You win some, you lose some....

This morning I woke up in Portland, OR (no it was not a surprise) reflecting on my day of travel yesterday. I found that my day was a mixture of little victories and failures, variously ironic comedic, and fateful.

Over the course of the weekend Kyla's ipod had been misplaced, it was discovered after she left Princeton. I was given the ipod to bring to Portland with me so that I could return it to her. After I left Princeton yesterday morning I realized that I had left my jacket behind. Ipod - Victory. Jacket - Failure.

As I mentioned in a previous post I got really cheap tickets EWR to PDX - $115 to be exact. Of course there is a price to pay somewhere. the flight plan involved a 5 hour flight to phoenix a 45 minute layover then a 3 hour flight to PDX. I knew this when I purchased the tickets but I reasoned that if there are more than 4 hours of flying time, the whole day is wasted anyway between getting to the airport etc, I might as well conserve cash and buy the cheapest ticket. Cheap ticket - Victory, Wasted time - Failure. Actually the time wasn't entirely wasted, I did manage to study about 90 Kanji and load them into my digital flashcard program, I hope to study another ~100 today. Japaneses studies - Victory.

If you'll recall my drivers license had expired and created some fun experience mentioned in previous posts. I did get it renewed, but until the real thing comes in the mail I have the temporary - a piece of paper. Instead of being proactive and asking if it was ok like I did last week flying into NY (resulting in a thorough search) I went through security showing the expired picture ID and had no problems. Victory.

Did I mention that I was bringing my viola with me? Probably not, I don't think I have mentioned the viola at all - I will in a subsequent post. The viola is relevant here because as you might know the airlines only allow "one carry on luggage, and one personal item". Yesterday I had my roll-aboard and my backpack as well as the viola, a total of 3 pieces. My victory was that on the first flight (EWR to PHX) I managed to carry everything on. While boarding the second flight (PHX to PDX) the gate agent informed me I would have to check on item. Ultimately the first victory is insignificant because I had to wait at baggage claim for 30 minutes for my checked luggage to appear.

The best for last: Upon exiting the jet-bridge from my first flight (in PHX) I looked around found the nearest Arrival/Departure screen and headed for the gate that said Portland. As Murphy's Law might predict, it was one of the last gates on the A concourse. I leisurely strolled toward Gate A29 and got a bite to eat once nearby. I get to the gate and the screen indicates "gate closed" and had a departure to San Jose listed. Confused I went to an Arrivals/Departures Screen and realized that A29 was an arrival from Portland and that my departure to Portland was out of B9 and was now boarding. Run.... Epic Failure.

You can't have it all.

3am travel logistics rant

I am ususally very good about planning my trips, packing etc. This does not mean that this is all done in a linear and timely manner. For example: Wednesday morning I will be flying out of Minneapolis bound for NYC, I will visit with my folks for all of 2 days, go to DMV to renew my expired drivers license, pick up some winter clothes and the viola that I claim I will learn to play once I get back to Minneapolis. I spend the weekend at the Princeton Tango Festival where I will be DJing at one of the practicas. Tuesday I fly to Portland for the October Tango Fest. The following Tuesday I fly back to Minneapolis. I not sure what you would think about how the flight arrangements were mad but it happened sort of like this - mid July I found a ticket from NWK to PDX for 115USD (tax incl - US Airways) so I snatched it up, though it requires 8 hours of airtime and a 1.5 hour layover in PHX. Late August I Realized that I still did not figure out how I was going to get to NY to DJ at Princeton so after a few hours of research I found an Airtran flight from MSP via MKE to LGA for $89 on Airtran. I delayed getting a return flight for probably a bit too long becuase i wan not sure if I am going to be resuming the "Monday, Tuesday in Chicago every week" hustle after Portland so didnt know where I should fly to, nor what day I could fly. So i just got my PDX to MSP tix 166USD us airways again. I had been telling people over the last couple of days that if i did not find flights under 150USD then I would take the train becuset the train is 150. But then I realized that the train take about 2.5 days and I would end up spending a lot more than the $10 on food.
So you're asking: "Great, so what is the problem?" well I realized that Portland in just a week away and I have not even begun looking for a place to stay. this is bad, so many dancers go to Portland so competition for couchspace is fierce.
Also, I am trying to decide what to do with the stuff I have here. I would like to leave it here since I will be back in 2 weeks. but where?