Work's been both slow and overwhelming due to the absence of two agents at once. The boss went on a Mediterranean cruise, lucky dog, and our assistant manager went camping somewhere peaceful and scenic. The rest of us alternated between chatting idly and spinning into high gear when too many phone calls came in at once. Everyone's worried about the Northwest Airlines strike scheduled for Saturday.
They should be. It'll be a real hassle for anyone who needs to travel in the upper Midwest, particularly Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I had a client who insisted on getting a ticket from Frankfurt, Germany to Detroit on Saturday even though I told him earnestly and at length he was asking for trouble. They will strike; Northwest has already cancelled a lot of domestic service for the weekend. He will be forced to find a different way home. There's not that many flights to San Francisco on any given day, after all, and if there's a strike he'll be at the airport all day trying to get another flight out. And he will be cranky about it even though we tried to tell him not to do it. I wish my good advice did some good, but the frequent business travelers always think they know something we don't. Sometimes they do. Not in this case.
Lunch with Janet Burrola was a great success. The restaurant we went to serves way too much food. Between her sandwich and my salad we could have fed four people. It's fun to meet new people; I often forget how much I enjoy it because I'm always "meeting new people" as a part of my job. But to meet someone you already know you have something in common with is a much different proposition, and far more satisfying. In a moment of madness, as I said yesterday, I'd also arranged to meet Jennifer and Jay in the city for dinner. It was also a great success. Akiko Sushi is really good if you're ever at Bush Street between Grant and Kearney in San Francisco. I was amused to discover Jay eats only five or six things, but since one of them was sushi I was in luck; I don't like turkey hot dogs!
On the hourlong train ride home I started Greg Bear's Slant as part of my effort to catch up with science fiction. Man, it's good. It has the right amount of science, technology, futuristic slang, world building, and genuine character development to keep my attention without making me feel like a techno-dodo. It's set in Seattle and there was one reference point he used that jolted me with old memories: I used to have dinner at the Thirteen Coins with my family all the time. It was odd to have it turn up in the book.
And now I must prepare myself for a final day of being understaffed. Just to make it extra special, Air Canada is preparing to go on strike. I love my job.
