home again, home again

I am back home

    It seemed to be a looong flight.  We were late 40 minutes leaving Frankfurt, but we were about 30 minutes late arriving at O'Hare.
    To say I am tired would be an understatement.
    I have now been up 23 hours straight.
    I did manage a brief nap on the plane....but brief.
    It was an interesting plane experience to day.  I have a hard time talking to people, so I was surprised to find myself in a conversation with a woman traveling with her two daughters.
    She started out in Kazakhstan, which she described as a Communist country under control of a dictator.  She taught there and was going home for Christmas.  Her young girls, about 7 and 10, could speak English, French, Spanish, some Russian and a little Kazik.  I was impressed.
    We talked for about 10 minutes before boarding.  She was already tired, and still had to get to Chicago then transfer to Colorado.
    On the plane I sat with a lady from Illinois who was living in Switzerland because her husband has a commodities job there.  She said her house was in a small town between Geneva and Lausanne and had a great view up and down the lake.
    We actually talked a lot about the election, fears about air travel, the temperature, health, and a bunch of other stuff.  It made the flight a little shorter.
    When we got to O'Hare, Julia suggested we get luggage carts for the four suitcases and two carry ons.  Me, being cheap, said I was not paying $5 for a cart just to move suitcases.  A lady overheard me and said they don't charge anymore...carts are free to use.  That sold me.
    The passport checker was kind of funny  He asked me if I met up with anyone in Europe.  I said I met my daughter, who came home with me for Christmas.    Now Julia had gone to another line and was already through.  He looked around and said, "Where's your daughter?"  I pointed her out on the other side of the checkpoint and he said, "She's tired of being around you already, isn't she."
     We laughed.
     It was even funnier when we checked in in Geneva.  I was standing right next to Julia, ticket in hand, and the gate person said here are your boarding passes all the way through to Chicago.  Notice we have upgraded you to business class. Enjoy your trip.
     I must have been invisible.  My seat in economy was pretty darn nice, just no champagne.
     Anyway, it was a great trip and it is great, but cold, to be back home.
     Now, maybe bed!