Hello Everyone!
When I post this, it will be sometime much later than now, but right now it's 6:24 PM EST and 7:24 AM C-Time. We are flying somewhere above the Arctic Circle, but the plane is still pretty warm as it's packed with several hundred people. But let me begin at the beginning: Tampa!
I got to my originating flight on time, the plane was loading and I was one of the last few travellers to embark. Economy class was half full and so instead of proceeding to my assigned seat, I simply plopped myself, bag and baggage, into an empty row. I wound up curled on the seat in a nice dream with a mound of coat, sweatshirt, and scarf to pillow my head. That flight was uneventful, and I got to see NYC (Love that city!) from the sky... Which isn't exactly surprising, since I was flying into Newark, and, as I later discovered, you can actually get a decent view of the city from inside the airport.
You should know that I have about 150 lb total of luggage. Thankfully, about 103 of that is checked, but I'm bearing a good 50 on my back and shoulders between flights. All for you, H! All for you... ahh the sacrifice... (I hope H knows a good chiropractor when I get there...)
So I got out of the plane and checked the monitors: Beijing C89, etc. Silly me, I didn't read further... I trudged down to the other end of the concourse (a good half mile, I think, I am thankful for moving walkways...), and am alarmed to read as I get close (finally) to the gates in the 80s and 90s that Newark Airport has no gate 89 in its Continental wing. Very troubling (especially, as you remember, I'm lugging 50 lb!!!!). I wound up asking some helpful person whose job was to encourage Continental OnePass members to get 25,000 extra miles by getting a Chase card. With his help, I realized that C89 was the flight number, not the gate. It turns out that I was leaving from gate 121, back where I had come from. The Chase man encouraged me to pick up one of golf carts decked out to carry passengers. I had seen three or four going the opposite direction when I was trekking to the far side... Congratulations to me, there were none going my way when I went back... more fun... (Note from the Beijing flight: Bring tissues when you travel (at least in the winter)! My nose just started to drip a bit... Ah, for a little packet of tissues....)
I should insert here that toward the end of the flight to Newark, I discovered something rather alarming: one of my dear, beloved fountain pens somehow had excreted a decent-sized amount of ink... A secours! (Which of course you must cry, if ever you're in need of help in France - Ludwig Bemmelmens (sp?) loosely quoted from Madeline and the Bad Hat) Once I finally found the gate, my first order of business was to work on the ink splotches caused in my little travel bag made by my dear mommy-o. Interestingly enough, the ink did not get on anything other than the pens, the fabric (on the inside pocket, so it doesn't show on the outside), and my fingers (when I first discovered the spots). I worked for awhile on the spots, and when I determined that naught else was to come from the stains, I sought breakfast.
I wound up getting a delicious breakfast sandwich of egg, steak, and mushroom from Steak Escape. It was served on a hoagie roll and was hot and filling. (much more so than the muffin served on the way up from Tampa)
I returned to my gate, got my documents (aka visa and passport) verified, and sat down with my laptop to charge my mp3 players, just in case. We began boarding at 11:30, and I was among the first seats called. (I'm sitting in the back back of the plane... and yes, the seat does recline...) My seatmate is a fellow named Jack from Boston. I'll write more on that later, as he is sitting next to me, and being a screenwatcher myself (I've been watching bits from the movies he's played (Get Smart, Wall-E)), I suspect others of the same... Terrible, isn't it?
To everyone I told that my big flight would be 19 hrs, I apologize and repent. It is only 13. Yes. Only 13. (I was kinda disappointed, to tell the truth... I've done a 13 hr flight before. (Madrid to Miami))
The 777s are totally tricked out!!! There are movies, tv shows, music, and games on demand... the downside is that I didn't try to find the two-prong plug for my/J's headphones, so I would have to use the chintzy ones provided in the little packet of headphones, blanket, and pillow for the trip. (Not nearly as nice as the Delta Air overnight flight packet... which had toothbrush, toothpaste, ear plugs, a sleep mask, moisturizer and more... but that just makes me thankful that I packed a toothbrush and toothpaste in my carry-on, just in case... I'm sure my seat mate is also thankful... :)) Pere, even if I had brought the other ones you recommended, I still would have experienced a loss in sound quality, I'm sure.
According to my pretty new watch, which is set to China time, (actually, I think it never got changed from Daylight Savings, so I just left it, since during Daylight Savings, our AM is their PM and vice versa) it is 8:00 (AM, there). So I believe I shall stop typing and resume watching FOTR on my laptop, which I haven't seen in years (despite the LOTR crazed stage I went through not that many years ago...). I also may try to get more rest, but I'll be sure to allow myself "an afternoon nap" around their 12... (which incidentally lines up around my usual bedtime... how handy...) More later!
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