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I haven't died, but this is the state of my brain right now: bills csi:ny food hey network tv RAMMSTEIN Maybe I should eat or write or go to the bathroom RAMMSTEIN RAMMSETIN RAMMSTEIN RAMMSTEIN RAMMSTEIN RAMMSTEIN. I have been consumed by the need to see them, to the exclusion of nearly everything else, and this state of affairs is liable to continue until I either have the tickets in my hand or am bitterly disappointed and retreat into a protracted sulk. Of course, if I get the tickets, I'm likely to speak of little else until 2011.
I'm still investigating means of getting to New York. I had originally planned to drive, but the cost of gas threatened to devour most of my fund(minivans are great for gimpy, spasmy legs that flail at random, but terrible for gas mileage). Then I checked the airlines, but that was a no-go immediately. If able, flexible folks have to be contortionists to fit in the tourist-class, then I'm screwed. Plus, it was almost seven hundred for two of us, which would leave very little to cover hotel costs.
Undeterred, I then checked Amtrak. Surprisingly, this is on the bare edge of doable, as it would cost $500 for a handicapped berth round-trip for two. It would mean nearly eighteen hours on a train and getting dropped at Penn Station at two in the afternoon on the 9th, with no idea of where to go, but I still have time to consider my options on that front. The biggest pain in the ass about the Amtrak option is that I would have to consult their Disabled Services representative to actually be sure that their trains, which should by dint of federal law, be accessible, are actually accessible. Because even though it says on their website that ALL their trains are accessible, they also freely acknowledge on the disabled travelers' portion of the site that this might not be true. While a disabled passenger can board the train, there is no guarantee that they will be able to use the toilet or fit into the designated berth, because apparently, accessibility stops at the door.
Oh, and get this nugget of joy: If the conductor determines that a disabled passenger is unable to adequately care for themselves(and this is left entirely to the conductor's discretion), then the passenger will be removed from the train at the next stop and left there. Because clearly, a person deemed "unable to care for themselves" by a train conductor will have the means and wherewithal to get themselves home after being dumped in the middle of nowhere, a thousand miles from either their home or their intended destination. And if they do remove you for the crime of traveling while gimp, then no refund for you, haha.
Ah, gimp travel, fun, so fun.
I Googled for interstate paratransit services, but couldn't find any. Most of them are localized, intrastate services, and for medical transport only.
Goddammit, Pilgrim, why must you have been so lazy and inept? Maybe you really did try for five venues and were turned down by four of them on the first pass, but do you really expect me to believe that you couldn't find a secondary choice or a tertiary one? Fuck, with the economy in its current state, some farmer would have loaned you his field for the night if you paid him a little coin. Rammstein is your only client, so it's not as if you were too busy to look after their interests. I suspect that the real problem with securing dates in the US isn't necessarily lack of interest, but the unrealistic expectation of Metallica terms with Anvil investment of effort. When Bret Michaels can coordinate a more extensive tour than a vastly popular European band with management solidly behind them, then management, you're doing it wrong.
I'm not giving up until the tickets are sold out, but Christ do I wish they would swallow their ego and nix the pyro for the chance to play more venues. I came to them through their music, and I can't see a jot of pyro on their CDs.
I'm still investigating means of getting to New York. I had originally planned to drive, but the cost of gas threatened to devour most of my fund(minivans are great for gimpy, spasmy legs that flail at random, but terrible for gas mileage). Then I checked the airlines, but that was a no-go immediately. If able, flexible folks have to be contortionists to fit in the tourist-class, then I'm screwed. Plus, it was almost seven hundred for two of us, which would leave very little to cover hotel costs.
Undeterred, I then checked Amtrak. Surprisingly, this is on the bare edge of doable, as it would cost $500 for a handicapped berth round-trip for two. It would mean nearly eighteen hours on a train and getting dropped at Penn Station at two in the afternoon on the 9th, with no idea of where to go, but I still have time to consider my options on that front. The biggest pain in the ass about the Amtrak option is that I would have to consult their Disabled Services representative to actually be sure that their trains, which should by dint of federal law, be accessible, are actually accessible. Because even though it says on their website that ALL their trains are accessible, they also freely acknowledge on the disabled travelers' portion of the site that this might not be true. While a disabled passenger can board the train, there is no guarantee that they will be able to use the toilet or fit into the designated berth, because apparently, accessibility stops at the door.
Oh, and get this nugget of joy: If the conductor determines that a disabled passenger is unable to adequately care for themselves(and this is left entirely to the conductor's discretion), then the passenger will be removed from the train at the next stop and left there. Because clearly, a person deemed "unable to care for themselves" by a train conductor will have the means and wherewithal to get themselves home after being dumped in the middle of nowhere, a thousand miles from either their home or their intended destination. And if they do remove you for the crime of traveling while gimp, then no refund for you, haha.
Ah, gimp travel, fun, so fun.
I Googled for interstate paratransit services, but couldn't find any. Most of them are localized, intrastate services, and for medical transport only.
Goddammit, Pilgrim, why must you have been so lazy and inept? Maybe you really did try for five venues and were turned down by four of them on the first pass, but do you really expect me to believe that you couldn't find a secondary choice or a tertiary one? Fuck, with the economy in its current state, some farmer would have loaned you his field for the night if you paid him a little coin. Rammstein is your only client, so it's not as if you were too busy to look after their interests. I suspect that the real problem with securing dates in the US isn't necessarily lack of interest, but the unrealistic expectation of Metallica terms with Anvil investment of effort. When Bret Michaels can coordinate a more extensive tour than a vastly popular European band with management solidly behind them, then management, you're doing it wrong.
I'm not giving up until the tickets are sold out, but Christ do I wish they would swallow their ego and nix the pyro for the chance to play more venues. I came to them through their music, and I can't see a jot of pyro on their CDs.
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