Nathan’s Daily Grind

Driving over here in England is “great fun”.  I’ve actually gotten to the point where I’m comfortable driving on the wrong side of the road, and on the wrong side of the car.  I can even take roundabouts at maximum speed! 

The flat I’m staying at in Reading is across the street from a major mall with lots of restaurants, so that’s nice and convenient!  Ironically there’s a Chili’s, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and even a Krispy Kreme, along with a handful of other restaurants lining both sides of the river next to the mall, so a taste of home is not too far away.  I’m still getting my morning Starbucks hot chocolate!

This morning on the drive to the office (in Kingsclere - about 25 minutes south on a bunch of back roads) we discovered a new style of music on the radio I’ve never heard before: punk rock with bagpipes.  Only in the UK!

Well, back to work!  If you’d like to catch up with the travels of one of Kaitlyn’s favourite toys, Milk Dud, keep an eye on http://novaks.smugmug.com/gallery/4450616_eVN9K#261634527.

It has occurred to me that there seems to be a rule for women here in LA; at least those here in the downtown financial/business district.  Okay maybe not a rule, but perhaps a rule of thumb.

High heels must be at least 33% taller here than anywhere else in the country.

GOOD GRIEF ladies - I don’t understand how you do it!?!  That’s gotta hurt!

It’s like flats here in LA are really 2″ heels … and all shoes go up from there.  Heck, even the trendy surfers-turned-businessmen have significant heels on their patent leather shoes!

Anyway, here’s to me walking around in my slip-on Merrils with no heels at all.

When I was still at TechEd in Orlando last Friday I had the opportunity to see the Space Shuttle lift off.  Some of the guys from my office skipped a few sessions on the last day of the conference to head out to the cost for a good view.  I didn’t, but I still got to see the show from about 45 miles away.

IT WAS AMAZING.  Definitely something burned into my memory for the ages.  We saw the craft from shortly after liftoff,  through booster separation, and until the then-tiny spec of light disappeared.  It was so awesome to actually see the rope of fire coming from the engines.

Here are a couple of pictures courtesy of folks who posted pictures to Flickr that are pretty close to what we saw.  Click on each picture to link to the original up at Flickr.

I was probably standing about 50 feet from where this photo was taken, so this is the best example of what we saw during liftoff.  This picture was taken after the solid rocket boosters burnt out as the contrail just dies out.
 

 Later in the evening the contrail morphed into an amazing display.

I’m sitting in the Orlando airport waiting for my flight right now.  The morning started off an hour earlier than I had anticipated with United paging me to tell me that my plane was now in queue for departure.  This is a regular email they send me about 2-3 hours before a flight.

When my Blackberry woke me up I assumed it was my alarm.  So I got up without worry.  When I actually checked my Blackberry I found that United’s email indicated my flight was departing at 6:55a.  My itinerary had it leaving at 7:40a.

Oh shit.

I called the bell desk to see if there were any towncars out front.  Nobody home - transferred to the operator.  I explained the situation and asked for a towncar.  She transferred me to a bus shuttle service.  Reservation made - hopefully they’ll be able to get me there in time.  I threw the few items I had out for getting ready in the morning in my bag and headed out ASAP.

The folio left under my door while I was getting dressed didn’t charge my room to a card - manual checkout required.  The person at the front desk said that they only had the credit card I gave them at check-in on file, even though the room was supposed to be paid for by a corporate credit card.  Whatever - I’ll take the airline miles.

I get out to the curb and viola - two towncars!  Screw waiting for a bus, I’m outta here!

Arrive at airport: long lines.  Thank goodness I had upgraded to first class so I could go to the shorter first class line.  More delays from stupid people.  How hard is it to make flight arrangements folks?  It’s not rocket science.

My flight is “very full” and I’m 3rd in line for a first class seat (in first class standby on this leg, first class confirmed for LAX to SEA).  Because I upgraded with miles and one of my two legs me in first class they’re going to dock me for first class mileage for the whole trip (not prorated).  I joke about it with the agent and she moves me from the “back of the bus” up into the economy plus seats.  More leg room … YAY!

I get through security without too many issues.  The folks who Disney rejects because they have crappy customer service skills are evidently hired by the TSA.  Right in front of me a little 4 year old boy got yelled at because he didn’t have his own boarding pass in his hand.  Nice…

Make my way to the gate and find a seat.  There are no signs that say what flight it is and I want to make sure I’m in the right spot.  I get up to ask a gate agent and the power goes out.  About 30 seconds of darkness.  Nice…

I am in the right spot so I settle in for a bit of a wait - they’re boarding another flight at my gate.  The outside lights on that light up the planes and working areas go out for a couple minutes.  What the hell is with this airport?

And this is just the beginning.  OYE VAY!