Tuesday Night – in the air        

Folks.. sorry this post is a bit late.. I haven’t been able to get connectivity since I left VT last night. I’m on my way to South Africa for an Academy meeting.. The meeting stared today, but I didn’t want to leave town on Gabe’s birthday. We had a great day.. After I wrote yesterday Gabe and Max went out to the canoe access and hunted each other with paintball guns.. as soon as they got home. We went to Sakura’s for Sushi// Gabe’s birthday choice. !.. This time we had plenty of time to eat..

then we went over to see IronMan at the Majestic. I absolutely loved that movie… but it was so fake .I think all of the technology stuff was pretty believable, but come on..  no one that looks like Gweneth Paltrow would ever date someone who had gone to MIT.   By the way, Starks friend the the Col. in the movie (Rider ? Ridly)  was wearing a big fat ugly MIT Ring (a ‘brass rat’ as we call it) in every scene.. Nice touch. !

   After the movie,  the family took me to the airport to pick up a rental  car.  I kissed them all good night.. including my brand new 13 year old and headed south to NYC.. it was about 10 PM.

Actually it wasn’t quite that smooth.. I’d left my phone charger in the Prius.. so Diane, Max and Gabe had to wait for me in the Shaw’s parking lot before I headed down..   The drive down to NYC was fun. Quiet and smooth. I spent a few hours on the phone with folks. Which helped me stay awake.. (thanks., Mom. Jim. Curry) .. The drive to JFK tool almost exactly 5 hours.. about 2 hours less than during the day.. I got to the airport around 3:30 for a 7:30 flight.. so I just sat there and worked..

By the time I got on my flight to London I was pretty sleepy.. I slept about half the way there… The flight as empty so I was able to lay down across 5 seats.. sweet !

Kinda worried me when my tv panel started showing linux error codes, though

The 6 and a half hours went by in a flash.. I tell you, time passes SO differently for me now.. I’m starting to really love long  drives, flights, any long  spell like that.. I listen to music.. think.. and mostly.. don’t  think.. I just sit and space out. I tell you .. John Cohn 1.0 could simply  not do that.. Long periods of  quiet time like that used to drive me nuts.. now I crave it..

Anyway.. We gt to Heathrow about 7:30PM .. and my flight to Johannesburg was supposed to board at 7:15..   eeeeek !.. The airline folks said that they should never have issued me this connection.. Anyway I ran close to a mile (it seemed) to make this flight.  I slid into the plane just as they were closing the cabin door. I had only enough time before boarding to drop a sam stone in the waiting room..

It was fun looking down on the English countryside.. This isn’t veryfar from where Diane and I lived from 1984-86

Now I’m about an hour and a half into the ten  and a half hour flight to J’burg.. I think I’m going to try and get some  sleep now. I ‘ll try to post this from  the meeting when I get there.  

G’nite folks from somewhere over the Congo (I think)   G’nite Sam

-me