Early Morning Greeting
by Hella ~ April 14th, 2004I’m back in Philadelphia again. I got in yesterday afternoon after a pretty smooth couple of flights up here. Septa, of course, had to find a way to trick me. Instead of confusing me with the peak/off-peak charges on the R1 (the airport is always peak, no matter what), the train decided to arrive on the other track at the airport. Of course I was on a platform where I couldn’t board the train so I waited another 30 minutes for the next one. Anyway.
I was up early this morning so I decided to head over to a bakery I saw close to the hotel. Little did I know that it doesn’t open until 7am. Do people not get up early here? Some days, I’m already to work by that time. If I’m going to be walking to school, this place might not even be open when I want to stop by. The luck.
On my way to the bakery, one of Philly’s finest (not a uniformed officer) approached me for some chat. Like last time, I just pretended to not be interested and kept walking. However, this time the guy made it a point to tell me he was energized by how fast I was walking, even though he had a cane. He kept right up with me until I finally came to the corner and I guess his invisible leash started yanking at his neck. Who knows?
I tried my luck at Starbucks. I decided to start a really bad habit and powered up a new StarbucksCard with $25. I ordered my coffee after paying for the power-up and the barista started making my drink. After he finished, I reminded him I hadn’t yet paid for it. He said, “it’s ok, you just spent $25″. I ventured over to the register where another worker was giving me a confused look. Normally, of course, you pay before you get your drink. I asked her if I could pay to which the first barista said “he’s persistent”. Persistent? Try honest. And ready to leave! Details.
After returning to the hotel with my coffee, I set up my new card via the registration process. Starbucks has a nice little site with all sorts of things to encourage customers to support their habits. One can even setup the card to automatically reload the card when it’s running low on value. Dangerous.
Anyhow, the bed at this hotel isn’t near as comfortable as I remember. I’m going to have to request another pillow because the one I’ve got is about as supportive as a sheet of paper. It’s also nice to be able to feel the springs in the ribs. Hmrph.
In other news, Philadelphia appears to have plant life this time. Hopefully I’ll see more today as I’m planning a walk up near Fairmount. The weather looks like it will be nice even though it was pretty dreary and raining off and on yesterday afternoon and evening.
April 14th, 2004 at 7:40 am
As much as Philly may not feel like home, it will in due time. I felt like I was in another country during Welcome Weekend and for the first few weeks of pre-term, but Philly definitely grew on me! Plus, most of your time is spent in/around Huntsman Hall anyways… :)