Monday, July 27, 2009

Clippy's log - page 9

7:05pm 18/7. Boarded the Crescent bound for Spartanburg. It's a single level train all through - almost all new carriage layouts to us. Midga just divested himself of his coat and noticed there's a bit of stomach developing there... Amtrak are feeding him well, and you know he always finishes his dinner.

19/7 3:46am. Conductor calls us - 15min to Spartanburg. Rosuav can't work out how to talk to my pal the phone and keeps hanging up on Jodi. As we alight, a freight!

6:26pm. We've been to church, visited Mandy, and dropped in on Jodi's parents so Ros can fix their computer which is "running slow". A three chocolate problem.

6:39pm. He's done it. Spybot was running at full priority, which effectively means "even though I've been idle for two hours, you've just moved the mouse and I have to check the whole system to see what's been installed since I last checked 45 seconds ago". He backs it down to idle and the system becomes useable. Well, looks like no more geeky excitement anound here, time for another crazy game with Jodi's family?

20/7 12:37pm. We haven't been taking many notes, the boys are enjoying having three extra sisters (two younger and one older) and Traal and I are enjoying being treated like real people. At the moment we're in the car preparing to send the girls off to camp with their grandparents while we take a flight to Florida to see Elise and co. Lots of fun...

5:41pm. The girls have been sent off, we've checked in at the airport (we're getting used to that - although I'm glad clipboards don't get cancer, the amount of x-ray I've been subjected to is making me hot under the clip). Greensville is a nice airport - plenty of windows, sun on the tarmac, not overly commercialised - in fact, it fits in with the surrounding countryside. It is actually an international airport, with only a very few international flights. It's not easy to photograph the planes, they taxi so fast!

6:32pm. We're on board the plane - it's an MD-80 and right outside our window is the engine! Seating is 2+3, the body is narrower than the 737s we've flown in before. The throw-up bag in the seat pocket has a patent number in it!

6:45pm. Takeoff! The noise of the engines is more of a buzz than a roar. A wisp of condensation edges around the air intake from the fuselage side - there must be some disrupted airflow somewhere. It's the only indication of the huge amount of air rushing in - other than that the engine cowling looks like it's doing nothing like a loco's elephant ear. Most of the houses below have a black roof, and against the greenery the effect is like printed circuit board!

8:18pm. Landed, waiting to disembark. It's not even dusk yet, welcome to Florida.

8:32pm. We get out into the humid Florida atmosphere. A sign above the lifts says "this way to the tram". We have high hopes but it turns out to be a rubber tyred vehicle towing a passenger trailer! Naughty. Very, very naughty.

21/7 1:15pm. After staying up all night with various combinations of Rosuav, Jodi and Krista, Midga has just got up and had a bit of breakfast. Krista makes Rather Good pancakes apparently, and the smell of bacon almost makes me wish for a human digestive system.

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