Friday, October 6, 2017
Vacation begins. Breakfast at home: one small pear and leftovers from last night. Mailed a letter. Finished packing. Sam drove us to SFO. Alaska Airlines (SkyWest) flight 3374 from SFO to SNA. He dropped us at the International Terminal because signs directed us there. We automatically went through security successfully before realizing that this terminal didn't have our gate. No one through security checked that we were in the right place, which doesn't make me feel all that secure. After checking with some airport employees we exited International Terminal and walked 10 minutes to Terminal 2. Found our gate. I hunted for food while Patrick rested. I got vanilla yogurt and sparkling water for Patrick, a ham and havarti sandwich and Vitamin Water Zero for me. I ate half the sandwich which was good but not great. I drank a few ounces of the Vitamin Water Zero before realizing it had stevia in it, which causes serious problems with my digestive system. I threw the rest away. I saved the other half of the sandwich. We boarded. The flight is uneventful except for a 20-minute delay imposed by the tower before we could depart due to heavy runway traffic. We sat in Premium Class seats 8D and 8E which had plenty of legroom for Patrick. We had to load our small carryons sideways in the overhead bins. The plane seemed very clean except for my tray table which had coffee stains that I cleaned with a wet wipe. Service was very good. We were each given a complimentary snack box which included roasted almonds, a fig bar, and gummi bears; all tasty. Patrick had ginger ale, I had iced water. We rewatched Stranger Things s1:e8 on Netflix downloaded video on my iPhone 6 Plus in preparation for the new season starting in about a month. At SNA it took a long time getting UberX to the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Anaheim Resort Convention Center and with fairly heavy traffic the drive took 45 minutes to travel 15 miles. Checked in to room 243 for five nights. We encountered a problem with our room keys not working and had to return to the front desk to resolve it. We began to unpack. Shortly afterwards housekeeping arrived to remove the feather and down bedding due to my allergy. Our room has two queen beds, and it took her about 20 minutes. The room also meets Patrick's ventilation requirements—no vent blowing directly upon the sleeping area. Rode UberX to Downtown Disney. Walked to AMC Downtown Disney 12. Along the way we encountered a good, entertaining swing band called The Fresh Rhythm (formerly Five Got Rhythm) and stopped to listen to the last three songs of their 6:00 pm set. We looked at the menu at the theatre then tried to eat at Tortilla Jo's but wait time for two persons was one hour so we ate at Taqueria instead. In the movie theatre we saw Blade Runner 2049 in 2D IMAX, and I loved it. Just the right balance of respect for the original(s) and new ground to cover, opening new and interesting ways to think about how technology integrates with our lives and the concepts of humans becoming more machine and machines becoming more human. The settings, costumes, locations, cinematography, special effects, editing, and acting were all excellent. After the film it took a long time getting UberX; I tried twice and canceled twice seemingly due to drivers too far away or stuck in traffic that was not moving. I switched to Lyft and got a ride faster than our UberX estimate. Patrick slept while I wrote in my journal. I realized late at night that the ice machine adjacent to room 243 can seem very loud, but it happened only once over a few hours on a Friday night. To bed.