Connections

As soon as I arrived at my hotel, I ran in to a Dutch colleague. "Do you want to go to the art fair preview? I'm leaving in 20 minutes." "Sure!" Forget the 36 hours of travel! And it proved to be a great decision. I heard a squeal as I walked in to one of the booths and was greeted with a hug from one of my former students who works for a commercial gallery here. Small world.

Are We There Yet?...

The guy in the middle for the big, BIG flight was an obsessive-compulsive throat clearer. Kind of like having a woodpecker sitting next to you. Even my new noise-cancelling headphones couldn't get rid of him. The food was easily as bad as all the reviewers had warned and seved only at the beginning and end of the flight. They didn't bother with the "snack" listed on the website, which saved us from beef noodle soup "garnished with cow heels." That also meant we went for 11 hours without food or drink, so we were pretty happy when the breakfast cart appeared. The options? Congealed rice porridge or "French slippery eggs," which turned out to be quiche! Bad translations abounded. After 15 hours, my sitter was done, but we still weren't there yet. The only upside of a 16-hour flight was having LOTS of time to try to sleep.

Quickest Update

Safely arrived and with my bag. Already had a stimulating and rewarding time at the conference. More later.

You've Got to be Kidding...

When I tried to board my first flight, an alarm went off, and they asked me to return to the desk at the gate. "Did you check in?" "Well, of course." (I had a boarding pass, after all.) "Did you check in on-line or here?" "Yes and yes." (I had done both.) "Well, I need to see your passport. Furious typing ensued and then, "Oh, you're going to Mexico." "NOOO...." "Canada then." "Stop now. I am going halfway around the world in the other direction, and you are making me very nervous." So the flight was delayed, as promised, and I ran through the Atlanta airport in the hopes of making my connection. Good news, bad news: I was the last one on, anr they "upgraded" me from my coveted window seat to a seat in the middle of the aircraft. The guy next to me, who was also "upgraded," was a basketball player. No kidding, he could reach up frm his center center seat and adjust the air controls. And he sat there dor 4.5 hours. Boarding soon for a really big sit. No idea if I'll ever see my bag again.

At the Airport

And there have been too many thrills and spills for me already. First "oh crap" - when the guy took my bag at check-in, he said, "Enjoy your trip to Cancun." No, no, NO! Second "oh crap" - my first of four flights is delayed, and I have a very tight connection. I do NOT like playing dominoes...

I Want Partial Credit for That!

Tuesday evening, as I was walking through town, I got the idea that somebody from Egg Harbor was going to win the humungo Powerball jackpot. "Might as well be me," I mused as I stopped to buy a ticket. Turns out one of the winners is from Egg Harbor. Egg Harbor, NEW JERSEY, that is. Tom almost flipped this morning when he heard something about it on the news and then had to wait half an hour for the full story! So how do I fine tune this?...

August 4th. Really?!...

...And the furnace is on this morning. Again. Seeing the forecast, I added another blanket to my bed last night, but I woke early shivering. Without crawling out of my nest, I fumbled for my hooded sweatshirt for additional warmth. After two cycles of the furnace, I am up, clutching my warm tea cup. Outlook is the same for my remaining week here. Might as well start packing the warm-weather clothes... More blogging to follow. Wifi has been abysmal here.