I splurged and forked over $180 for a first class upgrade for my flight from Miami to Denver. It’s been years since I’ve flown, and it was scheduled to be a four hour flight, so it seemed like a good – albeit decadent – option. Turned out to be a lucky gamble: the plane was stuck on the runway for an hour while the crew worked on a communications problem, and I relaxed in my big leather seat. The only drawback: the worn-out recliner insisted on gradually, slowly, imperceptibly leaning itself back. Every ten minutes, I had to reset it back up to the upright position. Maybe it’s trying to tell me something, but I’m not an easy sleeper on flights, even in the expensive seats.By the time we were at cruising altitude and the flight attendant came around with the champagne and warm nuts, I’d forgotten that the five hours of comfort worked out to about the same cost as a new iPod Nano.
Speaking of Apple products, this was also the first time that I’d turned off my iPhone since I bought it. Nice. That thing is just rock-solid stable, especially compared to my old Cingular 8125 (HTC Wizard) that required constant reboots.
Once in Denver in my rental Nissan Xterra (free upgrade, woohoo!), I remembered two things about the West: height and distance. Even in the dark, it’s obvious how much vast, undeveloped open space looms around Denver. Being in Miami for a couple of years made me forget what that looks like.
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