vanderwal.net

I made it to Sydney today. The flight, all 14 hours was not so bad (in part because I sat next to Derek) as the seats and services were good. I was surprised by bag made it as it started out on another airline. But, when I checked into the hotel my computer connector bag had gone missing on the trip, which had international power converters, connectors, dongles, headphone adapters, and a little widget I rely on for business. I was able to replace some of the important connectors (video to VGA and an iPod connector), but the other things will take some time.

One of the things that struck me is how much it seems like the West Coast of North America with the architecture and city layout. There were parts today that felt like Vancouver, Seattle, or San Francisco, but it is not. One thing that is odd is the sun is in the Northern part of the sky and the trees are do not have leaves as of yet. One things that is good is the time and date of this blog post should be accurate for the first time in months (I am working on fixing that as it is not tough, but it just takes a little time).

As I write this I am realizing my brain and soul have not quite caught up with where my body is at the moment. I am really looking forward to going to sleep tonight. I mean really really looking forward to it.

One thing I learned so far on this trip is how much of a mess the Los Angeles airport is. I have seen a lot of airports the past year, but LAX is really the pits. Nobody knew what terminal I needed to get to so I could make my connecting flight. The police officer sent me to the international terminal and pointed out that changing terminals means you go out of the terminal and walk outside to get to the next one or pass many to get to the one you need. After I was directed to the Tom Bradley International Terminal, I tracked down an "information person" who was holding a sign saying that. He had not heard of United, nor had he heard of Sydney, nor Australia (yes, I did say he was the information guy in the international terminal).

I flew in to the one with American Airlines and it was decent. But, where I needed to go was United and that was a dump. The security screening set-up is pathetic as they have very little space and had TSA officials nearly falling asleep. The signage in the terminal had to have been the worst of any airport I have been to. Not only that, but I was able to get into the premium flight lounge, which was falling apart, as the electrical sockets were falling out, the bathroom has holes in the wall, and the lights were burned out in one part of the main section. This was a premiere lounge? Meh.

I am very happy to be in Sydney and looking forward to seeing people at WebDirections 2006 (wd06) and OZ IA.