Friday, February 8: Cloudy, then fine, not really cold
That was cutting it a bit fine. Up at 8:30, then off to the office for a short chat with Joy. Was trying to finalise things back here in the flat, when I heard some scratching at the front door, and Jennifer and Theresa had come early with all of their belongings. Jennifer had taken the day off and was keen to move in at the noon mentioned in the contract. Anyhow I still had a good hour and forty minutes to do, including a shave and a shower, taking out the rubbish, filling in a last couple of boxes, removing my smelly old clothes, and trying to find a way of packing the boots, a pair of shoes that can be thrown away, and the paddling clogs. In the end wore the shoes, put the boots in the backpack and the clogs dangling off the backpack with the bed roll and the ratsack.
I had remarked on Facebook last night that the half-full suitcase weighed 17 kg and that the addition of three pairs of sox brought the total weight to 35 kg and you needed an elephant to close it. Well, close. Total weight should be 26, and closing it meant making sure nothing was preventing a good seal, but very much more couldn’t have been crammed into it. Managed to include a secondary pack, but no shopping or other plastic bags. Nothing that I really regret having deliberately left out.
That said, the toothbrush and the floss holder didn’t make it in the last minute, although a complete set of personal hygiene liquids did. Will have to see about getting some brushes at the airport.
Jennifer got her internet and the ladies sat around waiting for my departure which was pretty much on time @ 13:50. Got the dishwashing dried but left the sink and the stove in their usual condition, and then it was down to the bus & a tram into town where I had a few minutes to wait for the unusually punctual train.
A bit of cloud and later rain turned up from Göttingen onwards and we were pretty much on time at the airport. I immediately went to terminal 2 to get rid of my suitcase and was so promptly served that I returned to the main terminal to find a supermarket to replace the forgotten toothbrush. Said and done for €0.65 for a pair, although they are rather flimsy, they’ll do for the two months. Back at the departure terminal I went through the automated systems for boarding pass control and passport. The boarding pass system didn’t go so well because I was trying the wrong pass, but up until now everything seemed to be showing some improvement after decades of stasis.
At the security check there was a relaxed negotiation of the procedure: All the electronic equipment was removed from the pack, my liquids bag was too large but I could be given a smaller one, only the lighter seemed to be a bit dodgy. On the other side of the x-ray machine the battery bag was inspected much more closely, and even swabbed, but the lighter was spared an ignominious fate as the chief officer thought it was just an ordinary lighter (it’s actually a fireplace lighter with a longer nozzle, better suited for lighting the stoves in Doc huts). With that out of the way I settled into some diary writing, and then some podcast listening.
Just before boarding started we were told that hand luggage in excess of 7 kg would be separated and placed in the hold (will have to make a note about this). And then the last two pleasant surprises for the day were that no weighing of the hand luggage was actually taking place, and that the self-boarding process (which I had heard about) was in place, so that meant no line of having the passport checked, boarding pass checked, scanned, etc. The line to get on the plane was a bit longer than usual but people seemed to have their act together and all (!) passengers were quickly on board. No free seats at all.
The woman I was sitting next to had a bit of a space problem, but it was the shorter flight. I took in Bohemian Rhapsody, interrupted by some braised beef with mash & broccoli. Not much on offer in the drama series department, so it may well be Bridge on the River Kwai for a longer session on the next flight.
I had taken out my glasses, but also needed my pills at some stage, so I retrieved the satellite vanity bag. All was OK until I left the plane but couldn’t find the key case under the impression it was in the upper compartment of the pack.
Decided that the first priority would be to get to the next gate, find a place to brush my teeth and then unpack everything. The key case turned up – where it should have been, in the body of the pack. Intermediate security went off without a hitch, and am thinking that a shower is not yet necessary, but perhaps some walking.
Dubai: Clear skies
Was getting a little foggy waiting for the plane to board, but boarding proceeded rapidly again. Once the plane was full (and it was full again) we had to sit around for a bit for a take-off slot which became available after a delay of about thirty minutes.
This time I thought I might get some sleep after the meal (chicken). An English couple was sandwiched in between me & another single traveller. The gent was quite some size but at least made an attempt at restricting his space requirements. After a bit of an snooze I decided on rewatching Bridge on the River Kwai after a break of what must be fifty years, and the only thing I could remember was the final scene, although I couldn’t say who had set the detonator off, I knew it was “accidental”.
Slept a bit more after taking in most of this and my English neighbor was also watching this almost simultaneously. This time I got a good three hours in and almost overslept the pizza, which was all that was on offer for the short day/short night section.
After that I finished off Kwai, and think it was an interesting take on when cooperation becomes necessary, although neither side wants to, or could even admit they were cooperating. The rest of the time was spent listening to 70’s and 80’s hits (weird selection – some really top hits, others quire obscure). It looked like we were going to be very early into Auckland and we were taking a fairly direct route.
