who needs socks?

i'm sitting in tokyo counting down the minutes, nay, seconds, till i can get on the flight to atlanta. so far i've met a retired us general who is consulting in baghdad. he met with malaki last week and swears that we can get out in the next two years. he is "perturbed" by the american media; loves his grandchildren and his church; set aside 2 million for each of his 7 grandchildren; all in all i know his life story, but didn't have the nerve to ask him how much money he's making from the stock he owns in bechtel and haliburton. oh well, i'll have to grow a pair before i can become a real journalist.

i met a woman on the flight from singapore who is traveling to knoxville of all places! her daughter and crew are traveling for the global destination imagination (formerly oddessey of the mind) contest at ut. how weird. so we got to talking and she was fantastic and was so nice about letting me out of teh window seat on the massice a-330 whenver i needed a good walking around on the seven hour flight. got in early which was great, my connection time was a bit scary, so i hurried to the delta ticket counter for the ultimate irony. landing thirty minutes early gave me an extra thirty minutes to sit here waiting for the flight that was officially five hours delayed. ugg.

so into sf at midnight. and i'll be a sight to see. drooling on my jetlagged self murmurring combinations of singlish, japanese, english, and who knows maybe some french and possibly a little norwegian. i'm totally unprepared for the weather. hopefully my pashimina and flip flops will do the trick. seriously. only brought the one pair of shoes. oops. no socks either. who needs socks?

good news: confirmed seat in business to atlanta so atleast i'll be in the lap of luxury for the 14 hour flight. sipping champagne, eating braised duck, etc. etc. i am spoiled, but atleast i know it!

oh, and i met a nice group of guys from guam headed home from baghdad. we got to talking and one of them said: "its hard when these guys come from america and work for the private companies and they get paid, like twice as much as i do. and i could get killed."

i just finished the shock doctrine and am equipped with some good questions so i've learned a lot in this four hours of purgatory. i have the sinking feeling that no one is reading this. and the keyboard is sticking so i think i'll stop now....