Try As They Might, US Air Did Not Defeat Me

It's gonna be a long one, folks, so buckle up.

It's 5am & I'm sitting in the Pittsburgh International Airport. Why? Glad you asked. My original flight was at 7:05 Tuesday evening, and the shuttle was supposed to pick me up from the hotel at 4:15. Fast forward to 5:15 & the shuttle finally arrives. Another hour & 45 minutes later, I get to the airport. Horrible weather & a wreck made it damn near impossible to get to the airport. So while I got to the airport in time to make my flight, the kiosk wouldn't let me check in because I had to check a bag, & you have to arrive at least 45 minutes before your flight to be afforded such a luxury. So I get in line with all the other people who have missed their respective flights.

The extremely nice & super helpful US Air agent (I hope you're picking up my sarcasm here...) tells everyone in line that if their flight hasn't left yet to step forward so she can quickly check us in, so to the desk I go. Then she says, "You have to check your bag 45 minutes prior to your flight." Back in line. I'll just directly quote the conversation that took place between the woman in line behind me & said helpful agent. Woman: "So what does that mean?" Agent: "You have to check your bag 45 minutes before your flight." Woman: "So, what do we do?" Agent: "You have to check your bag 45 minutes before your flight. I don't know how else I can say it!" Um, you can say we're all missing our flights, please & thank you.

I'll skip over the part where the airline's 800-number tried to get me to pay $800 to get re-booked, and go directly to my encounter with previously-mentioned agent. She was able to book me on the next flight to Charlotte, the connecting city for all flights to the South, but it isn't until 6:35 Wednesday morning. She can't check my bag the night before, so I have to keep it with me. I ask if I'll be able to get through TSA with my oversized bag, she doesn't know. So I try to go through the security line, where my bag wasn't the problem, but my boarding pass marked for 11/23 was. Apparently TSA can't let you through without a same-day gate pass. "Just go ask the airline for a gate pass with today's date on it. It should be easy," he says. Ha.

So I go back to the US Air desk, and have the same woman as before. She tells me they don't give out gate passes, so I'd have to sit outside security until midnight. So I go back to TSA to see if there's ANYTHING they can do to let me through. He tells me I should go argue because the airline should take care of me if they're expecting me to spend all night in the airport. I agree.

So I go back to the desk to try my luck with a different airline agent. While I'm waiting, the super nice & extremely helpful agent goes up to both the other agents working, turns her back to me & tells them not to give me a gate pass. Really.

Back downstairs I go to talk it over with my new TSA agent friend. I tell him what happened, thank him for being so helpful, & tell him I'll be in the only bar that's outside security if he gets off before midnight & will gladly buy him a beer. All the while starting to cry out of frustration. So he tells me he's gonna see if there's anything he can do for me because the woman at US Air was so absurd, and that he would come get me in the bar if he was able to get me through.

So I get into the bar around 7:50, they close at 8. Perfect. So I quickly order 2 20oz Yuenglings. After I thank the bartender for staying open past last call for me, I go back to wait my turn at TSA. Miraculously, he lets me go through. I asked if it was inappropriate to hug him & again offered to buy him a beer. He just shook my hand & told me to enjoy my flight. So, if you're out there, TSA friend, THANK YOU.

So I slept for about 3 hours spread across the chairs, trying to avoid the immovable armrests. I finally made it on my flight to Charlotte, I've never been so happy to be on a plane in my life. Then it's on to Birmingham where I plan to sleep until the Green Bay-Detroit game Thursday morning.

Flying to Pittsburgh

Left San Diego this morning, headed to Pittsburgh, by way of Phoenix. While waiting for my flight, I was able to meet up with the fourth researcher; we'd been scheduled on the same flights. So here I am, wearing my Beat Bama t-shirt (as it is Hate Week), and he tells me his dad is a Bama fan. Did I mention he's from Maine?! I asked where his father grew up, he said Connecticut & Maine. I asked if his father went to Alabama. I'll let you guess the answer to that question. I'm moving across the bloody country to be working with the son of a Bama fan. He doesn't really care about college football (CAUSE HE'S FROM MAINE...), & my neighbor is still an Auburn fan (hopefully alum), so I guess that makes up for it.

Unbelievable.

During my stop in Phoenix, I was able to find an Arizona State shot glass. The cashier asked me what I thought of the game last night. I asked, "What game?" Apparently Arizona & Arizona State played this weekend. I had to politely explain to him that I simply collect college shot glasses, and that I went to Auburn. I thought that was clear from my t-shirt. Evidently not.

So here I sit on my flight from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, unable to sleep. Actually, there's no wireless on this flight (how primitive), so by the time this gets posted I'll likely be cozy in my hotel bed. I hope my hotel has free wireless. I doubt I'll be able to do anything in Pittsburgh, unfortunately, because most of my time will be spent at the NMRL, but I'll try to snap a few pics on the shuttle from the airport to the hotel.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, Go To Hell Alabama

SS Midway

Having finished apartment hunting, we were able to sightsee today. We went up to Encinitas to have breakfast, and then we went downtown to see the SS Midway, which was retired in 1992 & turned into a museum. It was so cool! It was an unguided tour, with headsets, so you could set your own pace. If any of you are out this way, I definitely recommend going to the museum. Of course, if you are out here visiting me, I'll definitely take you!

Headed to Pittsburgh tomorrow!

The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

Got so much done on my first full day in San Diego! I was able to find the area I want to live in, Chula Vista. It totally reminds me of Agrestic from seasons 1 & 2 of Weeds, it's so cute. Oddly enough, when I came out of one of the possible apartments, an Auburn wreath was hanging on the door across the hall! We're EVERYWHERE! It almost makes up for the cold War Eagle reception I got in the San Diego airport to the guy in the Auburn hat & bookbag. If you're reading this, guy from airport, you kinda suck. Don't represent Auburn so far away if you don't want to get "War Eagle'd".

After the apartment hunt, I went to the Naval Amphibious Base. While I was waiting for my escort onto base (I don't have my clearance ID yet), some SEAL trainees ran by carrying the inflatable boats over their head. Those things weigh about 150 lbs, and there's about 6 guys to a boat. I was later told they were just running the mile or so to the Chow Hall for lunch. They've also only had about 4 hours of sleep total since Sunday evening. Hell Week.

Once I got on base, we went over to the UPitt Human Performance Lab to see where I'll be working. There's nothing in it yet, so it's just an empty 3-room office space right now. Hoping to get all the equipment in there & start testing by the new year. What will I be doing between December 8 & then? Good question. Don't know, but I'm fired up to get out here & start working. They're providing us with our own Internet service, so we don't have to be connected to the Navy's network, which is great. It's also what they called an "unsecured" area, meaning I can have my cell phone on me.

After the lab we went over to the Special Warfare base, which is "secured", so I couldn't take my phone. Of course, this is where I wanted to take all the pictures. Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm allowed to say & not say about that area, other than I got the tour, saw where the students & active-duty SEALs train, & leave it at that. There were close to 100 helmets by the bell, under the sign that read "THE ONLY EASY DAY WAS YESTERDAY." Intense motivation for the guys who haven't quit. Hell Week secures Friday at lunch, so I think it's safe to say the guys who haven't quit yet are gonna make it through.

There's only 4 UPitt employees working in Coronado, one of whom I haven't met yet. The three of us went to dinner tonight, where I was told that as the only female investigator, I'll have to hold my own on base because there aren't many women around, obviously none in the SEALs & SWCC. I can fake being a hard ass, I think.

I just discovered I can't post pictures on my blog from my iPad, so all the pictures I take will have to be on Twitter for now & I'll post them when I get home.

Also had my first run-in with the time difference between here & home, sorry Janna.

All right, I realize this was a longer post with no pictures, so if you made it through to the end, thanks.

Day of Travel

About an hour from landing in San Diego. Flying all day kinda sucks. This may seriously hinder how often I come home. Left Birmingham at 12:55 CDT, landed in Charlotte at 3:15 EDT, had a 3-hour layover (ate California Pizza Kitchen--to prepare, & got 3 new shot glasses!), & left Charlotte at 6:15 EDT. Scheduled to arrive in San Diego at 8:35 PDT. I had already changed my watch to Pacific time, & my phone wasn't connected to the Internet, so it was still reading Eastern time. Needless to say, when my iPad changed time zones an hour into my flight to Mountain time, I had no idea where in the hell I was.

Anyway, on my flight the man seated next to me was in the Navy who was kind enough to help me narrow down my list of possible housing options. He eliminated most of them based on the fact that the neighborhoods are very unsafe. So my instincts are clearly right on.
Tomorrow I have a tour of the base & lab, & I found out it's Hell Week for the SEAL trainees. I keep hearing that I'm heading for a major culture-shock. I'm both nervous & excited about it.

Sorry there's no pictures, but there's been no pictures to take yet. Pictures tomorrow.

The Lone Survivor

I bought this book on Sunday night so I'd have something to read on my flights, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.  This book is incredible.  It's the story of a Navy SEAL who, along with his 3 teammates, goes on a mission to find one of Al-Qaeda's leaders, only to be bombarded by the Taliban.  His 3 teammates are killed, and all 8 soldiers on his rescue mission are killed, but he survived.

The story starts out with his training to become a SEAL in Coronado.  At first, I was unnerved by the amount of abuse these guys take.  I almost wrote a blog entry last night wondering whether or not I could handle being around it; those of you who have met me know my disdain for authority figures abusing their power.  However, as he's telling the story, I came to realize that their form of training is necessary, because it allowed for his survival in hostile Afghanistan.

It was written in 2007, and the author is from Texas, so it is a little conservative for me.  But at the same time, it's almost impossible to disagree with the reason everything went wrong for them out there.  I definitely suggest you read this book.  It's very intense, and therefore a very fast read, and tell me, is there anyone out there who isn't simply awestruck at the world of the Navy SEALs?  If you say no, simply put, you're a liar.

And now, I need a new book to read.

My Cool New Job

One of my favorite pics of Pittsburgh

I'm employed by the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Sports Medicine & Nutrition.  They are contracted through the Department of Defense to conduct research on injury prevention in the military.  I'll be working at the Naval Special Warfare Human Performance Laboratory in Coronado, CA.  Basically, I get to work with the Navy SEALs & SWCC.  Super cool, right?

Before I officially move to San Diego, however, I am going to be doing a LOT of traveling between San Diego, Pittsburgh, & Mississippi (yeah...Mississippi...), for orientation and training.  I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures, but I will do my best to take pictures & chronicle the fun happenings of starting my new job.

Want to read about it? Go here: University of Pittsburgh Neuromuscular Research Lab