Fun While It Lasted

Seems like I just climbed off the plane and here I am climbing back on. At least I had enough time to say hi to some of the pals I left behind and grab some of the junk I left behind. (Anybody see my navy blue sweater? Can’t seem to find it anywhere.)

But at least good old India let me come back in for a month. That’s better than I can say for most of the rest of the world. Even America is now insisting the wretched refuse wear a mask or go breathe free somewhere else.

That nearly included me. Even me! Mask-wearing, law-abiding, super-vaccinated, All-American me! President Biden says you have to have a negative covid test within 24 hours of any flight to the US. So off I go the day before my flight and get myself tested negatively. (Not sure how I keep doing that. 14 negative tests in a row. Hidden talent I guess.)

Then I get to the airport and, law-abidingly, wait my turn in line. When I reach the front, the agent looks at my stack of documents, nodding at each one until she gets to my covid test. Her brow furrows. She calls her supervisor over. His brow furrows.

“Sir, this test was approved at 12:10 am.”

“That is correct. And it is 6pm now. So the test is only 18 hours old.”

“Yes but sir, your flight departs at 1:10am. Your test will then be 25 hours old. Your own beloved President Biden said “within 24 hours.” Within 24 hours! Clearly, sir must be tested again.”

My brow furrows.

I won’t bore you with what followed; my brilliant rebuttal, (But, but, but…) their adamant insistence on obeying the letter of the law of the United States of America (I think they even showed me in the Constitution where it says all US citizens will obey their President immediately and without question). I won’t bore you with the long, long walk dragging heavy baggage to the exit. The long, long walk to the rapid antigen testing center. The suspenseful wait for my 15th negative result. The long walk back. The ill-concealed sneer as I re-presented my folder of documents. My irritable order at the nearby Cafe Coffee Day kiosk. “You heard me. Just coffee! No milk! No sugar!” My deliberately loud slurping directed toward the airline check-in desk. No, I won’t bore you…hello? Hello! HEY! YOU! WAKE UP!

So once again, we wave namaste to our favorite sub-continent as we pass through Pakistan…

…right into Afghanistan!

Safely out of missile range, we return to the Charles de Gaulle airport. Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a photograph I call “David Uncle’s Paris”.

And here’s Amsterdam.

We didn’t pass over London this time but I managed to get this aerial shot of Cork, Ireland.

I apologize for not having at least one new place to brag about visiting. But here’s fun:

This is one of the windows of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Right away, you’ll notice that it’s larger than usual. Now, pull down the shade.

Ha! You can’t. There is no shade. But see the little button?

Presto…

…Chango! (It’s a special gel between the plexiglass panels that reacts to an electric current by turning dark. Takes less than a minute.) Most passengers hate it and want their old pull down shades back. Troglodytes.

Well, that’s about it for this trip. I hope you all enjoyed it or will be good enough to pretend you did. India really is a great place to retire and tour around. Just not now.