7/15/02 Monday

Up at 0500 today. Only slept for 3 hours. Gary arrived right on time! He even phoned early just to make sure that I was up. Had great coffee, good shower, shave. Forget to eat rest of PP’s fruit salad.

Got to CHO at 0620. Turns out Dulles fogged in. United have me switch to USAir for 1st segment- now CHO to Pittsburgh. Guess it’s a new girl- takes her forever, with many pieces of paper on which she writes, “void”, then tears them up and discards them. They also now have me on USAir from Pittsburgh to San Francisco. I’m told I can keep my window seat. While this is going on, they keep getting calls on their walkie-talkies that they need the last luggage to be loaded NOW! I get shuffled off to the USAir woman. She finally finishes, but, oops, no more window seat, only aisle. Damn! Also. Frequent flyer miles will now go to USAir, where I don’t need any more. All the while, the flight crew is still calling for my bag. She says, “Thank you, Mr. Peabody, your luggage is checked through to Tokyo.” I ask if maybe it can’t accompany me all the way to Bangkok. She tells me that I’m only traveling as far as Tokyo. More calls for my bag! Back we go to the United drawing board. Eventually, the USAir employee plus 4 United employees get it all figured out. Again, much writing of the word “void”, tearing of tickets, several “oops”, and, at the last minute, I get to the gate. By the way, somehow, my miles are back to United

Well, what to my wondering eyes do appear, but Steve the Baggage Handler and his security gear, who chirpily informs me that I get to be the next search victim. Good thing I didn’t have a weapon- while mixing the items in my carefully packed bag, Mr. Nosy just kept asking me personal questions, without actually looking at anything. He’s so “in one’s space”. Actually follows me through the door and down the stairs, with questions.

Anyway, I escape and board. The plane departs about 6.5 seconds later. Only about ¾ full. Cville looks beautiful this morning, wisps of clouds collected by the hills and compressed into soft banks of fog. Everything is so green and lush from the air. Uneventful flight to Pitts-burgh. Wait- what am I talking about??!! About ½ hour into the flight, we suddenly DROPPED out of the sky, did a violent left roll, and then right, then left again. There were actually several seconds of full-out gut-level screaming by a number of passengers. My heart races again just to think back on it. Still not as scary as Steve the Baggage Handler, though.

1-hour layover, then board a 757 to San Francisco, seat XX. I’m on the aisle in a row of 3 (remember, I lost my window seat), BUT… wonder of wonders, THERE’S NO MIDDLE PAS-SENGER!! Luxurious flight all the way to SF, where we actually land ½ hour early. Only gripe (ya know I gotta have one): no pillows or blankets, but, just to make me feel better, the attendant tells me that I’m #4 on the pillow/blanket waiting list, should they find any. Find any?! Where the hell would the hidden pillow/blanket stash be on an airplane? Also, seems my vegetarian meal didn’t follow me from United to USAir, so I’m stuck with a West-ern omelet (hate peppers in eggs) nestled up to a dog-prick looking sausage that’s oozing its deadly juices onto the eggs. Potatoes were good (hear that, Gary?). Got a 2-hour nap.

3-hour layover in SF. Overcast and foggy at 10:00 local time. 60 degrees, light breeze. Big airport, not so clearly marked where the next gate is. Good long walk to the international arrivals building. Get a roast turkey and Swiss on a roll, bottle of Orangina: $9.98. Hang around, make some calls, and board the next plane.

Now on a United 747. Never been in one before. Odd to walk in and see the staircase that goes upstairs for the luxe passengers. Window seat this time, 52A, far enough back of the wing that I can see during takeoff. Once again, great luck. THERE’S NO MIDDLE PASSEN-GER!! Good thing- this segment of the flight is 9+ hours.

Bag-o-nuts an hour later, then dinner served about 1900 Cville time. Nice menu of smoked salmon with cellophane noodles, sliced cucumber salad, rice, chicken, roasted vegggies, a good roll and some mango cheesecake for dessert. Collect 2 bottles of Merlot for future use. Ya just never know.

Have finished the novel “Waiting”, by Ha Jin, by 7:30 PM. Some laughs, a tear at the end. A love story set in China, spanning about 30 years, from 1960 to 1990. Nice, the way Jin throws in the political climate in China during Mao’s time, with references to the rapidly changing leadership and ideologies. The story strikes a chord in me, as it is a composite of all of the relationships with which I’m familiar, both those that are my own and those that belong my friends.

1045 PM Cville time- I don’t have a clue what time it is on the plane! Saw a bit of “I Am Sam”, the Sean Penn movie about a retarded man who wants to raise his own daughter. Good movie- gave me another 90 minutes of sleep. About 5 more hours on this leg of the journey. I’ll arrive at Narita Airport in Tokyo, where I’ll have another layover, this time, 2 hours. I think that I’ll go out of the airport, just a few steps, to breathe the Japanese air.

5:45 Am Cville- 5:45 PM in Tokyo: Well, couldn’t get out of the airport. Can’t figure out why it hasn’t been dark anytime in the last 24 hours. Managed to get another 2 hours sleep- I’ll add it all up later). I think that I’ve been able to get a total of about 8 hours since 3:00 AM Sunday night. Wait at the gate for plane

Added later: flight to BKK uneventful. Lay awake from boarding to landing. Exit, very distinctive aroma in the air. Taxi to Asia Airport Hotel. Close, convenient, a bit ragged about the edges, $30 USD.