Tadaaaa....Made it to Taranaaaa my very not favorite city. Early...what are the odds and for once the gate was ready for us. Had a pleasant trip going the wrong way to Australia...kinda the "Long Way Round" it would seem. But hey its all about the journey.  

My plane mate was a pleasant gal Nicolete not sure I spelled that right. She worked in marketing and as an event planner for a tobacco company.   She was hanging with the president of Red Bull the other day. So we got to chatting for a while and it did make the flight pass quick. So her company only allows travel in business class if flights are over two hours....my jaw dropped on that one......and I am pretty sure I teared up a bit. I did my best to extol the virtues of traveling in economy for business.....but seems it was a hard sell....mostly cuz she only pointed at me and laughed out loud....then she grabbed the steward and told him...he chuckled too.... 2 hrs...anything over 2 hrs....sigh

So I plugged in a movie after a bit.... Tom Cruise, Edge of Tomorrow... great movie! But I ended up feeling bad as me travel mate's tv wasn't working. Felt bad laughing and stuff and she was staring at a blank screen. So I hit the pause and did the chat thing for a while.....which only caused me to get depressed as I see how the other half seems to live now....sigh. The steward was great. Had him reboot her tv about 20 times after about number 5 we just kept asking for fun. He went right along with it. So he ended up giving her a coupon for the anguish and told me he thought about getting me one too as I had to be the entertainment channel now.   

Either way I was sipping baileys and coffee the whole flight ..... part of the need to stay awake for a long time strategy. Seems I drank all the Baileys on the plane again....oops. Was doing the "Gigady Gigady!" by the time we landed and I had to hit the head something fierce, bad side of having a window seat was trapped. By the time the urge hit seat belt fastened sign was lit up and we were on descent. Think I had a 60kHz foot tap going by the time the plane stopped. Does the bladder ever go back to its original shape when its been stretched a bit. I got to wonder.......

I couldn't get off the plane quick enough, I suspect my travel mate thought I was bonkers the way I ran up the gang plank. I felt much better once relieved and after I picked up the elderly gentleman who seems to have mysteriously gotten knocked over by the urinals, he mentioned something about getting bumped by an unseen force.....I don't think it was me but I swear to what ever omnibus presence that runs this gong show I could only see the urinal......porcelain can be so comforting at times. I dusted him off and sorta pointed at some 12 ear old that was standing there....mentioned something about where are the parents these days and.....skipped out of the biffy....ahhhh.
  
Off to the Air Canada Lounge.....got two hrs to kill. Wellll shortly after I got settled and was thinking this will go quick....my phone pinged.... flight delay 2.5 hrs.....plane broke need new bus....crap. Heavy sigh....grabbed glass.....found the dark rum spout. Seemed to turn the frown upside down. Got chatting with a dude from Fredericton that was lamenting that he was heading to Florida with the wife in 4 weeks. I said thats awesome....then he added with the kids (3) in the back of the car on I95. I think I snorted rum through my nose I laughed so hard. I tried to cheer him up could not kick a guy when he was down......he is now getting new tablets for everyone and a portable power generator for the vehicle. He stated he has to try to stay sane.....but wasn't sure why. Had that thousand mile stare..... about then I decided I should check me flight and off I went to me gate.  
The bus showed up....about the time they said it would and they got us on fast..... seat 2K a pod....oh ya that will help. I skipped to me seat....fluffed the big pillow.....unwrapped me comforter and proceeded to settle in. They shut the door pretty quick and off we went.  

Great crew again. When asked what I wanted to eat the Steward mentioned the lamb. I told him of my last adventure with lamb on a flight back from London. Told him it was no lamb but a goat and I wore out the knife on it and gave up. He said no worries but I should try it. So asked if after my main meal he could bring me some. I thought that was cool but looked at my stomach....and thought better of it. So I continued my baileys and coffee strategy.....I hope to peter out somewhere over mid pacific so quit drinking it south of winterpeg, port time....oh yaaa....denied! No port on the domestic leg....sigh....Brandy it is......     
 
Managed to entertain meself.....on the last flight I hooked up a gopro camera in the window and took timelapse photos from gate pushback to hitting the brakes, 11,000 pictures. Could turn out cool....so I had to transfer all those pics to a safe place. Movie of choice...Guardians of the Galaxy. Good movie. Tunes.....walked around.....chatted with the stewardess...did the seat jive for a while....and it seemed the 5 hrs blew by.  

They are saying a quick stop because we are late....and we are staying on the same plane...said no time to bother getting off....wash the windows top up the gas for the biggggggg pond jump. 15 hrs next leg. Wow I made it a whole hour and half from home as the crow flies so far sighhhhh. Think I'm slurring in my head.......