Brazil Day 1 (mostly)
The day really started with the trip to the airport.
No, the day really started with waking up with my wife and hearing Liam chatter on the monitor. We invited him into bed and he almost stayed for an entire 5 minutes, but wanted to head downstairs to watch Dora(or trail, or diggers, he kept changing his mind).
Then it was breakfast, pants hemming and just some last minute packing. I would like to think that, at some point in my life, I will be organized long before I actually have to do something. I don’t see that day coming anytime soon, but I like to think it’ll get here eventually.
Before we knew it we were in the car on the way to the airport. Tears were shed but goodbyes were quick(as they should be, like a bandaid) and I wandered into the terminal. The self checking thing was pretty useless(as always) but I was happy to find out I didn’t have to pay extra for my checked bag as I was just in route(American Airlines allows for two free checked bags). Not that it would have mattered, I think, as work would have covered it. I grabbed a coffee, muffin, some water(too much) and plopped down to surf and do some last minute work. The wireless at the airport takes a sec to authenticate but once it does it’s pretty quick. And little did I know it would be the last free internet access until my hotel room.
Oh, security was quick as there just wasn’t a lot of people, but I still got tagged as “random search guy” and had to go through the scanner.
I had previously setup another Skype account so that I could chat with Tara on the phone. As long as she keeps Skype running. We chatted and then off I went.
The first leg was boring, but kinda short. AC has built in screens for shows and movies. I just started to listen to music, but decided to check out the first 45 minutes of Alien. Told ya the flight was short.
Arrived in New York, tried to find out where I needed to go, found security, and was told to go back to ticketing. Security was quick as I had to ditch my extra water(didn’t expect to go through security again for some reason). And for the second time this trip had to go through the scanner. When you exit these things they show you the result, and both times, it appears there’s a problem with my head. I don’t know exactly, but a box appears on my head. Maybe an implant I don’t know about. Could be exciting! But not likely.
That’s what I got to see of New York. I mean, I could have bought some random “I <3 NY” stuff, but as I’ve never seen it past the airport, how do I know I <3 NY?
The next leg was about three hours, and they didn’t have something to watch. OK, not personally anyway. There were other screens that popped down, but everyone was watching the same thing. And, as I’ve seen that episode of Parenthood already, I opted out and read. And listened to music. Because I could.
When we finally landed I thought I would be really late for my connection. I wasn’t. In fact, I so wasn’t that I got some M&Ms and a drink and just sauntered over to the gate. I’m cool like that.
I was in the last row(44G) on the isle seat. I’ve been isle seat the whole way, and I don’t mind as I don’t have to crawl over people to get to the bathroom. Not as important on a 3 hour flight, but very important on an 8 hour one. The movie selection wasn’t all that great, so I ended up watching Beautiful Creatures and Identity Theft. I can’t really recommend either, but if you had to choose, go with…reading.
They did serve us two meals. “Chicken” and breakfast. I think it was croissants, but I’ve been known to be wrong about these sorts of things.
I must have slept for about an hour, as I put on an episode of Elementary and don’t remember anything past the opening credits. That was the only sleep I got. I think I’m a little bit picky when it comes to sleeping and actually need to be comfortable.
After that was done, I hobbled through security again and found the hired taxi. I am SO glad that I didn’t end up renting a car. I wouldn’t be writing this now if I had. In fact, I would be in one of two places; lost or dead. I mean, the drivers aren’t that aggressive, but just enough to get me in trouble. That, and I had been awake for almost 24 hours. Driving in a country where I knew all the rules would be tough enough. He found the hotel easily enough, I checked in and crashed. Actually, no. I checked in and called Tara. She was happy to know I had made it in one piece(as was I) and then I let her get back to sleep(it was 6am there). Then I crashed.
That’s the view from the hotel.
After a nap I wandered out a little. Not too far, but I was hungry. There’s an open mall attached to the hotel, and it has a Starbucks, movie theatre and some places to eat. Including a sushi place. Wonder if that’ll be dinner? 
The surrounding area was mostly closed shops. Shopping on Sundays is still not a thing here for the most part. But that’s ok. I grabbed something to eat at “New Dog” and it wasn’t what I thought I had ordered. I thought I had ordered a burger and a coke. The coke was right, but the burger ended up to be some smoked meat with a lot of cheese and a fried egg. Not bad really, and it totally hit the spot. I then headed down to something that could be a mini-grocery/variety store. It didn’t have a whole lot in terms of food, but it did have microwave popcorn. So I got some, even a bacon flavored one. I mean, why not?
Now I think I’ll do some last minute work stuff(tidy slides mostly) and then call it a day.