Sniff, sniff; smells funny here

"Hej!"

I'm in Stockholm now. Just for brief, 3 day, visit to the simulator and then back. It's sure nice to get away and breathe some fresh, clean air though. Oh, man do I love breathing again. I might bottle it up and take it back with me. I can just see myself in the security line. “No, please don't open those, you'll let all the air out.” I might get some funny stares. Something else too, the power hasn't gone out yet. Hmmm. I wonder if everything's alright.  Enjoy the history of this post.

(I wrote quite a bit of this blog while I was waiting for flights, so it has some time jumps in it.)

Earlier; in another time and place.

Today, I am flying up to Moscow then over to Stockholm for some training. My airline is Aeroflot for both sectors, so we'll see how that goes. I've never ridden on Aeroflot; heard stories though! (edited: Aeroflot was excellent. Great service and ride. I would not hesitate to fly with them again)

The ticket agent just told me that my flight is delayed. Not sure when it will leave, but I'm pretty sure that I will miss my connection in Moscow. I've never been to Moscow, so I'm not sure what the procedure is for transitional passengers. Security? Extra screening? I'll find out soon enough.

When checked in at the ticket counter this morning, I was informed of the delay and possibility of missing my connection. Armed with that info, I promptly went to the bookstore and bought the thickest book I could find. Just so happens that it's one of my favorite authors, Ken Follett, 'Fall of Giants', and although I have the book at home in the states, I haven't read the whole thing. In fact, I've only read about 50 pages. Only 800 left to go! Should take a few hours to get through it.

12 oz coffee and book in hand, I migrated the 2 miles of corridor to find my boarding gate. People are sprawled out all over the place. The airport has these lay flat chairs, like pool loungers, against one wall that are being used by sleepy passengers. Others are hanging over the backs and armrests of the regular airport bench seats, trying to get as comfortable as possible. It's fascinating to watch people at the airport. I just love watching. One must be careful and a little sneaky about doing it though. A good book is a great cover. When I watch people I wonder where they are going? Who are they meeting? Are they leaving someone? Holiday? Work? Locals or visitors? It's fun to try to figure it out. When you have 10 hours to kill in an airport, try it. Although at 4:30 in the morning, it's hard to read people. Most are just fighting to stay awake. Those that aren't fighting, are sleeping. Only two options this time of morning. Oh, the crowd is surging for the counter. False alarm, though. The crew just walked by and everyone got excited. Good news; it looks like a newer Airbus 330 that we're taking. Makes me feel a little better.

I figure that the coffee should keep me going for the next :45 minutes or so. Hopefully we will be boarded and on our way. The 2 hour nap that I got last night in Delhi is barely taking the edge off the sleepiness that I feel. I know that if I fall asleep here, I'll sleep right through the departure of my airplane. The fiasco of yesterday's scheduling, combined with no one really knowing where I was at, has lead to this situation. It's long and tedious, but lets just say that it's the last time that I will ever let it happen again. It's too common place, but those happy days for the company are over.

I'm walking around and can't believe that the Delhi international terminal can be this nice. It's amazing. What a contrast to this entire city. European and Western style shops line the inside walls. Throw in Restaurants of all flavors and an endless supply of little coffee and bakery places scattered throughout, and you have yourself a first class terminal. I should come here just to hang out and recharge.

My new little bag that I purchased just for this event is working out great. I left my crew bag at home, because it didn't meet the international standard for carry-on size. This one is great. Meets the size requirements and I have room for my laptop inside. Cost me about $85 USD in the mall. The store was having a closeout sale on last years model. Works for me. Can't be too out of date.

The flight to Moscow was excellent. Like I had feared; we arrived too late for me to make the connection to Stockholm. The next flight is at 7:15 and is operated by SAS. I've been sent down here to the end of the D gates to await a replacement ticket. It's 12pm and the new ticket should arrive around 2pm. Good thing I brought my book.

Have my new ticket and have wandered around looking for something to do. Reading is fine, but I'm sleepy and my eyes need a break. I like to just look out the window at the snow falling. Didn't get a chance to enjoy the NW winter this year. I'm not really a big fan of snow, but not experiencing any just feels like I got cheated out of something. Russia looks pretty with snow. I imagine that it would look great in the warmer times of the year too. I plan on making a trip up here to look around when it warms up. The snow plows are scurrying around; attacking the snow and moving it into piles on the ramp. They have a good system for snow removal. First; a big grading tractor comes along and scrapes off most of the top snow. Scrapes it off to the side. Then a team of two smaller tractors, with snow plow blades on the front and a spinning sweeper brush on the back, zip around and scape more snow to the sides and sweep the pavement clean. Then a very large tractor comes around and scoops up the snow and takes it away. I can't figure out if they sprinkle salt or something like salt on the pavement, but that's next. Finally some guys come over in a little car and drive on the pavement to make sure that it's not slippery. It's very fascinating and very orchestrated. They seem to have things down pat. I did try to point out a spot that I felt they should redo, but they just ignored me.

My SAS flight just arrived. I watched the snow plows clear the parking area and SAS had no trouble what-so-ever. Nice work guys. Hopefully there won't be much or any delay with this flight. My eyes are feeling like sandpaper and my tummy is growling up a storm. I think I might have to tap into my safety fat reserves to get me through this time of trouble. No worries, that's what it's there for. I'll replenish it later.

I made it! Oh, the air is clean and fresh. Cold, but it's so good to breathe in wonderful air again. I'm heading over to the flight barracks and call it a night. I forgot my camera adapter, so I can download pics yet. Although, I might try something............ Oh, yes. This will work. Enjoy.