I set my alarm for 7:30am but I had to get up 8 minutes earlier to drop more Indian kids off at the pool. They're a big family and sometimes they're extremely anxious to go swimming.
Walked to the Aircoach stop on Suffolk St, which is a continuation of Nassau St. Hey, I know those counties. Arrived at the airport. Was surprised that I technically entered the US while I was still in Dublin. There's a separate US customs facility at the airport (opened in 1996 so it has nothing to do with 9-11) and all US flights leave from that area, and I got a US entry stamp before reaching the gate. Ultimately this saved time--when I got to the US everyone on our flight got to bypass immigration and go straight outside. General comment about passports: Whenever someone mentions the picture page, I remember when my sister sent money to Bill Cosby for a Picture Page and it never arrived.
I wanted to try to sleep on the flight, but I was gassy from the Indian food, there were too many kids walking and talking, and we were served too many meals (two full meals and a snack). What logic do airlines follow in setting meal schedules? This flight was 11:15am-2:20pm. An 11-hour flight with an 8-hour time change, but assume passengers are working on local time. We all probably had breakfast before the flight, and would all probably be having dinner in LA. So why do we need anything more than a lunch on the flight? Even if I don't sleep, how much food do I really need to power me through 11 hours of sitting before I burn it off and get hungry again?
Flew, landed, back home. Boners are 4.5 points out. Higher point total than when I left, but The Untouchables continue to surge.
Final weight = 163, but that's from the night of the 9th after I got off the flight with all the food. [The morning of the 10th I was at 161.5, and this morning (the 15th) I was at 160.]
My part of the story is done.
Goddammit, this travelogue took forever to write. A university course should be set up to study it and all the cultural references contained herein. And there are a lot. If you're not cool, you missed them, and maybe just thought I was phrasing things oddly. And there are so many inside jokes that are directed at one or two specific people, and I hope they pick up on them and recognize the verbal wink. Like the "due west" thing.
Thanks to the group and especially to Gorana. We checked out the Balkans, and can now give everyone else the OK to visit.
Final thoughts:
Good night!
cp