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Published: April 15th 2009
The traditional cookies and Bailey
With cheese and crackers to hold me over to my FIRST dinner on the plane (the beauty of time travel)!Here I go again!
I can hear you now saying “What the heck? I
distinctly remember you saying that this was a one-time thing and you’d never be back to Saudi Arabia. And what has it been since your last trip, like one week? What gives?”
Yes, I did say that. My last trip to Saudi Arabia was in the month of February, and I returned in early March. I really did think that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I guess when they said “we really won’t need a PDI administrator again” I mistakenly didn’t know that meant “until April.” Two weeks ago I got an email to see if I’d be willing to return and a week ago yesterday, the client’s funding request was approved. So first I checked with Linda (thumbs up) and then I checked with my new boss Molly (thumbs up). And of course I checked those two critical sources in that order. So here I go again.
Some people asked me if I would continue my blog and although I may not create an entry everyday (do I hear cheering?), it’s still a great way to keep people posted and let them know
Delta Lounge - Drink Anyone?
It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to control the seats last time. Now I'm an expert! Don't these look like the Space Shuttle? I haven’t been kidnapped by terrorists (or “pirates,” as the really trendy terrorists are now called.
Minneapolis: 5:45 pm, local time: I’m sitting here in the Northwest (I mean Delta) lounge in Minneapolis, again enjoying my now traditional glass of Bailey’s Irish Cream and chocolate chip cookies. I’m actually looking forward to the flight to Amsterdam, but I’m a little worried about whether I will be able to catch enough hours of sleep to start the process of putting myself on schedule.
Amsterdam 12:15 pm, local time, 5:15 am, Minneapolis time: For some reason, I’m able to use the wireless in the lounge, even though last time I couldn’t get it to work no matter what I did. I wish I knew the secret, but it’s one of those computer god things.
I’ve made it through seven time zones and am sitting in the KLM lounge in Amsterdam. I was able to sleep somewhere between two and six hours on the plane - you never really know. I’ve took a few photos on the plane to show you what the Apollo spacecraft-like seats look like. The time seemed to pass rather quickly, so I think I slept
more than it felt like. From here on in, the trick is to stay awake until I arrive at Steineke Hall in the Aramco compound, probably about 11 pm, Saudi time. I’m guessing that Saudi must not do daylight savings time, because my PC tells me that it’s only one hour later there (from here), so that would make it eight hours ahead of Minneapolis, last time it was nine hours.
This time I headed right for the KLM lounge as soon as I got off the plane and immediately went to the service desk to ask for a shower card. This is a slice of heaven. You get a card to a private room that includes a shower the size of my bathroom at home, free shaving kit, toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, soap, comb, and a good towel. Shaving and showering made me feel whole again. The shower was wonderful except that it’s one of those that cycle between freezing cold and burning hot. You have to be very quick to time your rinses to avoid frost bite or third degree burns. It helps to wake you up!
It’s a strange things about traveling. I’m sitting here
in Amsterdam, my brain knows it, but it’s hard to believe I’m really here. It’s kind of like a dream, especially knowing that I’m heading soon back to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA or The Kingdom, as the locals call it). Perhaps it helped last time that I wondered through the airport a bit. Although all of the signs are in English, you can tell by what’s sold in the gift shops where you are. Come to think of it, if you put all of the world’s airport gift shops together, you could start your own World’s Fair.
So far, so good!
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Tiner
non-member comment
you go guy!
How long are you gone this time? I think you are safe from Pirates in the desert. . .