Got my plane ticket!!!

[Himeno]

DIA? As in Denver International Airport?  :o I wonder if we'll see each other!

DIA is Dixon, WY, US. You mean DEN. ;)

We're hiring a private car. It was only 20 bucks more than the SuperShuttle for two people, and because I'm mildly disabled it's much more comfortable and much easier than dealing with things like the BART. Also, I'm actually staying in the area from the 25th of May to the 5th of June, so... lots of luggage to deal with.

I had planned to fly CBR-SYD-SFO and deal with the trains to San Jose (or ask a local friend for a lift), but Qantas is ditching their SFO flight and starting service to DFW, 2 weeks before Fanime. So I have to route through LAX instead (because there is no way I am flying on one of United's old dying 747s for 14 hours). So I've got LAX-SJC flights on AA.

How much is "lots of luggage"? Each year, I travel around the world for holiday + cons for 5-6 weeks with 1 standard 'large' size suitcase (which is never quite full). This Fanime trip, I'm going to use my "medium" suitcase.

[Moonblossom]

Denver's official call letters are DEN but locals all refer to it as DIA, Denver International Airport. No idea why, it confused me at first too.

Denver International Airport (IATA: DEN, ICAO: KDEN, FAA LID: DEN), often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado. By land size, at 53 square miles (140 km2), it is the largest international airport in the United States

As for the "lots of luggage" I have a cane, a large suitcase, a duffel with medical supplies, and my carryon which is a large backpack. Because of a laundry list of annoying health problems, I do not have the luxury of packing light, unfortunately.

[Himeno]

Denver's official call letters are DEN but locals all refer to it as DIA, Denver International Airport. No idea why, it confused me at first too.

Denver wanted, when IATA was first applying airport codes (in this case to Stapleton), DIA for Denver International Airport. When IATA started assigning codes, they were based on location, not the name of the airport. So Denver simply got DEN and assigned DIA to Dixon. But Denver locals call it DIA anyway, which leads to confusion because DIA is not DEN.
Same sort of deal with Kansas City (MCI) Kansas City wanted KCI. At the time, the codes weren't allowed to start with K due to FCC requirements. The FCC has since removed that requirement, so IATA can assign K** codes to US airports, but KCI has since been assigned to Kon Airport (Indonesia), so Kansas City can't have it. Doesn't stop them calling it KCI locally anyway.
Though the DIA-DEN example is worse, because DIA is only 170 miles away from DEN.

As for the "lots of luggage" I have a cane, a large suitcase, a duffel with medical supplies, and my carryon which is a large backpack. Because of a laundry list of annoying health problems, I do not have the luxury of packing light, unfortunately.

ug. All the medicines I need fit in the pocket of my carryon. I have issues with my knees, but that's solved by paying for (or upgrading to) a premium cabin and limiting the use of stairs.

[Moonblossom]

Canada's even more confusing - all our airport codes start with Y. I'm in Montreal, and ours is YUL. Go figure!

And yeah, it's a bit of a nuisance. I take about ten to twelve pills a day, and also need a blood pressure monitor, ankle braces, the aforementioned cane, an epinephrine auto-injector, and pre-measured blood thinner syringes in case of emergencies. I also have to carry a ridiculously large variety of clothing because my body temperature doesn't self-regulate very well, so I am always too hot or too cold. On top of everything else I'm also just a huge clumsy oaf so toss in gauzes, stretch bandages, and a bottle of peroxide just in case. XD

[Himeno]

Canada's even more confusing - all our airport codes start with Y. I'm in Montreal, and ours is YUL. Go figure!

That's just Canada being Canada ;P There is a reason for it, but I don't really want to go look it up. ^^;;

Once you look into it, you'll find there are reasons for just about everything. There are international agreements in place for things like mail processing, radio call signs, aircraft registration, IP addressing, airports, navigation, telephone IDD/area codes, etc. Then you get one or two countries, normally America and Canada, who say "yeah, no. We'll make up our own system."

[BunofGovt]

Canada's even more confusing - all our airport codes start with Y. I'm in Montreal, and ours is YUL. Go figure!

And yeah, it's a bit of a nuisance. I take about ten to twelve pills a day, and also need a blood pressure monitor, ankle braces, the aforementioned cane, an epinephrine auto-injector, and pre-measured blood thinner syringes in case of emergencies. I also have to carry a ridiculously large variety of clothing because my body temperature doesn't self-regulate very well, so I am always too hot or too cold. On top of everything else I'm also just a huge clumsy oaf so toss in gauzes, stretch bandages, and a bottle of peroxide just in case. XD

And you still travel to cons?!  You are rock-solid awesome!

[Moonblossom]

Canada's even more confusing - all our airport codes start with Y. I'm in Montreal, and ours is YUL. Go figure!

And yeah, it's a bit of a nuisance. I take about ten to twelve pills a day, and also need a blood pressure monitor, ankle braces, the aforementioned cane, an epinephrine auto-injector, and pre-measured blood thinner syringes in case of emergencies. I also have to carry a ridiculously large variety of clothing because my body temperature doesn't self-regulate very well, so I am always too hot or too cold. On top of everything else I'm also just a huge clumsy oaf so toss in gauzes, stretch bandages, and a bottle of peroxide just in case. XD

And you still travel to cons?!  You are rock-solid awesome!

Thanks, but it's really not that bad. Mostly just chalked up to some minor autonomic dysfunction due to a malformation in the back of my brain. Eventually I'll have surgery to correct it and 90% of my problems will go away, but for now as long as I'm careful about my medications and stuff I'm fine. Some of the stuff I bring with me (the braces and the injections) I *probably* won't need, but they're the sort of thing that I'd be pretty badly fucked if I needed and didn't have with me. I can't just waltz into a Walgreen's and ask for a syringe and a dose of blood thinner.