I met a (Muon) Traveler in an Antique (Clock) Land
Well, I'm back.
No, I'm not Samwise returning to Bag End -- though Switzerland is quite pastoral; I'm just little old me back at CERN -- the X33 is out for repairs, so I had to get here the old-fashioned way: by 747.
The flight was uneventful, though the TSA Lady in Detroit thought I lived in New York (?!). She said it was my beard -- apparently it's all the rage in the Big Apple -- so, unbeknownst to me, I'm riding the crest of fashion. Who'd've thunk?
Unlike last time, I didn't spend all night trying to break into the Top 10 trivia-nistas in the flight's history. Instead, I watched a bit of "The Practice" and became more hooked on James Spader's character. I just may have to get the DVDs -- we'll see...
Also, I tried to sleep but couldn't due to several factors:
1) the lack of leg room,. Yes, yes, I know: I'm tall and have even longer legs; but I chose an exit row, an EXIT row just to avoid that. It turns out that on Continental trans-Atlantic flights, the exit row has a partition in front of it. So, instead of getting extra leg space, I got less -- I can usually jamb my legs under the seat in front if need be, but not here.
2) the rigid dividers. Normally, the trays drop down from the seat to one's front. Not so here, because -- you guessed it! -- it was an exit row, so there was no seat to my front. The tray table thus emerged from the arm rest, requiring it to be fixed, and not flip-uppable. I had no one near my, but I couldn't stretch out, because I was trapped by the silly arm rest digging into my thigh. Ow.
3) the math in my head. Of all the things, this was the real source of my lack of sleep: a math problem. This was good though, as I had fun working out a bunch of probabilities. In the end, I got it wrong, but I know how to fix it. Often, one can just put a problem out of one's head, but this one wouldn't let go of me. It was nice to be consumed by an academic challenge. Even if it deprived me of sleep.
Continental also has some pretty mediocre in-flight food. I had lasagna for dinner and fruit for breakfast. The salad was uninspiring; the lasagna was gelid; and the "dessert" was bland and unrecognizable. The breakfast was even more laughable: the oranges were still frozen. The croissant was decent, though. Fortunately, Dan's wife gave me some tea (English Breakfast!), cheese, and bread. Ah. Bliss.
In case you didn't know it already: I am an idiot. I was very careful to pack what I needed to bring. I made lists. I spread things out. I double-checked. I forgot vital things. What you ask? Well, the battery charger for my camera. This wouldn't have been an issue if I'd remembered to recharge it after depleting the charge most handily on Tuesday night. I'll shoot until I run out of juice, but after that I'll have to wait until the charger is sent to me -- unless by some miracle I accidentally packed the charger and forgot about it. So that's one thing I forgot, what else is there? Just my CERN ID. Yeah, that's right, the card that lets me into the facilities. Luckily, they don't care that much, and I should be able to get a new one here or have my current one sent over. Still...it's embarassing. Really, really embarassing.
No, I'm not Samwise returning to Bag End -- though Switzerland is quite pastoral; I'm just little old me back at CERN -- the X33 is out for repairs, so I had to get here the old-fashioned way: by 747.
The flight was uneventful, though the TSA Lady in Detroit thought I lived in New York (?!). She said it was my beard -- apparently it's all the rage in the Big Apple -- so, unbeknownst to me, I'm riding the crest of fashion. Who'd've thunk?
Unlike last time, I didn't spend all night trying to break into the Top 10 trivia-nistas in the flight's history. Instead, I watched a bit of "The Practice" and became more hooked on James Spader's character. I just may have to get the DVDs -- we'll see...
Also, I tried to sleep but couldn't due to several factors:
1) the lack of leg room,. Yes, yes, I know: I'm tall and have even longer legs; but I chose an exit row, an EXIT row just to avoid that. It turns out that on Continental trans-Atlantic flights, the exit row has a partition in front of it. So, instead of getting extra leg space, I got less -- I can usually jamb my legs under the seat in front if need be, but not here.
2) the rigid dividers. Normally, the trays drop down from the seat to one's front. Not so here, because -- you guessed it! -- it was an exit row, so there was no seat to my front. The tray table thus emerged from the arm rest, requiring it to be fixed, and not flip-uppable. I had no one near my, but I couldn't stretch out, because I was trapped by the silly arm rest digging into my thigh. Ow.
3) the math in my head. Of all the things, this was the real source of my lack of sleep: a math problem. This was good though, as I had fun working out a bunch of probabilities. In the end, I got it wrong, but I know how to fix it. Often, one can just put a problem out of one's head, but this one wouldn't let go of me. It was nice to be consumed by an academic challenge. Even if it deprived me of sleep.
Continental also has some pretty mediocre in-flight food. I had lasagna for dinner and fruit for breakfast. The salad was uninspiring; the lasagna was gelid; and the "dessert" was bland and unrecognizable. The breakfast was even more laughable: the oranges were still frozen. The croissant was decent, though. Fortunately, Dan's wife gave me some tea (English Breakfast!), cheese, and bread. Ah. Bliss.
In case you didn't know it already: I am an idiot. I was very careful to pack what I needed to bring. I made lists. I spread things out. I double-checked. I forgot vital things. What you ask? Well, the battery charger for my camera. This wouldn't have been an issue if I'd remembered to recharge it after depleting the charge most handily on Tuesday night. I'll shoot until I run out of juice, but after that I'll have to wait until the charger is sent to me -- unless by some miracle I accidentally packed the charger and forgot about it. So that's one thing I forgot, what else is there? Just my CERN ID. Yeah, that's right, the card that lets me into the facilities. Luckily, they don't care that much, and I should be able to get a new one here or have my current one sent over. Still...it's embarassing. Really, really embarassing.