Dear Diary ... Day 2

Day 2: Tuesday July 10
6am (PST): Awaken by hotel wake up call at 6am LA time. Ignore it and try to go back to sleep. Turns out to be a pseudo-important phone call.

9am: As I head out the door for breakfast there’s a letter from Qantas outside my door apologizing for the delayed flight. The big news is that the cancelled flight has been rescheduled for 10am LA time. As it is 9am out on the West coast, I have an hour to get things together and get to the airport.

9:20am: On the way to the airport there are several of us from the cancelled Qantas flight who received the rescheduling info via the doorstep letter. After talking we come to the conclusion that the wake up call was to alert us of the revised flight time. Too bad the call was automated and everyone ignored it.

9:30am: Arrive at the airport and have to recheck in. The one good thing about this is that I am placed in an exit row so I will have plenty of room to stretch out.

10:15am: Finally board the plan with the expected departure time being 10:30am – just 12 hours behind schedule – and the arrival in Sydney at 6pm on Wednesday.

11am: Still waiting to leave the gate and am stuck watching “Bean” on British TV. Worst. Show. Ever.
Good news is that no one is sitting in the seat behind me so I can lay the seat all the way back. It’s the simple things in life that make things tolerable.

11:45am: And I’m off … for the second time in less than a day. There are two babies in the middle rows adjacent to me. Hopefully they won’t be too fussy throughout the flight.

12:20ish pm: Braised beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread, and salad. Not too shabby for an in-flight lunch.

12:30pm: The lunch was actually tasty. Kudos Qantas. Glad to see that something finally went right.

1:52pm: 6,390 miles to Sydney. 11:44 left in the flight. Half way between LA & Hawaii.

2:20pm: Babies are fussy but a little “The Office” on the television and some classic rock to listen to make it bearable. Gotta love the little screens at your seat that you can watch movies, television shows, listen to music and play games on.

5:45pm: Half-way to Sydney!! Only 3,670 miles to go. Currently watching “300” – it’s a must see if you haven’t watched it yet.

8:10pm: I am an official time traveler (and a dork) – just crossed the International Date Line. Someone smells like dirty diapers. Hopefully it’s the baby across the aisle and not the old guy sitting next to me. Tom & Shelley-thanks for suggesting I wear comfy shorts and bring running pants instead of wearing jeans. I still haven’t tried to sleep yet. Considering there’s a little over 5 hours left in the flight I probably won’t rest my eyes. Starting to ramble … need to get up and walk around. Hope my legs don’t fall off. Jess-thanks again for driving me to the airport yesterday (?) and helping with my luggage. You’re the best.

9:57pm (Sydney time): I am at my hotel room right now trying to stay awake to let you guys know that I made it safe and sound (too bad that can't be said about one of my pieces of luggage). The hotel's not too shabby and you can't beat the price being this close to the CBD. My cab driver & I actually had a conversation. I think I talked to my cabby more tonight than I have in all my 4+ years in Chicago.
I don't know why, but the Sydneyites (?) must love their Civil Engineers. I got to skip the quarantine line when the checker saw that my profession was a civil engineer. Hope the gals in Australia like the engineers as much as the quarntine guy does.

I'm signing off ... have a good day today in America and I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow night if I can.

If you want to get ahold of me via phone, the phone number you can reach me at is (312)-239-8717. It's a Chicago area code, but I can access through my computer.

Dear Diary ...

I’m going to try to keep a running diary through my travels from Chicago to Sydney – 21 ½ hours of screaming kids, old sweating men and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” on the movie screen – yippee! I’m not promising anything exciting or scandalous … more than likely it’ll be pretty boring.

3:55pm (all times CST): I made it through the baggage check-in and security with ease, but leave it to good ol’ Mayor Daley to try and squeeze every last penny out of you. There’s a nice little banner after you get through security stating easy access to the internet. Of course it doesn’t mention that it costs $7 just to access the internet. Nothing like shooting down ones dreams. I was hoping to do a little gate surfing, but I’m going to Jake It and not pay the money. At least not now.

4:15pm: OK, maybe I have a slight internet dependency. It took me all of 5 minutes to cave in and spend the money for internet access.

5:15pm: Just found out that that we are being delayed 40 min. New departure is 6:20pm

5:20pm: It’s nice to see that the only place that has power outlet is on the floor next to the men’s bathroom. Classy.

6:15pm: On the plane … more bad weather to come …may be sitting on the tarmac for another 45-60 min. Being told that our flight will probably arrive at LAX at 10:00 with my flight to Sydney taking off at 10:30. Nothing like cutting it close on your first international flight.

6:25pm: Getting ready for takeoff and there’s an empty seat next to me!!

6:30pm: Not to rip-off Tyler Durden, but it’s amazing how calm & serene the passengers are during the oxygen mask deployment portion of the safety video.

6:40pm: There is no freakin’ way I’m going to be able to sit in coach for 14+ hours to Sydney. I’m already antsy and I’ve only been on the plane for 30 minutes.

7:03pm: And we’re off the ground.

7:30pm: The in flight move is “Blades of Glory.”

11:02pm: The smoothest landing the flight attendant has ever experienced in L.A.

11:17pm: Just found out that my flight to Sydney has been cancelled because the connecting plane’s engine got struck by lightning. I’ll post more of this later after I have a little room service dinner.