Boulder revisited
Jul. 14th, 2009 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I am in Boulder, where I am pretending to be a grownup again, staying in a hotel by my very own self. I'm taking a class, which is useful and important and all that, but it's really hard for me to focus for a whole day on using a computer for work-related stuff. As opposed to, you know.
The flight was rather exciting, or rather, the landing was. There was terrible clear-air turbulence and wind shear warnings, due to storms off in the distance, and the plane (the Durango-Denver plane is a tiny turboprop) lurched around for a while above DIA before the pilot retracted the wheels and circled around. He tried again, gave up again, circled some more (apparently the airport shut down all landings and take-offs at that point) and then finally we landed way late, which meant I got to my hotel way way late, which meant that I got to sleep way way way late. It would almost have taken less time to drive.
It's weird being back in Boulder, where I lived from 1989-1999, and was last here for work stuff in, hmm. 2004, maybe? The mall, which was failing when I lived here and torn down in preparation for remodeling when I was here last, is now OMG HUGE HIGH-END COMMERCIAL CHAIN FRANCHISE RETAIL PARADISE. Terrifying, actually, at least to a shopophobe like me. When I ran west on the creek path and looked north, I couldn't even see the Pearl Street pedestrian mall I remembered due to all the OMG HUGE BLOCKY BUILDINGS. My little hotel is surrounded by gleaming new boxes, and every business appears to be a chain. It's more than a little depressing. You'd have to pay me a lot for me to move back.
The flight was rather exciting, or rather, the landing was. There was terrible clear-air turbulence and wind shear warnings, due to storms off in the distance, and the plane (the Durango-Denver plane is a tiny turboprop) lurched around for a while above DIA before the pilot retracted the wheels and circled around. He tried again, gave up again, circled some more (apparently the airport shut down all landings and take-offs at that point) and then finally we landed way late, which meant I got to my hotel way way late, which meant that I got to sleep way way way late. It would almost have taken less time to drive.
It's weird being back in Boulder, where I lived from 1989-1999, and was last here for work stuff in, hmm. 2004, maybe? The mall, which was failing when I lived here and torn down in preparation for remodeling when I was here last, is now OMG HUGE HIGH-END COMMERCIAL CHAIN FRANCHISE RETAIL PARADISE. Terrifying, actually, at least to a shopophobe like me. When I ran west on the creek path and looked north, I couldn't even see the Pearl Street pedestrian mall I remembered due to all the OMG HUGE BLOCKY BUILDINGS. My little hotel is surrounded by gleaming new boxes, and every business appears to be a chain. It's more than a little depressing. You'd have to pay me a lot for me to move back.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-15 06:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-15 04:48 pm (UTC)