Leaving on a Jet Plane...

1-6-2010: And so we have come to it at last. I am currently somewhere over the United States, (Missouri, if I were to wager a guess), winging my way to sunny San Fransisco on the first leg of my journey. Before sitting down to write I was contemplating how I should approach writing this blog as I begin my journey. The answer I came up with, was simple honesty. So far I have had an emotional journey, and quite frankly I have only been in the air less than an hour. In the most general sense I am tired, nervous, excited, and hungry. Of all those emotions, my hunger seems to be most prevalent. Mostly because my seat mate (a blond woman who has a passion for cross words and with at least one child waiting for her at the end of this flight -As I surmised from evesdropping on her phone conversation- just ate a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it smelled very good, even though I am not a jelly fan. It also raises the question of how she snuck a homemade sandwich in a plastic bag past airport security. This is a major concern, as what if had turned out to be a C4 and jelly sandwich.) As for myself, my meal options are fairly slim. There is a brochure featuring overpriced and undercooked airline food which I am debating, but there seems to be nothing truly appetizing, other than the chocolate dipped cheesecake. If there is time I will try to grab a quick bite of food in San Fransisco... if there is time.

This of course brings me to my other emotional states. In accordance with Adam's Law, less than two hours before departing for the airport I discovered that United Flight 95, my flight to the Golden Gate City, no longer existed. Instead I received a cryptic response from United as I checked in electronically. All they advised was that I talk to Continental. Of course, a talk with United's home office in Mumbai, India, revealed no answers. So after 25 minutes on hold I finally reached a representative at Continental, and after another 10 minutes of heated discussion in a thick Indian accent (his not mine), I was finally able to determine I was scheduled on a Continental Airline's flight out of Newark. All this was accomplished while the family (mine not his) yelled suggestions and questions in my ear. Thankfully, I am the one that caught this little oversight, because if it was up to United and Continental, they would never had notified me. However, what kind of story would it be if it stopped there. I next spent an hour at the Continental check-in counter rehashing out the problem with several airline representatives. (To their credit they were very nice and helpful, it not a bit stressed.) After straightening the mess out a second time, I finally received my boarding pass, checked my bag, and made my way to the correct terminal... to wait as the flight was delayed. Apparently the plane was just fresh back from a foreign land (It was either, Belfast, Costa Rica, Portugal, or Cybertron, I cannot really remember.) So the plane had to be cleaned; inspected by customs for dangerous materials and Decepticons; loaded with food and baggage; and finally boarded. All of this took time. I occupied myself with reading a magazine I found. Apparently, TV Land president Larry Jones, feels that true TV success comes from targeting the 40 to 65 demographic with classic TV and contemporary sitcoms created in the classic manner. According to the article it is working very well.

My last view of New Jersey, lovely Newark Airport. You
can see the smoke plumes of pollution if you look hard
enough.

I think I am digressing a bit, but I will try to head toward a point. I am on a plane heading toward the west coast... and I think the person in front of my is stealing food from the food cart... Also I am using one of those U-shaped airline pillows, and I do not quite yet know what I think of it. Regardless, I am nervous for the coming journey. There is still so much that can go wrong. What if Australian Customs decides that I am not welcome? I can be thrown out the country before I even arrive. Maybe I should just stay in California... I hear it is kind of like Australia. However, I think an even bigger worry looming in my mind... What if I make it past customs and everything goes as planned? What if I actually make it into Australia? What next?... For now it seems that everything is still very much "up in the air" (if you pardon my pun), so I will continue to write, though I cannot know when I will get a chance to actually post these thoughts.