Well, I’m here in Shanghai. And, thanks to a friend’s advice—and the power of technology—I have managed to thwart (temporarily) the Great Firewall, and post on Livejournal. I am a rebel!
Flight: Rather excellent. We were delayed in Chicago for an hour, but that was actually pleasant, due to the fact that I was sitting next to a very nice woman in the waiting area who received a call on her cell phone at the same moment our delay was announced (in the vaguest possible terms)—murmured, “Uh huh, okay, thanks,”—and then turned to me and said, cheerfully, “It’s going to be one or two hours. There’s a problem with the hydraulics.” When I asked how she knew that, she added, “My husband is the captain.”
Ding! Talk about inside scoop! I was shameless, man. Dynamite could not have moved me from that seat.
But again, the flight was good. No one sat by me, I ate chocolate truffle cheesecake all throughout the trip, and slept like a big bear in winter. Shanghai is wet and cold, and it’s good to see my family.
More later.