I'm in Prague! It's great! I went to a castle that my countrymen pillaged 400 years ago and a bridge they failed to cross.
Also everything is cheap as shit for being a super cool historical European city. Even the tourist traps are cheap in real cost (as a Swede at least).
Everyone should go to Prague.
Actually scratch that, everyone but valley girls who during a tour like totally have to tell their friend about how like totally congested they are and how like totally they're addicted to NyQuil can stay home.
That seems...like you are there way early? I say this as a person who simultaneously hates airports and has anxiety over missing flights and so ends up waiting there 2hrs+ "just in case"
0
Options
Lost Salientblink twiceif you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered Userregular
edited July 2017
The only time I almost missed check-in* was going to Australia because the visa processing computers weren't transmitting their data properly so NO ONE in line was registering as having paid for their visa
And after I accepted taking a later flight they gave me free Qantas lounge access
Could be worse.
*this is not counting the time I uberfailed and missed my flight entirely, which was a whole other entirely-my-fault situation
Lost Salient on
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
+1
Options
JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
edited July 2017
I missed a flight once, due to the highway I was on being completely shut down for two hours due to a semi wreck. It's one of the most gut-wrenching feelings in the world. "Hey, you know that ticket I bought for a hundred and fifty bucks? I know that your computer is telling you that the next flight out costs two thousand dollars, and I'm entirely at your mercy and I hope I don't remind you of anyone who has wronged you in the past."
That seems...like you are there way early? I say this as a person who simultaneously hates airports and has anxiety over missing flights and so ends up waiting there 2hrs+ "just in case"
My mother insists that if you are not shooting to arrive at the airport 3 hours before an international flight, you are a ne'er-do-well with a devil-may-care attitude and are in want of a tweaked nose.
Edit: Only time I ever missed a flight was the time I left my passport on the copy machine at school and didn't realize it until 6 months later the day of my flight.
That was an unhappy Thanksgiving, although it did begin the tradition of me coming home for Christmas.
As long as the airport has wi-fi and a place to plug my internet-browsing device in so it doesn't run low, I don't mind getting there safely early. Besides, they still got plenty of shops past security to browse around in and places to get food while you wait.
I was leaving for a business trip earlier this year and figured "No need to expense a taxi ride, public transit is perfectly fine and will get me there well in advance of the flight."
Luckily there was a lot of time between the initial flight out and the actual work part so I was able to just try again the next day with a taxi ride.
As long as the airport has wi-fi and a place to plug my internet-browsing device in so it doesn't run low, I don't mind getting there safely early. Besides, they still got plenty of shops past security to browse around in and places to get food while you wait.
These are all the words of a reasonable person. I just hate the uncomfortable chairs, all the noise/people milling around and the waiting. I just don't travel well, though I love going places I hate the getting there. Also most of my airport time is Atlanta or O'Hare, and aside from the Frontera, fuck O'Hare sideways, I hate their layout so much. My general strategy now is to find any airport bar that does "cheap" add on shots with a beer, a fine thing I discovered when a flight out of Orlando kept getting delayed. But there I also had incoming and outgoing Disney families to compare. (That was such a dumb route, Atlanta to Orlando to Rhode island)
0
Options
JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
You ever slept in an airport? Most of my flights home go through DFW, whose slogan is pretty much "Probably a thunderstorm won't shut down the whole airport, sometimes it's a blizzard." You'd be surprised how few places there are to sleep! Like, all the chairs have arms between them, there's no benches, the floor is just a sixteenth of an inch of carpet on top of concrete. Are they really that afraid that homeless people are going to make it all the way to the airport and just camp out if they make it too comfortable?
You ever slept in an airport? Most of my flights home go through DFW, whose slogan is pretty much "Probably a thunderstorm won't shut down the whole airport, sometimes it's a blizzard." You'd be surprised how few places there are to sleep! Like, all the chairs have arms between them, there's no benches, the floor is just a sixteenth of an inch of carpet on top of concrete. Are they really that afraid that homeless people are going to make it all the way to the airport and just camp out if they make it too comfortable?
When we had an overnight stopover in Frankfurt one of the people in the airport actually told us which bit of the terminal was the best one for sleeping in, which was off in an out-of-the-way area and had vaguely sleepable rows of seats. Kuala Lumpur, though, there were just the benches in front of the checkin desks, which was a bit more conspicuous feeling.
If I added up the amount of my life I'd spent in airports I'd probably cry.
Sometimes I get work done, though.
Be thankful you don't play video games and have numbers like this staring in your face every day
Although I often just leave this one running in the background so I can interact with it once in a while, so that number's maybe not as bad as it might seem
So it's decided: I'll be doing amsterdam, paris, cologne, then back to amsterdam. Hot tips appreciated. I love food and drink and weird things. Live music would be great too. I'll be solo in cologne, if that matters.
Will I be endearing with my near total lack of German (I can do a little spanish, and a little hindi, and I mix them up making them mostly useless) and my southern usa accent?
Oh, also hostel tips for cologne amsterdam, cause since i'll be solo I dont give a fuck where I stay so long as my bags are there by the end.
people will mostly speak English in cologne, at least at tourist level. They have enough tourists that they probably won't find it charming, but they also won't care or get on your case. Attempting some german will win you kudos.
edit: actually if you have a real southern drawl, that might be something of a drawcard? Suspect it could work well on drunk german 20-somethings in bars.
Don't think I've ever stayed at a Cologne hostel, but I'm sure they're pretty much all fine. Do try and stay somewhere central, it's kind of a sprawl-y city.
Amsterdam is possibly a bit dodgier, but @Kochikens might have advice on areas to stay in.
German here. English in Germany is usually no problem, unless you're trying to live here and have to deal with bureaucracy and stuff like that. You won't win any friends by mere virtue of being from the US, more like the contrary at the moment... but "Fuck Trump" t-shirts might help.
So it's decided: I'll be doing amsterdam, paris, cologne, then back to amsterdam. Hot tips appreciated. I love food and drink and weird things. Live music would be great too. I'll be solo in cologne, if that matters.
Do you like churches? Like, a lot of them?
More seriously though, maybe I can write down some things later in the day.
0
Options
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
edited August 2017
I'm on a road trip! First leg down. 648km (320mi) done today. Should have taken about 7 hours but it took almost 9 because a) I had to do a detour to get fuel at one point because I stupidly skipped a filling station when my tank was just under half full and then didn't see another one for over 250km, and b) I spent almost an hour sat in a queue of traffic caused by a pile up. So I arrived late. Luckily this place does 24 hour check-ins, but the shop is shut so I can't get food. Also I'm in a national park but it was dark when I arrived so I am unable to appreciate the beauty and grandeur of nature. Also I went from the lowveld to the highveld and it's windy as balls and bloody freezing and I forgot my coat. Oh well. Road trip!
Ok AirBNB host, answer my emails about how we can work with me getting into town quite late, so that I have a place to stay, and you don't have a report on your record....plz...
Oregon, Highway 84, heading east. I just left a rest stop between Pendleton and LaGrande. Passing a pick-up with a trailer. I'm in the fast lane, truck's in the slow lane.
The barrier to the westbound traffic is cement k-rails, can't see through them, and in my Subaru Impreza, can't see over them. I notice an amorphous dark shape billowing over the traffic divider.
'Shit, even out here, people throw bags of trash and leave them for...'
That's when I notice that the bag has a leg. And a snout.
"That's a bear!" I say in a voice to make any 5 year old proud. The bear pulls itself over the cement block and gallops (as much as anything that ambles like that can gallop) across the highway..
Standing on the break, I let out an "Oh shit!" I can tell I will miss the bear easily. Or I would, if the bear doesn't get hit by the truck. The other driver tries to stop, to swerve, but there is nowhere to go. The bear instinctively pulls up, and I think, I *think*, boops its snoot on the back corner of the trailer.
It pivots, swiveling back into my lane, and this is where I think I'm about to eat a bear. With extra windshield, for that satisfying crunch!
My breaking fortunately gave the bear time to finish its 360 with flourish, and it bolts across to the safety of the hills.
I catch up to the truck driver, and we give each other looks and waves of disbelief and congratulations for all parties escaping unharmed.
Except for maybe a bear snoot and its pride.
+8
Options
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Today I visited a place called the Valley of Desolation. Which is definitely the most metal name for any conservation area I've heard of.
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I'm really enjoying this place (Camdeboo national park). I've seen gemsbok and meerkats for the first time, and like NO people. I'm staying in a tiny camp that has 4 safari tents and I think I'm the only person here. There is a really tame bird that keeps hopping up on my deck to see if I have any crumbs for it. Earlier I went hiking and ate my lunch at the top of a mountain in total silence. It is so nice.
So SilverWind and I are doing more active research on dining out while in Japan, and something we came across is Tabelog. Apparently it's like Yelp, only good, and more trusted than Michelin guide ratings, or pretty much any other source, by locals looking for places to get grub.
An article I read from back in February suggested that the English language version of Tabelog is a poo biscuit, but that was six months ago. Looking at the site now, it actually seems really robust! You can look up by genres and subgenres, rank in a few different ways, filter only to shops that accept credit cards if you come from that sort of economy (though it seems to preclude most of the real nice places), set price ranges, etc.
So the English version of the site seems good! Good enough that just glancing at it I would think we might just use it rather than trying to download and learn to navigate the Japanese version. Does anyone here have any input on this thing?
I'm really enjoying this place (Camdeboo national park). I've seen gemsbok and meerkats for the first time, and like NO people. I'm staying in a tiny camp that has 4 safari tents and I think I'm the only person here. There is a really tame bird that keeps hopping up on my deck to see if I have any crumbs for it. Earlier I went hiking and ate my lunch at the top of a mountain in total silence. It is so nice.
Now I'mma go get drunk in a bird hide.
I am glad that someone can enjoy what is basically what my personal version of hell looks like.
Your time in Africa has been fascinating to read about, smof, thanks for sharing it.
I miss Africa but I'm not allowed to complain because I just got to tour a temple in Japan that is normally almost never open to tourists (my host dad from several years back is friends with the head priest) and has the finest quality paintings in the country
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Nearly finished my holiday. Tomorrow I fly from George to Johannesburg and stay overnight, then get the 6 hour shuttle home on Sunday.
Earlier today I got a phonecall from the hostel in Joburg that I booked two months ago, to tell me that they're full, and can they put me in a different place nearby :rotate: So now I've cancelled them and paid 30% more to stay somewhere different where they sound a bit more competent.
+1
Options
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Arrived at my guest house in Johannesburg. It's pretty swanky. Also has electified wires along the top of the perimeter wall, and a panic button in the hallway.
Ah, Joburg, never change. Or maybe do.
+1
Options
Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
Arrived at my guest house in Johannesburg. It's pretty swanky. Also has electified wires along the top of the perimeter wall, and a panic button in the hallway.
Ah, Joburg, never change. Or maybe do.
Talking to people I know who grew up there, their normalcy just to do with home security was terrifying. "Yeah, every night we lock ourselves in the upper story of our house, because that is what you do."
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
edited September 2017
Part of me wonders if it's not really necessary and it's just social habit. Like, everyone else has barbed wire fences and armed response units on call so of course you have those things as well! Because the country as a whole really doesn't seem as dangerous as I imagined before I came out.
Then I remember my friend from Joburg telling me about having a home invasion where he had to fight off a guy with a knife and ended up tied up in his own bathroom and I think oh righty-ho then, you go ahead with your barbed wire.
Eesh
Yeah I always wonder in Namibia. Because most of the houses owned by Afrikaaners have those kinds of security measures, but nobody else does. And to me it really feels like a very safe country, so it seems like a cultural hangover rather than an actual necessity. But then I don't live there so maybe I just don't know.
We don't lock our doors in the bush though. We shut the fence but that's mostly for cow related reasons.
Posts
Also everything is cheap as shit for being a super cool historical European city. Even the tourist traps are cheap in real cost (as a Swede at least).
Everyone should go to Prague.
Mama Saru would be so proud.
And after I accepted taking a later flight they gave me free Qantas lounge access
Could be worse.
*this is not counting the time I uberfailed and missed my flight entirely, which was a whole other entirely-my-fault situation
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
Edit: Only time I ever missed a flight was the time I left my passport on the copy machine at school and didn't realize it until 6 months later the day of my flight.
That was an unhappy Thanksgiving, although it did begin the tradition of me coming home for Christmas.
Luckily there was a lot of time between the initial flight out and the actual work part so I was able to just try again the next day with a taxi ride.
These are all the words of a reasonable person. I just hate the uncomfortable chairs, all the noise/people milling around and the waiting. I just don't travel well, though I love going places I hate the getting there. Also most of my airport time is Atlanta or O'Hare, and aside from the Frontera, fuck O'Hare sideways, I hate their layout so much. My general strategy now is to find any airport bar that does "cheap" add on shots with a beer, a fine thing I discovered when a flight out of Orlando kept getting delayed. But there I also had incoming and outgoing Disney families to compare. (That was such a dumb route, Atlanta to Orlando to Rhode island)
Sometimes I get work done, though.
'bout to rack up some fuckin' miles this year, tell you what.
Some people are hardy and can handle the rigors of travel, sleep easily on planes, function well on little sleep
But me, I'm frail in general
It's unfortunate
One of my friends just casually is like I found a cheap flight I'm gonna go across the country for a weekend
Which would be nice if my body could handle it but it can't
On the plus side
I currently have 375k UR points on my credit card
So maybe next year I'll go to Asia on business class even
When we had an overnight stopover in Frankfurt one of the people in the airport actually told us which bit of the terminal was the best one for sleeping in, which was off in an out-of-the-way area and had vaguely sleepable rows of seats. Kuala Lumpur, though, there were just the benches in front of the checkin desks, which was a bit more conspicuous feeling.
Be thankful you don't play video games and have numbers like this staring in your face every day
Although I often just leave this one running in the background so I can interact with it once in a while, so that number's maybe not as bad as it might seem
... best not to order anything but Koelsch until you're friends with the bartenders.
Oh, also hostel tips for cologne amsterdam, cause since i'll be solo I dont give a fuck where I stay so long as my bags are there by the end.
edit: actually if you have a real southern drawl, that might be something of a drawcard? Suspect it could work well on drunk german 20-somethings in bars.
Don't think I've ever stayed at a Cologne hostel, but I'm sure they're pretty much all fine. Do try and stay somewhere central, it's kind of a sprawl-y city.
Amsterdam is possibly a bit dodgier, but @Kochikens might have advice on areas to stay in.
Unreal Engine 4 Developers Community.
I'm working on a cute little video game! Here's a link for you.
Do you like churches? Like, a lot of them?
More seriously though, maybe I can write down some things later in the day.
Oregon, Highway 84, heading east. I just left a rest stop between Pendleton and LaGrande. Passing a pick-up with a trailer. I'm in the fast lane, truck's in the slow lane.
The barrier to the westbound traffic is cement k-rails, can't see through them, and in my Subaru Impreza, can't see over them. I notice an amorphous dark shape billowing over the traffic divider.
'Shit, even out here, people throw bags of trash and leave them for...'
That's when I notice that the bag has a leg. And a snout.
"That's a bear!" I say in a voice to make any 5 year old proud. The bear pulls itself over the cement block and gallops (as much as anything that ambles like that can gallop) across the highway..
Standing on the break, I let out an "Oh shit!" I can tell I will miss the bear easily. Or I would, if the bear doesn't get hit by the truck. The other driver tries to stop, to swerve, but there is nowhere to go. The bear instinctively pulls up, and I think, I *think*, boops its snoot on the back corner of the trailer.
It pivots, swiveling back into my lane, and this is where I think I'm about to eat a bear. With extra windshield, for that satisfying crunch!
My breaking fortunately gave the bear time to finish its 360 with flourish, and it bolts across to the safety of the hills.
I catch up to the truck driver, and we give each other looks and waves of disbelief and congratulations for all parties escaping unharmed.
Except for maybe a bear snoot and its pride.
Now I'mma go get drunk in a bird hide.
An article I read from back in February suggested that the English language version of Tabelog is a poo biscuit, but that was six months ago. Looking at the site now, it actually seems really robust! You can look up by genres and subgenres, rank in a few different ways, filter only to shops that accept credit cards if you come from that sort of economy (though it seems to preclude most of the real nice places), set price ranges, etc.
So the English version of the site seems good! Good enough that just glancing at it I would think we might just use it rather than trying to download and learn to navigate the Japanese version. Does anyone here have any input on this thing?
I am glad that someone can enjoy what is basically what my personal version of hell looks like.
Your time in Africa has been fascinating to read about, smof, thanks for sharing it.
Earlier today I got a phonecall from the hostel in Joburg that I booked two months ago, to tell me that they're full, and can they put me in a different place nearby :rotate: So now I've cancelled them and paid 30% more to stay somewhere different where they sound a bit more competent.
Ah, Joburg, never change. Or maybe do.
Talking to people I know who grew up there, their normalcy just to do with home security was terrifying. "Yeah, every night we lock ourselves in the upper story of our house, because that is what you do."
Satans..... hints.....
Then I remember my friend from Joburg telling me about having a home invasion where he had to fight off a guy with a knife and ended up tied up in his own bathroom and I think oh righty-ho then, you go ahead with your barbed wire.
Yeah I always wonder in Namibia. Because most of the houses owned by Afrikaaners have those kinds of security measures, but nobody else does. And to me it really feels like a very safe country, so it seems like a cultural hangover rather than an actual necessity. But then I don't live there so maybe I just don't know.
We don't lock our doors in the bush though. We shut the fence but that's mostly for cow related reasons.