Less Traveled Path

Not too long ago I flew to Seattle for a short 30 hour trip to visit the University of Washington campus. I noticed that the Seattle Airport (or SeaTac rather), actually had bathroom stalls in the baggage claim area in which the door opened outward (away from the toilet). Finally, someone had the common sense to think about how difficult it is to use a stall with luggage when the door opens inward into the stall.

But then I returned back to the airport and noticed that the stalls in a bathroom in the terminal have doors that open inward. Perhaps they were thinking that travelers would have fewer items to carry in the terminal vs. the baggage claim area.

But why not just make them all open outward?

My trip to Asia began on Thanksgiving night. Opting to grab dinner inside San Francisco International Airport, I was disappointed to discover that both the Firewood Grill and Firewood Cafe inside Terminal A were both closed. Why Firewood almost has a monopoly in the terminal is beyond me. Il Fornaio, the only other restaurant, was also closed. The remaining options included gift shop chocolates and various candies - the secret to a well-balanced meal! Also, it didn’t seem like a good customer service and business strategy to only serve beverages at restaurants that aren’t open all the time especially given the 3 oz. liquid container security restrictions; having mini-shops with refrigerated bottled sodas and water would have been preferable.

The Harbor Village counter outside security was predictably open, however, because it was a Chinese food establishment after all. In my high school days, when my friends and I were looking for things to do, we found that the few places that were open on Thanksgiving included movie theaters, bowling alleys, and Chinese restaurants. (I also discovered this year that AT&T had a few stores open to get an early start on Black Friday.)

Hope everyone got all that they wished for on Black Friday!

Have you ever had someone tell you that they know someone who looks just like you? And subsequently, you wanted to meet said person?

This past August, after attending mini-conference on Net Savviness in Boulder, Colorado, I decided to stay a little longer and explore the area. Many of my friends were busy so I went on the exploration by myself. I decided to take the Boulder to Denver Express Bus and from previous travel experiences, thought that it was a nice way to “take in” the area. Slight complication - it was pitch dark outside and I couldn’t see much outside the window on the bus; basically, I was a little too preoccupied with taking photos around the Boulder area that it wasn’t until around 11pm when I took the bus to Denver.

The bus was pretty empty except for about four other parties. I stuck in my white iPod earbuds when I went to sit down in the cushy seats (think charter bus and not yellow school bus) to listen to my soothing mix for the hour and a half ride to the train station in Denver. As I’m settling with my music, a guy walks up to me and gets my attention. I pull out my earbuds thinking it might be important. The guy then says to me, “I saw you there and I just had to come up and introduce myself.” Confused, but appreciating the friendliness, I say, “Hi.” He continues further and says, “I’ve think I’ve seen you around campus and in my class. I’m Mike.”

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