customary "hello!" posting, blah blah blah

you should feel free to skip this post. i don't *really* expect anyone to be interested in the details of my journey over here but, you know, i feel the need to start off with this anyway. i mean, just starting with the first conference session would be like starting a conversation half way through, without any of the pleasantries, delay tactics, and inane chatter about the weather. so here you go.


i love travelling, and i love flying (though my arms tire easily), but for various reasons was really really not up for anything but sleeping today. as many of you know, far be it from me to recommend spending any time in manchester. however, at 8.00 sunday morning, i was sooooo pleased that i only had to commute down 1 flight of stairs and endure a 4 minute mini-bus ride to the terminal rather than an epic setting-off-6-hours-early-just-in-case trek across the pennines. there was no-one queuing to check in for the orlando flight and - having smugly checked in online the day before - it was just a case of dropping a case off and changing my seat allocation for the third time in 24 hours. the news that the plane was only half-full (or half-empty, if you're that kind of person) almost brought a smile to my face.

ok, i know i said you didn't have to read this, but: if anyone reading this has ever flown with virgin, did you commit to memory the name of the plane you were on? is it the law to do so? i only ask because, on the transfer bus from terminal to plane side, i was concerned that i'd accidentally boarded the plane spotter express ("oooo, look, it's ruby tuesday! we flew on ruby tuesday last time. i wonder if we'll be flying on her again?"). but it appears it's a contagious condition because, as we approached our plane, lots of people started muttering "oooo, look, i've never been on this one before!" and "well, it was ruby tuesday last time we came to orlando".



we were sat on the tarmac for quite a long time as the plane (it was pretty woman this time, btw) was refuelling, which gave the woman behind me time to make an urgent phone call, which went something like this:



"hello, it's me. yes, i'm on the plane. i said...*sigh* I'M ON THE PLANE. YES. ANYWAY, SEE YOU LATER, BYEEEE!"



actually, the flight was ok - being short means not caring about leg room, and lots of empty seats means that it's easier to stretch out and sleep. at one point, the view from the window looked like this:

which i thought was pretty damned cool. and seeing as we're on the subject of photos, here are a few more from this afternoon in orlando itself.



this little yellow round thing is a bit odd. at the airport, you have to swap your shuttle/transfer confirmation for a ticket, which you then show to someone at the shuttle stand. they then give you this and tell you that when it starts to flash, your transfer is ready so to come back to the desk. but of course no-one has anywhere else to be, so you get 7 or 8 people sat in a row, in front of the transfer buses, trying to look nonchalantly about them, but constantly and nervously glancing down at their little yellow round disk in case it starts flashing.

and on the subject of yellow round things, i've noticed a big yellow round thing over here too. apparently it's called "the sun" and is used for heating and adding light. freaky, huh?