Can I collapse yet? Jetlag should be banned from existance.
Oyyy, damn, I'm not doing well here *chuckles* sorry about the long delay, things are already heaping up on me, family events, work, jet lag and the desire to play computer games don't make for a happy mix xD.... Or at least don't make for a mix that updates LJ at speed.
Now, I've finally figured out how to get the data off my PDA and back onto the laptop without the proper software (semi yay for bluetooth!)
Yep, I got a PDA, with the intention of being able to do three things...
Firstly, I wanted to get on MSN whilst on the move but, alas, finding a hotspot in oklahoma is a bit like trying to find that other sock in my suitcase after coming home.... It's just not there.
Secondly, I was planning to write a bit more story on the plane... Which kinda worked, but mostly didn't due to not hitting the writing frame of mind on the way out and being all too sleepy on the way back.
Finally, I was gonna livejournal and set aside some time to type up a little post each day... As you may have gathered, that didn't exactly happen. *blush* ooops!
Honestly, I was just enjoying myself being able to chill out and be out of contact too much. =^-^=
But, upon returning, I found I had a few entries tapped up, I shall tack 'em together and post 'em for anyone who particularly feels bored enough to read. Mostly the content is about the two flights as I'm not gonna go into reviewing the nintendo Wii (which took up much time) or going into the dull reading of a nice, relaxed, chilled out week of doing nothing.
Anyhow, here's what I've got,
Well, here I am at the airport. I've worked out what the traditional 'thing I forgot' is and it's just the charger for my mp3 player. No big problem really but it does mean that I've only got until the battery expires for the whole trip. More annoying is that there isn't free wi-fi at the airport so I can't even LJ prpoerly. Naturally, the power outlets don't work either so I can't run this thing (my spiffy new PDA) on mains power.
Oh well. At least the cold I managed to pick up seems to have abated somewhat. Better yet, I'll be with EJ before nightfall! Woot!
----
Whee! Window seat! And finally the excitement hits properly. I'm going to see EJ! Excited? Hell yeah!
---
Now that was fun! And final proof that mobile phones are not as bad as they always say for planes. I'm sitting right behind the engines so it might be a bit of a noisy ride. We taxi out to the runway, the engines rev up,some asshat's mobile rings and then suddenly the engines say "Fuck you mobile phone asshat! Try talking through this! RAAAAAWR!". The jet jumps forwards and makes me think of cartoons where you see a big cat chasing something. 198 mph, the cat jumps and we're off. Totally beautiful views as we head up to the low clouds. Shafts of sunshine strike rays through the mist and rainfall and I have a perfect view of our shadow on the ground and later those disney style clouds. What with the rain and strong light, we have a halo, it seems. Up up and away!
---
Reykjavik looks rather impressive from 36,000 feet. Until a few minutes ago we were looking down over the ocean. Is it telling of my geekiness that my first thought was that the bump mapping sucks? Two hours into the flight and I'm bored. The down side to having the window seat is that you can't get at your bag o gubbins when the guy next to you is asleep. Looking at the in flight map, it's dawn in Oklahoma, I'm guessing Mandy is gonna be getting up soon too. *waves to the west to make sure I get you* Mornin'! I've no idea where the heck you are on this map, so yeah *nods*. Ooh! Better view of the sea! Although it's still not as good as some of those ray traced seascapes. Lemmee see. Ashley's most likely still awake. Mark's probably even at work by now and Nathan aught to be askeep. *long pause for shitty film* Well, okay, good mornin' Nathan xD The guy in the next seat finally woke up, so I've got my keyboard :D yay for fast typing! Or at least typing that will be faster once I get used to this dinky little thing.
Oyy. 3200 miles to go until Dallas. Getting closer :)
---
Hmm. I never really stopped to think about that film before. Twenty thousand leagues under the sea. Now, to be fair, I haven't read the book either, so perhaps the film hasn't done it justice, but yeah. I think my basic complaint is that Captain Nemo is trying to be all moral and responsible by ensuring that humanity is ready for whatever discoveries he had made before revealing them to the world... But seriously. What kind of responsibility or even nobility (Which, from what I can tell are the attributes he seeks to find in humanity) does he display himself? Not much. Blah, yeah, I'm kinda bored again. There's only so many films you can watch back to back in one sitting.
Still 1800 miles or so out from Dallas. Sadly, the clouds are even denser over here... Oooh... In flight radio just cut out. *Wonders if they're resetting it for another loop*. Hey :) Now that's something worth seeing. Another plane. Okay, now I've completely snowblinded myself. I know there's a lil' PDA thinger down there in front of me somewhere and it's not supposed to be a greeny purple blob. Ahh, radio is back. "We know why you travel, We're American Airlines." Ahh well, some nice classical for a bit. *Tries to figure out how to set the clock on this thing.*
---
*waves to Mark as I fly over*
---
*sends shorter range than usual hugs to EJ as we get closer* 500ish miles north of Dallas :D I'm guessing I can, will be able too or have seen your house, I just don't know which one it is.
---
420 miles to landing! Sqweeee! Sunsets rock when viewed from high up! I've been watching the lights come on in Oklahoma. Right now, I'm starting to like the whole flying city idea. :3 Views like this every night would be so cool. Starting our descent! Hold on Elizabeth! I'm coming to join you!
---
Well, here I am in the good ol' US of A. My mobile phone works, but irritatingly, it seems I have the wrong number for EJ. D'oh! It's about a half hour to the plane leaving and there isn't anyone at the check in desk. Maybe next time I'll come by canoe. Never mind though. A short rest room trip and then I can camp the desk.
---
*Some time much much later*
Well, once again, my ability to skimp on LJ knows no bounds. So allow me the chance to catch up.
Right now, I'm on the plane home, and, quite simply, regretting having to come back already. Sure, dogs that drive you mad, pizza attack from hell putting me near comatose for a day and all the feeling really dumb through having trouble with the accent, but hey, another couple of days just chilling out with EJ (and gang) would have been lovely. So yeah, trip to America :) No doubt, I'll get people thinking we wasted it or that it was stupid to book such a short time (And it was, but working needs dictate otherwise, sadly.) but it was fantastic :)
Most of the time, it was more like an extended sleep over at a friends house, chilling out, playing computer games, chatting and catching up. We went out to see Chris and Rob's newborn, Alexis on Saturday after trying to find anything I could use to charge up the mp3 player. Didn't find anything, not really surprised there, my own fault for not going with the standard, I guess. The pizza was delicious, and I was introduced to the deadly yumminess of cinnamon sticks. The first in the line of "Never tried that before." experiences of the holiday. Why deady? You ask? Simply because Sunday was spent being violently sick (Think "Team America"). Yay for pepto bismol, the second of the new taste sensations, the saddest thing was that I pretty much lost a day of the holiday to near unconsciousness because of that. Worse still, it was Sunday, as in the first possible day of playing with EJ's new Nintendo Wii *pout*, by the way. Wii + new Zelda = win. 'nuff said. The Graceland trip was looking a bit risky though, given how ill I had been, but we decided it was a case of Elvis or bust.
It was a good call.
The trip was long, but didn't seem nearly as bad as I feared. Road trips with a friend you haven't seen (in person) for a long time are kinda nice, even on a strange and alien road system. Now that I drive, I start to see how different things actually are for motorists of different nations. It's not the driving on the other side of the road that did it, it was the little differences in markings and road signs. At one point, we were standing in a service station looking at maps wondering if we should get one of Memphis. Figured it'd make a good souvenir and thank heaven we did xD. Made a wrong turn somewhere and got utterly lost for a few minutes, but eventually we got to the hotel. The hotel itself was brilliant, just opposite from Graceland itself, photos of Elvis on the wall, two channels of 24-7 Elvis movies and so on. We had dinner on Beale street, where Elvis used to hang out and then stayed up late watching said Elvis channels.
Graceland itself was something else though. There's just something about the place that makes you think he's going to come downstairs any moment and say hi. Everyone says you tend to come away dissapointed that it's smaller than expected. I couldn't think so, myself. It was the guy's house, nice, but not as extravagant as today's stars. The other exhibitions are worth a look too, the cars especially. *Chuckles* Everything else was pretty much gift shop, which were still very fun to go through. On the way back, however, I was introduced to something that I was blown away by. There's a restaurant chain serving good ol' American home cooking, Cracker Barrel. My first encounter with meatloaf. Yum! *Chuckles* Root beer, I can take or leave but meatloaf is strangely delicious. Definately one to learn how to make myself. Wednesday was spent mostly in recovery from the trip and familiarising ourselves with the intricacies of the latest in the Legend of Zelda series. Thursday was the magnificent feast of Thanksgiving. Hehe :) EJ's Mum is a great cook, and it was nice to catch up again with some of the folks I met last time too. *Sigh* alas, however, Friday, today, is the day I have to leave :( Not long enough by far. Hehe :) Maybe we can organise summer?
Photos to come, if I can find some usable ones in the few I took :)
.
But yeah, on the whole, I had a great time :) Wish I'd been there longer.
Oh, and as you may have gathered, I'm too disorganised to get photos sorted just yet, I might post a few to some replies if there are any.
Still alive, still checking my friends page from time to time though!
Big hugs to you all!
Now, I've finally figured out how to get the data off my PDA and back onto the laptop without the proper software (semi yay for bluetooth!)
Yep, I got a PDA, with the intention of being able to do three things...
Firstly, I wanted to get on MSN whilst on the move but, alas, finding a hotspot in oklahoma is a bit like trying to find that other sock in my suitcase after coming home.... It's just not there.
Secondly, I was planning to write a bit more story on the plane... Which kinda worked, but mostly didn't due to not hitting the writing frame of mind on the way out and being all too sleepy on the way back.
Finally, I was gonna livejournal and set aside some time to type up a little post each day... As you may have gathered, that didn't exactly happen. *blush* ooops!
Honestly, I was just enjoying myself being able to chill out and be out of contact too much. =^-^=
But, upon returning, I found I had a few entries tapped up, I shall tack 'em together and post 'em for anyone who particularly feels bored enough to read. Mostly the content is about the two flights as I'm not gonna go into reviewing the nintendo Wii (which took up much time) or going into the dull reading of a nice, relaxed, chilled out week of doing nothing.
Anyhow, here's what I've got,
Well, here I am at the airport. I've worked out what the traditional 'thing I forgot' is and it's just the charger for my mp3 player. No big problem really but it does mean that I've only got until the battery expires for the whole trip. More annoying is that there isn't free wi-fi at the airport so I can't even LJ prpoerly. Naturally, the power outlets don't work either so I can't run this thing (my spiffy new PDA) on mains power.
Oh well. At least the cold I managed to pick up seems to have abated somewhat. Better yet, I'll be with EJ before nightfall! Woot!
----
Whee! Window seat! And finally the excitement hits properly. I'm going to see EJ! Excited? Hell yeah!
---
Now that was fun! And final proof that mobile phones are not as bad as they always say for planes. I'm sitting right behind the engines so it might be a bit of a noisy ride. We taxi out to the runway, the engines rev up,some asshat's mobile rings and then suddenly the engines say "Fuck you mobile phone asshat! Try talking through this! RAAAAAWR!". The jet jumps forwards and makes me think of cartoons where you see a big cat chasing something. 198 mph, the cat jumps and we're off. Totally beautiful views as we head up to the low clouds. Shafts of sunshine strike rays through the mist and rainfall and I have a perfect view of our shadow on the ground and later those disney style clouds. What with the rain and strong light, we have a halo, it seems. Up up and away!
---
Reykjavik looks rather impressive from 36,000 feet. Until a few minutes ago we were looking down over the ocean. Is it telling of my geekiness that my first thought was that the bump mapping sucks? Two hours into the flight and I'm bored. The down side to having the window seat is that you can't get at your bag o gubbins when the guy next to you is asleep. Looking at the in flight map, it's dawn in Oklahoma, I'm guessing Mandy is gonna be getting up soon too. *waves to the west to make sure I get you* Mornin'! I've no idea where the heck you are on this map, so yeah *nods*. Ooh! Better view of the sea! Although it's still not as good as some of those ray traced seascapes. Lemmee see. Ashley's most likely still awake. Mark's probably even at work by now and Nathan aught to be askeep. *long pause for shitty film* Well, okay, good mornin' Nathan xD The guy in the next seat finally woke up, so I've got my keyboard :D yay for fast typing! Or at least typing that will be faster once I get used to this dinky little thing.
Oyy. 3200 miles to go until Dallas. Getting closer :)
---
Hmm. I never really stopped to think about that film before. Twenty thousand leagues under the sea. Now, to be fair, I haven't read the book either, so perhaps the film hasn't done it justice, but yeah. I think my basic complaint is that Captain Nemo is trying to be all moral and responsible by ensuring that humanity is ready for whatever discoveries he had made before revealing them to the world... But seriously. What kind of responsibility or even nobility (Which, from what I can tell are the attributes he seeks to find in humanity) does he display himself? Not much. Blah, yeah, I'm kinda bored again. There's only so many films you can watch back to back in one sitting.
Still 1800 miles or so out from Dallas. Sadly, the clouds are even denser over here... Oooh... In flight radio just cut out. *Wonders if they're resetting it for another loop*. Hey :) Now that's something worth seeing. Another plane. Okay, now I've completely snowblinded myself. I know there's a lil' PDA thinger down there in front of me somewhere and it's not supposed to be a greeny purple blob. Ahh, radio is back. "We know why you travel, We're American Airlines." Ahh well, some nice classical for a bit. *Tries to figure out how to set the clock on this thing.*
---
*waves to Mark as I fly over*
---
*sends shorter range than usual hugs to EJ as we get closer* 500ish miles north of Dallas :D I'm guessing I can, will be able too or have seen your house, I just don't know which one it is.
---
420 miles to landing! Sqweeee! Sunsets rock when viewed from high up! I've been watching the lights come on in Oklahoma. Right now, I'm starting to like the whole flying city idea. :3 Views like this every night would be so cool. Starting our descent! Hold on Elizabeth! I'm coming to join you!
---
Well, here I am in the good ol' US of A. My mobile phone works, but irritatingly, it seems I have the wrong number for EJ. D'oh! It's about a half hour to the plane leaving and there isn't anyone at the check in desk. Maybe next time I'll come by canoe. Never mind though. A short rest room trip and then I can camp the desk.
---
*Some time much much later*
Well, once again, my ability to skimp on LJ knows no bounds. So allow me the chance to catch up.
Right now, I'm on the plane home, and, quite simply, regretting having to come back already. Sure, dogs that drive you mad, pizza attack from hell putting me near comatose for a day and all the feeling really dumb through having trouble with the accent, but hey, another couple of days just chilling out with EJ (and gang) would have been lovely. So yeah, trip to America :) No doubt, I'll get people thinking we wasted it or that it was stupid to book such a short time (And it was, but working needs dictate otherwise, sadly.) but it was fantastic :)
Most of the time, it was more like an extended sleep over at a friends house, chilling out, playing computer games, chatting and catching up. We went out to see Chris and Rob's newborn, Alexis on Saturday after trying to find anything I could use to charge up the mp3 player. Didn't find anything, not really surprised there, my own fault for not going with the standard, I guess. The pizza was delicious, and I was introduced to the deadly yumminess of cinnamon sticks. The first in the line of "Never tried that before." experiences of the holiday. Why deady? You ask? Simply because Sunday was spent being violently sick (Think "Team America"). Yay for pepto bismol, the second of the new taste sensations, the saddest thing was that I pretty much lost a day of the holiday to near unconsciousness because of that. Worse still, it was Sunday, as in the first possible day of playing with EJ's new Nintendo Wii *pout*, by the way. Wii + new Zelda = win. 'nuff said. The Graceland trip was looking a bit risky though, given how ill I had been, but we decided it was a case of Elvis or bust.
It was a good call.
The trip was long, but didn't seem nearly as bad as I feared. Road trips with a friend you haven't seen (in person) for a long time are kinda nice, even on a strange and alien road system. Now that I drive, I start to see how different things actually are for motorists of different nations. It's not the driving on the other side of the road that did it, it was the little differences in markings and road signs. At one point, we were standing in a service station looking at maps wondering if we should get one of Memphis. Figured it'd make a good souvenir and thank heaven we did xD. Made a wrong turn somewhere and got utterly lost for a few minutes, but eventually we got to the hotel. The hotel itself was brilliant, just opposite from Graceland itself, photos of Elvis on the wall, two channels of 24-7 Elvis movies and so on. We had dinner on Beale street, where Elvis used to hang out and then stayed up late watching said Elvis channels.
Graceland itself was something else though. There's just something about the place that makes you think he's going to come downstairs any moment and say hi. Everyone says you tend to come away dissapointed that it's smaller than expected. I couldn't think so, myself. It was the guy's house, nice, but not as extravagant as today's stars. The other exhibitions are worth a look too, the cars especially. *Chuckles* Everything else was pretty much gift shop, which were still very fun to go through. On the way back, however, I was introduced to something that I was blown away by. There's a restaurant chain serving good ol' American home cooking, Cracker Barrel. My first encounter with meatloaf. Yum! *Chuckles* Root beer, I can take or leave but meatloaf is strangely delicious. Definately one to learn how to make myself. Wednesday was spent mostly in recovery from the trip and familiarising ourselves with the intricacies of the latest in the Legend of Zelda series. Thursday was the magnificent feast of Thanksgiving. Hehe :) EJ's Mum is a great cook, and it was nice to catch up again with some of the folks I met last time too. *Sigh* alas, however, Friday, today, is the day I have to leave :( Not long enough by far. Hehe :) Maybe we can organise summer?
Photos to come, if I can find some usable ones in the few I took :)
.
But yeah, on the whole, I had a great time :) Wish I'd been there longer.
Oh, and as you may have gathered, I'm too disorganised to get photos sorted just yet, I might post a few to some replies if there are any.
Still alive, still checking my friends page from time to time though!
Big hugs to you all!