Going through the archives of Unshelved, a webcomic I've enjoyed and supported, when I came across this sponsored book comic:
Does the plot not strike anyone else as extremely familiar?
Does the plot not strike anyone else as extremely familiar?
Light Travel // What Do People Wear in _____?
My travel-related posts will go there. Gape in horror at my travel obsession.
My travel-related posts will go there. Gape in horror at my travel obsession.
Probably ever since I injured my knee, I've been on the fence about rolling luggage.
Previously, I was hardcore "I didn't need wheels when I was in the Army, and I don't need them now!" Cue Tom Bihn and Red Oxx fixations.
However maybe it's a symptom of still not packing as light as I could be packing, but recently I've been mostly feeling, "Checking in my carry-on sized rolling luggage is good. Taxis are good." It could just be my bum knee talking, but honestly it's so much more convenient to have to deal with your luggage as little as possible, than to lug it around the entire airport (including restrooms and restaurants) and "have the freedom to" carry it all on your back/shoulder while you explore the city's public transit system/walking.
There are some caveats, though. At times you will need to travel via train or subway, and not all stations have elevators and/or escalators. But they will definitely have stairs. In these cases, it is much more of a breeze to go up and down the stairs with your luggage on your back vs. having to haul it by hand (or, if you don't care for your luggage much, to drag it step by step - I have seen this done!)
However, since those inconveniences are minor at worst, back to the benefits of wheeled luggage.
1. More security. Few non-rolling luggage configurations (backpacks, duffels) have true lockable zippers - the kind you can't manipulate to open even when locked! (See http://www.onebag.com/bags.html#bag-sec
2. Less grungy. When you hand in your luggage for safekeeping, for example when you have to check out early but have a late evening flight, you can rest assured that no matter how dingy the storage room, you won't have to press your body against the bag later.
3. Those who insist on helping you with your luggage will appreciate it. I felt bad when my mother's 60-year-old friend wouldn't take no for an answer and carried my non-rolling luggage for me from the station to their home. Wouldn't it have been much easier for all involved if he could have just rolled it instead?
...to be continued?
(Or, to wrap things up: Go go wheels!)
Previously, I was hardcore "I didn't need wheels when I was in the Army, and I don't need them now!" Cue Tom Bihn and Red Oxx fixations.
However maybe it's a symptom of still not packing as light as I could be packing, but recently I've been mostly feeling, "Checking in my carry-on sized rolling luggage is good. Taxis are good." It could just be my bum knee talking, but honestly it's so much more convenient to have to deal with your luggage as little as possible, than to lug it around the entire airport (including restrooms and restaurants) and "have the freedom to" carry it all on your back/shoulder while you explore the city's public transit system/walking.
There are some caveats, though. At times you will need to travel via train or subway, and not all stations have elevators and/or escalators. But they will definitely have stairs. In these cases, it is much more of a breeze to go up and down the stairs with your luggage on your back vs. having to haul it by hand (or, if you don't care for your luggage much, to drag it step by step - I have seen this done!)
However, since those inconveniences are minor at worst, back to the benefits of wheeled luggage.
1. More security. Few non-rolling luggage configurations (backpacks, duffels) have true lockable zippers - the kind you can't manipulate to open even when locked! (See http://www.onebag.com/bags.html#bag-sec
2. Less grungy. When you hand in your luggage for safekeeping, for example when you have to check out early but have a late evening flight, you can rest assured that no matter how dingy the storage room, you won't have to press your body against the bag later.
3. Those who insist on helping you with your luggage will appreciate it. I felt bad when my mother's 60-year-old friend wouldn't take no for an answer and carried my non-rolling luggage for me from the station to their home. Wouldn't it have been much easier for all involved if he could have just rolled it instead?
...to be continued?
(Or, to wrap things up: Go go wheels!)
A robot. A family.
The robot expresses his wish to fly.
The father is a pilot/flier.
He believes it's impossible for Robot to fly.
The father goes out and "flies" as his trade - outside of, while attached to the plane (a smaller, private plane - maybe a Cessna, etc).
He talks about how you don't learn it, you just have to do it and you'll know if you can do it.
There's a clang before the father goes out of the plane, and the sisters are a little distressed at how the rope seems to be unraveling itself, but the father assures them it's fine
He goes out and is doing fine, still having small talk with the girls
There's another clang, and again the rope looks like it's unravelling.
The girls are really worried, and call it to the father's attention
The father now really feels something is wrong, and powers his way back inside the plane with the help of the girls.
The plane is going to crash.
It crashes into a home.
They all survive the impact, but the younger girl makes a comment about the landing, and the three exchange glances and start to run
They get outside of the house and there's a cab pulling up, which the elder sister notices the people getting out are speaking Japanese
She tells them in Japanese, "Run, it's going to explode!"
They all take cover
Somehow the explosion doesn't hurt any of them
Later
The family gathers with the elderly family head - in a wheelchair, sick, but in high spirits
Someone takes the elder sister aside
There are vicious rumors flying around about the 'accident' - a magazine is threatening to "expose the truth"
That perhaps it wasn't an accident... That the younger sister or Robot had something to do with it
The elder sister approaches Robot, who is trying to plug florescent bulbs into the earth
"What are you doing, Robot?"
Robot says something which the elder sister interprets as Robot misunderstanding the relationship between the earth and humans (or something)
... I think at this point I got confused whether the younger sister was the Robot, but that's the crux of what I remember from the dream
The robot expresses his wish to fly.
The father is a pilot/flier.
He believes it's impossible for Robot to fly.
The father goes out and "flies" as his trade - outside of, while attached to the plane (a smaller, private plane - maybe a Cessna, etc).
He talks about how you don't learn it, you just have to do it and you'll know if you can do it.
There's a clang before the father goes out of the plane, and the sisters are a little distressed at how the rope seems to be unraveling itself, but the father assures them it's fine
He goes out and is doing fine, still having small talk with the girls
There's another clang, and again the rope looks like it's unravelling.
The girls are really worried, and call it to the father's attention
The father now really feels something is wrong, and powers his way back inside the plane with the help of the girls.
The plane is going to crash.
It crashes into a home.
They all survive the impact, but the younger girl makes a comment about the landing, and the three exchange glances and start to run
They get outside of the house and there's a cab pulling up, which the elder sister notices the people getting out are speaking Japanese
She tells them in Japanese, "Run, it's going to explode!"
They all take cover
Somehow the explosion doesn't hurt any of them
Later
The family gathers with the elderly family head - in a wheelchair, sick, but in high spirits
Someone takes the elder sister aside
There are vicious rumors flying around about the 'accident' - a magazine is threatening to "expose the truth"
That perhaps it wasn't an accident... That the younger sister or Robot had something to do with it
The elder sister approaches Robot, who is trying to plug florescent bulbs into the earth
"What are you doing, Robot?"
Robot says something which the elder sister interprets as Robot misunderstanding the relationship between the earth and humans (or something)
... I think at this point I got confused whether the younger sister was the Robot, but that's the crux of what I remember from the dream
The bad.
Technically, I should have had one day free for doing things like the San Diego Wild Animal Park, or Sea World, or even contemplating bussing/training it up to Los Angeles to surprise my grandma at her convalescent hospital.
However, the night before that was so stressful, it was all I could do to drag myself to the Seaport Village and walk around a bit.
To cut a long story short and at the same time gloss over incriminating details:
So that was Tuesday. Wednesday, the waiter at one of the Seaport Village restaurants called me "Sir," the Greenpeace people tried to appeal to me by talking about China, and one of the vendors asked me as I walked away, "You speak Japanese? Konnichiwa!" And then when I went to Ralph's to try to avoid the inevitable $30-$40 meals and expensive alcohol, the disapproving cashier asked me, "Are you really over 21?" AFTER she had already seen my ID.
Oh, and I'd forgotten to bring my jacket, so even the awesome San Diego weather wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been.
Maybe in that last case only, hell was my own forgetfulness.
Technically, I should have had one day free for doing things like the San Diego Wild Animal Park, or Sea World, or even contemplating bussing/training it up to Los Angeles to surprise my grandma at her convalescent hospital.
However, the night before that was so stressful, it was all I could do to drag myself to the Seaport Village and walk around a bit.
To cut a long story short and at the same time gloss over incriminating details:
- My seat partner was less than ideal
- I had to get work done on the flight
- My experience as a retail worker sure came in handy
- I think the people across the aisle from me felt sorry for me
- After I made it to the hotel, I had even more work to do before I could finally sleep
- It was past midnight when I finally ate room service dinner
So that was Tuesday. Wednesday, the waiter at one of the Seaport Village restaurants called me "Sir," the Greenpeace people tried to appeal to me by talking about China, and one of the vendors asked me as I walked away, "You speak Japanese? Konnichiwa!" And then when I went to Ralph's to try to avoid the inevitable $30-$40 meals and expensive alcohol, the disapproving cashier asked me, "Are you really over 21?" AFTER she had already seen my ID.
Oh, and I'd forgotten to bring my jacket, so even the awesome San Diego weather wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been.
Maybe in that last case only, hell was my own forgetfulness.
I'm 27, but sometimes I really forget myself.
I'll probably be always be an awkward kid and forget that:
Well, being suspected of having forged my ID to buy alcohol doesn't help. Thank you, lady at Ralph's in downtown San Diego.
I'll probably be always be an awkward kid and forget that:
- I've taught college students
- I've taught elementary school students
- I've trained employees
- I've trained soldiers
- I've led soldiers in war
Well, being suspected of having forged my ID to buy alcohol doesn't help. Thank you, lady at Ralph's in downtown San Diego.
In a modern environment, the arrival of an esteemed guest causes the inhabitants of an installation to paricipate in random mass mortal combat with each other using bladed implements.
Painfully funny: Run an 8.2 mile road race without training for it. In shoes that may be a half size too small.
Painfully funny follow-up: Peel water chestnuts using your fingernails. Don't stop when things get pushed under the nail and into the quick.
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
Participants: Myself, 
cirrushi, krazykased, Jenny of unknown LJ status
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Flickr.
cirrushi, krazykased, Jenny of unknown LJ statusDay One
- First stop, Krispy Kreme!
- Dropped off luggage at hotel.
- Sam Sato's!
- Sam Sato's turned out to be closed for the entire duration of trip, ate at Wei Wei BBQ & Noodle House instead.
- Visited the ʻĪao Valley, did official hike and unofficial hike.
- Kepaniwai Park Heritage Gardens, where we walked a secret path from Japan to China!
- Hotel much nicer than anticipated!
- Longhi's - pretty much all ordered pasta and other non-standard entree items - Good!
- Lahaina - very cool, many galleries, feel was similar to Monterey or maybe a hint of La Jolla
Day Two
- Broke fast at Tasty Crust! Yum yum!
- Stopped off at Island Kitchen/Chicken to pick up some lunch.
- The LONG road up Haleakalā.
- Messed up knee again, unbearable pain.
- Air so much clearer up high, everything in sharp relief. COLD! Beautiful.
- Could not check in on Gowalla due to spotty reception = sad.
- Wine tasting and tour at the Tedeschi Winery at Ulupalakua Ranch.
- Field trip lunch.
- Back to hotel for rest and swimming!
- Pizza Hut + Mike's Hard Lemonade + True Lies + Disney Channel = Fun times!
Day Three
- SLEEP
- Check out, leave luggage at hotel.
- Tried to keep it real at Denny's.
- Bought beach mats, BEACH!
- Oh shit it's 3:27pm and we just found out Tasaka Guri Guri Ice Cream closes at 4:00 - GO GO GO!
- Tasaka Guri Guri Ice Cream, 4:03pm: They've been closed the entire time, Jan 1-3.
- Kitchen Chips Scavenger Hunt.
- Picked up luggage from hotel, off to Koho Grill & Bar for dinner. Interesting Koho sauce.
- Everyone is closed because it is Sunday and Maui.
- Airport, airplane, leave Maui.
- Come back to Maui.
- Finally reach Oahu.
Flickr.
The dreams the past two nights have been unsettling, but this one just now has probably been the most unsettling of all.
Often, in dreams, one is able to have free will of some sort, to be able to do as one pleases. In the past, I've been able to rewind, etc.
This one had one moment that I can recall that was a bit fanciful, and involved me being able to do some supernatural things like fly through the air and ask trees to bend for me. But that was just that one very brief scene.
What happened after that ran like a horror movie.
I was seeing things for the most part through the eyes of a classmate. A real classmate from high school times that I won't name here.
We were in a school, but there was something unsettling about the school. Lots of unexplained things.
What I got from the dream was that this classmate had been unwittingly, and probably unwillingly, pulled into some sort of research of the evil and unnatural kind. I'm not talking stem-cell research or anything. I'm talking creatures from the underworld, unexplainable horrors type of research. The dream had her wandering the halls (because the route back to class from the bathroom unexplicably changed the past two times), and seeing all sorts of unsettling things. A dog-wolf creature in one dark doorless room that you could barely see, but knew without seeing that it was a terrible, terrible beast. The creature in the next room, you also couldn't see, but you knew that it also was horrible, this time for what had been done to it.
The main point was that the buildings there had the feeling of having been recently unearthed. As in, they had previously been buried in the ground. There was plastic covering all supposed entrances and exits to and from this area, but somehow without knowing it my classmate had found herself inside the area and had gotten out (the second time it was very clear, with the plastic and everything). She returned to the classroom shaken, but to find that she was being sent back home (another one or two classmates as well), under the pretense that she was very sick. My classmate was relieved, and happy to be going back home.
But somehow.
Somehow something happened, I guess. The man that was in charge of the school was heading to our classroom to visit... I suppose there was some sort of reason to this, such as we were getting close to figuring something out, but I can't remember it now.
Well, from a lower cupboard...
My classmate, partially naked, had been hiding there and wanted to come out to meet the man...
But for some reason, she told me to communicate for her to the class using a headphone/microphone set while she hid back in the cupboard.
The man had still not arrived.
She described the man as some sort of beast, and we could find an approximation of him in the Reading Rainbow, somewhere under "C"
I was not really sure what she was referring to, but the teacher seemed to have some sort of idea of at least the Reading Rainbow, and assigned the class to look for it... even sending a classmate out to get some sections or something that we didn't have in the classroom. (I'm not sure why we had Reading Rainbow in the classroom, I don't really know what it is, but I'm pretty sure at the age we were, we shouldn't have had it... grade-school stuff)
Anyhow, we're not able to find it, but somewhere during this, I am not getting replies from her when I ask her things in the mic, and I'm not hearing anything from the other side.
I open the cupboard, and it's her lifeless body...
I'm horrified, and scream "NO!" and her name and such... pretty much crying... (she was the best of us)
Then, from the next cupboard, the sound of someone trying to get out...
It's her body, without a head, and attached to this tray of stuff... there are little clamp-like things that can manipulate the stuff (I think it was nutrients or something) but she says (in her voice) that it's still kind of new and she needs my help to adjust the clamps around the nutrients... I do so, but
at this point my head is swimming at what must have happened
Also, headless classmate.
She explains that she's going too far into the research now, so she has to switch to this type of body...
And I'm thinking WTF weren't you going home, what research!?
And shortly after that, I woke up.
Often, in dreams, one is able to have free will of some sort, to be able to do as one pleases. In the past, I've been able to rewind, etc.
This one had one moment that I can recall that was a bit fanciful, and involved me being able to do some supernatural things like fly through the air and ask trees to bend for me. But that was just that one very brief scene.
What happened after that ran like a horror movie.
I was seeing things for the most part through the eyes of a classmate. A real classmate from high school times that I won't name here.
We were in a school, but there was something unsettling about the school. Lots of unexplained things.
What I got from the dream was that this classmate had been unwittingly, and probably unwillingly, pulled into some sort of research of the evil and unnatural kind. I'm not talking stem-cell research or anything. I'm talking creatures from the underworld, unexplainable horrors type of research. The dream had her wandering the halls (because the route back to class from the bathroom unexplicably changed the past two times), and seeing all sorts of unsettling things. A dog-wolf creature in one dark doorless room that you could barely see, but knew without seeing that it was a terrible, terrible beast. The creature in the next room, you also couldn't see, but you knew that it also was horrible, this time for what had been done to it.
The main point was that the buildings there had the feeling of having been recently unearthed. As in, they had previously been buried in the ground. There was plastic covering all supposed entrances and exits to and from this area, but somehow without knowing it my classmate had found herself inside the area and had gotten out (the second time it was very clear, with the plastic and everything). She returned to the classroom shaken, but to find that she was being sent back home (another one or two classmates as well), under the pretense that she was very sick. My classmate was relieved, and happy to be going back home.
But somehow.
Somehow something happened, I guess. The man that was in charge of the school was heading to our classroom to visit... I suppose there was some sort of reason to this, such as we were getting close to figuring something out, but I can't remember it now.
Well, from a lower cupboard...
My classmate, partially naked, had been hiding there and wanted to come out to meet the man...
But for some reason, she told me to communicate for her to the class using a headphone/microphone set while she hid back in the cupboard.
The man had still not arrived.
She described the man as some sort of beast, and we could find an approximation of him in the Reading Rainbow, somewhere under "C"
I was not really sure what she was referring to, but the teacher seemed to have some sort of idea of at least the Reading Rainbow, and assigned the class to look for it... even sending a classmate out to get some sections or something that we didn't have in the classroom. (I'm not sure why we had Reading Rainbow in the classroom, I don't really know what it is, but I'm pretty sure at the age we were, we shouldn't have had it... grade-school stuff)
Anyhow, we're not able to find it, but somewhere during this, I am not getting replies from her when I ask her things in the mic, and I'm not hearing anything from the other side.
I open the cupboard, and it's her lifeless body...
I'm horrified, and scream "NO!" and her name and such... pretty much crying... (she was the best of us)
Then, from the next cupboard, the sound of someone trying to get out...
It's her body, without a head, and attached to this tray of stuff... there are little clamp-like things that can manipulate the stuff (I think it was nutrients or something) but she says (in her voice) that it's still kind of new and she needs my help to adjust the clamps around the nutrients... I do so, but
at this point my head is swimming at what must have happened
Also, headless classmate.
She explains that she's going too far into the research now, so she has to switch to this type of body...
And I'm thinking WTF weren't you going home, what research!?
And shortly after that, I woke up.
