Things to do in Denmark when you’re dead − 20 August, 2006
Notes from the three-legged flight:
1st Leg — Chicago to Detroit
OK, so I’m sitting in an airport with $7 internet access (which hopefully will be around for the next few airports I sit in, too). Security clearance was a breeze, and there is still a good hour or so before I even get on the plane. My battery didn’t recharge for some reason, so it’s only got 51 minutes of power left. I figure I’ll run it down to nothing and then hope I can recharge in Detroit. There is rumor that the 7-1/2 flight is going to be on a plan with power plugs, so that would be great.
It occurs to me frequently that I may die today. More than it should. I blame, among many others, Freakonomics and that stats analysis that says, per hour, plane travel is just as dangerous (or maybe moreso) than car travel. Also, most of those safety stats are pre toothpaste-and-hair-gel bomb attempts. So, from a dynamic network perspective, things likely have changed quite a bit. I’m not sure if I should feel safer (a hyper response to the problem) or more threatened (hey, I’ll be coming home about two weeks after the problem first surfaced in the UK).
2nd Leg — Detroit to Amsterdam
There is something extremely comforting about getting plugged in, both in the Internet and the electrical sense. I distractedly read my own paper and took notes on how to organize my presentation next week while looking out the window at clouds. In between fantasies about surviving horrific crashes, ala Bruce Willis or Jeff Bridges, I wondered how surprised some alien might be to try to land on a cloud. They look so solid and comfy. It is pretty amazing how thin they really are.
Detroit’s airport is pretty clean and cool. There’s a red train inside the terminal, which gives it a Bladerunner kind of feel (but in a friendly, upbeat way). I found out that my plane has outlets, which means my desperate need to use my rented Internet access while simultaneously recharging my laptop battery can go away. I’ll have 7-1/2 hours to work on this iteration of the presentation, drawing upon my ream of papers I printed out before leaving. It will be interesting to see how much I get done.
They are announcing my plane now …
3rd Leg — Amsterdam to Copenhagen
Clouds are pretty. They look more exotic when one is over a different part of the globe. If I were a pilot, I would be soooooo tempted to bob and weave through the tallest puffy ones as I flew. (”Attention, passengers. We’re flying at an altitude of— WHOA! There’s a good one.”) I took a balloon ride once. It was amazing how quiet everything was, despite the height. You could hear people talking from a vertical distance in the same way you could from a horizontal one. I kept thinking of Superman floating up above the clouds, soaking in the rays with his eyes closed, trying to listen for trouble. I wonder if he even needed the super hearing to do so.
The power outlet proved to be a bust. There was one, but it didn’t actually have any juice. Just as well. I remember why I hate air travel (well, one of the reasons): the cramped seats. The Amtrak train ride I took a couple weeks ago was by far the most comfortable public transportation I’ve ever had. Plenty of leg room and a feeling like I’m sitting on a cushy chair instead of a folding one. I mostly read my own paper (again) and took more notes. There was a nifty on-demand in-flight movie system, but I declined the headphones to force myself to work a bit on the presentation. Not having a computer hampered the actual power pointing, but I feel like I know pretty much what I should say.
One of the few perks of being a vegetarian showed up on the flight. Northwest surprised me by handing me my veggie dinner before anyone else. Logically, this was to make sure I got one and didn’t have to eat around the chicken (ahem, Informatics graduation dinner), but I pretended I was special. I was done with my yummy rice thingy before the actual chickens made it to my seat. Unfortunately, they didn’t clear my tray for quite a while, so I had to pull out a small book to read.
I managed to sleep a little on the plane. Time is all goofy for me (it being 8:16a to my eyes, but 2:16a to my computer), but it felt like the I-can’t-stay-awake wave of fatigue that hits me about 11p every night now. I leaned into the window in an uncomfortable way and got through the second half of the Atlantic crossing in some unconscious state. Some big turbulence shook me awake with about 2:30 to go in the flight, and an early-arriving veggie breakfast did the same about an hour later. Still, I feel rested and rarin’ to go to Copenhagen. In two more hours.
The Boingo 24-hour internet access I bought for $7 in Chicago didn’t have quite the punch I was hoping for. While this ATTINGO network here in Amsterdam does recognize Boingo, apparently all I got was 24 hours of U.S. and Canadian internet. The rest of the world cost me another 10 Euro (whatever the hell that means), but I figured it was worth it. I’m second-guessing that again, though, given that my laptop is showing 59 minutes left on the battery. I bet they have the weird plugs here, too.
One more death-defying trip into the air coming up. …
OK, so there's one more leg ...
Final Leg — Copenhagen to Odense
I am finally in my hotel in Odense (pronounced something like “Oth-un-sa”). I think the most difficult part of the trip was the last 40 minutes, when I was walking around a European city looking for the Radisson without much clue where I was or where it was. Asked directions three times. Got friendly responses three times. Kept on walking around the city.
There is no A/C in this place. That’s fine. I’ve got a nice fan and the likelihood of a 60-degree evening. My internet access is in place, and the little adapter thingy is working fine (thanks, Carol!) so … all I need is a few hours rest, a few hours to create the slides for my presentation, a few hours to practice it, a few hours to catch up on other things I meant to do. Wait. I see a problem. … I’m BEAT! Dead dog tired. I was nodding off on my favorite part of the trip, the train ride from Copenhagen. My computer clock says 1p, but my body says I got about 90 minutes of sleep around midnight.
I hung out in Copenhagen for a few hours with Soren. Thanks to my pal and my pal’s family for opening their door, giving me some caffeine and putting me on the right train. I’d be in Sweden right now if it weren’t for Soren.
