Dec. 1st, 2010 09:23 am
Getting here in one piece
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savvyliterateIt is simply amazing what one day does for you.
I got to Manchester yesterday unbelievably stressed. The days leading up to leaving on my trip were filled with work, nerves, insomnia, and rough decisions. It took a lot out of me emotionally, and I had reached the end of my rope. I walked out of the luggage area, saw Mike and had the best hug of my life.
A day later, I'm comfortably settled at my in-laws. I've had an immense amount of hugs and a good amount of bonding time with family. I'm far more relaxed than I've been in a long time, and other than finishing the script for chapter 3 of Namesake and the wedding reception on Friday, I have nothing pressing to do for the next week. It's a very, very odd feeling. I'm under orders to relax and sleep and have fun. But, first, I had to get here.
I think my gut woke me early. It's the only reason I rolled over 30 minutes before my alarm went off Monday and decided to get up ... only to find that my flight to Manchester was canceled and rebooked through another airline. The new airline was U.S. Airways, and I'd rather take a dinghy across the Atlantic than fly with them. I quickly called Delta and got rerouted through Atlanta, but instead of leaving for the airport in 2 1/2 hours, I had to leave within 30 minutes.
I took an extremely fast shower, finished throwing stuff in the suitcase, and scooped the litter box. The kitchen? A wreck. The bathroom? The same. I wound up sending an e-mail of apology to the lady taking care of the cats because I had no plans to leave the apartment like that. I wound up forgetting the shawl I made for the trip, spare contacts and deodorant. Not bad overall.
I flew out of Philadelphia International Airport, which is a two hour drive from Mechanicsburg. Security wasn't an issue at all, and I didn't even have to remove my iPad from the bag. I was early enough that I treated myself to a chair massage and the girl who did the massage told me that there was only one full-body scanner in the airport and it wasn't even in the terminal I was in. So, all of the hype was for nothing.
The only problem is that the airport was very hot. There was a very neat display of paper sculptures near the gate.
The hop to Atlanta was pretty short, and I spent a very sweaty 45 minutes waiting to see if I got on the flight to Manchester. Not only did I get on it, but I was in the very front row of coach.
While the Philadelphia airport was hot, Hartsfield-Jackson International was freezing cold. The international terminal had a number of interesting exhibits, and I never realized just how nice the airport is. When you come up the escalator, the first thing you see is a display on Martin Luther King Jr. on the right.
Beyond that was a display of puppets from around the world.
I didn't sleep on the second flight, but I could stretch my legs and was a lot more comfortable than in the previous seat I had booked.
In the morning, as we descended into Manchester, we were greeted by this:
Look at all that snow! Snow at this time of year is pretty rare for this part of the country, and it's shut down a good bit of the country. Manchester Airport actually closed for a couple of hours last night, so I got in just in time. It's far, far different from when I flew in last year.
Clearing customs took twice as long as going through security in Philadelphia. This was the best time I'd had going through customs and only nearly forgot my own wedding date. The guy asked me when I was due back at work and I said the 10th, but if I didn't show up on the 8th, the cats would eat the couch. I'm not kidding! Just look at this scheming face!
After a wrong turn, we got home and I spent the rest of the day napping and spending time with family. My body clock is still on the fritz, so I woke up around 3 a.m. and spent the next hour and a half chatting with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
secondlina and earthstar_chan via Skype. I crept downstairs so I wouldn't disturb Mike and had to search out in the hall for the light switch for the living room.
First switch: Upstairs hall.
Second switch: Front entrance.
Third switch: Fire alarm goes off.
Aaaack.
I hit the third and fourth switches at the same time and the fire alarm reduced to a beep and I got the light I wanted. Apparently, because I had toggled the light switches so quickly that it set off the fire alarm. So much for trying to keep quiet.
Today's been nice and quiet. I went to Tesco with the in-laws to grab the missing toiletries and some thank you cards, and plan to spend the rest of the day reading and knitting. I did grab some photos of food, but the food here deserves a post all of its own. Mike says I should be relaxing. We'll see. ^_~
I got to Manchester yesterday unbelievably stressed. The days leading up to leaving on my trip were filled with work, nerves, insomnia, and rough decisions. It took a lot out of me emotionally, and I had reached the end of my rope. I walked out of the luggage area, saw Mike and had the best hug of my life.
A day later, I'm comfortably settled at my in-laws. I've had an immense amount of hugs and a good amount of bonding time with family. I'm far more relaxed than I've been in a long time, and other than finishing the script for chapter 3 of Namesake and the wedding reception on Friday, I have nothing pressing to do for the next week. It's a very, very odd feeling. I'm under orders to relax and sleep and have fun. But, first, I had to get here.
I think my gut woke me early. It's the only reason I rolled over 30 minutes before my alarm went off Monday and decided to get up ... only to find that my flight to Manchester was canceled and rebooked through another airline. The new airline was U.S. Airways, and I'd rather take a dinghy across the Atlantic than fly with them. I quickly called Delta and got rerouted through Atlanta, but instead of leaving for the airport in 2 1/2 hours, I had to leave within 30 minutes.
I took an extremely fast shower, finished throwing stuff in the suitcase, and scooped the litter box. The kitchen? A wreck. The bathroom? The same. I wound up sending an e-mail of apology to the lady taking care of the cats because I had no plans to leave the apartment like that. I wound up forgetting the shawl I made for the trip, spare contacts and deodorant. Not bad overall.
I flew out of Philadelphia International Airport, which is a two hour drive from Mechanicsburg. Security wasn't an issue at all, and I didn't even have to remove my iPad from the bag. I was early enough that I treated myself to a chair massage and the girl who did the massage told me that there was only one full-body scanner in the airport and it wasn't even in the terminal I was in. So, all of the hype was for nothing.
The only problem is that the airport was very hot. There was a very neat display of paper sculptures near the gate.
The hop to Atlanta was pretty short, and I spent a very sweaty 45 minutes waiting to see if I got on the flight to Manchester. Not only did I get on it, but I was in the very front row of coach.
While the Philadelphia airport was hot, Hartsfield-Jackson International was freezing cold. The international terminal had a number of interesting exhibits, and I never realized just how nice the airport is. When you come up the escalator, the first thing you see is a display on Martin Luther King Jr. on the right.
Beyond that was a display of puppets from around the world.
I didn't sleep on the second flight, but I could stretch my legs and was a lot more comfortable than in the previous seat I had booked.
In the morning, as we descended into Manchester, we were greeted by this:
Look at all that snow! Snow at this time of year is pretty rare for this part of the country, and it's shut down a good bit of the country. Manchester Airport actually closed for a couple of hours last night, so I got in just in time. It's far, far different from when I flew in last year.
Clearing customs took twice as long as going through security in Philadelphia. This was the best time I'd had going through customs and only nearly forgot my own wedding date. The guy asked me when I was due back at work and I said the 10th, but if I didn't show up on the 8th, the cats would eat the couch. I'm not kidding! Just look at this scheming face!
After a wrong turn, we got home and I spent the rest of the day napping and spending time with family. My body clock is still on the fritz, so I woke up around 3 a.m. and spent the next hour and a half chatting with
secondlina and earthstar_chan via Skype. I crept downstairs so I wouldn't disturb Mike and had to search out in the hall for the light switch for the living room.First switch: Upstairs hall.
Second switch: Front entrance.
Third switch: Fire alarm goes off.
Aaaack.
I hit the third and fourth switches at the same time and the fire alarm reduced to a beep and I got the light I wanted. Apparently, because I had toggled the light switches so quickly that it set off the fire alarm. So much for trying to keep quiet.
Today's been nice and quiet. I went to Tesco with the in-laws to grab the missing toiletries and some thank you cards, and plan to spend the rest of the day reading and knitting. I did grab some photos of food, but the food here deserves a post all of its own. Mike says I should be relaxing. We'll see. ^_~