UCC Women’s Conference – Mix in 06

Monday June 19, 2006

I am going to this meeting that starts Wednesday by Amtrak, my favorite mode of transportation. You need to know that there are very few direct routes to anywhere on Amtrak. There is a train that leaves Trenton NJ three days a week and goes directly to Indianapolis by way of Washington DC and Charlottesville West Virginia where it turns west through West Virginia. It is a very scenic and slow ride that ends in Chicago with a stop in Indianapolis.

But Monday is not one of the days that this train runs, so I am now on an Amtrak northeast corridor train to Washington DC where I will change trains for the Capitol Limited to Chicago. In Chicago I will take an Amtrak bus to Indianapolis, but more about that tomorrow.

My summer intern housemate works in Princeton at Thompson (old RCA) so I conned a ride with her to Trenton so that I could leave my car at home. I arrived at the station at 9:30 AM and my scheduled train was 11:28 AM. Rather than stay in the Trenton station I had my ticket re-written so that I could take the 10:20 AM train to DC. When I arrive in DC I will spend my time in the Acela lounge since I am traveling first class (sleeper) on the next train. It is a nice place to hang out between trains, better than the one in Chicago, but more about that later.

6/22/2006 10:48 PM

The train from Trenton arrived more or less on time. Amtrak time is plus or minus one hour and for the long distance train arrival on the day they said they would arrive is on time!

A Red Cap met me at the door and I gave him my luggage. I could drag the two pieces of luggage plus a back pack that I carry but why not use a Red Cap? He met me in the Acela lounge after I checked in. Then I went off to get lunch. Union Station in Washington DC has a huge food court complete with Movies. So I headed for the food court. There are also three restaurants in the station one of them being B Smith’s Restaurant. I was treated to lunch there once when I was visiting legislators on Capitol Hill. This time I headed for my usual spot in the Food Court China Bowl for a noodle meal. I opted to carry it out as it was less noisy to eat in the Acela Lounge. I could also watch the news on the TV while I ate.

After lunch I took a short nap and then went to the computer room in the lounge to check my e-mail. By that time it was time to board the train. Passengers in the lounge usually get to board the train first and again I had a Red Cap to deal with the luggage.

So I am here in my room with my traveling companion Amtrak Teddy. I collect teddy bears, a habit I picked up as an adult. I don’t remember ever having a teddy bear as a child, dolls yes, but not teddy bears. Amtrak teddy is panda bear with an Amtrak engineer’s uniform. He is very dirty from all his trips but his uniform is clean, I washed it.

Train #29 the Capitol Limited left on time. That doesn’t mean much; we will see if it gets in on time. I noticed while waiting to leave that Train # 30 the Eastbound Capitol Limited arrived about 3:45 which means it was 5 hours late! Oh well. The usual reason the train is late is because Amtrak does not own the track. It rents it form the freight lines and they have priority. So if Amtrak starts to get late it gets even later because it has lost its slot.

The conductor came and took the tickets and the dining car attendant came around to take dinner reservations and finally my car attendant Monique came to introduce herself and tell me about the train. And so it goes.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

6/22/2006 10:48 PM

Ok. I got tired last night. I was going to update this after dinner, but that didn’t happen. I had a 6 PM dinner reservation. At Amtrak there is community seating with tables of four. So I was seated with a British couple from Southampton. Where the ships dock as the wife put it. There is a whole tour of 34 people from England on this train. They are going all over the United States by train and I guess bus. They started in New York and then Washington DC and now they are off to Denver and points west.

Dinner was OK. I had the special chicken fried steak with sausage gravy, very fattening. I did not eat all of it. For desert I had fruit instead of the decadent chocolate cake! I had wine with dinner. This is the secret of sleeping on Amtrak. A glass of wine and you sleep like a baby.

Although I never really have any problem sleeping on Amtrak. I sleep better when my body is going in the direction that the train is moving. On VIA the beds are parallel to the direction of the train movement and I feel I am going to fall out. Also I like the rocking movement of the first position.

Went to bed at 9:30 because I was tired and did not want to see the movie. They show movies in the observation car. Last night it was The Pink Panther” and Firewall”.

I guess I should discuss the equipment of this train. The Capitol Limited is scheduled to leave Washington late afternoon and arrive in Chicago early in the morning the next day. I used to be the premier train of Amtrak because they wanted to encourage legislators to use it. They used to give away glass mugs; I have a collection of them because for me this train is my gateway to the west. The equipment is bi-level which means that most of the coach cars and sleepers and the diner and lounge car are on the upper level. This gives passengers especially in the sleepers a smother ride. I am in an economy sleeper which can sleep two people but you have to like each other because there is not much room. There are larger bedrooms, which I have been in when I had a friend travel with me. These bedrooms have a sink and shower and toilet and a chair in addition to the bench seat. It can sleep three people as long as the two people cuddle together on the bottom bunk.

Downstairs in the sleeper cars there are toilets, a shower and economy sleeper rooms, a handicap room and a family sleeper that can sleep five. Amtrak showers are interesting when they work. The water flow is regulated by pushing a button which is supposed to stay on for a while. The one in this car did not do that so I had to push it on while spraying myself with the hand shower.

6/22/2006 10:48 PM

Breakfast starts at 6:00. I was there and seated with a British couple and an African American woman who joined us later. The African American woman and I struck up a lively conversation. She is a member of the red hat society so she can travel. Her husband does not like to travel so she joined that group. I told her about Elderhostel since very few African American, that I am aware of, know about that group. The British couple did not talk much

The conductor announced that the train is about one and a half hours late and that we should arrive in Chicago about 9:30 AM their time. That’s almost on time for Amtrak and my next connection is not until 3:30 so that is OK.

What does one do on a train? Usually when I am going on a business trip to the American Chemical Society meeting I read my agenda books and write my presentations. I have seen the scenery many times so I do not need to look out at the world but I do do that as well.

On this trip I am writing this blog, I have two books with me one is a reading for pleasure book and the other is one for my project that I should read before I start my book. I also have my knitting which adds to my luggage because I have the knitting bag to carry but I don’t go anywhere without it now.

I have a DVD with me, which I may watch on my long trip home because the train I take home does not show movies.

Well true to form the train was three hours late arriving in Chicago. The reason was slow freight and then there was no reason given just an apology for being late! So we arrived in Chicago at 11:30 AM instead of 8:30. I had planned to go to the art museum but I scratched that plan when we were late. Just before we arrived in Chicago most train attendants will come around and ask if we want baggage taken down stairs. This didn’t happen with Monique. So I asked her if she would take my bags down stairs. She said yes, but didn’t do it. I had a five dollar tip for her, but she didn’t get it. I was not the only person whose bags were not taken down. There were a lot of senior citizens on the train and they all had to struggle with baggage down the stairs. I will write Amtrak about this. Monique was young and probably part of the summer help, but she has to learn that she is in a service industry.

When I got to the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago, it was chaos, temporarily because of the 34 British Tourists who all came off the train at once. The Amtrak staff in the lounge managed to put order out of this chaos and things were OK very soon. I will tell Amtrak how good those employees are. I checked into the lounge and left my luggage temporarily while I explored Chicago. I went off in search of a scarf to exchange at the Women’s meeting. No one was selling cheap scarves so I decided to give my partner, if I have one an IOU since I have scarves at home to donate. I just didn’t read the stuff before I left home.

This search gave me a chance to walk and stretch my legs in the sunshine. It was not too hot in Chicago. I came across a farmers market where they were selling plants, flowers, vegetables and yummy strawberries. They smelled wonderful. I have photos of the market.

I went back to Amtrak and bought a sandwich in my favorite sandwich shop in the station. I took it back to the metropolitan lounge and ate while I watched people line up for the afternoon trains to the west. The lounge is an exchange point. People come in on trains from the east and then take the trains to the south and west or to Michigan. In the afternoon people come in from the western trains and take trains to the east and south east like Florida and New Orleans. Most time the westerns trains are late so I usually transfer directly to the eastern train without going to the lounge.

The lounge has comfortable chairs and tables and a huge TV and now Wi-Fi. There used to be a place where you could put your laptop and dial up internet. Wi-Fi is better.

I was the only one in the lounge who was going on the bus to Indianapolis. So at three o’clock I bid farewell to my Amtrak employee friends in the lounge and went upstairs to wait for the Greyhound But. It was supposed to come at 3:15 but it came at 3:30. The bus picked up two of us, another woman who was also going to the Mix. The bus took up to the Greyhound terminal and picked up passengers for Indianapolis and points south, final destination Atlanta. I was not a bad Greyhound bus trip because it was not crowded. I had a seat to myself for my bags and stuff.

While on the bus I listened to an educational teleconference run by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on CLL. Two experts in the field were talking about the diagnosis and new therapies. It was good what I heard of it because I kept getting dropped because I was on a cell phone. Then the phone battery died, I had forgotten to charge it. I will read the transcript on line.

I arrived in Indianapolis at 9:30 PM. There was a struggle to retrieve my luggage which was under the bus and then I could not find the exit to the bus terminal which is also the train station. I found the exit and hailed a cab. When I told him I was going to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, he said I could walk because it was around the corner. Well it is around the corner and I did walk dragging my two suitcases, but I was a little scared since it was a strange place and dark. When I got to the hotel it did not look promising from the outside. Never judge a book by its cover. The hotel is in the historic train station. It is a great place for a train lover like me to be. They have rooms that are in an old Pullman car. I am not in one of those rooms. The rooms are all around the old station and the windows face in to the atrium. There are skylights that provide light during the daytime. There are statues of old train takers all around. It is kind of spooky especially at night when you are tired, but it is OK during the day.

I did not eat dinner. The bus stopped at a McDonalds for food, but I did not want to eat McDonalds so when I got to the hotel it was too late to eat. I just drank some soda and went to bed.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

6/22/2006 10:48 PM

I just updated this with what happened to me yesterday. Today I got up early and ran on the treadmill in the fitness center at 7:00 AM. Then breakfast. Registration in the hotel opened at 10:00 AM. By then I had decided to take an African American Tour of Indianapolis. Mme C. J. Walker had her first shop here. I went over to the Walker museum and found out it was closed for renovation. (This is the story of my life.) I then walked in the heat to the Crispus Attucks Museum. Crispus Attucks high school was the first African American high school in the city and it has a great history. Many famous people went there. So they have a museum about the school history and also African American history. It was really nice. While I was walking in the heat to the school I passed by the site of an old African American community where Mme Walker once lived. The houses are still there but they need repairs.

I took a taxi back to the Convention center to get my tee shirt to wear in the choir. The bags that we have for this convention are beautiful and they were sewn by Bolivian women. There were some available for sale. I might buy one to give as a present.

After that I went to have lunch and back to the hotel to relax and write this before the evening kickoff event. Bernice Powel Jackson is preaching so that should be great! I will wear my antiracism tee shirt in her honor.

The conference begins with worship

6/22/2006 10:48 PM

I decided to go and eat something before the evening kick off worship service. I went to the restaurant in the hotel and had chili. It was just enough. I went to the worship and women were already gathering singing the gathering music. I found a seat in the front of one of the bleachers. I was sitting next to two disciples women from Colorado. I found out later that she was a reporter. I may be featured in her story as I sang and danced to the music. The gathering music was great.

The service began and I realized why I wanted to come. The Holy Spirit was in that place with all those women, three thousand of them. From the applause, I believe there are more Disciples women than UCC women. I spotted some women from the Central Atlantic Conference but I could not catch them.

We were invited to bring a ribbon and write our dream on it. The ribbon was collected as the offering later. Since I am currently reading “Magic Cancer Bullet” the story of the development of Gleevec the drug that “cures” CML (Chronic myeloid leukemia), my dream was for the researchers to find some “magic bullets” for CLL. They are working on it right now and maybe in my life time they will be found.

Bernice Powel Jackson former Justice and Witness Minister for the UCC and now chair of the World Council of Churches gave her usual sermon seeking justice for all depressed people. The service was based on the women in the bible in her case Rachel.

The service ended with communion which was done by the tincture method. While this was going on there was music.

Joe Johnson an African American raised the roof with his “hands up” music at the end.

After the service each night we can gather at the hospitality suite in each of the hotels. I went to meet the people and get some cookies as I had not had dessert after dinner then I came upstairs to write this and download the photos.