Because I’m an idiot.
November 4-7: Chicago to London (7906 miles)
November 17-21: Chicago to Osaka via Honolulu (16718 miles)
So it comes down to two days in Osaka, which will be ok for me. There’s also a 22 hour layover in Honolulu, which will suck so much.
Someone emailed me today about the Toronto photos and said, who’s the chubby kid in your photos? Is that your brother?
Laffo.
I booked a weekend in London over Guy Fawkes Day. This should prove to be amusing if nothing else.
I’ve never been harassed so hardcore in my entire life. Seriously. Secondary search by TSA at O’Hare, harassed at Pearson by immigration and then secondary searched on the way out (although the joke about the ‘tin foil-wrapped cucumber in my pants’ got a laugh out of the guy wanding me). Oh, and the secondary search at the gate. Let’s not forget that. I figure I was about due for one, since my search on the way back from Santiago. I sort of got the vibe that I was going to get harassed, so I didn’t take my chances with anything. However 1L bottles of Mount Gay rum were CDN$15, which is a freakin’ bargain.
It’s a good thing that I didn’t try to bring in any Cuban cigars, even though they were twice as expensive as they are in England.
I really enjoy spending time in Toronto. It’s a super-chill city where the midwestern sense of politeness realy does take effect, and that people actually are friendly and say please and thank you. Of course, it gets a little old, and you want someone to swear at you just so you know you’re not vividly hallucinating.
Killed more than my fair share of brain cells, including finding an awesome little bar called Smokeless Joe, which had 250+ beers on tap, and damn good Clam Chowder. Best of all, it was sans cigarette smoke, which made me happy. It’s on the “keeper” list. I could bring Jon up to this place and he’d be a happy man. Plus the sign: The blues are when you love somebody don’t loves you.
I think someone at work gave me SARS. Last night, I nearly collapsed on the cross country ski machine (even going at a slow pace). Went home from work early, slept for 6 hours and turned down a chance to go party with hot flight attendants on Rush/Division. My joints are achy.
Truth be told, the only reason why I’m going to work tomorrow is so I can work on an asshat coworker’s Linksys router because he’s incompetent. Even Toronto is in jeopardy, but it’d mean I’d have to eat $200 or so. Depends. I may just fly there and sleep in the hotel room. There could be worse ways to be sick than to spend 2 nights at a Sheraton.
I’ll blame the SARS.
I’m off to Toronto this weekend. Leave at first light on Saturday, come back Monday evening. For those keeping score at home, this is country #11 in the last 19 months.
I’m starting a second blog to cover a trip that I’m planning for next year. I figure that there’s a potential for a book out of my blog’s postings – perhaps. But like anything, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done before I give “go.” The first milestone is in September and I’ll probably announce when I get back from Australia.
Travel.State.Gov has been pimped out. Looks very nice.
And I didn’t know you could register online for
Travel Registration so in case you get into trouble, the State Dept can help as best as they can.
No shit. Dress Code May Hinder Their Work, Air Marshals Say.
They’re not like the Israelis by any means.