Flying...
A few delays getting off the ground in Melbourne. Flight and
cabin crews were
conspicuous by their absence until a scant 30 minutes before
scheduled
take-off. Not a crowded flight this time. I had three seats
I could lay down
on (curled up, of course). Consequently the trip was
somewhat better than
last time.
My connecting flight got cancelled, again. Between
two very nice ladies
(one at LAX and the other at Oakland), I wound up being
diverted to Oakland,
and in possession of an open cab voucher that got me
delivered to the office
in San Mateo. Crossed the Bay for the first time (that
wasn't in an aircraft,
I mean) and was impressed by the bridges.
Hotelling...
The Residence Inn, San Mateo. Nice. Fireplace, full kitchen,
good selection of
cable-channels, soft bed. Spacious. A scant five minute
stroll to the office,
and about ten minutes to Safeway. Was approached politely by
ladies in the
Safeway three times in order to reach high-shelves for them,
or products
otherwise placed well above their reach. Grabbed some stuff
to last me the
weekend.
Eating...
What's the travelling geek feeding on? Stouffe's Meatloaf In
Gravy, eggs (where
do eggs with shells this white, and the bright yellow yolks
come from? I've
never seen eggs like these before), low-fat turkey-bacon
(yum!), Nescafe french
vanilla (instant), a box of Girl Scout Peanut Butter Cremes
[sic] (Highly
recommended btw) and a bottle of Dow's Fine Ruby Port (which
makes a decent
nightcap for helping to adjust timezones). Add a loaf of
bread, a couple litres
of coke, a couple litres of milk (or whatever measurment it
comes in)
and a big bag of Ruffles to round out breakfast and evening
snacks
through the week to come.
Television and American Society
Once again, I am pleased with the polite and civilised
behaviour of the people
in San Mateo. I've encountered many smiling people, and
chatted with them
briefly. An enjoyable experience. Courteous drivers, also. I
thought there was
rather a worldwide shortage of those...or perhaps I am just
encountering them
at their best.
Cartoon Network is ever so much cooler here than back
home. Much
more variety, and runs the full 24 hours rather than the
measly 12 back home.
Caught some new episodes of some things, including things I
didn't know existed
(eg: Tenchi Universe), and some things I didn't think had
happened (eg: Sailor
Moon...there are many more episodes than I thought had been
translated by
DIC).
BTW, is it just my ear? Everytime I hear an american say
craft (or Kraft), it
sounds to me like 'Crap'. This causes some sporadic moments
of humour and
occasional cognitive dissonance.
Cable television kept me amused through the weekend, despite
the poorly spelled
closed captioning....Unless there's some weird data-glitch
that causes extra
letters to get jammed into words, or syllables to be
lettered back-asswards.
Also, I got bombarded by AOL 6.0 advertising. Hmm. There's
something funny,
there...Funny strange, not funny ha-ha. The AOL ads leave
me...well...
frightened, actually, and a touch queasy in the stomach. I
have no idea
why this might be. Start of my busy two-week stint here,
now. Must get on...