Friday 4 July 2014

Just across the pond



1st July - 5.00AM, Eastern Standard Time -Kyneton. Bags packed, passport, tickets, camera.  
                 etc - Check

                 6.30AM Melbourne Airport. Kiss and hug Tom and Lisa, say goodbyes, check-in,  
                 sit in airline lounge - Check

 9.00AM Board plane, find seat - isle…..excellent, smile at person next to me and 
                 quickly understand he's not in the mood for conversation. Place headphones on 
                 head start watching movie. - Check

11.00AM Watch movie

 1.00PM  Watch movie

 2.00PM Eat meal out of plastic tray, drink coffee.....Watch rest of movie

 3.00PM Watch movie


 5.00PM Lose track of Eastern Standard Time... and movies. Fade to sleep for 
                 3.5minutes until 6'4" man behind me wrenches seat backward again to annoy staff 
                 for more bourbon, as he has done for past 5 hours or so......Watch movie

 Something AM - Pacific Time Zone stretch legs, drink coffee.....watch movie

  6.30AM- 14.5hrs after take off, arrive LAX, descending through a few hundred 
                   metres of smog to tarmac.

  7.30AM - Clear customs and search for airport lounge. Into long queue for security
                  screening prior to gate.

  8.00AM - replace jacket, shoes, watch and patience, collect bags and head for 
                  sanctuary of lounge.

  8.05AM - Reliably informed by lounge staff that I have been directed to wrong 
                  terminal and forbidden entry to said lounge.

  8.25AM - Walk to 'Terminal 4' enter second queue for security screening at 
                  'Terminal 4,'

  9.00AM - replace jacket, shoes, watch and patience, collect bags and head for
                  sanctuary of lounge

                  9.10AM - arrive at lounge, grab paper cup of coffee and sticky danish thingy and 
                  sit down.

  11.30AM - leave lounge and company of disgruntled English man yelling at his 4 
                  children throwing sticky danish thingy's at each other and head to gate. Grab 
                  airport hamburger….. surprisingly good.

  12.00PM - Board American Airlines plane and take seat. Place headphones on 
                  head, start watching movie.

  12.10PM - Reliably informed by Captain that our flight will be delayed due to being 
                  re-routed by air traffic control due to bad weather patterns around Chicago. Flight
                  due to take extra hour.

  1.30PM - Ask airline hostess with extremely happy disposition and beaming smile
                   for a cup of coffee. How do you have it? She asks....Beaming. White please, no 
                   sugar.

  2.00PM - Ask airline hostess with extremely happy disposition and beaming smile 
                  for a cup of coffee. Oh Sir I'm sorry I forgot, I'll get right on that…..

  2.40PM - Smile at  airline hostess with extremely happy disposition and beaming 
                  smile, thinking it may jog her memory of the coffee thing..... Oh my, how you take it 
                  again Sir? She says. Anyway I can get it at the moment, I think of replying. "White 
                  please."

   3.00PM - Airline hostess with extremely happy disposition and beaming smile
                   arrives with cup of coffee. Black. Mmmm, thanks. 

   Sometime? - Lose track of timezone again.


                   9.15PM - Eastern Time Zone - Fly over New York heading for Boston. 

   9.30PMish - begin circling Boston waiting for permission to land.

   9.55PM - Land Boston. Exit plane, through gate and down to collect bag. 26 odd 
                   hours of travel………..


1st July 10.00PM, Eastern Time Zone - See Pete Galbert's familiar and smiling face staring 
                   back at me. Collect bags and jump into Pete's pickup.  Head for the hills of 
                   Sterling. Arrive at Pete's and have a couple of well earned beers. Let the journey 
                   begin.......

8 comments:

  1. Even though that's a really loooong day - I'm still jealous of where you're headed and what you're doing. BTW, any of the movies any good? :)
    Peter Rhodes

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  2. Hey Peter,
    movies were absolutely awesome….. come to think of it, I can't remember one of them…. But the storyline since I got here has been very memorable! Plenty of good stuff to come.
    Cheers Glen

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  3. G day Glen, that made me feel jet-lag, put me off going to Ireland, not that I was going soon anyway, everything is happening after the verandah, Peter above seems to know where your headed and what your doing, I'm not so I'm looking forward to the next posts (no pressure), there wouldn't be any book stuff going on over there? Pete has been very quiet on the posting caper recently lol, have fun say G day, now I'll try and send this again.

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    Replies
    1. Hey Michael,
      good to hear from you. Plenty going on here mate and I'll be sure to keep the posts coming. I've got no excuse not to really! Catch you soon.

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  4. Chicago on the way home?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Dave,
      would dearly love to mate, but I think it's going to be a bit tight this time. I'll be stopping over in LA for a few hours though if you and Stacy want to 'drop in' to LAX and say hello! Cheers

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    2. Would love to meet up for a cocktail, even at an airport bar. However, Chicago to LAX is not quite the same as Kyneton to Bendigo for a brew...

      Delete
    3. Quite true mate…. I'll just make sure the port barrel is full for your next trip to Aus. Cheers

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