What would you like to drink AFTER we have taken off?

End of 2009 had been very kind to me.  Maybe I have saved up enough of my good fortune during the year for use.  I had planned to fly out to visit some relatives overseas during the Christmas period.  Being a poor bastard that I am, I flew economy class like the 200 other passengers onboard.  So imagine my surprise when the CSO at the check-in counter told me that I have been upgraded to business class!

It is the first (and probably the only) time that I fly business class.  Service is definitely better than economy.  First off, I get to sit down, relax and have a drink while the other passengers are still boarding.  Then the stewardess asked what I would like to drink AFTER we have taken off.  Food is served in proper utensils, ceramic bowls and plates, not one of those plastic containers that you get in economy class.  The seat has seven settings, it feels like a sofa recliner.  I can recline so far back without problem.  There is a proper foot rest.  I can even adjust the back support.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to test out sleeping in business class.  The flight was too short.

The only problem was the guy at the boarding gate who, without looking at my boarding pass properly, informed me that I was lining up in the business /first class line with a “you-can’t-afford-business-class” look and a “look-down-on-you” tone of voice.  I so wanted to say, “Yeah, I know.  That’s why I am lining up here.”  He eventually realised his mistake, but still, he needs to change his attitude, or at least look before blahing things out.

How much is this going to cost me?

So the world is in financial crisis.  Normally, I wouldn’t really worry about it that much.  I don’t have loans to repay, shares, or any money in any of the financial companies that fell into the black hole.  But right now I’m not happy.

Why the hell did the AUD dollar fall so so so so so so fast.  Less than a month to go till my overseas holiday that was planned months in advance.  The only thing left was to buy overseas currency, and the AUD dropped a whopping 30 cents against the USD from its peak, and in effect, falls against all the other currency as well.  My holiday is going to be so much more expensive than originally planned.  Looks like I will have to eat less and buy even less.

Most adventurous Tuesday I’ve ever had

Have you ever had a feeling when you wake up one morning and thought to yourself that today is going to be a great day? Tuesday was not the day. In fact, last Tuesday (the first day of my training trip) has turned out to be five times more eventful than any of the last five times that I have travelled on an airline. Any airline.

First I got up at 4 in the morning feeling pretty good about myself, being able to wake up at all in the wee hours of the morning. Then a quick chew on some biscuits that just happened to be on the table and it was off to the airport. So far so good. The real eventful day didn’t start until 5:30am.

The self check-in system at the airport advised me that I cannot check myself in because something is wrong. After some unhelpful questions from the ground staff (“Are you sure you’re not travelling overseas?”, to which I should have replied, “Yes, I am bloody sure”), I found out that my flight was cancelled. Oh boy, that’s going to be fun.

They ended up putting me on an earlier flight because the next one out was the 8:30 flight, and there was no way that I was going to wait for 3 hours. But in the end, it didn’t make much difference.

That Tuesday was a particularly cold morning. Normally I wouldn’t care less, because I have a heater in my car as I drive to work, but unfortunately this day is not normal. Ice formed on the wings of the plane, and so the flight was delayed as they use the giant flame thrower (or whatever it is that they use) to remove the ice.

So we were set to go, right? Wrong. The tug that pushes the plane out of the terminal has, well, terminated. So there was another delay as they get another tug in. By the time we finally got off the ground, it was no difference than my original flight.

You would have thought that it was the end of that. But wait, there’s more. The taxi ride from the airport that should last all of 6km ended up to be a 20 minutes ride (and $10 too much) because there was an accident on the freeway. Somehow, I had a feeling that the taxi driver knew about the accident, and intentionally drive on the freeway because the trip was so short.

To top off my ‘great’ morning, no sooner had the instructor uttered the words, “Well, let’s get started” did the fire alarm go off louding than a whining baby deprived of his candy bar. Miraculously, we actually got something done on the day. Man, I never thought a Tuesday morning could be so eventful.