Milano Tattoo Convention Day 1 (pre-Convention)

I had to be out of my apartment and into a car to Newark International by 4pm to make sure everything is Kosher for my 7pm flight to Milan. I had planned to get up early to head over to the BME filming thing and totally pwn a new set of earings, but I guess staying up until 7am getting drunk and coding new stuff put a kibosh on that =)

I woke up at 3pm. Crap. I hadn’t even packed yet!

I rolled out of bed, packed my backpack and computer bag with everything that I would need for the week, called to have my laundy delivered (I had no clean pants otherwise =), and answered a few emails. I called for a car around 3:45, and at almost 4pm on the dot, I was out the door and on my way to the airport! So far, I don’t think I even forgot anything...time will tell!

While on the way to the airport, I checked into my flight via my iPhone, called my credit card company to allow my card to work in Italy, and saved a couple maps / directions to the hotel to my phone.

When I arrived at the airport, I printed up my boarding pass and then headed to security. It was a breeze. I didn’t even get “randomly” searched this time either! I was lucky enough to have my gate be the farthest possible one though. Joy!

Fortunately all the food was down there too, so I grabbed myself a pizza thing and headed to the gate to see if I could get my seat changed to bulk-head or exit row. The lady there was not too inclined to help. That’s when I wished I could have gone to the president’s club thing. Wait...I can! Woo Hoo! With my American Express card, one of the perks is access to all the major airline club houses =). I asked where the club house was, and the nice lady informed me that it was all the way back from where I came, just past security. Dangit.

I hiked my way all the way back with the hope of getting 2 free drink tickets and a lot comfier chairs to sit it while I wait for my flight to begin boarding. I had 45 minutes to kill, so I figured it was worth it.

When I got to the entrance, there was a long line just to get into the place. I was all hot and fidgety from all the walking and wearing too many layers (packing secret: whatever you wear, you don’t have to pack!). When I got up to the counter to check in, I showed the lady my card and she told me I was allowed in, but my pizza was not. WTF?! They didn’t even sell food in there. Not sure what kind of crap that was, but she said she’d hold it for me at the counter and return it on my way out.

Awesome. Cold pizza...just what I wanted. Oh well. After I walked in, it clicked, I didn’t get any drink tickets...fook! I figured I’d hit up the bar anyway. Glad I did. Turns out, that there, you get all your drinks free. Woo hoo! Nancy (the bartender) and I had a great conversation about tattoos and the massive amount of lame people she has to put up with all the time. Apparently, being special enough to be in the secret club area also allows you to be a dick to the bartender.

I munched on a couple bags of fritos and downed a couple Jack and Cokes. They then announced the boarding of my flight, so I gathered my things and headed for my gate. I grabbed my pizza on the way out, but only had a couple bites of it. Not too tasty.

I boarded the plane, shoved all my crap into the overhead, and then threw my hoodie over my face. Nap time!

I woke up about three and a half hours into the flight from hunger. I snuck my way past all the passed out people to the back of the plane and stole one of the MRE’s that they already served everyone else (apparently I slept right through dinner =). My food consisted of chicken, green beans, some yellow things (not sure if it was beans or pasta), a brownie, and a can of coke.

Now that I was up, I decided to spend the rest of the time learning a bit more about iPhone Application development. Man, this crap is hard, and not fun. Arg.

Plane lands. I sailed through customs. And once again, my phone