Varna Trip Report, days six and seven

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2023-06-13 04:15+3:

I had set my alarm for very early in the morning hoping to catch the last few innings of a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.  (First pitch was at 02:45+3, and I wasn’t about to get up that early.)  It turned out that the hotel’s internet connection was down.

I checked at the front desk later in the day, and it turned out that their internet is normally up 24×7; it was just broken this morning and had been fixed.  I should be able to catch some of tonight’s game (in the wee hours of tomorrow morning in my current time zone).

2023-06-14 04:30:

I watched the last two or three innings of the Cardinals’ game using mlb.com’s Gameday feature and shouldn’t have bothered:  they lost 11 to 3.

19:30:

We sometimes have evening sessions in which interesting topics are discussed but no formal decisions are taken.  I think I can talk about tonight’s since it has nothing to do with C++.  One of the meeting hosts is giving a talk about the history of the Cyrillic alphabet and its phonemes.

It turned out to be a short video about the history, then a quick introduction to the alphabet, practice saying some things like hello and goodby, and finally a short video about Bulgarian culture.  This geek would have prefered more history and practice pronouncing the various letters, and less of the conversational stuff that I probably won’t ever use.

After the talk, I asked one of the hosts to write down how to explain to a shop keeper that I’d like to buy a Bulgarian-to-American power adaptor with ground.  (I have a two-prong adaptor which works, but I’d like to have the ground connection.)  It seems that what I need is an адаптър эа електричестбо Американски стандарт.  I think I’d be able to pronounce that without embarrassing myself too badly, but I’ll probably just show the shop keeper the piece of paper with the description written on it.  I’ll try that tomorrow during the lunch break.

— Бил Сиѝмор

Varna Trip Report, day five

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2023-06-12:

Today begins the real reason for the trip:  attending a meeting of the ISO standards committee for the C++ programming language.  I’ve been given clear instructions that I’m not supposed to write anything about the meeting itself until after it ends on Saturday, so my daily posts will be mostly about the hotel and the area around it.  I’ll have a single post on Saturday or Sunday night giving a feel for the kinds of issues we discuss.

07:30+3:

A very nice breakfast buffet is included in my hotel accommodation…eggs, sausage, potatoes, fresh fruit, sweet rolls…the usual stuff.  One thing I like about traveling to Europe is having baked beans for breakfast which is unheard of in the U.S.

10:15:

Last night, I had stupidly tried to use a US-style power strip; when I turned it on, I fried it; and the outlet that I plugged my computer into quit working as well.  I reported that to the front desk on my way to the meeting this morning; and I was worried that I had damaged the hotel’s electrical system in some serious way.  I went back to my room at the morning break to find that the outlet was working again.  I guess all I did was blow a fuse.  (*whew*)

Towards the end of the morning session, I was starting to nod off.  That happened to me during the last meeting in Issaquah as well…I guess I’m getting too old for this; and I left about half an hour early and went back to my room for a quick nap.

12:30:

The meeting hosts, chaos and VMWare, are graciously providing a buffet lunch to all the participants.

I didn’t see anything in the agendas for the various subgroups about which I might have something interesting to say, so I just went back to my room, took an after-lunch nap, and finally got caught up with my FtB reading.

I’m happy to have learned of the deaths of several horrible people, Pat Robertson, Silvio Berlusconi, the Unabomber, and James Watt.  I also learned that Boris Johnson is resiging as an MP.  So far, so good.  Now if we could just get rid of Putin, Kissinger, the Sacklers, you know the list…

19:00:

That was about all I could handle today, and I didn’t want an adventure, so I went to a pizza shop across the street for a slice.  When it came time to pay, they wouldn’t take my credit card…it was cash only which I didn’t have.  Fortunately, there was a cash machine just a few meters away, so I was able to pay what I owed.

Varna Trip Report, day four

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2023-06-11 07:00+2:

Although I set my alarm correctly last night, I stupidly forgot to turn it on (*duh*).  I woke up just two hours before my flight’s scheduled departure.  No breakfast for the likes of me…just a quick sponge bath, then checking out of the hotel and making a beeline to the Lufthanza check-in place (which handles Austrian Airlines).

As expected, they made me check my walker through, so I’d need wheelchair assistance in Berlin, Vienna and Varna.  They took my one checked bag at the check-in place, but left me with my one carry-on bag and my walker; and I was directed to another place — I can’t remember what it was called, but it was something like “Mobility Assistance”.  I signed up for assistance there and waited for four or five minutes until a guy showed up who took me to the place where they checked my walker, and then to a truck that took me to the plane where it rose and let me in through the door opposite the one used for normal passenger boarding.  I made it aboard with about half an hour to spare. 😎

The flight from Berlin to Vienna had all coach-style 3-3 seating, but they didn’ll sell the middle seats in the first four rows.  That’s business class on this flight.  We did get very nice complimentary food and beverage service; and I was ready for it since that was my first meal of the day.

10:15+2:

We landed in Vienna right on time.  The guy giving the wheelchair assistance met me at the airplane door and took my carry-on bag; but I had to walk behind him up the boarding ramp.  It turned out that he had an electric cart, not a wheelchair; and I got sat down in it just as my old back was starting to complain.  He took me through the passport check, at which time I officially left the Schengen Area, and because I’m one of those fools who hasn’t been able to quit smoking yet, dropped me off at a Raucherzone (I learned a new German word today) that was close to the gate where I’d board my next flight.

Just passed the designated smoking area was a small café; and although I’d had a late breakfast aboard the plane from Berlin, it wasn’t much, so I bought a schnitzel sandwich and a diet coke which I took to the gate.  After eating the food and drinking most of the Coke, I sat for a while watching the world go by expecting to have to walk from the gate to the airplane.

11:50+2:

Shortly before boarding would start at noon, another guy showed up, called my name, checked me in at the gate, and drove me in another electric cart to an elevator where I was told to wait for somebody else who would help me the rest of the way.  He arrived about five minutes later with a wheelchair and took me down the elevator to another one of those trucks that lets you board the airplane through the right-side door.  The plane was spotted, not at the gate, but out on the tarmac; and I was the first person to board.  It was another ten minutes or so before the first of two busses from the gate to the plane arrived with more passengers.

The plane from Vienna to Varna was more narrow and had all 2-2 seating, the first few rows — I don’t know how many — being reserved for the passengers with business class tickets and who got the special service.

12:30+3:

We arrived in Varna almost on time; and I was told to wait in my seat for the wheelchair assistance.  It was another of those trucks that rises to the level of the right-side door, so I got on and waited a few minutes while they helped an older woman who needed a great deal more assistance than I did.  She and a couple of companions were dropped off somewhere, then I was taken to an entrance that was very close to the checked baggage area which I was able to walk to with only minor complaints from my back, and where I met the colleague who was offering me a ride to the hotel.  (I wish they’d let me identify them…I’d have some very complimentary things to say, and not just “thanks for the ride”.)

It turned out that my walker showed up at the regular checked baggage place, and so I then had the walker and both of my bags and was reasonably independent.  If only I’d been allowed to have my walker with me the whole trip, I wouldn’t have needed all the wheelchair assistance.  The good news is that I had something to write about. 😎

It was about a half-hour drive to the meeting hotel which is in a touristy place on the Black Sea.  The driver warned us that most of the eating places in the area were really bars aimed at young party goers.  Indeed, my colleague said that there were four people behind them on the plane who mostly talked about the parties they’d be going to.  That struck me as a pretty expensive party.  Also, I guess for American tastes, there’s a Subway (sandwich shop) and a Waffle House right across the street from the hotel.  I might have more to say in future posts if I do anything interesting in the evenings, but at present that doesn’t seem likely.

It seems that many in our group showed up at the hotel at about the same time, and the line at the reception desk was quite long and moving slowly.  It reminded this erstwhile electronics technician of p-type conduction in semiconductors:  it wasn’t so much about people moving forward as it was about spaces for people moving backward. 😎

I didn’t do much after checking in, aside from catching up on my e-mail and other reading, and writing this post.  It’s now time for bed.

Varna Trip Report, day three

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2023-06-09 20:50−4 (2023-06-10 00:50Z):

The Icelandair flights to Berlin via Keflavík met expectations except that the flight to Keflavík took only about five hours.  I guess we got an assist from the jet stream.

I don’t remember what kind of planes I was on and don’t really care.  From BOS to KEF, the plane was some kind of wide-body that had 2-1-2 seating in the Saga Class section; and I had seat 3D in the middle which was just fine for this introvert traveling alone. 😎  From KEF to BER, the plane was smaller, and I had an aisle seat on the right side.

They made me check my walker all the way to Berlin.  I was allowed to use the walker in Boston all the way to the airplane door where they took it away from me, and so I needed a wheelchair at both stops.

06:50Z:

In Keflavík, I was met by a very nice young woman who spoke English with an American accent.  She used some kind of authority to let me cut in line at immigration (where I entered the Schengen area) and at the airplane.  That, combined with the flight landing a bit earlier than I expected, gave me plenty of time to make my somewhat short connection.  I asked about the tipping policy, making sure she understood that I didn’t want to insult her by offering, and she said that they didn’t expect tips but were allowed to accept them.  I gave her a fiver and we were both very appreciative. 😎

13:15+2:

I didn’t have such good luck in Berlin.  The guy didn’t speak English except for a few words; and although I had taken German in high school and I remember the grammar (because that’s the way my brain works), I have close to zero vocabulary; and you can’t make much of a conversation out of “Wo ist die toilette?”

At one point, he left me alone for a while and I figured I was on my own; so I used the wheelchair like I would have used my walker, sticking my carry-on bag on the seat and pushing the wheelchair.  I hiked and hiked and eventually needed to sit and rest a bit.  I’m glad I did because he came up behind me and took me the rest of the way to the baggage claim area using an elevator that I never would have found.  I claimed my one checked bag, and he took me to the place for claiming large items where I got my walker back.

After another hike I finally got out of the airport.  It turned out that my hotel is right across the street from where I exited, which was encouraging; but the hotel entrance is around the corner and down another level, and there are no signs giving directions to it.  I walked a bit more and found an elevator that took me down to the right level; and then after yet another hike, I found the hotel entrance and checked in.  Everything from landing in Berlin to getting to my hotel room was pretty stressful, and I was sweating like a pig.

The room itself is a disappointment, principally because the desk where one would use a computer has a glass top, so you can’t use an optical mouse, and I’ve never had the need to develop the muscle memory to use my laptop’s touchpad accurately and effectively.  Fortunately, I brought along a packet of health insurance information that I need to read; and I can use that as a mouse pad.  Also, the desk doesn’t have a light nearby.

The Steigenberger Airport Hotel is very convenient, and except for the desk that I mentioned, the rooms seem to be quite nice.  If you plan on staying there and doing any work on a computer, bring a mouse pad.

Somewhere, I seem to have lost my German-style power adaptor…the round kind with the ground straps on the sides.  I was told that there’s a shop in the airport that sells them, so I’ll try to buy one tomorrow morning.  I’m guessing that that’s what’s used in Bulgaria.  We’ll see.  For tonight, my plain two-prong adaptor is working fine; and one ground strap in the socket seems to be making contact with the ground pin on my plug.

18:00:

After freshening up a bit, I went to the restaurant for some supper.  It’s a high-priced place with lots of fancy stuff on the menu.  I paid 35€ for the weiner schnitzel because I knew what that is. 😎

The rest of tonight will just be catching up on e-mail and blog reading…or maybe not since my Verizon hotspot won’t work outside the U.S.  I’m supposed to log in to something called “H-Rewards”, no password needed.  If that works, I’ll post this tonight; if not, I’ll have to wait until I get to the meeting hotel in Varna tomorrow.  (I’m a little leery of giving my e-mail and FtB passwords over a public network, but both use HTTPS, so that should be OK.)

My flight to Vienna leaves at 09:00, and the restaurant opens for breakfast at 05:30, so I’ve already set my alarm for 04:30.  With any luck, I won’t be in a hurry, or get stressed out, tomorrow morning.

Varna Trip Report, day two

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2023-06-09 07:00 UTC−4:

I was out like a light after posting my day 1 report and didn’t wake up until 06:00.

My room at the New Yorker Hotel is about as far away from the elevators as it gets, and there’s a maze of corridors to get to the room.  Fortunately, I was quickly able to train myself to run it. 😎  The room lacks a coffee maker, so the hotel is not up to three-star standards; but other than that, it’s OK.

09:00:

After cleaning myself up a bit, I got dressed and packed for the trip to Boston, checked out of the hotel, and took the short hike to the Moynihan Train Hall.  This is the first time I’ve been through it, and I was hoping that the redcap folks would let me store a couple of bags for a short time while I took a walk around.  Unfortunately, it was still over three hours until my train’s departure, and they didn’t even want to talk to me yet, so I spent my time sitting in the regular boarding lounge and watching the departure board. 😎  The seating isn’t very comfortable…the seats a soft enough, but there are no armrests.  I’ll have access to the Met. Lounge on my return, so maybe I can do a bit of exploring then.

ca. 12:00 (I don’t remember exactly when):

They started boarding 86 from the redcap lounge, and we were on the platform for a while waiting for the train to arrive.

I have seat 1A, the window seat in the first row on the fireman’s side*, in the business class car, which is the last car on the train.  There’s just enough room for my walker in front of me which I can use as a table for my computer.

We departed on time and, despite lots of slowdowns on Metro North and restricted (very slow) running behind a test train for a while, we were actually a few minutes early into New Haven.  Nothing else out of the ordinary happened with the train ride, and we arrived at Boston’s South Station just a couple of minutes late.

16:45:

There have been some big changes to South Station since the last time I was there.  The platforms are now almost all under cover because there’s a new building above them.  I’ll need to do some exploring there as well when I return.

I did remember how to get to the waiting taxis.  Unfortunately, it’s Friday rush hour, and the drive to Logan Airport took quite a while.

18:00:

Oops, I stupidly forgot to bring proof of my TSA precheck status, so I had to go through the regular line.  Fortunately, it didn’t take too long.  (I actually have Global Entry.  Maybe when I get back to Boston they’ll be able to look me up.  If not, my bad.)

19:00:

I’m now in the Air France lounge which passengers with Icelandair Saga Class tickets get to use.  I think I’ll make this the whole day 2 report and save a description of the Icelandair flights for day 3.

*Back in the days of steam engines, there were two crew in the cab:  the driver of the train, called an “engineer” in the U.S., who sat on the right side (and still does) for a better view of trackside signals, and the “fireman” who would sit on the left side when he wasn’t shoveling coal.  “Engineer’s side” and “fireman’s side” are still used today to mean the right and left sides of the train, respectively.

Varna Trip Report, day one

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2023-06-07 20:50 UTC−5 (still technically day 0)

I had left the Met. Lounge briefly and returned to find that they were already starting to board 48.  The lounge attendant said that a redcap was on the way and I should stand with several others also waiting for redcap assistance.  The redcap finally showed up around 21:10 with room for only four people to ride.  He could carry all the luggage, but two of the more capable of us had to walk behind.  I was glad I wasn’t one of the walkers because the train had been spotted all the way at the other side of the station on track 30.

The train departed promptly at 21:30.  We have three engine units one of which has a CPRail paint job, the Boston sleeper, the café car, two Boston coaches, three New York coaches, a Viewliner diner, two Viewliner I New York sleepers, a Viewliner baggage car, and a coach that, I guess, is deadheading.

Maybe the Boston sleeper is the Viewliner II on this trip…I don’t know for sure.  Both New York sleepers are definitely Viewliner Is.

2023-06-08 00:25 UTC−4 (now it’s day 1), we’re departing South Bend, already almost half an hour late at the first stop.

I woke up for both the Toledo and Cleveland stops.  There must be some schedule padding because we were out of Toledo right on time and arrived in Cleveland early and had a long stop waiting for the scheduled departure time.

The dining car folks don’t like making announcements on the PA, so around 06:40, I headed for the diner to find that they were already serving.  Don’t believe what I wrote in earlier posts about better dining on the Lake Shore Limited.  The car you’re riding in is a Viewliner diner; but the food is from the “flexible dining menu”, the same crap that I got on the Texas Eagle and would have gotten on the Capitol Limited had I taken that train eastbound out of Chicago.

A bit under half an hour east of Erie at 08:00, as we were passing a freight train, we had an emergency brake application.  I gathered from the radio traffic that one of the air hoses between two of the cars had parted* due to a defect that was reported to, but not fixed by, Chicago Mechanical.  (Folks who follow Amtrak will not be at all surprised by the condition of the trains that come out of Chicago.)

They needed a tripple spot at the Buffalo-Depew station, first for a crew change, then for the coaches, and finally for the sleepers and the baggage car.  After finishing the passenger work, they spent some time double-checking the air hose that had parted earlier; and we departed Depew just under one hour late.

At about 13:30, the conductor announced on the PA that we’ve got a stop signal, and we’ll be waiting on two westbound freights.  One of them passed right away, and the second showed up about eight minutes later.  We’re pulling again at 13:40.

An announcement at 14:10 said that the café car was closed.  Why would that be?  It turns out that this is a trip on which the Boston passengers get bustituted, and the Boston section deadheads to New York.

We made up almost all the late time on the CSX and arrived in Albany-Rensselaer only seven minutes late.

It turns out that the Boston section isn’t deadheading to New York after all.  Around 15:40 the head-end power (HEP, the electricity for the train) went off; and the Boston cars including the three engine units we started out with pulled forward and then shoved back to the yard.  They then added a dual-mode engine that can switch to straight electric for use from Croton-Harmon to Penn Station.

We got the HEP back at 16:04 and departed right on the advertised at 16:10.

We stopped shortly after leaving the station.  It turns out that we had to wait for another Amtrak train.  We’re pulling again at 16:22.

The ride on both the Amtrak Hudson Line and Metro North was very rough.  I don’t remember getting bounced around that much the previous times I’ve taken 49 westbound.  We finally arrived in Penn Station about 40 minutes late, give or take.

I got a redcap expecting only to be taken up the elevator and to the baggage claim area.  She actually walked me all the way to my hotel, which was just a block away.  I was embarrassed to give her only $3.00 for a tip because that’s all the cash I had.  I’d have been happy have given her a ten for her trouble.

*The way that air brakes work on trains is that pressure in the brake line holds the brakes off, and brakes are applied by reducing the pressure.  If the pressure drops quickly, for example if the brake line parts somewhere, the brakes get applied as hard and as fast as possible from a special air tank on each car.  That’s an “emergency brake application”.

Varna Trip Report, day zero

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2023-06-07 07:15 UTC−5

I checked a bag to New York and got let in to the Met. Lounge.  22 isn’t in the station yet…it usually is by now.  Dixielandsoftware shows it in southern Missouri, but doesn’t have a “status file”.  Amtrak’s own status page shows the train as “on time”.  We’ll see…

Amtrak’s status got later and later, but not my much; and we finally departed at 08:50, just :55 late.  I have no clue what the problem was.

The consist is really strange, the Cross-Country Café right after the engine, then a coach-baggage, an accessible coach, a sleeper, and a third coach.

This is my first trip using software called Maptitude.  The idea is that, given a GPS receiver plugged into a USB port on my laptop, it displays my current location along with some other information like latitude/longitude/altitude and my current direction and speed.  I didn’t like it at first because starting the GPS tracking requires going through several submenus with names that are not all that helpful.  I had to fire up my Verizon hotspot and use their on-line help to find the magic incantation; and it was almost 9:30 before I got it set up correctly.

The café attendant came by in the sleeper taking orders for lunch.  He said he had some cheeseburgers available, so that’s what I picked.

Lunchtime was supposed to be 11:00, so at that time I walked through the two coaches to the “dining car”; but lunch wasn’t quite ready yet; and it was around 11:25 before I got served.  I was expecting the “angus burger” that they have in the real diners, but what I got was a cheeseburger that was basically what one gets in the café on corridor trains, and it was served on a paper plate that was basically the same size as the sandwich.  I probably should have picked the ziti and meatballs.

The trip was mostly uneventful this time, so there’s not much to report.  We stayed about an hour late, give or take, all the way to Joliet; but thanks to schedule padding, we departed Joliet only 0:22 late.

It’s possible to lose time on the Canadian National between Joliet and Chicago, but everything went smoothly this time.  We had about a ten-minute delay waiting for a couple of trains to clear the 21st Street Bridge over the river; but we got on the bridge and entered Amtrak property at 14:10 and made our final stop at 14:16, just 0:32 late.  For Amtrak long-distance trains, that’s as close to on-time as makes no difference.

When we arrived, I had a layover of about 7:30 before the scheduled departure of the Lake Shore.  I checked in to the Met. Lounge, got caught up on my e-mail and FtB reading, and drafted and proofread this post up to this point.

At 18:00, I stopped by Sbarros and got a big slice of pizza for supper.  It was basically all dough, though, and I didn’t think it was any good at all.  I’ll have to rethink my choice of meals at Chicago Union Station for future trips.

I’ll make this the whole day 0 report.  Even though the Lake Shore will depart today, it’ll be late tonight, so I’ll save the whole trip to New York for day 1.

Time to get started on my Bernie Sanders book…

Varna Trip Report, day minus one

Tomorrow I’ll be on my way to Varna, Bulgaria for a meeting of the ISO standards committee for the C++ programming language.  This will be my first trip to Eastern Europe, and I’m looking forward to it.

[itinerary]

I’ve decided to start out on the Texas Eagle, even though that will give me an extremely long layover in Chicago, because I don’t think I can trust Lincoln Service train 318 to make the connection to the Lake Shore Limited.  Also, riding on the Eagle, I can check a bag all the way to New York; but the Lincoln Service trains don’t carry checked baggage.

I’ll have an accessible bedroom on the Lake Shore, likely my first ride in one of the newer Viewliner II cars.  Several years ago I had a Viewliner I accessible bedroom* which has a separate room for the sink, toilet and shower; but from the diagrams that I’ve found on the Web, it looks like the Viewliner IIs have all the plumbing out in the room.  We’ll see…

I’m going via New York eastbound, and spending the night there, because I can’t count on the Boston section of the Lake Shore arriving in time to catch my flight out of Logan.

I don’t like flying very much, not because I’m afraid of it — it’s just as safe as riding on a train, and very much safer than blasting down a highway; but I couldn’t find good train connections between Western and Eastern Europe; so I’ll be flying all the way east of North America.  (There’s an overnight train between Sofia and Varna which I would have liked to take, but even getting to Sofia by train was a problem.)

I like to fly Icelandair across the Pond for a couple of reasons:  I actually like getting off the plane and stretching my legs in Keflavík; and I’m fortunate to be able to afford Icelandair’s Saga class if I don’t try to afford other stuff that I don’t really want that much anyway.  Trans-Atlantic business class on other airlines would probably be out of my price range.  I like to fly out of Boston because that’s the shortest flight between the U.S. and Keflavík.

The trip home will be basically the reverse of the eastbound itinerary.  I had originally booked an accessible bedroom on the Boston section of the Lake Shore; but I got a robocall from Amtrak saying that there would be a schedule change.  It turns out that there’ll be trackwork going on that day, which is not unusual in the summer, so I’d be on a bus from Boston to the Albany-Rensselaer station and board my sleeper there.  I decided instead to get business class tickets on a Northeast Regional train 171 to New York, and then on the Ethan Allen Express train 291 to Rensselaer.  (I had trouble making that change initially, but it finally worked out.)  I’m hoping that, once I get to New York, I’ll be able to check a bag on the New York section of the Lake Shore all the way to St. Louis.

The only drawback is that I’ll miss a few baseball games.  (I’m not the sort of fan who knows all the players’ WARs and where they went to high school, but I enjoy watching the games.)

[Timetables for the Texas Eagle, Lake Shore Limited, and trains 86, 171, and 291]

*I had booked a roomette from Boston to Chicago; but the Boston sleeper didn’t run on that day.  Passengers with sleeper tickets got special seating in the business class car and a complimentary meal in the dinette; and then in Albany-Rensselaer where the two sections of the train are combined, the plan was to move us to one of the New York sleepers.  When we got to Rensselaer, it turned out that they were one roomette short; and since I was a single guy traveling alone, and I was young and able in those days, I was, quite reasonably, the odd man out.  They put me in coach and refunded the sleeper fare.

I wasn’t happy about that, but there was no point in screaming at the ticket agents in Rensselaer…it wasn’t their doing, and indeed they probably found out about it shortly before I did.  I guess word about my behavior got passed along because the crew out of Rensselaer were unusually gracious to me. 😎

One of the accessible bedrooms was vacated in either Elyria or Sandusky, so during the stop in Toledo, one of the crew moved me from coach to that room; and I rode there for the last few hours of the trip at no additional charge.  I also got a free breakfast in the diner.

Good news for my Varna trip…

… but it started out scary.

I thought of changing my Amtrak reservation on-line, but when I looked it up, Amtrak’s website said that it couldn’t be found. I was afraid that one of the St. Louis ticket agents had cancelled the whole trip, so I called 1-800-USA-RAIL.

It was about fifty minutes after I initiated the call before I finally got connected to a person at customer service, but I’m glad I stayed on the line. The person I talked to knew immediately what my problem was, retrieved the reservation, put it back in effect, and added trains 171 from Boston to New York, and 291 from New York to Albany-Rensselaer, business class on both new trains.  And there was no additional charge:  he said he had “taken care of it” for me. 😎

And while I had him on the line, he made another change to a trip to Kailua-Kona, HI that I’ll be taking in November, and which involves Amtrak trains in the continental US.  The westbound trip will now start one day earlier, which I wanted to do to give myself some buffer if something bad happens to train 5 that day.  That also gives me a whole day to get from Amtrak’s Emeryville station to SFO airport, so I should be able to do that on the Emery Go-Round and BART instead of taking a taxi.

That cost me an additional $450 or something since I’m now in a higher fare bucket, but the good news is that I got room D instead of room E, and the electrical outlet will be on the “correct” side of the room.  All I still have to do is get a reservation for one night at the hotel across the tracks from the Emeryville station.

So now I’m a happy camper again. 😎  My day-minus-one post should appear this coming Tuesday.

On Older Prose

In a comment to a post about Frederick Douglass on Mano’s blog, John Morales quoted a bit of Douglass’ writing and said about it,

Old-timey, dense but succinct, convoluted but quite clear.
I kinda like that style.

I’m currently reading The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith.  (I figured I should read it sooner or later, and it’s quickly becoming later rather than sooner.)

I, too, enjoy the beauty of pre-twentieth century prose; and I admire the care that the authors took with it; but I find Smith tedious because he keeps saying the same damn thing over and over again.  I wish he’d make his point and move on.

For lighter reading, I’m working on It’s OK to be Angry about Capitalism by Bernie Sanders.  I’m spending a lot more time with Smith but getting through Sanders much more rapidly.  I guess that’s not really very surprising. 😎

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I hardly ever skim anything, preferring to savor the language.  That makes me a slow reader, but I like it that way.  I’m guessing that I have much the same feeling as do folks who are more visual than I when they stand and stare at a painting.
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