Mats
Mar 3, 08, 5:53 pm
For the past few months, I have been working to escape from Columbus. It’s a sort of depressing place. Although it’s remarkably affordable, it has little else to offer. After a long, grey winter, I decided that I must move someplace more cosmopolitan with nicer weather.
The choices are Tel Aviv and San Francisco. I applied for jobs in both, but the former is perhaps a pipe dream. Moving to Israel would be complicated from a financial, personal, and job standpoint. San Francisco would mean a huge change in cost of living, but a lot more practical for a variety of reasons.
I decided to go have a look. Continental was offering $99 fares to the West Coast, and Westin was having a “stay two nights, get the third free” promotion. I had no interest in taking a CRJ from Columbus to Houston, so I chose to backtrack via Newark to avoid such confinement for a rather long flight.
Aware that Elite upgrades are almost impossible on daylight Newark-West Coast flights, I cashed in 15,000 miles for a confirmed seat up front. Although I can certainly survive six hours in the back, I was able to upgrade with a few mouse clicks.
On the way
Despite allowing for ample time to get to the airport, I managed—as usual—to run late. I ordinarily use the “Thrifty” car parking service. They seemed short on staff, could not tell me how long it would take to park the car, so I gave up. Running dangerously close to the check-in limit, I zoomed to the costlier parking garage and rushed inside.
There was no line at check-in, and I managed to have boarding cards and check my bag within one or two minutes. It was 9 minutes before the check-in limit.
There was a 5-10 minute wait at security. The staff weren’t overtly nasty, but these were not happy people. I just avoided eye contact and got through as quickly as possible.
Boarding began momentarily after I arrived at the gate. It was an entirely full flight.
Continental 506
CMH-EWR
Seat 1B
737-500
The lead flight attendant could have been described with many horrible words, which would be unfit to write on this forum. She snapped my jacket out of my hand and shot fire from her eyes as she asked if I wanted something to drink. “Coffee,” I smiled, “What do you WANT in it?” she barked.
Fortunately, the lead F/A assumed a position in the main cabin after takeoff, presumably to scold and insult unsuspecting economy class passengers. I was left under the care and service of a much friendlier crew member, which was a great relief.
Breakfast was exceptional for such a short flight: a ceramic bowl of berry yogurt, a bowl of fruit with mangoes and melon, and a very nice warm croissant. I licked my plate clean.
Newark
Terminal C improves every day. I’ve been changing planes there since I was in high school, and it’s changed so much. There are so many new shops, the Continental staff seem a bit cheerier, and the place is so much cleaner than in the past. Despite the delays, Newark has made a great turnaround.
Continental 1702
EWR-SFO
Seat 1E
737-800There was a delay of just under an hour. Rainfall earlier in the day delayed several flights. Thankfully, I was not in a hurry. Nobody else seemed to care that much. I used the time to have my shoes shined, have a cup of coffee, and avoided getting worked-up.
Once on board, the crew worked hard to get everyone settled. There were an inordinate number of small children, but the crew were diplomatic and helpful.
I was served by a great flight attendant. She’s actually my favorite kind of flight attendant: casual and laid-back. She also happened to be very pregnant. In any case, she goofed up my salad dressing and sundae order, but I could have cared less. She was so pleasant and accommodating that it really didn’t matter.
It did seem, however, like an overwhelming task for her to serve the entire first class cabin on her own. Continental’s meal service is very good, but it’s labor intensive. This flight attendant, pregnant as she was, had the task of getting 20 orders, 20 salads, 20 entrees, 20 sundaes. That’s a lot for one person.
For those interested, the meals are just slightly dressed-down versions of BusinessFirst meals.
Semi-warm mixed nuts
Salmon roulade
Salad with vinaigrette or ranch dressing
Bread basket with garlic bread, pretzel rolls, and a few other choices
Chicken with air-dried beef and tomato sauce (ICK!)
Fish with shellfish sauce (ICK!)
Manicotti with marinara sauce
Veal with potatoes
Sundaes with strawberry, caramel, or chocolate sauces, nuts, and whipped cream
I opted for the safest bet: the pasta, which I’ve had several times before. It was edible, particularly with multiple glasses of red wine.
Of course I got pasta sauce, caramel, etc. on my shirt. But that’s pretty much expected in my case.
Due to headwinds, the flight was almost six hours. But the time passed quickly.
I was mad that there were no power outlets, which Continental advertises as a feature on its 737-800’s. Oh well.
While in flight, I started pondering my various life decisions. I became tearful
(I know, how embarrassing) when thinking about going back to Israel, but I decided that I would give San Francisco a fair chance. As my father put it, “You don’t meet many people who dislike San Francisco.”
For the first time in about ten years for me, we had a missed approach. The captain explained that another plane was landing on a parallel runway “just a little too close.” I’m grateful that we had a TOGA rather than risk bumping in to anyone else.
The guy sitting next to me was using his Blackberry the whole time. I was tempted to say, “Look, we already had one missed approach, let’s not have another.” I doubt that a Blackberry would really interfere with the glideslope, but why test the waters?
Bags took about 15 minutes to arrive, and mine was the third or fourth on the belt.
The Westin St. Francis
A quick 20 minutes on the BART and I was at Union Square.
This is a massive hotel. It has a nondescript, big city feel. But the rooms are large and decently appointed. Nothing too spectacular, but certainly not bad either. The room rate was so cheap that I had absolutely nothing to complain about.
The choices are Tel Aviv and San Francisco. I applied for jobs in both, but the former is perhaps a pipe dream. Moving to Israel would be complicated from a financial, personal, and job standpoint. San Francisco would mean a huge change in cost of living, but a lot more practical for a variety of reasons.
I decided to go have a look. Continental was offering $99 fares to the West Coast, and Westin was having a “stay two nights, get the third free” promotion. I had no interest in taking a CRJ from Columbus to Houston, so I chose to backtrack via Newark to avoid such confinement for a rather long flight.
Aware that Elite upgrades are almost impossible on daylight Newark-West Coast flights, I cashed in 15,000 miles for a confirmed seat up front. Although I can certainly survive six hours in the back, I was able to upgrade with a few mouse clicks.
On the way
Despite allowing for ample time to get to the airport, I managed—as usual—to run late. I ordinarily use the “Thrifty” car parking service. They seemed short on staff, could not tell me how long it would take to park the car, so I gave up. Running dangerously close to the check-in limit, I zoomed to the costlier parking garage and rushed inside.
There was no line at check-in, and I managed to have boarding cards and check my bag within one or two minutes. It was 9 minutes before the check-in limit.
There was a 5-10 minute wait at security. The staff weren’t overtly nasty, but these were not happy people. I just avoided eye contact and got through as quickly as possible.
Boarding began momentarily after I arrived at the gate. It was an entirely full flight.
Continental 506
CMH-EWR
Seat 1B
737-500
The lead flight attendant could have been described with many horrible words, which would be unfit to write on this forum. She snapped my jacket out of my hand and shot fire from her eyes as she asked if I wanted something to drink. “Coffee,” I smiled, “What do you WANT in it?” she barked.
Fortunately, the lead F/A assumed a position in the main cabin after takeoff, presumably to scold and insult unsuspecting economy class passengers. I was left under the care and service of a much friendlier crew member, which was a great relief.
Breakfast was exceptional for such a short flight: a ceramic bowl of berry yogurt, a bowl of fruit with mangoes and melon, and a very nice warm croissant. I licked my plate clean.
Newark
Terminal C improves every day. I’ve been changing planes there since I was in high school, and it’s changed so much. There are so many new shops, the Continental staff seem a bit cheerier, and the place is so much cleaner than in the past. Despite the delays, Newark has made a great turnaround.
Continental 1702
EWR-SFO
Seat 1E
737-800There was a delay of just under an hour. Rainfall earlier in the day delayed several flights. Thankfully, I was not in a hurry. Nobody else seemed to care that much. I used the time to have my shoes shined, have a cup of coffee, and avoided getting worked-up.
Once on board, the crew worked hard to get everyone settled. There were an inordinate number of small children, but the crew were diplomatic and helpful.
I was served by a great flight attendant. She’s actually my favorite kind of flight attendant: casual and laid-back. She also happened to be very pregnant. In any case, she goofed up my salad dressing and sundae order, but I could have cared less. She was so pleasant and accommodating that it really didn’t matter.
It did seem, however, like an overwhelming task for her to serve the entire first class cabin on her own. Continental’s meal service is very good, but it’s labor intensive. This flight attendant, pregnant as she was, had the task of getting 20 orders, 20 salads, 20 entrees, 20 sundaes. That’s a lot for one person.
For those interested, the meals are just slightly dressed-down versions of BusinessFirst meals.
Semi-warm mixed nuts
Salmon roulade
Salad with vinaigrette or ranch dressing
Bread basket with garlic bread, pretzel rolls, and a few other choices
Chicken with air-dried beef and tomato sauce (ICK!)
Fish with shellfish sauce (ICK!)
Manicotti with marinara sauce
Veal with potatoes
Sundaes with strawberry, caramel, or chocolate sauces, nuts, and whipped cream
I opted for the safest bet: the pasta, which I’ve had several times before. It was edible, particularly with multiple glasses of red wine.
Of course I got pasta sauce, caramel, etc. on my shirt. But that’s pretty much expected in my case.
Due to headwinds, the flight was almost six hours. But the time passed quickly.
I was mad that there were no power outlets, which Continental advertises as a feature on its 737-800’s. Oh well.
While in flight, I started pondering my various life decisions. I became tearful
(I know, how embarrassing) when thinking about going back to Israel, but I decided that I would give San Francisco a fair chance. As my father put it, “You don’t meet many people who dislike San Francisco.”
For the first time in about ten years for me, we had a missed approach. The captain explained that another plane was landing on a parallel runway “just a little too close.” I’m grateful that we had a TOGA rather than risk bumping in to anyone else.
The guy sitting next to me was using his Blackberry the whole time. I was tempted to say, “Look, we already had one missed approach, let’s not have another.” I doubt that a Blackberry would really interfere with the glideslope, but why test the waters?
Bags took about 15 minutes to arrive, and mine was the third or fourth on the belt.
The Westin St. Francis
A quick 20 minutes on the BART and I was at Union Square.
This is a massive hotel. It has a nondescript, big city feel. But the rooms are large and decently appointed. Nothing too spectacular, but certainly not bad either. The room rate was so cheap that I had absolutely nothing to complain about.