I’m making a one-day trip back to Atlanta this coming weekend, so this is a chance to apply what I’ve learned.
I won’t be staying in a hotel on this trip, so I’m not going to worry about packing a laptop. I am, however, going to need to carry charging cables for multiple things.
It goes without saying that I’ll need to carry the DC charger I keep in my car and an equivalent AC charger to keep my phone topped off. I’m also bringing a USB-C to Apple Watch cable to charge my watch, as well as a couple of USB power banks just in case.
As an aside, I recently purchased the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless to serve as my daily use headset, and it has extraordinary battery life, so while I’m going to swap a fully charged battery in before I leave for the trip, I’m carrying a USB-C to USB-C cable just in case. I did find out that the headset uses no batteries if connected via the 3.5mm cable it came with, so that likely will be how it’ll be used on the planes’ IFE.
Furthermore, I recently dug my Sony MZ-NE410 NetMD Walkman out as well as the handful of blank MiniDiscs I have, so this is an alternative for entertainment. Obviously, this will necessitate the 3.5mm plug, so this too will limit battery usage on the headset itself.
I’ve got an older small laptop briefcase that I believe I picked up for use with a netbook some years ago, and that will fit the bill for the trip. I can throw my wallet in here along with the chargers and cables, it should have room for the headset, and I can stow my phone in it as well as the fob to get back into my building and my ORCA card for transit usage.
I do plan to use MARTA while I’m in Atlanta; however, my Breeze Card expired in late ’24, sadly, so I will need to either use the new Breeze Mobile app or bite the bullet and get a new Breeze Card. I’ll probably do the former since I’m not sure when I’ll next be in Atlanta, and if it ends up being a work-related trip, I’ll probably end up renting a car. This time, however, due to the nature of the trip, I will be riding with a friend: you see, one of my dearest friends I met through amateur radio that ended up a bit of a kindred spirit due to his love of anime and computers passed away recently, and this is for his funeral. While this is not a happy occasion, I do have many good memories of time spent with this friend: he visited me at the ham store where I used to work many times, including the last day I was there, we went to Micro Center and Super H-Mart after work some days, and we had many conversations over the phone and Yahoo! Messenger over the years. He will be missed by all who knew him.
It seems my prediction of the next time I would be at KATL would be on an arriving flight was true. It’s going to be a very long day starting with a red eye flight, then the day’s activities, then a late flight back.
Until next time!