Sunday, April 14, 2002. 10:11AM.
Concourse C, Chicago O’Hare International Airport
Smooth jazz, shrimp salad, bottled soda, tile floor. It’s not bad for an airport food court.
I’ve just completed the first flight of my two week Asian tour. Despite my Medallion status on Delta, the $1,500 difference in fares got my attention. Looks like I’ll log a few thousand miles on United as well. I guess this will give cosmic balance to my airline karma. This is my first time flying United through Chicago. The other airlines at O’Hare reside in a neglected portion of the airport, while the United terminal is open and shiny. I normally hang out in the slums of O’Hare, racing between Korean Air and Delta flights. The difference in atmosphere is not subtle.
I’m taking refuge in the food court during my two hour layover. As in most airports, I immediately seek out power outlets adjacent to furniture or phone booths. I often indulge in a complimentary stream of electrons while dining at America’s finer airports. Layovers are a good time to peck away at my portable computer, writing for my website or attacking a long neglected Word document. I have an enormous number of technical documents that I’ve pushed back due to my travel schedule. I think I’ll dedicate some time on my next flight to those.
That next flight departs from Gate C18 at 12:15PM, UA881 direct from Chicago to Tokyo/Narita. I can look forward to at least twelve hours of in-flight entertainment and spring water served in ridiculously tiny bottles. It will be 3:00PM Monday when I get to Narita International Airport. I will have lost most of Monday to my new arch nemesis, the International Date Line.
I’m speaking at Intel Developer Forum (IDF) Japan on Tuesday. After that, I get to visit customers and wander the Hilton Tokyo Bay. Saturday is my designated tourist day, so I finally get to explore Tokyo on my own. I would love to take Suzan to Japan sometime … it’s hard to do now since we have baby goats to tend to, not to mention her lack of passport. The cost of the plane ticket isn’t too much of an issue, since I have 170,000+ Delta Miles in the airline bank. I miss her a lot when I travel, and I’d like her to be with me when I go on these little international hops.
Anyway, back to the flight plan already in progress. I fly to Taipei on Sunday evening. I give the same talk to IDF Asia Pacific (IDF APAC). Wednesday takes me to Macau, my point of entry for China. I fly to Beijing where I speak to IDF China on Friday. Saturday takes me back to Chicago, where I magically reclaim my lost Monday. After that it’s a three hour layover and a short flight back to Atlanta.
I hope you got all that. There will be a test later.
I take another bite of salad and check the status of my carry on luggage. My backpack and camera bag are still by my side. I had to stash the “James Bond Computer In A Briefcase” in my checked baggage to avoid the watchful eye of the carry on police. Plus I wanted my camcorder handy in case anything interesting happens. I am getting slightly attached to my new toy. My new DV habit will hopefully produce hours of streaming video for the enjoyment of siliconchef readers all over the world (okay, perhaps not the world … just some folks in Alabama and a few geeks in DC).
Note to Gareth, the man who hosts siliconchef.com: it’s not going to be a lot of video … it’s not like I’m hosting a DiVX pr0n site. To keep your Debian pals happy, I’ll avoid using any Microsoft streaming formats.
I can now see the bottom of my seafoam green styrofoam salad bowl. Looks like it’s time for me to wrap this entry up. Next time we meet, I should be in Tokyo.
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