August 29, 2013
Jason and I just got back from the Forty-Niners/Chargers pre-season game, and at the time we left it looked like the Niners were doing quite well, and from what I can tell with the current score at 34 to 6, I think they will probably win. We left early for a couple of reasons... 1) We didn't want to be caught up in the crowd, as it was a major pain just trying to get into the stadium; and, 2) Jason was ready to leave, and didn't want to have to sit in his chair any longer. As it turned out, we weren't the only ones leaving early, as I said, the Chargers were not scoring very well. McCoy was doing quite well, though he wasn't as good as Kaepernick, and I don't think he was expected to be. Anyway, we were glad we went despite the early challenges we encountered.
When we first arrived the parking situation was horrible. Unfortunately we didn't get out of the house until about 15 minutes later than I wanted, so we literally didn't get to the stadium until the kick off. When we first got there, there was no handicap parking left, and the parking attendant told me to park in a specific space, after I explained to him that I needed to be sure I had ramp space for Jason (more on that later). We made our way up to the entrance and we were allowed to go around the line because of the wheelchair and then the real fun began. I asked the person at the gate, "Where do we go to get to these seats?" I thought it was a reasonable question. They pointed us to section 11, as the tickets said and then we were on our own. The only challenge with that is, that section 11 has no means for Jason to get to his seats. I asked another staff person, and she said we needed to get over to the elevators to get down to the right area and walked us over to the elevators (a good distance away) and we went down to the locker room area. Again, I asked the next staffer by the elevators down where we were and she pointed us to a "blue" line that took us out to the field area. There were no seats to be seen at this point, and another staff worker came by and asked us why we were there and I showed him our tickets (this is where it gets good). He said, "Oh, your seats are back up there, you need to take the elevator to get back up there." This is where I expressed a little frustration and said, "Wait! The people up there said to come down here and now you're saying to go back up. Can you tell me where our seats are?!" At this point a supervisor came over and apologized for the confusion and said we needed to get back up to the Plaza Level and I requested an escort, since I didn't not know the stadium and we were lost. He agreed to take us himself. As it turned out the original directions were completely wrong and we ended up going in the wrong direction to begin with. Once we got to the right area the supervisor took off and another "senior" member took over and asked to see our tickets (OK, get ready for it). "Oh, you're in the wrong area, your seats are up there." Pointing to another area. I looked around and asked how are we supposed to get up there? Fortunately, at this point Anthony Netto happened to come by (he was at the game) and he said there were seats open over by where he was sitting and we could join him there. He is already in a wheelchair so it is accessible for Jason. By the time we finally go to that "new" location the first quarter of the game was over.
We stayed through the half time show (pretty good show actually) and into the third quarter. Jason said he was ready to get going so we all (all four of us now) decided to leave. We had to traverse quite a distance back to where we had originally come in. When we first came in we traveled nearly half way around the stadium to get to our final seats. When we finally did make it back out to he car (I mentioned this earlier) I noticed that the parking lot idiots parked someone right next to me and thus prevented me from being able to extend the ramp. I had to pull out and then extend the ramp and Jason was able to get in, and we were finally on our way. It wouldn't have been so bad except that this was the first stadium event that Jason felt comfortable enough to go to, and then all the troubles happened. I will be writing to the Chargers and letting them know they need to work on their support staff.
Otherwise, today was a pretty laid back day for Jason. He started out with formation and then we had breakfast and until game time (well departure time to get to the game) he pretty much stayed in bed. I had to make a run back to the base to pick up some meds (for me), as the doctors want to apply some preventive medicine, since I was exposed to Linda, and they were concerned with what she had. I don't have any of the symptoms, and neither does Jason, so it can be looked at as one those ounce of prevention opportunities. I get to sleep in a little tomorrow, and I am a bit tired, so I'll sign off now. Thank you, for all the continued prayers and support. Take care and stay positive.
When we first arrived the parking situation was horrible. Unfortunately we didn't get out of the house until about 15 minutes later than I wanted, so we literally didn't get to the stadium until the kick off. When we first got there, there was no handicap parking left, and the parking attendant told me to park in a specific space, after I explained to him that I needed to be sure I had ramp space for Jason (more on that later). We made our way up to the entrance and we were allowed to go around the line because of the wheelchair and then the real fun began. I asked the person at the gate, "Where do we go to get to these seats?" I thought it was a reasonable question. They pointed us to section 11, as the tickets said and then we were on our own. The only challenge with that is, that section 11 has no means for Jason to get to his seats. I asked another staff person, and she said we needed to get over to the elevators to get down to the right area and walked us over to the elevators (a good distance away) and we went down to the locker room area. Again, I asked the next staffer by the elevators down where we were and she pointed us to a "blue" line that took us out to the field area. There were no seats to be seen at this point, and another staff worker came by and asked us why we were there and I showed him our tickets (this is where it gets good). He said, "Oh, your seats are back up there, you need to take the elevator to get back up there." This is where I expressed a little frustration and said, "Wait! The people up there said to come down here and now you're saying to go back up. Can you tell me where our seats are?!" At this point a supervisor came over and apologized for the confusion and said we needed to get back up to the Plaza Level and I requested an escort, since I didn't not know the stadium and we were lost. He agreed to take us himself. As it turned out the original directions were completely wrong and we ended up going in the wrong direction to begin with. Once we got to the right area the supervisor took off and another "senior" member took over and asked to see our tickets (OK, get ready for it). "Oh, you're in the wrong area, your seats are up there." Pointing to another area. I looked around and asked how are we supposed to get up there? Fortunately, at this point Anthony Netto happened to come by (he was at the game) and he said there were seats open over by where he was sitting and we could join him there. He is already in a wheelchair so it is accessible for Jason. By the time we finally go to that "new" location the first quarter of the game was over.
We stayed through the half time show (pretty good show actually) and into the third quarter. Jason said he was ready to get going so we all (all four of us now) decided to leave. We had to traverse quite a distance back to where we had originally come in. When we first came in we traveled nearly half way around the stadium to get to our final seats. When we finally did make it back out to he car (I mentioned this earlier) I noticed that the parking lot idiots parked someone right next to me and thus prevented me from being able to extend the ramp. I had to pull out and then extend the ramp and Jason was able to get in, and we were finally on our way. It wouldn't have been so bad except that this was the first stadium event that Jason felt comfortable enough to go to, and then all the troubles happened. I will be writing to the Chargers and letting them know they need to work on their support staff.
Otherwise, today was a pretty laid back day for Jason. He started out with formation and then we had breakfast and until game time (well departure time to get to the game) he pretty much stayed in bed. I had to make a run back to the base to pick up some meds (for me), as the doctors want to apply some preventive medicine, since I was exposed to Linda, and they were concerned with what she had. I don't have any of the symptoms, and neither does Jason, so it can be looked at as one those ounce of prevention opportunities. I get to sleep in a little tomorrow, and I am a bit tired, so I'll sign off now. Thank you, for all the continued prayers and support. Take care and stay positive.
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