May 30, 2005 10:25 AM - Cardoza clinic - WAS

Waiting for pills ... said they'd be ready by 11:00, but thought I'd check early ... Phynque is out in the lot waiting for me ... got cigarettes at the CVS across the street (to go in the suitcase.)

7:11 PM - Somewhere in Pennsylvania

Well, so far this trip seems to violate the Laws of Physics, in that it both sucks and blows at the same time ... this is one of those two-tier coaches, and the electrical outlets are both precious and few ... thanks to my cane, I was able to get a seat next to one, but the train is so crowded that I really can't get to the DVDs in my back-pack.

I've been sitting in one of the lounge cars for the past few hours ... there's no smoking *anywhere* on the train, and the next "smoking stop" is Pittsburgh, still a few hours away ... I have a reservation for the dining car at 20:00, but I'm not very hungry ... arrived at Union Station by cab with an hour to spare, so I picked up two McChicken sandwiches with no mayo ... ate one while I talked to Phynque on my cell-phone, to let her know I had made it in time, and just finished the second one a little while ago.

This trip is *NOT* going to be as much fun as I had imagined ... I have yet to find anyone with whom I can have a conversation that might lead to my showing them any of the toys I brought with me ... I remember the over-nighter from Rochester to Boston, and sharing a table with a stranger in the dining car ... I haven't seen the menu for this train, but it sounds heavy with Mystery Meat, and I doubt that the ambiance will make up for the lack of quality in -he cuisine.

I've been up since around noon yesterday, and the rocking motion of the train is beckoning the Sandman ... I'm having a lot of trouble keeping my eyes open (someone sez we're stopped in Cumberland, MD at the moment) ... I guess I couldn't stay awake for a movie even if I could get to them.

The past 24 hours are quite the blur ... among other things, I discovered that Orion's battery won't hold a charge, so it will only function if hooked up to an AC power source ... I tried swapping with Phynque's ThinkPad, but her battery is even older and even more depleted, but she'd never tried running it on just the battery, so she wouldn't have known it was bad.