I’m what you might call “dismayed” right now

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And a little ticked off, too.

The reason: I’ve been officially bumped down to coach for the whole trip to Seattle. Two nights in a chair with no space to do even rudimentary pain-controlling work on my legs. And this was supposed to be a chance to take a couple of days to myself and finish the submission package for A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark (aka “The Auntie Mame Files”) for mailing next week. I still plan to work, but in coach I’ll be much less productive, if only because I can’t fucking sleep in a chair without a lot of pain.

Oh Jeez, was that negative? Am I posting negative things on my blog, when so many experts advice me to be all cheerful and upbeat and fascinating?

Well, that’s a load of ass. I’m in for two and a half days of pain and I’m deeply unhappy about it. I’ll deal with it, because I always do. I have Tylenol and an extra book to read, and even the coach seats comes with electrical outlets. I’ll work, and eat sandwiches wrapped in plastic, and I’ll carry a bag of bagels onboard. Or something.

Christ. This is going to suck.

Added later: The Chicago Public Library is completely gorgeous, and they even carry my books. I’m sitting in the “Winter Garden” a big, beautiful room with marble floors, trees and ivy in planters, and a glass ceiling to show the blue, blue sky. It’s very soothing a beautiful.

Now I’m going to head out to get some food, then try again for a roomette.

Added later still: Got one! Actually, I got two rooms, one for the first two-thirds of the trip to Whitefish, Montana (about 9pm on Thursday night), and another, much nicer room from Whitefish all the way into Seattle. They’re calling the nicer room a “Deluxe” and I admit I don’t know what that means. If it’s the next size up from the “roomette” I’ll get my own bathroom and shower.

And I get to eat actual restaurant food instead of plastic-wrapped sandwiches out of the lounge.

Now I’m in the “Metropolitan” waiting room, where people w/ sleeping accommodations wait for their trains. It’s as different from the coach waiting room as a hotel lobby is from waiting area of the county hospital. There are leather chairs, big screen TVs, and a fireplace decorated with lights and stockings (not to mention a live fire).

Swank.

4 thoughts on “I’m what you might call “dismayed” right now

  1. Kate Shaw

    Did your down-bumping have something to do with the weather, or are the train people getting as cavalier about their customers as the plane people are? Either way, it kind of sucks that it happened at all. I hope the deluxe room is nice.

    I’m planning to take the train when I go to Worldcon in 2012. I hope I get better service than you’ve had so far.

  2. The train is super comfortable when you’re on it. It’s just perennially slow and late. Do you have to go far for your train trip? I recommend getting a sleeper car if you can. All restaurant meals are included in the price and they really treat you nicely.

  3. Kate Shaw

    Yeah, I’m going to take the overnight City of New Orleans train from Memphis to Chicago. I can’t wait! It means driving to Memphis from Knoxville first, unfortunately, since there’s no train out here, but they have a secure parking lot. And maybe by 2012 we’ll have a train across Tennessee!

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