9/2 5pm, EDT
I haven't written any sort of travelogue since I went back to China in 97. Even that was mostly backfilled from memory. This time, I've got a little netbook to write things down, ideally, the night that it happens. It'll let me spew the thoughts out freely and edit them down the road. The final version you get to read will be nice and cleaned up.
I've got adapters that are China-compatible, and a travel plug converter that should plug into Chinese sockets just fine. So when I am indoors and next to a socket, I'll try to charge this netbook up. No telling what the battery life is, so far.
I get into Logan and check in a bag. I was at 35 lbs before I packed in the two bottles of wine and whiskey for relatives and friends. The scale at the desk showed 45 lbs, which maybe was closer to 50 lbs than I was comfortable with. Man, the last time I traveled with serious luggage it was 78 lbs free per person.
As soon as I get out of the scanner I see two state troopers and an interpreter walling off some middle aged Hispanic man. Laid out on the desk before them was stacks of folded bills and various pills in bottles and ziploc bags. I'm sure it was all legal, as they were conducting the investigation right there, but what X-ray tech wouldn't flag that as it rolled by? As I put my shoes back on, I overhear one of the troopers saying the bills amounted to $10,000, for what the man claimed to be a one-month trip to -- I didn't catch where. The trooper was recommending that they tell the man to "about-face" out of the airport, without any hint that they'd arrest him or penalize him in any way.
So that's an anecdote to kick this trip off.
I'm not looking forward to the flight. 2 hours to Chicago, then god knows how long to Beijing. Probably 14, 15 hours. I brought two books to read. I figure I'll toss them if I finish them.
9/3 1am, EDT
We finally departed from Chicago. There was at least an hour delay as a thunderstorm hit just as we all had boarded. One thing I learned is that bigger airplanes have accessory ports every few rows for inverters, so you can use your laptop, etc. Look for a lightning bolt or the like next to the row numbers. I dunno how late we're gonna be. Looking forward to airline food.
And the feared right hand of The Greek from The Wire has some minor bit role in Curb Your Enthusiasm, in this episode I'm watching out of the pretty extensive in-flight entertainment. It's weird to see him.
No comments:
Post a Comment