, I find out there are tornado WARNINGS for Cook County and other surrounding counties. Yaaah...I get to follow a tornado-producing storm front. (And that's basically what happened). The station was maybe theoretically air-conditioned, or maybe not even that. It was gross, dirty, and poorly laid out. And we were over an hour late boarding the train because um, they apparently forgot to actually bring the train to the platform. At least being late gave me the time to make a train-buddy; a cute little high school senior metrosexual. We totally enjoyed each others company the whole way.

Sleeping in coach is never great, and this crazy German lady made it worse. She was mid-60's and had no indoor voice whatsoever. At 4 in the morning, she decided to have a conversation with the people who just boarded in Toledo. At the top of her lungs. I shot her a look that made it clear I was seconds away from kicking her ass (and I was), and her response was "I guess we have to be quiet because people want to sleep." You think? It's 4 in the morning. I don't think she slept the whole trip because by 7am, she was bellowing into her cell phone. Had to have been a nuclear-powered phone, too, because she was on it for HOURS.

Due to tornados and flash flooding, the train was 6 hours late getting into Albany, NY. I planned to spend a night in Albany and catch the train to Boston the next day, figuring a good night sleep would do me well. Wrong. When I got to the hotel, I found out that corporate travel booked me for the wrong night! Fortunately, they still had a room available, and I do mean fortunately, because I promptly got motion-sick. I felt fine the whole time I was on the train, but once I got off, I couldn't stop feeling the train. So rather than soaking in the hot tub and catching up online, I laid on the bed clinging to the wastebasket and thanked God that at least I didn't have to get sick in one of the nasty-ass train bathrooms.

The cabbie who took me to the hotel recommended that I take the bus to Boston Saturday morning. Why take a 6 hour train trip that is 6 hours delayed when Greyhound leaves on time and only takes 3 hours? So Saturday morning I arrived at the Albany bus depot bright and early. Ugh. It was a dump, and I don't know how to expense report a breakfast of Twizzlers bought out of a vending machine, but hey, the bus got me to Boston by 1pm. Thank you, Greyhound!

Tag: Siggraph 2006