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Thursday, July 08, 2004
I find myself, for the first time, in United's "Red Carpet Lounge" at Heathrow airport, waiting to get the hell outta Blighty. My upgraded ticket gained me entry to this zone of free self-serve booze and wireless access, and I am taking full advantage. If I have to wait, here is better than elsewhere.
 I'm eager to leave behind these overlong UK workdays and overgray skies... the weather has been terrible, but I'd be whining more about work if it was beautiful and I couldn't enjoy it. The last time I was this homesick, this excited to get back, I think it was the second day of summer camp, sometime in the early eighties. I need to see my girls. Ok, let's purge some words, off the top of me head: flat, lift, top, tube, roo-ter, mo-bile, blimey, cheers, loo. There, sorted. Hey, free snacks! Tiny tiny packages, but it's not the size of the sack of nuts that matters, right? They do taste quite good with my inaugural drink of the day, a tall can of Japanese Sapporo. Quite an international selection they've got here. Where shall I visit next? A bottle of Nastro Azzurro sounds good.  There was only one thing I wanted to buy while I was over here, and since I had little time to shop, I came up empty. I was in search of Curve's new double disc compilation called "The Way of Curve", and the two records shops I did check hadn't even heard of it. Cheeky blighters. So on my way over here to the lounge, I stopped in the Virgin record store, thinking "Naaaahhh... they'll never have it, but...". And there it was. One copy. I broke my last 20 quid, leaving me a fiver, and snagged it. The plane ride home just got far more enjoyable. It gets better, though. I finished up Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" yesterday, leaving me with nothing to read on my 7-hour flight. I didn't have anything in mind, so I wandered around the airport bookstore thinking I'd grab a couple of magazines. I'd been wanting to pick up the latest Robert B. Parker novel, "Stone Cold", but it's not out in paperback in the U.S. until September, so I've held off... until I saw the UK paperback sitting there on a shelf. Well, whaddya know. I hand the clerk my final fiver and I've got both listening and reading action for the trip. Aces. Anything that will help it pass more quickly. Alright, my hour of wireless access is nearly up, time to grab another beverage, maybe some complimentary pretzels, and dive into my book. See ya stateside.  |
 neil halstead live in cambridge, ma on november 14th, 2008 previously: joy formidable - boston 2011 recent posts on the 'nac... on the nightstand boston-area music bloggers
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