Tikkabik

The trip for E3 started out on the wrong foot. I got out of the house late -- my own fault and poor planning -- so my ride (Mom's limo service) ended up taking me to the airport directly instead of the shuttle bus as we had planned. That actually worked out okay, but it was still a needless stress. Fortunately, traffic was non-existent at Logan airport on Sunday morning.

Got to the airport, checked in my luggage and got to the gate with an hour to spare, but the flight was fully booked, and the travel agency could only get me a middle seat -- not exactly optimal conditions for a 6-foot 1-inch 280 pound man. The flight was overbooked, so getting a seat reassignment or using my meager collection of frequent flier miles on American to upgrade was out of the question.

Speaking over overbooking: Upon boarding, I'd discovered that a woman traveling with her husband had already occupied my seat -- indeed, the system had somehow double-booked our seat, so I had to wait for them to find me an open seat. The back row, ass-end of the fuselage, had one, and it was an aisle seat. The flight attendant explained to me that the couple had used American's online service to check in from home that morning (while my seat assignment had been made weeks before by the travel agency). Apparently there are still some bugs to work out there.

The plane backed away from the gate on time and got to the end of the runway, throttled up to take off and slammed on the brakes almost as quickly. After a few minutes at the end of the runway, the pilot explained that the oil pressure had dropped in one of the engines when they went to throttle up, so they went back to the gate to check things out.

Of course, this was the opportunity for an elderly passenger about twenty rows in front of me -- a nervous flier -- had been looking for to complete her breakdown. She was already being loud and making demands of the crew, the source of some grumbling from the coach class attendants in the rear galley. She got up as soon as we got to the gate and grabbed her things, demanding to be let out. Eventually the flight attendants assuaged her, after they convinced her she'd have to rebook a flight the following day if she planned on going out to Los Angeles.

And no, they didn't have a spare plane to use, and no, they wouldn't put her on another airline. I guess Gramma hasn't been reading the news lately, and doesn't understand that the airline industry isn't exactly flush with cash these days. Which, coincidentally, is why I ended up paying $5 for a turkey wrap about three hours later.

An hour and a half after our departure time, after the mechanics had oiled up the engine and the pilots had filled out the appropriate paperwork (I shit you not, that was the explanation the captain gave over the intercom) we backed away from the gate and took off. Outside of some turbulence, it was a smooth trip. Unfortunately, sitting in the back row of the plane we were on also means getting to smell whatever wafts out of the lavatory over the course of the trip, which put me off my turkey wrap. A waste of $5.

I'm staying downtown again this year, and the room is serviceable but a bit small. I have a spectacular view of the Los Angeles Public Library from my room, and yesterday on the street beneath the window got to watch what I was told were some American Idol finalists shooting a music video in a brand new drop-top Mustang. I have no idea who they were -- I don't watch that tripe. They were escorted by a phalanx of L.A.'s Finest on bikes. Every time I saw the cops I couldn't help but hear the CHiPs theme running through my head, expecting to see Ponch and John get off and flash their pearly whites.

Weather in L.A. is temperate enough (it's regularly in the 70s and 80s this time of year) although it's overcast and rather gray. Still, the climate agrees with me. Even if the air quality in downtown L.A. isn't the greatest in the world.

I'm going to head over to the L.A. Convention Center in a few minutes to get my credentials squared away. More later.