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On the way to Kalamazoo
Now that I don't have to worry about using up vacation days, I'm taking Amtrak to Kalamazoo for the medieval congress. This one time I sprang for a "roomette" (which is roughly equivalent in space and comfort to the best trans-oceanic business class seating). It would be a bit crowded if I were sharing it, since I didn't bother to check luggage, but if I were sharing it, I would have arranged my luggage so I could check my suitcase.
I enjoyed lunch (for those of us in the sleeper cars, all meals are included) with three other older single women ("single" as in traveling alone) and we had a great time sharing life stories as the train slowly climbed through the Sierras. The dinner scenery will be much more boring as we'll be in the middle of Nevada.
Either the train will be going very slowly overnight, or there's a planned lay-by, as we'll barely make it to the far side of Utah by morning. Tuesday will take us through Colorado (mountains involve rather slow travel) and then I get to sleep through Nebraska (yay) and arrive in Chicago a bit after lunchtime on Wednesday. A brief layover before catching the train to Kalamazoo.
US train travel would be a bit more viable if the trains were allowed to go faster. The winding, steep, mountain bits it makes sense to go relatively slow. But at the moment, crossing the ultra-flat, ultra-straight bits of Nevada I have no idea why we're creeping along around 30 mph.
The train does not have wifi (boo!) although the Amtrak commuter trains do. But despite the prediction by the train attendant that phone service would be spotty, I've mostly have sufficient signal to tether the laptop when I wanted to be connected.
I've pledged to enjoy the scenery as much as possible, but I've also finished the next podcast script. Also been on the SSA phone-hold three times before getting though to a human (well, ok, I got through the second time but then got cut off) and been told that the "escalate to a manager" thing I was told to do last time is a no-go but she sent an actual email to the person with my case (rather than just putting a comment in the file, as happened the last two times). The changing advice/information about next steps is frustrating, but I was calm and cheerful.
I've confirmed that my vacation pay-out is deposted in my account and was the correct amount (or at least in the ballpark of the expected amount -- I won't see the statement until it arrives by snail-mail). And the closing amount for my 401K was satisfyingly higher than the last time I checked. I've still taken a bit of a hit from the Trump economic chaos, but not as bad as it was looking in January.
I enjoyed lunch (for those of us in the sleeper cars, all meals are included) with three other older single women ("single" as in traveling alone) and we had a great time sharing life stories as the train slowly climbed through the Sierras. The dinner scenery will be much more boring as we'll be in the middle of Nevada.
Either the train will be going very slowly overnight, or there's a planned lay-by, as we'll barely make it to the far side of Utah by morning. Tuesday will take us through Colorado (mountains involve rather slow travel) and then I get to sleep through Nebraska (yay) and arrive in Chicago a bit after lunchtime on Wednesday. A brief layover before catching the train to Kalamazoo.
US train travel would be a bit more viable if the trains were allowed to go faster. The winding, steep, mountain bits it makes sense to go relatively slow. But at the moment, crossing the ultra-flat, ultra-straight bits of Nevada I have no idea why we're creeping along around 30 mph.
The train does not have wifi (boo!) although the Amtrak commuter trains do. But despite the prediction by the train attendant that phone service would be spotty, I've mostly have sufficient signal to tether the laptop when I wanted to be connected.
I've pledged to enjoy the scenery as much as possible, but I've also finished the next podcast script. Also been on the SSA phone-hold three times before getting though to a human (well, ok, I got through the second time but then got cut off) and been told that the "escalate to a manager" thing I was told to do last time is a no-go but she sent an actual email to the person with my case (rather than just putting a comment in the file, as happened the last two times). The changing advice/information about next steps is frustrating, but I was calm and cheerful.
I've confirmed that my vacation pay-out is deposted in my account and was the correct amount (or at least in the ballpark of the expected amount -- I won't see the statement until it arrives by snail-mail). And the closing amount for my 401K was satisfyingly higher than the last time I checked. I've still taken a bit of a hit from the Trump economic chaos, but not as bad as it was looking in January.
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