Dreary Londontown

I was a little short on hours for the month of September, so when I woke up on Monday, I checked the computer and sure enough there was a gal dropping her London trip, so I quick picked it up.

I had gotten this awesome set of "50 London Walking Tours" from Ladyfriend for my birthday and I had planned to do a few of them on the layover.

So much for my plans, as it was a crappy day. It was rainy, cold, and overcast. Not really a good time. I ended up sleeping a little longer when we arrived that morning, so around 3pm, I finally got up and went to run some errands. Hunter and Terry, two guys in my card group, swear by this stuff called Remegel, a chewy antacid that is only available from Boots, a UK pharmacy chain. The nearby store only had 6 packages of Remegel and I made the cashier look in the back for more. She asked me, "How bad is your heart burn?" but I explained it was for some friends who cannot handle anything creative when it comes to food and this is the only thing that works for them.

I stopped at Waitrose for some take away and dodged the raindrops back to the hotel. After watching Sister Act on the BBC, I took an ambien and off I went to slumber land. I woke up around 6:30am and went and did a quick work out before our pickup.

The flight home was about 10.5 hours, and of course I got stuck with first break, so I did not get a chance to sleep, but just laid there and listened to my iPod. The crew was great. I was working in Business Class on this trip, and we all worked well together. They were all pretty senior, but they took me under their wing, so to speak.

Customs was a little concerned with all the antacid I was bringing in, but they eventually let me into the country. Nice to know the DHS is on their toes I guess.

Last Minute Tampa Fun

I found myself on a last minute trip to Tampa recently. It was nice because we got to spend more than just a quick overnight there, so I managed a short visit with some friends. I had brunch with my friend Jonathan and his wife Wendy and our friend Brenda, and then later met up with my friend Carla who is now back in the states after living in Scotland and Malaysia for several years. I went with her and her husband Steven out to see our friend Bruce and his wife Jen and their kids. Of course we went to the Outback for dinner (Carla lives for it.... so much that a few years ago when I was touring with her and Steven in Singapore, we passed one and she made the cab driver make a big U-turn and the next thing I know we are having lunch there).

It's always great to catch up with friends. Bruce was getting ready to go on a business trip to Europe and I had hoped to tag along, but I had a four day trip to El Salvador so it wasn't mean to be.

Some Complications for Keai

Greetings from a dreary and cold day in London. While checking my email in the crew room at the hotel, I got the following from the folks at Heart Gift. Seems like little Keai is having some complications. Please keep the little guy in your thoughts....

"Keai had a follow up visit yesterday with Dr. Wright, and as it turns out, he still has a lot of fluid in his chest cavity. Dr. Wright gave him a healthy dose of medication, and he will have a follow up on Thursday morning, when he will have another chest x ray. If the medicine does not do the trick then Keai will have to be readmitted to the hospital, and the drainage tube reinserted.

He did attend the UT game on Saturday with the Hammonds, which he thought it was really cool, so that was a nice diversion on a beautiful Saturday. KXAN arrived with a camera, and hopefully it will be on the news story they air when Keai finally goes home."

Following Up

Little Keai is now home from the hospital and recovering at the home of the sponsoring family. I am a little bummed because he will be going home on the 7th and I have a schedule conflict at work that prevents me from being able to escort him home. It would have been nice to be involved in the whole process, but I am sure that he will have a great time with whoever is chosen as his escort.

I received a link from Heart Gift that had a radio spot that the local public radio station ran about his visit to the states.

http://heartgift.org/images/uploaded_images/KUTHeartGift.WMA

More About Keai

Text from the email I got from the director of Heart Gift, the medical charity sponsoring Keai Sun. He had his operation on the 9th....

"Sun Keai remains in the hospital and is not in the best of moods these days. He still has a drainage tube in and a little fluid around his lungs. Once the tube is removed, it will be 36 hours before he can be released, so it will probably be Wednesday before he can head home to the Hammonds. He is recovering in the IMC.

Since he is so infatuated with McDonald’s, we have arranged a special surprise for him today: a visit from Ronald McDonald!! Maggie Carter, Dr. Fox’s nurse, made all the arrangements for this special visit and old Ronald himself will be arriving today around 1:00 pm to visit with Keai."

Chilling in Chile

Getting to fly Santiago is great, mainly because like the other South American flights, it's an all-nighter in both directions. You sling some drinks and food, people sleep for about 8 hours, you serve them a breakfast, and then you land. The downside, is that like the other South American trips, we just get the day layover, or lean-over, as we call them. You arrive in the morning, sleep all day, then fly home. A great way to rack up 20 hours of flight time, but not much else.

The weather on Sunday was overcast, but I managed to snap a photo outside the hotel, trying to capture the Andes mountains. You can just make it out.

The hotel does offer us a free breakfast, with everything from omelets to order, to fruit and cereal. After a date with an Ambien, I woke up at 5pm and went down to work out (still on the health kick, now down about 12 pounds). A quick shower and then a rendezvous in the lobby for pick up.

I got a bottle of Pisco for my friend Tricia (10 years ago, Chile was the first place I used my travel passes, to visit her while she was studying abroad) and a magnet for my friend Carla in Duty Free.

I got stuck with first break, which I don't particularly enjoy because I am usually not tired enough to sleep (on even numbered flights, even numbered positions get first choice, odd numbered flights, odd positions get first choice). We were flight 940 going home, and I was position nine, so I got stuck with first break. I managed to sleep for about 30 seconds I think.

We served Pastel de Choclo for dinner, a Chilean delicacy made of ground corn and basil. Even for a coach meal, it was pretty good.

We had one gentleman onboard who looked like an extra for the movie Outbreak, coughing and sneezing. He probably has bubonic plague, which means I probably have it now.

More about Keai and His Host Family

Local family takes in Chinese heart patient