Moonlight - Day 0 - Unicorns

“Moonlight”

4/21/17, “Unicorns”

LaGuardia Airport, New York (LGA)

Well, it’s been a bit of a crazy day, and I can’t even recount my usual Day -1 Thursday routine, since I had actually had class last night instead of my usual dinner and a movie experience.  Instead, I will talk about unicorns.  I do not mean the mythical creature.  Instead, I mean its metaphorical use.  I wish I had a more interesting topic, but I’m flying to Jacksonville.  The most interesting thing I will see this trip will the Florida State Capitol.  I’m sure my reader will agree that this topic is of a level to the trip.

A unicorn is something that is so rare that it can thought to not even exist.  It could also be considered that one thing that actually does exist.  A parking spot is a good example of this.  Imagine trying to park on a crowded street.  You see one spot, right in front of the building.  You think to yourself that it is too good to be true, that it must be a handicap spot or a hydrant, but you find that it is a legit spot.  That is a unicorn.

For me, it is that one taxi during rush hour or that one bike from a rack of almost-empty Citibikes.  I use the term unicorn when it seems as if all the bike docks are either empty or having a broken bike, but then there is that one bike, and it is the newer model with the good hand grips, and the settings are exactly the way I like it, and I dip my card, it the bike is working.  That is a unicorn.  The one souvenir shop that has the flag pin I am trying to find.  That is a unicorn.

Why am I talking about unicorns?  Well, it might have to do with the fact that I had the trending new Unicorn Frappuccino at Starbucks this afternoon, which seemed to be the most interesting part of the day.  Other than that, the day was bland, if stressful.

I woke up early, since I had a lot of stuff that needed to be done before I left for my trip, got ready, and headed to the office.  It was raining, which was annoying, but I didn’t have a suitcase, just my computer bag and a random bag of cloths.  I went to Hop Won with a coworker for my usual pre-departure lunch, opting for boneless spare ribs, fried rice, and an egg roll.  We brought it back to the office, and I ate at my desk before getting back to work.

Around 2 PM, we left to get the Unicorn Frappucino, but the Starbucks was sold out.  We went to the next Starbucks up Lexington, and I told her we’d just have to keep walking up Lex and stop at every Starbucks until we found one.  Fortunately, that one had them, so we each got one and took a bunch of ceremonial pictures.  It was pretty good, but it didn’t live up to the hype.  I would have been much happier with a good vanilla milkshake.  I then finished up what I needed to do at the office, and I was able to leave at 4 PM.

I got in a taxi, and there was a bit of an issue with the previous passenger and making change.  I didn’t think much of it.  Soon enough, I found myself on FDR Drive, which seemed odd.  Surely the Midtown Tunnel would have been quicker?  He said he thought the FDR Drive was quicker.  Google Maps disagreed, but it seemed like taking the 59^th Street Bridge was only a few minutes slower, so I went back to whatever I was busy with on my phone.  Next thing I new, we were past the 59^th Stret Bridge, and I asked what he was doing.  He insisted that taking the FDR Drive to the RFK Bridge was the quickest way.

Now I understood, this driver was incompetent, the incident with the change coming to mind.  It would be an additional 20-30 minutes this way, and I was fuming.  I knew that he would not be receiving a tip.  I was in danger of missing my flight, let alon having enough time for dinner and/or writing my entry.  Traffic cleared up a bit, but the taxi ride still took close to an hour.  We got to the terminal at 5:15 PM.  It should have taken half an hour.  My flight was not until 6:25 PM, but I would have almost no time at the gate, which I like to have.

I paid him and did not tip him, which he understood, especially given that the fare was inflated due to the extra stalled time on the FDR Drive.  He apologized profusely.  With PreCheck, security was very quick, and I arrived at my gate an hour before my flight.  That gave me just enough time for my entry, so I sat down and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close, as boarding will begin soon, and I would like to refill my water bottle before we board.

Jacksonville, Florida

In theory, this is the “Moonlight” trip.  Whatever wins Best Picture, I always go to the place it was set.  I went to Iran after “Argo” won, Louisiana after “12 Years a Slave” won, I live in New York, where “Birdman,” was set, and I will soon be going to the Boston Globe headquarters (“Spotlight”).  “Moonlight” was set in Florida and Georgia, hence this trip’s name.  It’s been a hectic, chaotic, and stressful few hours since I’ve closed.  The flight was the only relaxing part, it seems.

After I closed at LGA, there was a bit of a delay in boarding, followed by a long delay in the taxiing.  Fortunately, I was playing Zelda, and the time passed quickly.  It didn’t matter to me, since when I went to bed was a fixed time, and playing Zelda on the tarmac or my hotel room made no difference.  I played through almost the entire flight, making good progress, solving a key objective literally just as we landed at JAX, so it was perfect timing.

There was no in-flight meal, so I subsisted on chips, pretzels, a yogurt bar, bourbon, and club soda.  It was actually quite filling, but it was not dinner.  Then I went to pick up my car, which was another process, due in large part to the incompetence of the agent.  He tried to give me an SUV as an “upgrade,” but I had reserved a full-size, and I wanted the sedan, not the SUV.  The script almost exactly resembled the Seinfeld episode.

I emphasized that I had reserved a full-size, so I didn’t understand how they didn’t have a full-size.  He said that my reservation probably said “full-size or similar.”  That’s when I lost it.  No!  That’s not what the reservation said.  It says, “Full-size Chrysler 200 or similar.”  That’s not the same at all.  Full-size is a class.  The Chrysler 200 or Chevy Malibu are all the similar cars in the full-size class.  There is no “full-size or similar.”  That is not a thing.  If it was, then it just be a full-size.  Fortunately, he found a nice Chevy Malibu for me, and I was happy.

I was staying at the airport Doubletree, which was literally less then a 3-minute drive from the car rental place, so I got to the hotel by 10 PM.  That was good timing.  I checked in, and they said the restaurant was open until 11 PM.  I wasn’t starving, but I knew I would regret not having any dinner.  It turned out I regretted even more having dinner.  I changed into some more casual clothes and went to the restaurant.  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger, which was delicious, and went back to my room.  I then went outside to my terrace and lit up a VSG, where I sat down and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can publish.