Day one or day two?
I managed to have two separate 26th Februaries this year, due to the very weird phenomenon of the International Date Line.
Day one started in Auckland. It was a quiet day - I slept in, I used the internet, I went to a food hall for lunch, I bought a new jumper, I went to catch a plane to LA. As Paul and I had to take the rental car back at a certain time, that meant we had 4 hours at the airport before the plane was due to leave. But even though we checked in so early, the only seats available were the middle two seats of a block of four. This meant misery for someone with fairly long legs, a dodgy knee and an equally dodgy bladder. Fortunately, I was fine though...! I discovered later that the reason there are no aisle seats is because some inconsiderate people like the man on my left book two aisle seats (for him and his wife), rather than them sitting together. However, I discovered this much later, as the plane was an hour late in leaving. An hour we spent standing up, as there weren't enough seats in the gate lounge for all the people. The day ended with me, rather surprisingly, falling asleep on public transport (with my knees somewhere around my ears). It must have been the delicious evening meal I had. The frequent turbulence hardly disturbed me at all.
So the second 26th February opened with me still on the plane. Sadly, the on-demand video system had given up the ghost much earlier in the flight, meaning a breakfast with no TV accompaniment. We touched down in Los Angeles at 1130 local time. The plane didn't pick up any time as we crossed the Pacific. Our bags were the last out of the carousel 45 minutes or so later, meaning that the last time I saw Paul, he was rushing to make his connecting flight to Denver, fifteen minutes before the flight was due to leave. Would he make it?
The delay also affected me, as I was due to be meeting my friend Brian at the airport - but he was supposed to be working at 1 on the other side of town. Thinking he'd already gone, I gave him a call, but his job had been cancelled and so he was waiting outside for me. After a lengthy wait in the car rental place, as the printer kept on chewing up paper, I eventually found myself in an unfamiliar vehicle. Unfamiliar firstly because the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car, but unfamiliar also because the indicators were on the left-hand side on the steering wheel. This has become unfamiliar even though this is the same side as in the UK, because in Australia and New Zealand they have their indicators on the right-hand side. Which I'd just got used to. So as I pulled out of the rental place on the wrong side of the road (well, almost), I saluted Brian as he disappeared to work with an accidental wipe of the windscreen wipers. From that point, the day was similarly quiet to the morning in Auckland, apart from a trip to a Thai restaurant with Brian and his wife Catherine.
And no, Paul didn't make his flight.
Day one started in Auckland. It was a quiet day - I slept in, I used the internet, I went to a food hall for lunch, I bought a new jumper, I went to catch a plane to LA. As Paul and I had to take the rental car back at a certain time, that meant we had 4 hours at the airport before the plane was due to leave. But even though we checked in so early, the only seats available were the middle two seats of a block of four. This meant misery for someone with fairly long legs, a dodgy knee and an equally dodgy bladder. Fortunately, I was fine though...! I discovered later that the reason there are no aisle seats is because some inconsiderate people like the man on my left book two aisle seats (for him and his wife), rather than them sitting together. However, I discovered this much later, as the plane was an hour late in leaving. An hour we spent standing up, as there weren't enough seats in the gate lounge for all the people. The day ended with me, rather surprisingly, falling asleep on public transport (with my knees somewhere around my ears). It must have been the delicious evening meal I had. The frequent turbulence hardly disturbed me at all.
So the second 26th February opened with me still on the plane. Sadly, the on-demand video system had given up the ghost much earlier in the flight, meaning a breakfast with no TV accompaniment. We touched down in Los Angeles at 1130 local time. The plane didn't pick up any time as we crossed the Pacific. Our bags were the last out of the carousel 45 minutes or so later, meaning that the last time I saw Paul, he was rushing to make his connecting flight to Denver, fifteen minutes before the flight was due to leave. Would he make it?
The delay also affected me, as I was due to be meeting my friend Brian at the airport - but he was supposed to be working at 1 on the other side of town. Thinking he'd already gone, I gave him a call, but his job had been cancelled and so he was waiting outside for me. After a lengthy wait in the car rental place, as the printer kept on chewing up paper, I eventually found myself in an unfamiliar vehicle. Unfamiliar firstly because the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car, but unfamiliar also because the indicators were on the left-hand side on the steering wheel. This has become unfamiliar even though this is the same side as in the UK, because in Australia and New Zealand they have their indicators on the right-hand side. Which I'd just got used to. So as I pulled out of the rental place on the wrong side of the road (well, almost), I saluted Brian as he disappeared to work with an accidental wipe of the windscreen wipers. From that point, the day was similarly quiet to the morning in Auckland, apart from a trip to a Thai restaurant with Brian and his wife Catherine.
And no, Paul didn't make his flight.
posted by Gaz man at 4:11 am
1 Comments:
Can't believe you've only got a week to go, mad. We are still gamely following slowly in your footsteps, ZORB. Much fun. Bit wet though.
Post a Comment
<< Home