England: Genesis
Wednesday, May 11
I left Chicago early Wednesday morning thinking, nay full out believing that I had forgotten something important. This is the nature of travel as an adult, however... one must not leave their home until they think they've forgotten something. Why? If you leave thinking you haven't forgotten anything, you most probably forgot something very important. If you leave thinking you HAVE forgotten something, you have, but it's generally not vital to your trip. Did anyone buy that? No? Moving on.
It took me a lot longer to get to Bones's than I thought it would. That trip from Chicago to Detroit is longer than it looks. Plus I'm an idiot... which makes things go more slowly. Regardless, I finally got to Michael Joseph's fairly late in the evening and felt a little guilty as Mike and Jennie waited for me to eat dinner. I could have felt worse had the whole family waited for me, but, thankfully they didn't. As such, I was able to have a nice dinner with Mike and Jennie... full of a nervous anticipation and a kind of relief on my part. After dinner we headed to a little ice cream place called (I think) Dairy Treat, or something like that. It is apparently a tradition to get ice cream from that particular establishment before a Pistons game... so I got this remarkably good brownie sundae and sat and watched the Pistons/Pacers game 2 at la casa de Bones. After the game (a Pistons loss, btw), I watched/helped as Mike semi-haphazardly packed for England. "What did you think of that I didn't?" he would ask... and I would try to figure out what I thought of packing that Mike hadn't.
Thursday, May 12
Thursday brought some of the same. Mike spent some time trying to check and recheck what he had packed. I spent some of my time trying to figure out what to leave and what to take with me. In an unusual stroke of genius on my part, I brought with me an extra satchel full of clothing (I used satchel because I like that word). The extra clothing meant that I could still change what I was bringing with me, even though I was far from my apartment... and I could leave everything I wasn't bringing with me in my car while I was overseas. Isn't that smart? I thought it was fantastically clever of me.
I had a lot of nervous energy that I had to deal with Thursday afternoon... I had almost wished we were going on the earlier flight because waiting all day to go on that flight took that whole day from me. And, with Detroit traffic and the amount of time one needs to arrive early at the airport now-a-days, the flight did, in fact, take the entire day from me. Mike and I arrived (thanks to his dad) as almost the earliest people there, second to Kopec and C Sad. We sat and talked and waited impatiently for others to arrive. It should be said that my anxiety and nervousness were at an almost all-time high. There were a few things that kept me from going completely insane... one of which being Bohne, then the stupidly expensive phone which I wasn't sure if it was going to work, then my focus on the fact that I knew very little about the songs we were going to be singing as I hadn't really even worked on them. I also knew that, because of the nature of the tour, I would be taken care of whether I wanted to or not.
Going through airport security was as easy as it was irritating. I had worried about my suitcase weighing too much, as the last time I flew (from Ken's) I had to pay extra because my suitcase was too heavy. Isn't that interesting? (Hint: no) I find it irritating though. I was actually prepared to fight someone on this point... I mean, they don't weigh the passengers, do they? If I decided to bulk up and gain twenty pounds before the flight, would they stop me from flying? Ah... no! They don't weigh passengers. They wouldn't know. It's ridiculous... and the more I think about having to pay extra that one time, the more upset I get about it.
But now I'm getting off topic. Let's get ourselves passed security and waiting for the plane. Mike and I found ourselves hungry before the flight... headed to the airport McDonalds. On our way back there was a surprise... our flight was boarding! Our flight was boarding at least 45 minutes early... I was floored. And I found myself eating a double cheeseburger in about a minute and a half (hint: not good).
On the plane, I was seated in an exit row. Hello leg room! I made some (in hindsight) inappropriate jokes about 'every man for himself' if there was a problem with the flight. Although, let's face it, just because I get a little extra leg room I'm going to stay on a burning airplane and get everyone else off first? Please... this is phuking America... we don't understand selfless acts. I would simply say "I'm going to exit this plane. Please follow me quickly." If you're unable to do the same... that's Darwin, bitch!
Regardless, the flight started, as always, with my favorite part. I LOVE the take-off. I love the feel of acceleration, the feel of lift, and the moment when you can feel that the airplane is off the ground. I absolutely love the take-off.
Later in the flight, I was my typical charming self with the flight attendant, Amy. I asked politely for a USA Today for Samata even though she had already passed our section, and Amy gave me the last one because, quote, "You're nicer than that other guy." Additionally, when dinner was served, I got an extra glass of water. That's right... those are the perks of being awesome to the max *gang sign*.
Let me also speak about airline food. Everyone talks about how terrible airline food is, but let me tell you something: I live alone. I am a bachelor who cooks and eats alone... and airline food isn't any worse than what I normally eat. Except for orange juice, which I made the mistake of ordering with my "breakfast snack." Orange juice, on an airplane, is orange colored water. Nothing more. And it certainly didn't taste like good water, either.
I only got about two hours of sleep on the flight, sleeping through National Treasure. The problem with the flight is that they kept giving us drinks and snacks and so the movie was the only time I really could get sleep without someone walking passed me wondering if I wanted something. I appreciate the attention, but on an overnight flight... let me sleep. Please!
Oh... BTW... British Airways is about a million times better than Northwest. I had to hear stories of personal televisions in each seat, choices of eight movies, and the fact that Emcee Dubs was on the other flight. What? Didn't think I'd be jealous that I wasn't on C Wage's flight? Just you wait... the trip gets better... :)