Chicago O'Hare

So far so good. My flight from Champaign was even early, so I was able to hop on my last preemption conference call for a while. Very good stuff going on, specifically a lawsuit challenging Florida’s punitive laws against local gun regulation. Leaving that world behind now for a while. In their never-ending quest to separate the elite, AA now has two lounges—the regular Admirals Club, and a fancy flagship lounge with food and drinks galore. I got put in the fancy place, not sure why.

I have always thought it would be a good idea to get up really early on the day of a transatlantic flight. Today I was awake at 2:20 am, and by 2:45 decided I wasn't going back to sleep. In an effort to not wake Joe, I went in the dark into the bedroom where my pack was waiting for me, only to trip over some of the bathroom fixtures that the construction guys have left there. So I now have a 3” gash and a growing bulbous bruise, which will be hugely black and blue in no time. I wasn't expecting to use my first aid kit so early in the trip.

My next activity was to go to the gym at opening time, 6 am. I am glad I rode my bike, because as I pulled the bike lock out of the bag, I saw my GPS sitting there. I had taken it to the office yesterday so that my tech genius friend John could corroborate that he had in fact saved me from GPS failure with the instructions he gave me on the phone. My delight and relief at realizing how close I had come to leaving the GPS behind made the bruise seem trivial.

So off I go, with an 18 year old fleece and a totally new approach with shoes. In an effort to avoid the tremendously painful corns I always get between my toes, I bought some recommended Altras-widest toe box in the universe. We’ll see what my feet think in a few days. Iberia, here I come.Read more