tdaxp

I'm currently in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, waiting for the United Express flight home. The trip went well, and involved time travel (arriving in the US before we departed from China -- timezones are sweet!).

The plane shook more than any I was one -- a steward next to me loudly called "down" and the he and the stewardesses were on the floor, attempting to prevent liquids (or themselves) from tumbling over.

I was frisked both in Beijing and Chicago. In China all wand-wavers are female, while in the United States the frisker is the same sex as the friskee.

Also, unlike at the beginning of my trip, I am now waiting in a domestic as opposed to international section of the airport. Not only is this wing less crowded, electrical outlets are plentiful and actually powered. My laptop loves it!

Naerly a month after boarding a plane in Omaha, I'm about to leave Zhongguo Beijing. After a pretty good day, the country seems to want me gone, too. I haven't been arrested or reeducated in remotest Tibet, yet, but the PRC's inane blocking of gmail (corresponding with an incredibly slow-down of my secure proxy) has made it extremely frustrating and difficult to attend to some last minute chores. Add to that the iTunes decision not to let me download track 4 of That Hideous Strength (probably just another tech snafu, but still aggravating), and I'm less than a happy camper. Oh, and wae-up is probably at four tomorrow. Great.

I received word from one reader that Blogspirit was not letting him post comments. If you are having technical difficulties with this site, please email me, and I'll respond once I'm back in the United States, and free from Communist censorship and unreliable (yet greatly appreciated) web proxies.

Update: Mere seconds after posting this the multi-hour embargo of gmail was lifted. Hurrah! Score another one for the power of blogs! ;-)

Update 2: Mere seconds after posting this, the multi-hour embargo of gmail is back on. Boo! Score another one for the power of one-party rule. :-(