The site seems not to have caught fire while I was away, and we haven’t been kicked off the server. I’m so proud of you all.
But anyway, I made it back despite O’Hare International’s best efforts to destroy my soul. My future father-in-law says that O’Hare is the worst airport in the country, and I’m inclined to believe him — I was delayed on my layover in both directions, and Chicago wasn’t even suffering from inclement weather. I can only imagine what the place is like in the thick of a winter storm. The last time I flew through O’Hare was about two months after 9/11/01, so I figured the general crappiness was just a side-effect of the overall aviation freakout that was crippling the world at the time. I mean, even Japanese airports were horrible to be in at that point, and that’s saying something.
On the plus side, O’Hare does have delicious popcorn. Yup. Take the good, take the bad, etc. etc. facts of life.
The real plus side is that despite a weekend packed with irritating travel and mildly stressful family-to-be gatherings, I feel refreshed. My fiancée’s family is great; I’m smitten with her adorable, Servbot-like nephew and niece; and I’ve even divorced myself of thinking of the lunar new year as “Chinese new year.” (This is very important when you’re marrying into a Vietnamese family, it turns out.) I think most of all it was good for me to get away from work for a few days, not even checking email, because now there’s genuine distance between myself and the black events of January 6. This means I feel much more energized and compelled to write again, both for work and for fun — i.e., here. In other words, I’m back. Did you miss me?
No? Thankless creeps. Man, some people’s kids….
If anyone *did* say they missed you, I imagine you’d find it much creepier.
Avoid O’Hare like the plague. I’m delayed virtually every time I have to connect through that place. I know you usually fly on United out of San Fransisco so your options are limited, but try and go through Denver next time (or try a different airline that has a hub in a different city).
BTW – I received the book on Saturday and it is excellent. Can’t wait for Volume 2 for coverage of M-Z!
Most of the times I’ve been through O’Hare, it’s been awful. The last time I flew through, it was on a Boeing 777 from O’Hare to DFW, and it couldn’t have had more than 100 people on it.
Congratulations on the lunar new year thing. Happy Tẽt to the family!
I still like you! ;)
did you get your popcorn from Garrett Popcorn at the airport? i used to work in marketing for the company that makes their equipment!
You haven’t experienced O’Hare until you’ve slept on the terminal floor overnight.
djsyndrome’s got it. As bas your (typical) O’Hare experience was, they can be much, much worse.
I have yet to fly anywhere since I moved to Chi-town…y’all should give me some tips! please?
What’s the other Chicago airport? I think that’s the one we’re flying into and out of when we go to Illinois next month.
Midway. It’s smaller and out of the way, but also has a better reputation than O’Hare.
Bucky! Captain Bucky O’Hare!
@ Mister Raroo
If you’re on United or American then your connection is in O’Hare. If you’re on Southwest then your connection is in Midway.
You know, the WoW guild actually tossed around the idea of “Parish’s Kids” for our guild name for a while.
Wait, no… this post should have more MST3K references…
“You’re not my real father!”
I generally never fly anywhere but the last time I was in a Chicago airport (over ten years ago) the experience wasn’t too bad. So I might have been at Midway – I was flying to Wisconsin. I remember the airport had decent pizza and really tasty, fresh bagels.
@ Mr. Raroo – when/why are you going to Chicago? I’m headed there myself the first week of February…it’s going to be COLD.
@ Parish – it depends on where you want to go. Midway’s only a half hour or so train ride into the part of downtown I stayed at this summer, whereas O’Hare was closer to an hour ride. Also, yeah, it’s much better.
Of COURSE we missed you! How else am I to know what older game to play that will touch that warm fuzzy younger gamer nestled deep in my 31 year old’s soul?
And, as a Chicagoan, yeah – O’Hare is crap. If you ever have the option, try flying in/out of Midway. Smaller, sometimes near desolate, but much less frustrating.
@RIOT.exe: Two steps for Chicago air travel.
1) Drive to Milwaukee.
2) Fly out of General Mitchell Field.
I assume servbot-like children are cute and basically good, but easily turned to fiendish purposes. And I can see how that would go in the plus column.
Everyone has their O’Hare horror stories. My last horror story involved landing nearly a half hour early and having to spend most of that saved time parked because another plane was boarding (on time). Hmph.
I hadn’t heard about your engagement, congrats!
Most of my bad O’Hare stories involve not even *going* to O’Hare, because the whole airport closed for weather before we got there, and being re-routed through different airports in the middle of the night mostly. This has happened multiple times.
My own O’Hare horror story (O’Horror story?) took place close to Christmas. I was coming home from the middle of basic training (the Army sends all training soldiers home for two weeks for the holiday), and had a flight from O’Hare to Peoria which got canceled because of the snow. So, once I got my ticket issues straightened out and a new flight scheduled, I went to the USO, figuring that I’d hang out there and maybe sleep in one of the big, comfortable chairs until morning.
The USO at O’Hare closes at midnight. No other USO in any other airport I’ve been to closes at all. I had to spend six or seven hours wandering the airport like a bleary-eyed ghost in my Class A uniform until I found a bench I could rest on reasonably well. Not fun times.
As an Illinoisan of both Chicagoan and southern descent, I laud you for trekking through the dregs of Chicago. Tell me you didn’t have to visit the suburbs. Say it ain’t so, Jeremy! Say it ain’t so!
Nah, it was just a layover. It’s been…seven years, I think, since I’ve actually been TO Chicago.