15 Hours On A Plane

It’s midnight back home, James and I are currently at 33000 ft above sea level, travelling at almost 600 miles/hr. We are 2,200 miles out of Newark, just flew past the tip of, Greenland flying in an arc towards Iceland. Only 6,000 miles to go. I just dug my blow up neck pillow out of my bag, not for my neck but for my ass! Airplane seats are also your floatation device for a water landing and are not made to sit in comfort for a 15 hr flight! At least not for my butt that is short on cushioning! This neck pillow works perfect, takes the pressure off my tailbone, my own personal “air shocks”!
This flight is so empty it is unbelievable! The entire middle section of Business/First is empty, 18 beautiful big seats that recline 170 degrees are visible right through the door in front of me just 4 feet away. Do you think they’d let me go use one of those seats? Not a chance!! It’s just not right! I shouldn’t complain too much though, my friend Shane who flies for Continental, hooked us up with bulkhead seats in Row 16 which are great. It is the first row behind Business/First and we can fully stretch our legs out in front of us, no seats leaning back into us, and nobody beside us on this flight because it is so empty. We have an empty seat in between us. I just went for a walk to the back and people are laid out sleeping on 3 seat sections all over the place. The Economy section has 245 seats and I’m guessing there are maybe 100 of us back here! I guess flying on a holiday is a good thing. The Steward said this flight is normally packed.
The onboard entertainment is great. We each have our own little TV with access to almost 200 movies, plus a bunch of TV shows as well as video games. Crazy! When I last flew to India in 1995, you just had one choice. Whatever they showed you on the big screen. Even my trip to Turkey in 2003 only had a limited amount of entertainment. Next trip I’m betting most planes will also have internet access which a few already do.
I need another nap. More to come.

Hanging Out In Jersey

Ok, we made a quick flight to Houston, made it onto our plane to Newark and then sat at the boarding gate for an hour waiting for the thunderstorm to pass. We got into Newark at 1700, our next flight leaves at 2020 so we had lots of time to spare. James found the Brooklyn Brewery and polished off 2 $8 beers! Kinda steep for my taste. I'm more of a $2 Diet Coke guy!! :) I was sitting next to a cute 8 year old girl named Tatiana on our flight here. Her "real mom" lives in Houston and her "real dad" lives in Jersey and she travels back and forth by herself a lot. I don't think my 10 or 11 year old kids would travel alone. The airline looks after kids of course but it's still pretty brave I thought! James commented that my kids were pretty lucky, they don't have to do that back and forth thing like so many kids have to nowdays.

Next stop, Bombay!! More to come.

James and Phil Leave Corpus

We are actually on our way. James said goodbye to Stacy a few minutes ago, I said bye to Pearl and the kids at home and Erdal brought me to the airport. Halle was a trouper and did not cry until I left. Tris was cool cuz he was opening Easter presents! Go figure.

I had the worst sleep ever last nite. Up at 3, 4, 5, 6, finally up at 0620. Hope I can sleep on the plane! More later.

One More Sleep!

It's 2230 and all the packing is done. The kids are sleeping in our bed since it's our last night together for a while. (They use any excuse to sleep in our bed like "it's friday night dad") I don't mind since I get my spot, Pearl is the one usually displaced to the couch or one of the kids beds ha ha ha) Halle has kinda been sad through the day, giving me extra hugs and kisses and the occasional, "Do you have to go Dad?" Tristan hasn't said anything but has also been extra affectionate today. It's going to be rough leaving in the morning. I can't imagine what military families go through knowing they are leaving for a year or more and possibly never coming back!

On to happier things. No work for a month!!! Yippieeeeee I'll be eating real Indian food by Monday night. Can't wait.

D-Day for Merv

Merv arrived here in Abbotsford this afternoon - his first plane flight since the early 80s.  I think he is feeling a bit dazed that this is actually happening - surreal is the word he used.  He actually has the longest time away from home since he left today and does not get home until May 7, just a day short of 4 weeks.  It sounds like his co-workers are totally impressed he could get his 'pass' signed by his wife to be away that long! :-)  He is kinda lucky though - for better or worse he is packed and on his way now.  I'm having trouble getting time to concentrate on my preparations with a big Easter presentation I'm responsible for Sunday.  There is also a party at our place Saturday for 30+ people being held in honor of my 3rd son who is about to leave on a year long round the world trip.  Wow!  And of course like Phil there are taxes to get done - mine plus 5 returns for the rest of my family.

I set up a bunch of weather dashboards on my wife's Mac for all the places we will be hitting.  It is going to be HOT!  Agra, where the Taj Mahal is, hits 114 F next week.  Most places are mid to high 90s although some still dip down to the 5os over night.  My Easter responsibilities are the reason we are leaving so late in the year - May is one of the hottest months - instead of earlier when the temperatures are much more comfortable.   This is going to be a lot easier for the Corpus pair than the 2 of us from the Great White North.  It may be even worse for Merv - he works at a meat packing plant and spends most of his  days in a cooler!

One Day To Go!

Yipeee!

James and I worked our last shift Thursday night. It was busy and we were more than ready to leave by 0700. I spent today gathering things together on our bed, making sure I had everything. I had to make a trip to Academy to return the shoes I bought for the trip. I wore them around for a few hours and they weren't as comfortable as I thought. I bought a cheaper pair by $20, New Balance, which shows you, higher price doesn't always mean better. Of course a trip to Best Buy is always good, showed the "MAC" guy there my blog so he can follow our trip. I befriended him before Christmas when I was shopping for my MAC and always stop in to say hi when I go there. He has actually been to India so was interested in our trip.

I told James I would post my packing list so here it is:

My plan is this.

On the plane, long cotton pants with a button shirt, shoes and socks, underwear, belt and neckbag for passport, money etc

Shorts, t-shirt, underwear and socks in my carry on as well as basic toiletries. Also carry on my camera bag, netbook, batteries etc. If my checked bag gets lost, I can always buy more clothes!

Checked bag
-3 pairs of shorts
-swimming trunks
-4 t-shirts (plus a special t-shirt each for Randy and Merv)
-4 pairs of socks
-4 underwear
-boxers for sleep
-sandals or Teva's

Also
-Deep Woods Off
-sunscreen
-antiseptic hand-gel for hand washing
-lots of wet wipes (Pearl and Mike went through a lot of those in 1995)
-hat
-hard candies (life savers etc)
-? chocolate bars?
-a few boxes of Kraft Dinner (in case of upset stomach and longing for a bland meal)
-case of chewing gum

Toiletries and Other:
-couple razors
-shaving gel
-Head & Shoulders shampoo
-aftershave
-zit cream
-chapstick
-deodorant
-cologne
-moisturizing cream
-q tips
-toothbrush
-toothpaste
-benadryl stick or ointment
-a "Z-Pak" in case of illness (easily purchased there but I have one here already)
-moisturizing eye drops

-blow up neck pillow

I have to do my taxes later tonight so I'm outa here. More tomorrow.

Phil

Randy's List

Ok, I have to be fair and post Randy's Packing List which is pretty similar to James, I don't think he spent as much time on the planning though. Here it is:

Started the packing list which is making me wonder why I have such a large bag to put it in. Here is what I have so far. Am I missing anything?

Clothes:
• 1 pair long pants (jeans?)
• 2 pairs shorts (maybe 3)
• 5 t-shirts
• 1 long sleeve shirt
• swim suit
• 7 pairs socks (thought I'd have enough for 1 week)
• 7 pairs underwear
• shoes (I'll wear these)
• sandals (may just buy these in India)

Toiletries:
• toothbrush & toothpaste
• deodorant
• soap
• shampoo
• towel
• nail clippers
• beard trimmer (maybe)
• brush
• glasses cleaner
• floss
• powder

Electronics:
• iPod & charger
• camera & charger
• extra battery & memory card
• plug adapter (not sure where to get this yet)
• thumb drives

Health:
• band-aids
• bug spray
• hand sanitizer
• sunscreen
• pain killer
• diarrhea killer

Documents:
Other:
• compass (maybe)
• earplugs
• sun glasses (actually plan to order prescription ones in Bombay)
• reading material
• hat