September 13

Thursday September 13, 2007 8:00 am Calgary

It is +1 C with a forecast high of +17 C.

A. Morning Musings

8:00 am

We are in the Delta Airport hotel with internet access. Today we begin our flight to Australia.

We came up to Calgary yesterday, checked into the hotel with no difficulty, and then spent the afternoon and evening with friends. It was a great way to begin our trip. We both slept like babies and are now awake, refreshed, and ready to continue. We will spend the morning in the airport before checking in at about 2 PM. Then we really begin the trip.

I have begun reading volume 5 of the Proust novel, In Search of Lost Time. This volume contains two of the original volumes, so when I am finished I will have completed 6 of the 7 original volumes. I have been taking one of these with me on each trip to Australia, so this assures us of at least one more trip.

My mathematics work will take a bit of a break as I have emptied my fountain pen for the trip. I am playing it safe for the moment. Then when we arrive in Ballina I will have to see about buying a bottle of ink.

Now to settle back, read a little Proust, and let the day unfold.

Immediate	Description	Time
Literature	Continue reading "The Captive & The Fugitive", Vol. 5 of "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust	2 hr
Mathematics	Complete exercises p. 45 - 46 from "The Mathematics Survival Kit"	1 hr

C. Actual Learning Activities

7:30 PM

Just a brief note on the trip so far (written a few days later).

We spent much of Friday September 13rd in a very relaxed manner at the Calgary airport. Our flight was not scheduled to leave until 5 ish in the afternoon. We had obtained our boarding passes for Calgary-Vancouver and Vancouver-Sydney earlier in the morning using a kiosk near the check in area. That was a new experience for us, but we needed some help from an Air Canada person to complete the transaction. We were also able to check our luggage much earlier, thanks to the helpfulness of the bellhop at the Delta hotel who actually wheeled our bags over to the Air Canada checkout area. We had a nice lunch in the foot court area (a teen burger - our last for at least 3 months) and then simply sat around reading and waiting to board our plane.

We were in the departure lounge with about 30 minutes to go before boarding when they made an announcement that they were having technical problems with the aircraft and that they were not sure if the flight was going to be cancelled or delayed for an hour an a half. Either option would mean we would miss our flight from Vancouver to Sydney. Not a pleasant prospect. About 30 minutes later they announced that the problem had been fixed and boarding would commence immediately. We still had time to make our connection.

Landing in Vancouver we had to make our way to the International gates which were at the other end of the terminal, and then pass through American immigration and customs. The timing was going to be very tight. We took off at a very brisk walk following the signs and soon ran into difficulties. Due to some construction in the terminal the signs were no longer valid and twice we had to ask for help on where to go next. In both cases the directions were confusing and we were not at all sure where we were, or where we had to go next. There was no one around to help us.

We finally did make it to the lineup for US Immigration. But when we got to the officer he asked us for a white customs form. We had no idea what he was referring to. Rather than help us, he tersely told us to go back and find them and then to get in the lineup again. We had no idea where to find the forms or even what they looked like. Fortunately we found another couple in the same position who had found some forms (green). We grabbed one and figurred we would fill it in while standing the line (every minute now counted). We then were stopped by another officer who said we had to have the form filled in before he would let us in the lineup. We did that and then proceeded forward. By this time it looked like we would miss our connecting flight.

We finally passed through US Immigration and then had difficulty getting our luggage transferred to the proper place for the connecting flight. Further minutes were spent going through US Customs and the security procedures. A look at our watch indicated that we had missed our flight but an individual in security assured us that we still had time. He was right. The flight had been delayed about 40 minutes, so when we finally arrived at the departure lounge, the plane was still there. We were both more than a bit frazzled and I was wet from perspiration.

The bottom line was we were still on schedule. We have now resolved to leave at least 4 hours to make any connection at an airport. Part of the problem is the increasing frequency of planes being late by at least an hour, and the other is the actual time it takes to get through the US security system.