The Trip Over

My first thoughts while the small prop plane shuttles down the runway towards takeoff was "What an amazing feat of human engineering, these machines are". Then I go back to my book. I've now flown so much around the country that most plane flights feel no more different than a car trip. Upon touchdown in LAX, I am reminded several times why I hate this airport. Wandering around the place trying to find my connecting flight is difficult. Everyone in this place is in a hurry and cares less for the people around them than their oversized "carryon" luggage trailing behind them. I guess that's common in airports, but, it seems that it's exaggerated here at LAX. I finally have to ask someone where the hell my gate is located and I'm told that I have to leave the terminal and go down the street to another terminal. I cringe knowing full well that means going through security again. I disregarded all of my prior experience flying around due to how much I had to bring with me. I'm wearing the boots that I'm breaking in onto the plane. I've got my camera case on my back and a small roller bag jammed with stuff in my hand. That means I'll have to remove the laptop, the boots, all electronic equipment and any metal to go through again.

So, after a small 10 minute walk to Tom Bradley Intl terminal I wander over to the security checkpoint. Only to be turned away because my original boarding passes were printed by United and they won't let me through without having a British Airways pass. I hate LAX! I confirm with the booking agent that my bag was actually checked all the way to London. I figured they were going to send me back to the other terminal and bring it to this one. I finally get through security and wait for the flight to board. I got fairly lucky and got a bulkhead seat. I had a ton of leg room. I also had a window seat with nobody in the center seat. Plenty of room on this flight for the Moe. A little reading, a little movie watching and a little napping makes the flight go by fairly quickly. The two bottles of wine also helped :).

Looking out over the landscape during our approach to Heathrow showed a landscape of green fields separated by hedges with dottings of small towns. Very pretty sight. I was sitting on the front edge of the wing and take the sheer size of this plane in. It's huge. It makes even the planes I fly to Texas in look like baby planes.

I am the last passenger off the plane. No point in rushing to pack my carryon stuff back into the bags and hurry off the plane just to sit around and wait for the baggage personell. So, by the time I get to the immigration desk, there is no line at all. The guy isn't thrilled with my answers. He believes that 34 days here on business is very strange indeed. I explain that I'm a computer programmer here for a system conversion and I watch his eyes glaze over somewhat. Ah, a technophobe! Happy day! I present him my business card as proof that I actually do work for the company I've stated. He stamps my passport and watches me suspiciously as I walk away.

I find the baggage carosel already teaming with passengers and bags. I find an open position and wait for my bag to come around. I wait some more. I notice one of the loading tracks is stuck. So, I wait for it to become unstuck and spill it's luggage contents for us to consume. It finally empties out. No bag. I look around. I am now the only passenger left with many bags going around. None of them are mine. It seems that my bag didn't have enough time to make it from the 6 person plane to my connecting flight on our 3 hour layover in LAX. In-f'ing-competence, I tell you.

I go pick up my car, with the promise that my luggage will be delivered to my hotel. Driving does take a bit of getting used to. I usually kind of crowd the left hand side of the lane when I drive. I'm not sure why I do, I just do. This poses a problem for me tooling down the motorway as I begin to unconciously crowd the left hand side of the lane...But, I'm on the other side of the car. So, my crowding is really pushing me into another lane entirely. With some mental effort I keep myself in my own damned lane. Bloody American drivers!

I did upgrade my car to a Toyota Prius with an internal navigation system. It'll cost a little more for the car, but, the gas costs will go down dramatically. Besides, without that glorious lady telling me where to turn, I probably would still be driving around Heathrow. Accounting is probably going to kill me. But, I'll enjoy myself until then :).

My hotel is easy to find and checking in is a snap. The room is pretty spartan, however. There is no dresser, no iron and no hair dryer. Don't really care about the hair dryer and, as you all know, I'll most likely ignore the iron for much of the time :). I notice that there is a water jug with a heating element in it for tea...but, no coffee maker. It's OK, I can handle tea in place of coffee. I turn on the Telly and flip through all five wonderful channels they have here. Each one pretty much sucks. That's actually good. I don't want to sit around watching TV in a foriegn country when there's so much else I could be doing.

I meet up with Frank for dinner and he shows me around a bit. We head off to an Italian place. It's an American chain, but, it doesn't stop me from having a couple of Boddingtons. We drive around afterwards and Frank shows me where the Ashworth shop is and how to get back to the hotel. I get back to my room (still no sign of my luggage) and force myself to stay awake until the un-Godly hour of 8pm. I crash...hard.