back on the block

I'm in Seattle - in the WAC, to be precise - and will be here for the next two weeks. I'm also currently expecting my luggage to arrive at some point. I am now regretting my quip to the check-in desk as I heaved my bag onto the conveyer: "Do you want it checked through to Seattle?", he asked, and I replied, "Sure. I don't want to see it again <wry chuckle>".

( random notes )

dude! where's my bag?

The luggage status now appears to be "it will arrive 24 hours after you", which means I have until about 10pm this evening to wear yesterday's clothes. Or I can do a bit of shopping, I guess. What I don't quite understand about this is that my original flight was on with BA, arriving in at about 4pm; I'd have expected them to sling the bags on the same LHR/SEA BA flight today rather than the same flight plus 24 hours as I wound up on, i.e. Northwest Airlines. Still, if the bag gets here, that's cool.

more travel notes

Customs/TSA/INS: surprisingly pleasant. No beady stares. No grilling. Some actual smiling and humour on both sides of the Atlantic.

On the English end of things: "and who do you work for, sir?" "Amazon" "Amazon, eh? I've given them quite a bit of my money!" *laughs*.

On the American end: "what's your tshirt say?" "I'm not Johnny Ramone" "Who's Johnny Ramone?" *pause* "Uh... a famous American musician. Punk music." "I'll have to ask my son about him, he's into punk" Smiles, chuckles, says "welcome back" and corrects himself to say "enjoy your stay" instead.

I will say that there's something about the way an American says "sir", or perhaps the way it sounds with an American accent that makes it seem more of a challenge than a politeness, however. A caution that this person is not your friend, and therefore you should act accordingly, rather than an air of respect. Maybe that's just me, though.

it doesn't happen often, but it's funny when it does

In a bar on Saturday night, one of Lou's friends who sort-of knows me is standing next to me at the bar.

"You look familiar, Ronan, but I can't figure out why. What's your second name?"
"Waide. Ronan Waide"
"Waide... are you Waider?"

Much giggling on my part, obviously. He knew me from the Irish Linux Users Group, a gathering of which (funnily enough) was one of the previous places where someone had a "so you're Waider" reaction.