Day 1 (10 Sept 08) - Well, that was a fairly unplesant...

... trip. First was the ride down to Atlanta, which went seamlessly, but meant I had a full three hour wait in Atlanta airport, which (unlike Denver & Tralee) does not provide free WiFi. So I found myself hanging out in the exact same airport bar I was in when I went to Ireland in June. However, this time they had a surprise for me. After I finished eating, the waitress dropped a beer, specifically she dropped a beer IN MY LAP. So not only did I smell like a brewery, it also looked as though I pissed myself. Well, what can you do? I guess I could have pitched a fit, but that wouldn't have changed a single thing, so I took it in stride. Luckily, the very light-weight clothes I was wearing (due to GA heat) dried out quickly so by the time I was boarding the flight to New York I didn't look any worse for the wear, though I probably still smelled like an insane drunk.

Anyway, the flight to JFK in New York was also uncomfortable, in that every single seat was taken, so we were packed in like sardines and I had a very nice – but very old and very fat – guy sitting next to me burping and farting and picking his nose & ears for the whole flight. Again, what can you do?

Once at JFK it turns out that New York doesn't allow smoking in their airports; so since I had a almost four hour lay over, out I went to smoke. However, unlike every other airport I've ever been to, it would seem that JFK doesn't have any sort of concessions outside of the security area, so to be outside meant no food, no drink, no nothing until you go back through the security check in. Finally I did so and made my way to my gate (12); only to discover that apparently both the flight number and boarding gate on my pass had been changed. Of course this wasn't announced until the moment after I spent $10.00 out of sheer boredom for a T-Mobile Hotspot day pass so I could play online for the remaining hour. While my old gate was a T-Mobile Hotspot, my new gate wasn't, so that was $10.00 literally thrown away for absolute nothing.

Thankfully, the flight to Ireland was not packed, so I got a whole row to myself; so it was very comfortable. Further, using Mom's idea of Oliver Twist Chewing Tobacco Bits – little pellets of tobacco that you put in your mouth, but don't have to spit from – the entire flight over was pleasant enough. Nevertheless, I still wasn't able to sleep at all. And, although the flight left on time, somehow – and I really don't understand how this is possible – we landed in Shannon a full hour earlier than scheduled. This isn't exactly something you can complain about, but then again...

... it means I'm sitting here in the Shannon airport cafeteria-style eatery, just ate breakfast, and haven't heard a word from Paul. So it seems I may be around here for a little while… Oh well, I'm sure it will be all be fine.