To NYC For a Few Days
Heading to NYC for a few days for a Zeiss press event on The Birds.
The High Line walkway is visible at left.
Flying is a necessary evil
I’d much rather drive if I could, but NYC is a long way from California.
I haven’t flown for about five years, and except for the return flight, I’ll be happy if I don’t have to fly again for another five. Airport parking was fine, and the TSA experience was actually just fine too (a bit of a wait but OK). So I got off easy there.
Then I boarded into a stuffy overly warm and humid airplane cabin yielding an almost visceral “unclean” feeling; under ordinary circumstance I would immediately have left such a place. But, this was my flight and we have to accept such things. As the plane lingered on the tarmac with a half hour delay, we were treated to the usual toxic stew of jet engine exhaust or whatever it is (am I the only one who finds it highly unpleasant?), followed finally by an improved brew: a bathroom-freshener odor from the air vents. With what feels like an incipient infection (my whole family has been sick with the latest public school germs), I was definitely not a fan of the experience . The dry air during the flight does not help matters. Well, I just like clean fresh air and I realize that such things probably don’t bother most people.
The seats are tight, but with an aisle seat and my own hand-carried sushi and favorite chocolate bar, I had a little picnic that proved most satisfying. But no power for my laptop and no WiFi in the old Boeing 757 with vintage CRT displays for movies, some magenta and some green in color cast, all showing the same insipid movie.