Day 1: Friday November 5, 2004

SFO to Detroit
I'm all packed now, and planning to leave the house around 10:15am to make my 12:30 flight. I'm doing some last minute emails, and Rick is watching Klaus Floride and East Bay Ray of Dead Kennedy's being interviewed on The Biz on CNNfn. I see footage of them performing live and punk rock moshing on TV. Being that the DKs are a band I remember from over 20 years ago, I find it very weird, but very cool to be watching them on a major news network like CNN. This is a good show, I think remembering how they interviewed the band Cake a few weeks back, and I must watch it more, but the time has come to leave now, and I shut down my computer and head out for the airport.

Northwest Sucks!
I get to airport in good time to make my flight. I've chosen to fly Northwest for the major legs of my trip, as my first destination is Detroit, and Northwest, who operates a huge hub in Detroit, has the best prices for my multi-city route. The plane is not full. I have the window seat and the middle seat is empty. I am happy, thinking smooth sailing so far. Then they announce a mechanical problem with the plane. What it was exactly, I can't remember. They try to tackle it, but it doesn't seem to be working. After over an hour of waiting, over half the passengers, who have connecting flights to make, deplane, only to find out 5 minutes later that the problem is fixed and they can come back on. We wait for everyone to get back on and buckle up one last time. I call Sarah and tell her my flight has been delayed and to check the Northwest website for the arrival time. We take off 2 hours late.

The only good thing that arises out of the delay is that the usual uncomfortable silence on a flight is broken by a mutual concern. I start talking to the man sitting on the aisle seat - Dale from Kalamazoo, MI, who's in his mid-to-late 50's. He asks me where I'm going and I tell him my three destinations. "Power shopping?" he asks, knowingly. I'm starving, and he offers me one of the granola bars his wife always packs for him. He says he never eats them, and I wonder what he does to them as she keeps packing more for him. I am happy to eat it, as I really like granola bars! The flight attendants serve lunch, which is just vile. A horrible sandwich, consisting of a cold roll, slice of cheese and luncheon meat, Fritos and an apple. I pass on the cold roll, but being that I'm hungry, I eat everything else including the Fritos. I can't remember the last time I had Fritos. Fortunately, they do offer us some free drinks. I have a Wisconsin beer (can't remember the brand name now) that the passenger on the other side of the aisle recommends. Dale also has a beer, and something stronger to drink as well.

Somehow Dale and I start about music. Probably because I have my iPod with me and he is intrigued by it. He tells me someone he used to work with several years ago burned Van Morrison's entire catalog for him. I can't imagine how many CDs that would be! I tell him Van Morrison is my favorite singer and ask him what his favorite Van Morrison album is. I can't remember now what he said. I say mine is No Guru, No Method, No Teacher and he's not sure if he remembers it. So I play him "In the Garden" on my iPod, and he nods. He knows it. I play him some more songs on my iPod and he likes them and makes note of them. I show him how the iPod works, and take out my computer and show him how to make playlists on iTunes. I try to convince him that he should get an iPod, but he's not sure his wife will think it's such a good idea, however, he says how she's always packing CDs to play when they go away, and how it would be great not to have to do that anymore. Exactly is what I say.

We finally arrive at Detroit International. It's a big airport, and you have to one of those trains to get to baggage claim. I wait at the designated carousel for a while, but they change it, and I have to move. Sarah calls and I say I'm waiting for my luggage. I'm very unimpressed with NorthWest. Finally I get my bag and head out. Sarah comes driving up and we head off. I'm finally here!

Part of the freeway home is closed so we take a detour. Sarah drives me through her old neighborhood and points out the house she grew up in, where her dad lives. There is a light on in the living room, but we don't stop. It's not as bad a neighborhood as she made it out to be, but still, we wouldn't want to live there. Lock the doors, she says, and I feel as if I'm driving through the worst parts of Oakland.

We get to Birmingham and it's as nice as can be - a small, wealthy oasis in the middle of the suburbs. We drive down the main drag and find a restaurant that's still open at this late hour (past 11pm now). I order a tuna melt. 20-something girls are at another table. We finish up and go to Sarah's house driving by the water and big beautiful mansions. Sarah tells me Madonna was an interior designer for one of the children's bedrooms in one of these houses, but she's not sure which one. I hate fucking Madonna - whatever, who cares what she does. We get to Sarah's place - it's really nice, reminds me of a cool old apartment in San Francisco or Oakland. She's got pictures on the wall and everything moved into its right place. Makes me feel like a bum for still not having fully unpacked after 3.5 years of living in my house. We stay up talking and listening to music on our iPods - I play Keane and Eva Cassidy, and Sarah plays her latest favorite Gavin DeGraw. At 4am we retire to bed. It's really only 1am for me after all, which is not untypical for bedtime for me.

Next > Day 2: The Henry Ford Museum