Home Again

Back in the Bay Area, my second morning back, feeling like someone hit the back of my head with a hammer. I thought I'd sleep more peacefully once I was home but the time change is insisting otherwise.

The return trip was interesting: the gate agent in Melbourne volunteered as I was checking in that I had a vegetarian meal ordered and I confirmed it. On the trip from Melbourne to Sydney, I got a lovely grilled eggplant sandwich for a snack. But on the Sydney-SFO flight, the stewardess cheerily asked which regular entree I wanted. When I responded that I had a special meal, she checked the manifest and found no record of it. So what I want to know is, how could they have my special meal request on 3 flights on my itinerary but not the fourth? I've emailed United to ask this same question. When I told them I could eat fish, the crew was nice enough to steal a fish entree from first class - it was terribly overcooked but a thoughtful gesture nonetheless.

Then when athenais and I shlepped my luggage inside my condo, we were met by an arctic blast. Given that the heat hadn't been turned on for 6 weeks, the living room temperature was 51 degrees F! Thank heaven for electric blankets: I desperately needed a shower and a nap and set a land/speed record from the bathroom to dive under the blanket. The bedroom didn't get decently warm for several hours.

I was virtuous and only slept for 90 minutes, forcing myself out of bed to go grocery shopping and read the Sunday paper. I managed to stay up until 10:30 pm local time, which I thought was pretty good, although my eyes blinked awake at 3 a.m. I slept in a little more than normal for a workday knowing that I had to wait for the Post Office to open to pick up my accumulated mail. I spent about 20 minutes in the post office tossing things in the recycling bin and separating the keeper mail into two piles: need to read now, need to read at some point. (I was surprised at how much handwritten addressed mail I'd gotten until I remembered that I'd left just before Xmas :-> )

Then I cheated and stopped by Krispy Kreme on the way to work. I didn't get much work done, as everyone stopped by my office to say howdy and marvel at the fact that I have a voice again, plus the tools group took me out to lunch. Now I guess it's back to everyday living...

Home Again

Back in the Bay Area, my second morning back, feeling like someone hit the back of my head with a hammer. I thought I'd sleep more peacefully once I was home but the time change is insisting otherwise.

The return trip was interesting: the gate agent in Melbourne volunteered as I was checking in that I had a vegetarian meal ordered and I confirmed it. On the trip from Melbourne to Sydney, I got a lovely grilled eggplant sandwich for a snack. But on the Sydney-SFO flight, the stewardess cheerily asked which regular entree I wanted. When I responded that I had a special meal, she checked the manifest and found no record of it. So what I want to know is, how could they have my special meal request on 3 flights on my itinerary but not the fourth? I've emailed United to ask this same question. When I told them I could eat fish, the crew was nice enough to steal a fish entree from first class - it was terribly overcooked but a thoughtful gesture nonetheless.

Then when athenais and I shlepped my luggage inside my condo, we were met by an arctic blast. Given that the heat hadn't been turned on for 6 weeks, the living room temperature was 51 degrees F! Thank heaven for electric blankets: I desperately needed a shower and a nap and set a land/speed record from the bathroom to dive under the blanket. The bedroom didn't get decently warm for several hours.

I was virtuous and only slept for 90 minutes, forcing myself out of bed to go grocery shopping and read the Sunday paper. I managed to stay up until 10:30 pm local time, which I thought was pretty good, although my eyes blinked awake at 3 a.m. I slept in a little more than normal for a workday knowing that I had to wait for the Post Office to open to pick up my accumulated mail. I spent about 20 minutes in the post office tossing things in the recycling bin and separating the keeper mail into two piles: need to read now, need to read at some point. (I was surprised at how much handwritten addressed mail I'd gotten until I remembered that I'd left just before Xmas :-> )

Then I cheated and stopped by Krispy Kreme on the way to work. I didn't get much work done, as everyone stopped by my office to say howdy and marvel at the fact that I have a voice again, plus the tools group took me out to lunch. Now I guess it's back to everyday living...