Return to Darwin
Well, I won't offer the usual apologies for the long delay in writing here. I just got back to Darwin from a trip to the US, and elsewhere. It was quite a trip. I'm still pretty jetlagged, so it might take a couple of days to get through the trip, but here goes. I started by going from Darwin to L.A. Actually, I'll back up and say that I went to the US because of a conference in San Antonio. It was cheaper to buy a round-the-world ticket than to go round-trip, so I had a few extra stops to make.
Back to L.A. Well, Sydney anyway. I had a 9 hour layover, so... went to the beach. Yup, hopped the Manly ferry and had a look at the beach. Nice, but a bit cloudy and cool. When I got back to the airport, I was surprised to find that I'd been upgraded to business class. Very nice. Once the seatbelt sign was turned off, they flight attendants started passing out stuff. First, an 'overnight pack' (mostly a toothbrush and some socks. Then they asked, 'do you want pajamas?' Yup, apparently Qantas gives out pajamas on the trans-Pacific route, nice grey, sweats-looking things with some designer's signature on them. Very comfy, and very silly when most of the business class cabin wears them. I recommend Qantas business class - I got 7 hours of good sleep on that flight.
In L.A., I stayed with my Aunt Lucy and Uncle Clyde in Manhattan Beach. That was fun. I also met up with Trai and David up in Santa Monica. They're doing well. And thinking of moving out of L.A. Trai's applied to graduate schools, and in yet another parallel between our careers, she's applied to several of the same universities where I applied for jobs this year.
From L.A. I went on to Denver, but that will have to wait for another night because jetlag is starting to catch up again.
Back to L.A. Well, Sydney anyway. I had a 9 hour layover, so... went to the beach. Yup, hopped the Manly ferry and had a look at the beach. Nice, but a bit cloudy and cool. When I got back to the airport, I was surprised to find that I'd been upgraded to business class. Very nice. Once the seatbelt sign was turned off, they flight attendants started passing out stuff. First, an 'overnight pack' (mostly a toothbrush and some socks. Then they asked, 'do you want pajamas?' Yup, apparently Qantas gives out pajamas on the trans-Pacific route, nice grey, sweats-looking things with some designer's signature on them. Very comfy, and very silly when most of the business class cabin wears them. I recommend Qantas business class - I got 7 hours of good sleep on that flight.
In L.A., I stayed with my Aunt Lucy and Uncle Clyde in Manhattan Beach. That was fun. I also met up with Trai and David up in Santa Monica. They're doing well. And thinking of moving out of L.A. Trai's applied to graduate schools, and in yet another parallel between our careers, she's applied to several of the same universities where I applied for jobs this year.
From L.A. I went on to Denver, but that will have to wait for another night because jetlag is starting to catch up again.