Well, if these photos scare you off from going to Jo’burg, then I don’t blame you.
July, 2007
29
Jul 07
The trouble with Heathrow
Kitty Ussher, MP, (awesome name for a MP, btw – cross between serious back bencher and Bond girl) dropped a dime on the conditions at London Heathrow airport in a FT article.
Basically the clusterfuck known as Heathrow is seeing the passenger volume drop faster than any other European hub. Well, for those of us who have set foot in it – there’s no real surprise. First, it’s an adventure. There’s a huge walk ahead of you, regardless if you arrive by Tube, HEX, car, tuktuk or sherpa. It’s a hike to get to your ticket counter, then it’s another hike to security, which may or may not be hours long. Then there’s more walking. Then to get to your gate it’s another hike. In between the hiking, you have to deal with generally unhelpful people who just don’t care (British Airways, I’m looking at you).
Now, transiting between terminals is a special sort of hell, especially if you have to go to/from Terminal 4. In between walking and multiple security checkpoints, you have to deal with the bus that schleps you in between terminals. It’s fun and special on so many levels.
My “record” for transfer times is 38 minutes from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 in March coming back from Lisbon, which involved using every shortcut and sprint that I knew. Having an elite frequent flier card helped me a bit but all the tricks still required a serious amount of time on my part to make sure I could actually haul ass to make my connecting flight without being a big, sweaty mess.
I honestly don’t know how much this will improve with Terminal 5 being built, and consolidating British Airways’ operation all under one roof.
And quite frankly, it’s more expensive to go to London or transfer through, simply because of additional taxes (that, and the pound/dollar exchange rate is awful). For example, if I were to purchase the cheapest round trip from Chicago to London on AA, I’m looking at approximately $166.30 (which includes the 20 quid “bump” that is relatively recent). And if you fly a premium cabin and you start/end in London, expect a larger levy. Cheapest business class ticket adds $248.50. And if you use miles to upgrade your transatlantic flight, expect an additional duty slapped on because they love to hit people up for 40 quid for flying up front. Taxes are awesome.
Good luck at figuring this mess out, Kitty. Travelers around the world will worship you if you do.
28
Jul 07
Another rant about Jay Mariotti
Hey look, Jay plagiarized a blogger. What a douchebag.
For those who don’t know who I’m talking about – Jay Mariotti is an alleged columnist who puts pop culture in sports columns making them “hip” and “edgy”, when in fact it’s awful. I think that everyone in Chicago sports has referred to him as “That sonofabitch.” Seriously.
And now, for The Hawkins 7: Things I hate about Jay Mariotti. (I had to keep the list manageable)
1) Jay’s use of pop culture in columns. Seriously, when I read a columnist, I want to read about players, facts, events and insight. I don’t want to read about Lindsay Lohan and how her situation – in his mind – is very similar to sports teams.
2) Visiting the clubhouse. It never happens. Apparently he’s too much of a cutting edge journalist to talk to the people he writes about, but instead, he’s too cowardly to confront the people he will trash.
3) Flippity flop. I’ve never seen someone in the span of a few columns who will rip on a team, join the bandwagon, leap off of the bandwagon, jump back on again, jump off and then say “I knew that they’d suck and let us down.”
4) “Fag-gate.” It’s been over a year, quit whining about how Ozzie Guillen said a bad word to describe you. Let it go. Although, it was the highpoint of hilarity when his dad wrote a letter to the editor supporting him after this hit the news. It made me giggle.
5) Innuendo in columns. Seriously, there have been comparisons that makes me wonder if he’s lusting after people he writes about. It’s creepy in the same way every family has that creepy uncle you don’t let around the kids sort of creepy. Like talking about Tiger Woods and his “killer abs”, “biceps tearing out of a skin-tight, short-sleeve muscle shirt” and calling him “Adonis Woods.” Seriously, this creeped me out.
6) Really bad puns. Wow, you turn Rex Grossman into Gross, Man. Wow. Fucking brilliant. Ozzie Guillen is the “Blizzard of Oz.” I’m really surprised that he hasn’t called Jon Garland “Judy” after his favorite actress.
7) “Speaking for fans.” For a columnist who claims to have a pulse on the city and how we feel about our teams, he’s so wrong and it’s not even funny. Like fans of the Bulls. After the second round playoff exit, he wanted to seize on the imaginary hatred towards John Paxson and write about how he’s awful and we needed to get Kobe Bryant and that’s the only way the Bulls can redeem themselves. Not all of us hate Chicago teams, you jackass.
If you want in on the fun, go to Jay The Joke. Or, if you want to see him shipped off to Boise, Idaho, visit his fan site.
Fire this suckass writer.
27
Jul 07
Another trip to the dentist
Man, my week keeps getting better and better. I had to have a root canal today to replace the one that my whoremongering dentist did almost 2 years ago because there was an infection. Awesome. I do like dentists who liberally use pain killers. Seriously, despite the fact that half my jaw is numb and I sound like Billy Bob Thornton from Sling Blade, but things are ok. Except for the drooling.
In fact, I did get a few minute nap in the chair, and was doing better after the week’s events. Things are better in the stuff I can’t talk about on the blog. Different, but better. Basically I have someone back in my life that I’ve missed as my friend. When you have that, then you have everything.
I’m still cold and still requiring a jacket when people are wearing shorts and tshirts. I don’t know what’s up with that…
25
Jul 07
On Turning 30
So I’ve got less than 50 days before I turn 30, and I’ve decided that I’m going to turn the month of September into the “30 days of turning 30″ celebration. Since my birthday is sort of anticlimactic, the entire month will be my birthday. But I’m leaning towards going to the Chicago Fire game on the 15th (with Hot Doug’s for lunch), because I can’t think of any better way to spend it.
Unfortunately, American Airlines or Starwood won’t hook a brother up. :(
I’m temporarily without passport until mine comes back from having more pages added, so I feel trapped for the time being. Sure, I can go to the UK or Canada without a passport, but still… Being without a passport is unnerving.
The bottom line is I don’t know what to do, and most of my friends are out of pocket for that weekend. :(
24
Jul 07
The Hawkins 7: Random topics
1) So I don’t have anything wrong with me that blood tests confirmed, whether it’s humorous or not. But I still have to go back in a month. Yay for me.
2) The academic boycott of Israel by UK universities is the stupidest thing I’ve heard of in quite some time. Out of all the bad things in the world (*cough* Darfur *cough*) and bad human rights issues, Israel is the one to blame.
3) On a leisurely 22 mile ride today, I did continue my streak of nearly taking out a kid. Note to parents walking on the lakefront path: I’m sure you’re proud of little Billy walking by himself, but seriously – when bikes are coming past you at 20 mph from either direction, this isn’t a time to leave your kid unattended.
4) I might get to have unexpected dental surgery on Friday. Huzzah!
5) I stopped by the Redhead Piano Bar down the street from me for a quick drink tonight. I haven’t been there in years, and I forgot the reason why I haven’t gone is because it sucks. Seriously. It’s a crap bar with clientele generally consisting of cougars, douchebags from out of town living it up on their company’s expense account, and loud couples in their 50s from the suburbs.
6) The “Tour de Perimeter” is this weekend – 106 mile touring ride around the Chicago city limits, as part of a joint effort with the Chicago Cycling Club and the Evanston Bike Club. I feel somewhat confident that the distance is doable, but the constant pace at 17-20mph may or may not be. I’m signed up, but nervous that my body will quit somewhere around the 60 mile mark. Game time decision, as it were. But if I’m being worked on Friday afternoon by the ol’ endodontist, then there’s no way I’m going to be up at 7am riding. I might just have to settle for a 70 mile solo ride at some point.
7) Speaking of cycling, it’s always reassuring to see that the Tour de France has their annual “let’s find out that some of our riders are drugged up” only to find that some are. I can’t think of a single sport nowadays that doesn’t have some degree of being drugged.
23
Jul 07
The blahs
I’m still cold, lethargic and feeling the blahs. I did go see my internist today and he said that my weight loss was “very concerning.” I did get bored, and put WebMD’s symptom finder to work, which is pretty entertaining (if not pretty poor). The odds-on favorite is something with my thyroid.
Anything more serious mandates throwing a party.
20
Jul 07
So Uncool
Not much is going on in the life of Nick. Braces tightened on Wednesday, which is always a joy of my month. Also there’s some more craziness going on with my mouth and my health, so there’s always drama to be had.
The last 2 months or so I’ve been cold. Literally, freezing cold, pretty much every moment of the day. At work, at home…. just cold. It’s July and I shouldn’t have to wear a jacket while out and about when it’s 80 outside. It’s different.
In the past I’ve used this blog for all sorts of things: chatting about travel, photography, my thoughts and feelings… and yet I can’t do it lately. This last week has thrown my life into upheaval, and it’s not an entirely bad thing. It’s just that I’ve worked pretty hard to have this cozy, semi-safe life and that’s in disarray. It’s like I’ve been given a second chance at something I can’t describe and despite the advice, I have to see it through. I’m rarely at a loss for words, as my friends will tell you. And this leaves me completely speechless.
15
Jul 07
Hey look another blog post about cycling
I continued my habit of nearly running over kids and falling today. Today’s ride featured two near crashes on the overcrowded lakefront bike path and I did take a fall. I did a good job of unclipping in time and fell right as always and landed hard and hyperextended my right knee. Huzzah. It doesn’t feel good right now.
205 miles this month. I don’t know if I can do the Tour de Perimeter (the 106 mile circle tour of Chicago) I was thinking of doing. At the 50 mile mark I start to just get stupid. :( I don’t know if it’s the fact that I really don’t take regimented breaks to keep it up or nutrition or what. I might just have to take a pass and try to slowly extend distances. I felt ok after the last metric century I did. I did get bored though on the way back and could have used someone to keep me company and throw in distractions like “Hey, let’s stop for ice cream.”
Oh, and I’m going to pick boring topics to talk about for the next while because there’s a lot of stuff going on in the life of Nick that’s not meant for blog consumption. Sorry.