[Random
pictures on this page] When I woke up I could not tell what weather was outside, other
than it was bitter cold - all windows were more than just fogged, they were simply covered
with water. It was sunny and so I could finish packing. Everything fit into the two bags
and surprisingly there was even space left. I then wasted time reading National Geographic
at the beach and shopping for some goodies for the flight. I swallowed two Whoppers (which
are much better in Australia than in the US), and headed to return the car. I explained
the attendant who was there to receive the car my wheel cap problems and he just laughed
at me; as I proceeded to the main booth I was already the topic of the employees, they
were making jokes about me stealing the cap from another vehicle and trying to get a
refund. Very much to their surprise I had the receipt for $57, and so I didn't even have
to scream or shout, simply mentioning that charging me for a spontaneously disintegrating
car was grotesque and I was given an appropriate discount. Finally, they were able to
transfer the charge onto my AmEx card, which worked ever since the first day, and so I got
even my Delta miles - what more can you ask for? (a free car, of course, and cheaper gas.)
I
had three hours of time waiting for my flight; I exchanged A$ to US$, and then went to the
souvenir shop to look for the forgotten kangaroo sign - of course I had no more A$ then.
Worse, they also had a beach towel in the colors of the Australian flag - if there was
something I was looking for all the time, this was it - I checked for it in every single
tourist shop en route, with no luck, and now they had it at the airport - for mere $45,
more than I spent on all souvenirs altogether. A brief reality check brought to my
attention that the simple Australian flag, sold right in the next pile, cost $35 while it
cost $7 in the city yesterday. It was no longer about being able to afford it but rather
whether to feed the sharks. So I was without a beach towel and kangaroo sign, but I am
coming back some years down the road for another chance, after all.
With a delay of only 30
minutes we boarded the plane. Prior to this, the Air New Zealand check-in supervisor told
me that I can not have my photo gear as carryon, because it is too heavy. While the
overhead bin limit for the 747 is 90kg, they have a 5kg per piece limit; beats me how they
ever want to use up the 90kg. For my backpack the balance said 18kg - it sure felt like
more on my back. I argued that $15,000 in glass - some of which was not even mine - would
be a rather bad idea in the cargo bay, and so they made me split it into two bags. There I
was, with three items of carryon, and everyone looked at me as if I were from Mars.
However, some passengers sitting nearby looked even more puzzled after the friendly voice
from the speakers said "Qantas flight XX to Singapore and Jakarta - ahem -
unfortunately, this flight will not be leaving for quite a while. We will keep you
posted". That was it, end of announcement.
The
airplane was quite full today, so at least they are profitable. It was again a 747-400,
but the seats are different, less comfortable, but with the same leg room, which is good.
We arrived about 1hr delayed at LAX, and so I had to rush through immigration and customs
in record time. While I made it quite comfortably to the United terminal, one of my
suitcases did not make the trip with me, because United misplaced it again and it came on
a later flight the same afternoon. This is the 2nd time that United does this to me, and
the 5th time that they screwed up - often bigtime - I think they had their chances.
At home I was expected by a pile of mail, even more email, and a house full of broken computers, including mine. In other words, back to reality :-)