London Travelogue 6 Dec. 2008

Our day of travel began at 3:00 AM, when we woke up to hurriedly get dressed and out the door to the airport for at 6:25 AM flight to Chicago.

We flew American Airlines. The flight from Chicago to London Heathrow aboard a Boeing 777 was practically empty. My guess is that it seated 400 people and there were maybe 60 people on board. We flew coach.

Each seat had its own video screen and remote, something that delighted the kids. Frank was so excited he said, "This is the awesomest day ever." He confirmed his preternatural gift for hyperbole when, as his video screen appeared to malfunction, he said the day had turned to "the worst day ever."

I do the same thing; if something exceeds my expectations, I'm thrilled. When it doesn't deliver, I'm pissed.

I enjoyed watching the flight path channel, an episode of MadMen from season 1, and a little blackjack. My wife played a game called Caveman Crunch, a PacMan knockoff with a man who goes around eating woolly mammoth tusks instead of fruit. She played and played, progressing in the levels of the game, but getting more and frustrated. We've all played games like that, ones you work and work to master and then you suddenly realize they are not even fun.

We made it to the apartment at 23:30 (that's British time).

There was a small electrical issue when my wife's breast pump did not take a liking to the British power grid. It went into overdrive and the power supply started smoking. I think I remember reading they used a version of this souped-up device in Abu Ghraib. Since we arrived late, all of the pubs and convenience stores were closed. Luckily my forward-thinking wife brought us a pint of Glenlivet, which I drank with her and her mother after we put the kids to bed. We sacked out around 3:00 AM.