Ugh, I have a nice headache at the moment. I thought it might be due to the +24 hours I spent travelling, but more likely it may be also partially caffeine withdrawal. While I am supposed to be on holiday, it doesn't mean I can't get other things accomplished.
I flew out of Bozeman on Sunday afternoon around 1 pm. I had Neal Stephenson's “The Big U” to read, and so I do not recall much of the trip to Salt Lake City and thence to San Francisco. I arrived at San Francisco International (SFO) around 4 pm, and found a place to drop off my bag. I wasn't thinking completely clearly, as I kept my carry on with me. I met Bonnie in the city at 5 pm, and she was easy to spot with her reddish-pink hair, which looked very cool. We wandered up to Union Square, and sat talking for a while. For dinner at 6 pm, we ate at a sushi restaurant not far away. She is well, and we talked about a lot of things. It is nice to talk to because she knows me very well, and since we're not in a relationship anymore I can ask things which previously I might have had to be more diplomatic about. My brain was suffering from the travelling and not functioning at peak capacity, but she took it in her stride. I am hoping to meet her girlfriend Lauren when I fly back through in a month or so.
After more talking, Bonnie and I went to catch Bart, and after a hug I got on my train… and it didn't go anywhere. A door malfunction meant that as Bonnie stood waiting for her train, I was still at the station. I phoned her and asked if she could give the train a push, and we laughed. She caught her train back to Berkeley, and happily my train got moving after about 10 minutes of tense questions as to whether I should just get a taxi to the airport.
I arrived back at the airport around 9 pm, and say what people will about the SFO segment of Bart losing money, it is damnably convenient. I collected my bags, checked in and made it through security with about an hour to spare. I always wondered why the SFO to Sydney flights left at such an odd hour of the night (10-11 pm), but I figured out that it is so they can fly across the Pacific and arrive in Sydney in time to get there after the airport curfew (6 am), and before the business day begins.
The flight itself was pedestrian enough, and I was on the aisle against the bulkhead with a spare seat next to me. I watched “Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room” and another movie which currently escapes me. I slept for a few hours, and finally after 14 hours we made it to Sydney. That any object the size of a 747 can stay in the air that long constantly amazes me.
I breezed through customs, collected my bags and got on a train headed for the city. My plans changed when I discovered a train that would take me to Cootamundra leaving in 30 minutes. I shelved my plans for Sydney, and jumped on that train. It was nice to see the countryside, and to have room to stretch and walk around, something I would not have had on a bus. My Mum picked me up from Cootamundra, and drove me back home. It was great to see her and Dad and to see home again. I gave them the gifts I had been collecting, and had a look around the farm. There was plenty of hard physical labour for me to do which will be good. Later I had a shower and then fell asleep for about 12 hours.
It is now just before sunrise at home, and the birds will start waking up soon enough. Getting home is so very therapeutic for me, and I do the same stuff whenever I am here (2 years, 3.5 months ago). I clear the gardens, tidy up the yard and do all sorts of other housework. Because my parents only have a slow dial up connection, I can't be online as much as I usually am, and so it's a good time for me to chill out and separate myself from the interconnected world I usually inhabit. The world of academia (academentia is a turn of phrase I am always amused by) is very cerebral, and so I am happy to have something physical to turn my attention towards.