6/16/2006 On the plane to Minneapolis

Schedule of the day so far 6:00ish wake up 7:05ish left to catch airport shuttle 7:45ish shuttle came, no problems at all. 9:15 After a fast and painless ride we arrived at the airport 12:20ish Our flight departed 14:17 right now 14:22 no, really right now 12:49 after messing with the itinary and looking at things

planned other items...all approximate our time/Budpest time 16:01/01:01 or so, arrive in Mpls/St Paul 19:30/04:45 Lv Mpls/St Paul 03:40/12:40 Av Amsterdam 05:45/14:45 Lv Amsterdam 07:45/16:45 Arrive in Budapest

From leaving the house to touch down in Budapest: 24 hrs, 45 minutes. Get to Airport, wait at airport 5 hrs 20 minutes

Air time 3:40 8:10 2:00 13 hrs 50 minutes

Layovers 3:29 2:05 5 hrs 34 minutes

10 hrs 54 minutes of driving and waiting 13 hrs 50 minutes of flying

5741 miles from SFO to Amsterdam (via detroit) 6003 miles from Amsterdam to SFO (via Mpls)

Last night before bed I sent Molly an Email. What am I thinking? Last night is okay, sent Molly an Email seems fine, but what is this about doing it before bed? The antecedeant here is awkward, somehow wrong. I do everthing before bed, except sleep, dream, wake up refreshed are trapped in terror soaked sheets.

Last night, as the last thing I did before bed, no, that doesn't really do it. maybe so. The last thing I did was a little spending some time with myself, an earlier escatic episode had risen to my mind, and other things rose. Honesty compels me to correct that. The memory of the earlier escatic episode had not been far from my mind at any time.

Last night I sent Molly an email. 30 hours or so until we see her. Then 5 1/2 hours later I updated her with a refreshed report. Chippered, by which I intend to imply that we were made chipper rather than the thought that we were rendered into mulch by a large machine with twirling blades, with a good night's sleep that began late and ended early, we made ready the house for our departure.

Bikes were cinched down to the roof of the van, snug in their boxes, using a wonderful bit of technology, the long piece of webbing with ratcheting buckle. Suitcases filled the back. Carry on's in laps. I ate a bowl of cheerios and drove us to Rhonert Park. Adriana (Sal's wife, Gabby's mother) hung with us for a bit, then left. We left the house a bit after seven.

Heather told a great story about the Senior prank. A group of guys carried an AMC Gremlin over the grass and laid it down gently, well centered between the front steps and the flagpole.

The car was a total junker. Covered in paint, slogans, 'out of here forever' and the like. The original plan was to deposit the car in the hallway in front of the main office. The lads staggered to the door, but the car was just a few inches too large.

Nancy, the registrar I think, watched the whole thing and snorted. "Didn't anyone think to measure it?"

There was much confusion amidst the staff as to the best way to remove the car. The new lawn would be damaged by the tow truck, etc. Heather was, as usual, the voice of reason. "It was carried in, it needs to be carried back out." And so it was.

Her thought was that they should have announced 'We know who did it, and it is okay if it stays there for the day, and we won't prosecute if it is gone by morning."

I asked her about that. "Oh, are they going to prosecute?"

"They don't know who did it."

"But I thought Nancy saw them, and talked to them?"

"Her son was part of it, how do you think they got in."

Heather told her section at graduation that these were her last few hours at Analy, and asking them to please make her last hours a joy by being the best section of graduates. "And this means that you don't throw the tortillas and inflatable balls and everything else that you have hidden in your sleeves when people are speaking." Someone said 'that means we can't throw them ever' "There is plenty of time between speakers, and while the graduates are walking up to receive their diploma."

There was an inflatable sex doll thrown about, and a giant inflatable penis. At least this year the inflatable penis was absent the usual fetishistic naming designating who is The Big Prick. Before the doll appeared Heather heard someone say "Arn't you done blowing it up."

Our drive on the airport shuttle was stress free. We did have to leave earlier than we would have had to leave if we had been driven, but no one had to make the hour and a half, or more, drive back.

I wanted to sit in the same table that we sat at when we sent Molly off, but we went off to food terminal North, instead of food terminal South.

There were California rolls, and steamed rice, and vegetable lo mein, and a small cheese pizza, and Heather even had pancakes and eggs.

I read about Wurlitzer's in the Golden Age, 1936 to 1949 or so. wOOt. I suppose. And about Tiki culture. I was bugged by four words that appeared by the exhibits. "Photography is not permitted."

(I just went through a bit of circular thinking on that theme, ultimately I need to assume that the silly belief's that some people have that they either have a right to control public spaces, or that they actually are able to do so, will be crushed.)

We stopped at the same spot, right before security, where we stopped with Molly last year. This time Madeline was not crying. We made it through security to the gate, went to the bathroom, mumsy got coffee, and some other travel details occured and now we are about 1 hr 6 minutes away from our schedule landing in Mpls/St Paul. Three and a half hours later we get on an eight hour flight to Amsterdam.

15:01 So how 'fun.' They are discontinuing all service and shutting down the galleys because the rest of the way is going to be rough. Right after the announcement we were knocked about a bit.

Maddy just pointed at her shirt and said "and this is where the white wine goes." In a play on Molly's similar statement about red wine during formal night on the cruise.

15:06 "There is starting to be some weather buildup, about a half a dozen of these cells are starting to form up. Just west of the field is where that weather is building...a hundred other planes are making their way into minneapolis...right now, let's still shoot for an on-time arrival. There will still be a few bumps, I'm certainly not going to take you through it, maybe 30 years ago when I was young and bullet proof, but not now. I don't like the bumps any more than you do."

17:18 all is good, and we are having noodles in the airport.