"Hey! You sound like your from London!"
Waiting at the gate in LAX, I am anxious to hear what seat I have for the 10 hour and 20 minute flight before me. Since I am flying stand by and am preferred business class, I am hoping for the best. I ask the guy at the desk how its looking, he tells me that everything is full in business but coach looks promising. I accept this turning away excited that I am even going to make the flight at all. I call my mom who is looking at the list of non-revs listed and sees that my name is now on the cleared list. As we talk continually, she suddenly stops our conversation to tell me that there are three seats left in business because one just upgraded to first, there might be a chance that I get into business. The women behind me on the list of non- revs is waiting for first, so we think nothing of it, until she is assigned a business class seat. My mom in an uproar, tells me to go to the desk right away, I do. I had to hang up on my irate mother in order to talk to the man at the gate. I ask him why the women below me on the list who was also waiting for first got a business class ticket when I was ahead of her and also waiting specifically for a business class ticket. All he could say was "oops", with some rapid typing in between and then a ticket handed to me that said business class and my seat number. I was in!! The woman behind me was then handed a coach ticket in the row directly behind the last row of business class. Victory! It feels like I have won the lottery with this seat. Now I can semi-relax, knowing that I will be fed and have access to a seat that lie almost flat so I can sleep. I board the plane and get settled in to a middle seat in the last row of business class, yesss!
The flight was bumpy, but I was able to get in at least 2 hours of sleep. The sleeping aide didn't help as much as I thought it was going to. I watched numerous episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (pretty damn good I thought). I began to watch Grown Ups but fell asleep less than half way through the movie. We were given Bose earphones for the flight and now I am convinced those earphones are the only way to go. They completely lock out the sound of the planes jet engines, people talking, coughing, snoring, or babies crying. It was amazing! We touched down in London town a little past schedule but not by that much. I got through security again, checked in on British Airways transfer gate and then headed out into the terminal. Heathrow is huge! I think I may have walked close to 1 mile from the flight gate to the transfer area. The shoes I was wearing, unfortunately were not the best walking attire in that airport. I ended my final steps to the transfer gate looking like I had gained a little hitch in my step.
I am glad to be back in Europe but my trip has not even begun. Once I arrive in Helsinki, I am to look for the team stats guy and the President (not of the country of the team) in Pislaploki jackets. My eyes are half open now, I can only imagine how I will look, feel, or respond to them when I get there. I just hope I don't get into the wrong car with some strangers and end up in the middle of nowhere. I have a feeling I might do a little bit of sleeping on the drive to the small town which is around 4 hours away from Helsinki, lovely. I am to stay in the team apartment in the small town. Luckily a friend and teammate will be around the corner from the apartment. Stomach is growling and I need to head to the gate soon, so until next time.
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