Indiana, Pennsylvania
Took JetBlue to Pittsburgh on Sunday. Had to leave the house at 6:30 am to get to Logan Airport in Boston. I was pooped!
The first flight to JFK was delayed because as the plane was pulled away from the gate to the runway, the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) died. So no lights, no A/C, no nothing. So the plane had to be pulled back to the gate.
The pilot comes on the intercom and tells us that they use the APU only on the ground until the engines are started and it's "not really necessary." So they jump-started the APU and the engines (his words) at the gate and we left.
Chris freaked when I told him. He said the APU *is* necessary and they shouldn't have flown. Well, we made it to JFK, so I was happy.
Ran to my next flight, grabbing a sandwich on the way. As this jet is taxiing down the runway, a burst of gray smoke blasted from the right engines (on my side of the plane, of course). The pilot came on and told us it was just condensation. I would think that would be white "smoke" but what do I know?
We made it to Pittsburgh, got my car at Avis, a non-exciting Taurus and drove to Indiana, PA, the home of Jimmy Stewart. Did you know that?
It's a quaint town, very nice and Indiana University is a nice campus.
My first talk wasn't until 2pm the next day, so I got food to go from the Holiday Inn restaurant where I was staying (chicken quesadillas), checked email and relaxed.
The 2pm talk was supposed to be for advocates, school personnel and IUP campus police, because the talk took place at the police station. But not *one* campus cop was there. I was pretty disappointed, because they were the ones who need to know how to handle cyberstalking cases more than the people who did show up, although my audience thought it was great info.
A local TV station, WPXI, interviewed me and filmed part of my lecture for a November sweeps special newscast. Coolness!
I went back to my room, rested, then headed back to campus for the 6 pm talk for students. About 400 showed up and I was told it was the largest audience to date for a nighttime talk.
I love it when students (of any age) appear to be bored when I cover cyberstalking, then when I start pulling up Myspace and Facebook profiles from their school, I get their attention tenfold. It's precious (evil laugh).
Afterwards, the campus bookstore sold a bunch of books that I signed. I will also finally get a video of myself doing a presentation. One of the campus instructors filmed it and is going to do a bang-up job - he does this for a living, so I'm excited.
I left and called Chris. He was depressed. He saw The Green Mile, the part where Mr. Jingles supposedly dies and Chris was very upset.
I hope his sisters treat him with kid gloves when they come and with respect as well. He's been going through hell dealing with his emotions about his dad's cancer every day because we're so close to his parents (location as well as emotionally). I hope his sisters appreciate what Chris has been doing and give him lots of hugs and don't cause any problems.
Or there will be hell to pay (LOL)
Flying home today. Home tomorrow, then it's off to Seattle on Thursday. 6:30 am again.
The first flight to JFK was delayed because as the plane was pulled away from the gate to the runway, the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) died. So no lights, no A/C, no nothing. So the plane had to be pulled back to the gate.
The pilot comes on the intercom and tells us that they use the APU only on the ground until the engines are started and it's "not really necessary." So they jump-started the APU and the engines (his words) at the gate and we left.
Chris freaked when I told him. He said the APU *is* necessary and they shouldn't have flown. Well, we made it to JFK, so I was happy.
Ran to my next flight, grabbing a sandwich on the way. As this jet is taxiing down the runway, a burst of gray smoke blasted from the right engines (on my side of the plane, of course). The pilot came on and told us it was just condensation. I would think that would be white "smoke" but what do I know?
We made it to Pittsburgh, got my car at Avis, a non-exciting Taurus and drove to Indiana, PA, the home of Jimmy Stewart. Did you know that?
It's a quaint town, very nice and Indiana University is a nice campus.
My first talk wasn't until 2pm the next day, so I got food to go from the Holiday Inn restaurant where I was staying (chicken quesadillas), checked email and relaxed.
The 2pm talk was supposed to be for advocates, school personnel and IUP campus police, because the talk took place at the police station. But not *one* campus cop was there. I was pretty disappointed, because they were the ones who need to know how to handle cyberstalking cases more than the people who did show up, although my audience thought it was great info.
A local TV station, WPXI, interviewed me and filmed part of my lecture for a November sweeps special newscast. Coolness!
I went back to my room, rested, then headed back to campus for the 6 pm talk for students. About 400 showed up and I was told it was the largest audience to date for a nighttime talk.
I love it when students (of any age) appear to be bored when I cover cyberstalking, then when I start pulling up Myspace and Facebook profiles from their school, I get their attention tenfold. It's precious (evil laugh).
Afterwards, the campus bookstore sold a bunch of books that I signed. I will also finally get a video of myself doing a presentation. One of the campus instructors filmed it and is going to do a bang-up job - he does this for a living, so I'm excited.
I left and called Chris. He was depressed. He saw The Green Mile, the part where Mr. Jingles supposedly dies and Chris was very upset.
I hope his sisters treat him with kid gloves when they come and with respect as well. He's been going through hell dealing with his emotions about his dad's cancer every day because we're so close to his parents (location as well as emotionally). I hope his sisters appreciate what Chris has been doing and give him lots of hugs and don't cause any problems.
Or there will be hell to pay (LOL)
Flying home today. Home tomorrow, then it's off to Seattle on Thursday. 6:30 am again.
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