The week was only routinely hectic, which is about as good as it gets. The big tension at work was the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) list. Los Angeles Air Force Base was spared, but all of the leased facilities in Northern Virginia are on the list, including the building I work in. We're supposed to move back into the Pentagon at some point, so most people think it's unlikely we'll really get relocated before that, but it could still make our lives tedious, especially as the facility they want to relocate us to has no public transit and truly horrific traffic already. If it came to that, I'd probably decide to go back to L.A..
My other big event of the week was my performance at Washington Storyteller's Theatre. I was one of the two featured tellers at the Speakeasy on Tuesday night. Essentially that means: a) a longer time limit and b) getting paid. It went well, with a great audience response. It also meant I was more or less a zombie on Wednesday, especially as I got up early and watched my videotape of the finale of The Amazing Race.
Then, I went to Kansas City for the weekend. Going there, my flight was delayed by accumulating weather delays. To add to that, they couldn't get the count of passengers and the count of boarding passes to match. My perception is that they kept recounting the former, while the actual error was with the latter. I was glad I'd reserved a hotel room near the airport, especially as I had a longish wait for the rental car shuttle.
Saturday morning, I drove to Independence and did the Volksmarch there. It was an excellent day for walking and the route included the major attractions of Independence, e.g. Truman's birthplace, his house, the Truman library, the various Mormon related sites, etc.. The notes accompanying the walk were particularly informative. After the walk, I had lunch, then went to see one of the quirkier sites of the area. Leila's Hair Museum is definitely unique. The collection is, essentially, of jewelry and wreaths made of human hair and your three dollars gets you a fairly informative guided tour. This was an 18th to 19th century art form, partly used as a genealogical tool, partly to create tokens of affection. It's very odd and slightly creepy, but worth a visit for those who like offbeat museums. After that, I went to the Puppetry Arts Institute, which has a puppet museum. Which is not nearly as strange, but is still not your average collection.
Then I drove over to the Holiday Inn - Sports Complex, checked in, and rested a bit. I'd chosen to stay there for its proximity to Kauffman Stadium. What I hadn't realized is that, while the hotel is just across the street from the sports complex, the ballpark is not at all pedestrian friendly. You have to cross a busy street - with a crosswalk but no light - and either go way out of your way or climb over a fairly steep hill. This is annoying because it's so easy to fix. The ballpark itself is a pretty one, with a backdrop of fountains (something Kansas City is known for). The concessions include decent barbecue, so I indulged in turkey on a bun. Later on, I ended up buying some hot chocolate because the wind had picked up and it was bloody cold. By the way, I added to my collection of promotional giveaways with a free powder blue Kansas City cap. The game (against Tampa Bay) wasn't brilliant, but there was some decent fielding. I have a soft spot for Kansas City because Dennis Leonard (who pitched for them in the 1970's) is from my home town, so I was happy that they won. By the way, Hideo Nomo started for Tampa Bay and he really doesn't seem to have much left.
I'd thought of doing another Volksmarch on Sunday morning, but it was very cold out in the morning so I decided just to sleep later. I drove back to Independence and took the tour of Truman's house. There's a brief film at the visitor center, followed by a 15 minute walking tour. (The house is, however, about a 10 minute walk from the visitor center.) The house is quite cozy and seeing it reinforces Truman's reputation as a plain-spoken, plain-living man. That's particularly true of the library, which just looks incredibly comfortable.
After that, I just drove around the city for a while before returning to the airport. KCI has got to be one of the bleakest airports in the U.S.. There are minimal concessions and, in fact, none at all within the departure area. In fact, there aren't even restrooms within the departure lounges. That would be fine if your flight were on time, as you can time when you go through security. But I got to endure the Midwest Airlines "only one mechanic at work in two entire states" experience. That is, it was an hour before they even had anybody look at the mechanical problem with the plane and another 2 hours before they fixed it. I can't object to the latter, as I want the planes I fly in to have working brake valves. But the long delay before they even started working on it was simply inept scheduling on their part. They did give everyone $75 vouchers to compensate us and the actual in-flight service is above average (all business class seating and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies). But I was still tired and grouchy over the whole thing.
Copyright 2005 Miriam H. Nadel