Wednesday, May 22, 1991
Wednesday morning I continue to give training to KBK and to answer any additional questions they have. Tanaka-San wants to know how much memory space VxWorks takes on the HSI. Ida-San wants to know if anyone in Portland has a Compuserve address so he can use e-mail to communicate with Portland. I talk with Jerry about my itinerary and we look into changing my plans so I can go to Taiwan with him and give him any assistance. Yamada-San calls the Taiwan consulate (I got the phone number from the concierge at the hotel). In order to get the necessary visa, I need to have an existing ticket for Taiwan (I don’t), or a letter inviting me (I don’t), and two photos of me (I don’t), and two hours of available time at the consulate (I don’t). After much anguished deliberations and debate we decide that I probably am not needed in Taiwan.
We left KBK at 12:30 and took a fast lunch near the office. Lunch for me was a bowl of rice with pieces of pork mixed in it. We caught the train back to the hotel and then took the 2:00 airport bus back to Narita.
Narita is not my favorite airport in the world. The worst airport in the world used to the Heathrow in London, but I think the Japanese have done it one better now. The lines at the United desks were very long.
Jerry and I get in line and after passing through the first security checkpoint we get separated into different lines. He finally makes to the counter ahead of me, and catching my eye, we signal to each other a quick goodbye. Our flights are leaving close to the same time, so I may have a chance to catch him at his gate, if the gates are close to each other.
I make almost up to the counter. There is a Korean lady at the counter that doesn’t speak Japanese or English. The ticket agent is trying to make the lady understand that she has to put her name on a form in English letters, not Korean. She finally takes the form from the lady and puts the name in for her. When I get to the desk the agent is looking a little hassled so I am very pleasant to her. In return she bumps me up to Business Class, praise the Lord.
Let me explain, flying on United in coach class, especially on international flights, is probably the closest anyone could get to a Vietnamese bamboo cage. The seats must have been designed by a paraplegic with absolutely no feeling in the upper body and totally amputated legs. In fact, after spending about 12 hours in one of these seats a normal person will have no feeling at all in their upper body and might as well have amputated legs as it will take a long time for their legs to gain any function back. My idea of Hell is eternity in the middle coach seat of an international flight, with the window seat taken by an overweight mother holding a crying baby, and the aisle seat taken by a 300 lb. man who generates enough sweat to end droughts in Ethiopia.
After getting my seat assignment I went and stood in another line to try to get my tickets changed for my new itinerary. I am unsuccessful. So for now, my schedule is to fly to Hong Kong, leave Hong Kong Friday evening at 10:00, arrive in London Saturday morning at 4:30, leave London Monday evening around 7:00 and arrive in Nice around 9:00 Monday evening. I leave Nice on Friday morning. My main desire is to get a flight out of London on Saturday instead of having to wait until Monday. I head for the gate and eventually catch up to Jerry as he is boarding. I have to rub it in that I have been bumped to Business Class.
It is now 6:38 PM and we haven’t pulled out of the gate yet, but will in a moment. The 747 air conditioning is acting as a fog generator, pouring out surreal white clouds of vapor. Unfortunately it is also condensing on the ceilings over the window seats. I am lucky since I have an aisle seat, but the Japanese businessman who is seated next to the window is getting a free shower. The flight time has just been announced to be 4 hours and 1 minute. I am suitable impressed by this level of accuracy. Of course it is academic in that the time announced doesn’t include the indeterminable time waiting on the ground for an available gate.