in Paris
I'm in Paris right now. I'm chilling at the apartment of our linguistic friends Mark and Dmitry while I wait until check-in time for my hotel. We're going to go for a walk now and then have lunch.
My flight was an hour delayed getting off the ground in Newark. First, two seats, one in my row and one in the row behind me, were missing their cushions. So they called a technician to come and replace them. Then as we're all set to pull away from the gate, the stewardess tries to secure the emergency exit door and finds that it refuses to latch into place. Several other attendants try their hand at it, but it simply won't latch, so they call another technician to deal with it. He comes, takes a look at the door and then pulls out a file. He sticks it through the latch handle, gives a few strokes of the file and then the door finally latches in place. It's a little disconcerting to see such a low-tech, ad hoc solution to a problem with a key safety element, but the door held for the entire flight, so I guess it wasn't a serious issue. The flight otherwise was uneventful and turbulence-free, though my audio system was broken (lots of static) so I couldn't watch any of the movies. I also was seated next to a fat Russian woman who kept fidgeting in her seat, which kept waking me up whenever I tried to sleep. I imagine I'll crash soon, but hopefully not before the dinner party at Alain's house tonight.
My flight was an hour delayed getting off the ground in Newark. First, two seats, one in my row and one in the row behind me, were missing their cushions. So they called a technician to come and replace them. Then as we're all set to pull away from the gate, the stewardess tries to secure the emergency exit door and finds that it refuses to latch into place. Several other attendants try their hand at it, but it simply won't latch, so they call another technician to deal with it. He comes, takes a look at the door and then pulls out a file. He sticks it through the latch handle, gives a few strokes of the file and then the door finally latches in place. It's a little disconcerting to see such a low-tech, ad hoc solution to a problem with a key safety element, but the door held for the entire flight, so I guess it wasn't a serious issue. The flight otherwise was uneventful and turbulence-free, though my audio system was broken (lots of static) so I couldn't watch any of the movies. I also was seated next to a fat Russian woman who kept fidgeting in her seat, which kept waking me up whenever I tried to sleep. I imagine I'll crash soon, but hopefully not before the dinner party at Alain's house tonight.