My How Flies Time
Jul. 25th, 2019 11:20 pmQuick rundown of the last two days. More about the show to follow maybe tomorrow.
20 minutes to walk to light rail. Had to stop a few times for the sciatica. Glad I left the house way early because as usual just as I came in sight of the station, a train was leaving. Next one in half an hour.
Light rail from my stop to the Amtrak station is slow as mole asses because it's all on surface streets with plenty of stop lights (no, light rail does not get priority, they have to stop like the rest of traffic). As usual, there were no signs at the gates hinting which was my train, so I had to ask at the info desk. CalTrain owns the signs and they don't put Amtrak info on them, which is sucky because tracks 2 and 3 are almost exclusively Amtrak California Corridor trains.
I was more than an hour early, but that doesn't matter because they don't open the doors until most of the passengers are already lined up.
Uneventful ride, though it was interesting how many establishments have become disestablished and replaced by emptiness or expensive condos. One section of construction was all chain hotels. Lots of hobo camps from Vallejo to Sacto. But in the past they were dense, now they are more scattered.
100° arriving in Sacramento. The cart drivers for us old lame people have changed from begrudging to eager and helpful. I didn't have to walk half a mile from the train to the station.
But there were no taxis, and no buses ran anywhere close to the theater or hotel, so I walked slowly from I and 4th to H and 14th past the theater and on to the Econolodge, two blocks up an half a block in. Except the sidewalks were blocked off in a way which made me have to walk an extra two blocks.
No problem with check-in. Got my key, bought a pepsi and got some ice from the machine, got out of my wet things and finished half the soda, then took a nap. That was about 4:30. 6:30 was at will call, they did not have my ticket. But they did check my ID and found my seat assignment and printed a ticket for me. All very friendly.
Door opened at 7-ish, big promenade with a fountain and the obligatory contributor names art work, and several stands selling food & drinks. The subscribers have their own room indoors with air con and goodies. By this time it had cooled down to 97°. But 15% humidity so not so bad.
7:15 house opened. Very clear announcements outside that curtain was 7:30, no one late would be seated for 15 minutes. I was in the 2nd row, seat 7 of 9.
Nutshell review - best Guys & Dolls ever. Brilliantly directed. Many creative small bits added which vastly improved the show. Never thought to look at my watch.
20-minute intermission was clocked, and the same warnings to return, but this time only a few minutes lock out for latecomers. Wandering the promenade, there are some very fine women in Sacramento. State capitol, so yeah. Cooled off to 94°.
Skip to the end of the show, I found the small mob waiting for autographs. Sister Sarah is so tiny at first I thought she was one of the high school kids until she started signing programs. Leslie was one of the last to come out, she did recognize me (Facebook helped) and we took a couple of selfies before I shared her with her adoring public.
Back to the motel, I made a wrong turn trying to avoid the closed sidewalks so ended up walking 6 blocks instead of 2.5.
Wifi was useless there. Took my meds, got undressed and in bed. Did not sleep well, I was up at 6:30, showered and dressed. had the very meager continental breakfast in the office, back to the room to put my chargers away. Checked out, and had them call a cab for me, which arrived in 15 minutes. $8 fare to the train station. My feet were hurting from yesterday...
Had a frappe at Starbucks on the corner, I was way early and tried to hang out there but got antsy and hung out in the waiting areas in and around the station. Lots of people passing by, occasional eye candy. Major police presence.
Got on the cart at noon for the 12:14 train. Got a good seat, I thought, but when the traine pulled out I was facing backwards. I hate that. And the train was too crowded to change seats all the way to SJ.
Took lots of naps, got some video of the ghost town.
Arrived on time, thought about a taxi home but rush hour would have made that painful, so I took light rail. I had to run to tag my card and catch the train as it came around the bend.
Boring slow ride. Long painful walk to the house.
To be continued
20 minutes to walk to light rail. Had to stop a few times for the sciatica. Glad I left the house way early because as usual just as I came in sight of the station, a train was leaving. Next one in half an hour.
Light rail from my stop to the Amtrak station is slow as mole asses because it's all on surface streets with plenty of stop lights (no, light rail does not get priority, they have to stop like the rest of traffic). As usual, there were no signs at the gates hinting which was my train, so I had to ask at the info desk. CalTrain owns the signs and they don't put Amtrak info on them, which is sucky because tracks 2 and 3 are almost exclusively Amtrak California Corridor trains.
I was more than an hour early, but that doesn't matter because they don't open the doors until most of the passengers are already lined up.
Uneventful ride, though it was interesting how many establishments have become disestablished and replaced by emptiness or expensive condos. One section of construction was all chain hotels. Lots of hobo camps from Vallejo to Sacto. But in the past they were dense, now they are more scattered.
100° arriving in Sacramento. The cart drivers for us old lame people have changed from begrudging to eager and helpful. I didn't have to walk half a mile from the train to the station.
But there were no taxis, and no buses ran anywhere close to the theater or hotel, so I walked slowly from I and 4th to H and 14th past the theater and on to the Econolodge, two blocks up an half a block in. Except the sidewalks were blocked off in a way which made me have to walk an extra two blocks.
No problem with check-in. Got my key, bought a pepsi and got some ice from the machine, got out of my wet things and finished half the soda, then took a nap. That was about 4:30. 6:30 was at will call, they did not have my ticket. But they did check my ID and found my seat assignment and printed a ticket for me. All very friendly.
Door opened at 7-ish, big promenade with a fountain and the obligatory contributor names art work, and several stands selling food & drinks. The subscribers have their own room indoors with air con and goodies. By this time it had cooled down to 97°. But 15% humidity so not so bad.
7:15 house opened. Very clear announcements outside that curtain was 7:30, no one late would be seated for 15 minutes. I was in the 2nd row, seat 7 of 9.
Nutshell review - best Guys & Dolls ever. Brilliantly directed. Many creative small bits added which vastly improved the show. Never thought to look at my watch.
20-minute intermission was clocked, and the same warnings to return, but this time only a few minutes lock out for latecomers. Wandering the promenade, there are some very fine women in Sacramento. State capitol, so yeah. Cooled off to 94°.
Skip to the end of the show, I found the small mob waiting for autographs. Sister Sarah is so tiny at first I thought she was one of the high school kids until she started signing programs. Leslie was one of the last to come out, she did recognize me (Facebook helped) and we took a couple of selfies before I shared her with her adoring public.
Back to the motel, I made a wrong turn trying to avoid the closed sidewalks so ended up walking 6 blocks instead of 2.5.
Wifi was useless there. Took my meds, got undressed and in bed. Did not sleep well, I was up at 6:30, showered and dressed. had the very meager continental breakfast in the office, back to the room to put my chargers away. Checked out, and had them call a cab for me, which arrived in 15 minutes. $8 fare to the train station. My feet were hurting from yesterday...
Had a frappe at Starbucks on the corner, I was way early and tried to hang out there but got antsy and hung out in the waiting areas in and around the station. Lots of people passing by, occasional eye candy. Major police presence.
Got on the cart at noon for the 12:14 train. Got a good seat, I thought, but when the traine pulled out I was facing backwards. I hate that. And the train was too crowded to change seats all the way to SJ.
Took lots of naps, got some video of the ghost town.
Arrived on time, thought about a taxi home but rush hour would have made that painful, so I took light rail. I had to run to tag my card and catch the train as it came around the bend.
Boring slow ride. Long painful walk to the house.
To be continued