What luck!

After a lovely weekend, a wonderful time spent with my friends and my dog, and a lovely morning in which I had coffee with friends and discussed plans for the day, I am having the kind of day where everything is going well!

My day began early, real early! For reasons I still haven't been able to suss-out, I was awake at 02:00. I quit trying to get back to sleep around 03:30. Saga and I went out for our walk and took some pictures. Well, Saga and I walked, but only I took pictures. When ever I lend her the cameras, she takes nothing but pictures of other dogs butts.

My neighbors and I had a lovely chat over our coffee and then I went back to my place to run final checks before I had to leave. My limo service arrived and, after loading my bags, the driver climbed in and called the dispatcher on his radio to tell them that there was one person in the van and he was headed to the airport. What luck! There is usually a vanload that has to be picked-up after I am already in the van.

As I was checking in, the woman at the counter printed-out my baggage claim tags and didn't even look at the fact that BOTH my bags were over the fifty-pound limit. What really surprised me, though, was that she put "Priority" stickers in the luggage tags as she was sticking them onto the bags. This is usually only done to first class luggage.

As she handed over my boarding passes, the reason she had done this became clear. She had seated me in First Class from Denver to Detroit! The flight was lovely! I kept thinking to myself "this cannot last."

Too true. I am now sitting here completely unable to sleep. We are somewhere off Iceland and I have had not a wink of sleep all night and won't if the guy next to me doesn't quit trying to strike-up a conversation. The moment I quit trying to work, he takes this as a sign that it is now time to bond a life-long friendship.

Reading a book doesn't seem to work, telling the guy that I want to read or to sleep doesn't seem to work. It is now well after midnight and I am still awake. The guy next to me has not quit trying to engage me in conversation since the plane left the gate. Why is it that some people seem to think that by buying a ticket and being sit next to me on a plane, we will have some innate connection that needs to be nurtured? I mean, I have nothing against making new friends and have no problem with chatting politely with someone who happens to be seated next to me on a plane, but at some point, especially if I keep opening a book and saying things like: “this is a really good book I’m trying to read…” one would think that I could get some private, quiet time to myself. But No!

So here I am, sitting wide awake, somewhere over the north Atlantic. I guess it goes to show me, never state the obvious. When things are going well, there is no need to point out that it will not last; everybody already knows it to be the case.

I hope wherever you are, you have had a great night's sleep.

Don Bergquist - 27 June 2006 - Northwest Flight32, Somewhere off the coast of Iceland