En Route

10:40 PM CST, Jun 16th – Mid North Atlantic Ocean: What is it about flying over 600 mph and 6.5 miles up that requires a whiskey cocktail? What IS going on in Greenland right now? This may be the closest I ever get to it. I have heard it really isn’t all that verdant despite the name. What does either of these thoughts have to do with Tunisia or Arab culture? Not much I suppose, but the plane is dark with some god awful “bad girl gets married” chick flick providing the only source of visual stimulation other than my computer screen. Man I really need a crown and coke. The attendants are chattering in the back of the 767 as a few people I suspect manage to catch some zzz’s. My body Seiko is still somewhere around mountain time and is in for a rude awakening come noon tomorrow – about the time I am scheduled to arrive in Tunis. Meanwhile this bird is landing in Rome at 0920 tomorrow. It is going to take some real flight feet to get myself and the cats on our connecting flight on Tunis Air, Insha’ allah (God Willing.) For those of you contemplating your own feline accompanied international travel episode, all I can say is…. It’s not terrifically easy. At $150 bucks a head for cargo hold seating and two separate vet visits, not to mention super deluxe cat carriers…. It’s not cheap. All I keep thinking now though is …man….it’s been 8 hours since they were put in their cages and it’s gonna be at least four more before they get a bathroom break. Damn. Don’t worry though - I put in top of the line wetness absorbers to protect the delicate American shorthair fur. TMI I know.


I want to take a moment and shout out to two people who made this current elevation – and trip – possible: Cam and Ariel. Those two maniacs spent several days of their lives just to help get me packed up, moved and transported to the airport. I won’t go into boring painful detail because it is simply too embarrassing to reveal what an uncontrollable hoarder I am. Unbelievable. If you see one of these characters buy them a massage or something. They really deserve it. I look forward to treating them both right when they each make their way over for a good ole Tunisian hoe-down, or, umm, something, in a few months. As a pleasant harbinger of my upcoming experience, I happened to get a hotel Monday night right by a Somalian restaurant. Right there in SEATAC. Yeah, it’s a city and an airport. Crazy. They were out of goat meat sadly so I settled for chicken. The food and the World Cup soccer rocked. I managed to find my new favorite Mexican summer brew- Sol- in quart bottle size next door too. Nice. Comfort Inn at the Seattle is officially recommended.

Enough blathering for now. It’s time to chase down an attendant and give a toast to Mr. Bernoulli.

DD