I highly recommend the book on the left. I picked it up on Sunday morning at the Philly airport while waiting for my flight to Bermuda. I tried to check-in using the e-ticket kiosks and was denied, upon which I appealed to one of the ticket agents that floats around self-ticketing. "Oh, you're supposed to be in the Caribbean line," she said, motioning to the LONG Caribbean line on the other side of the terminal. Lots of people with screaming pink luggage tags reading "Svengali Tours" or something similar. I looked balefully at the line and said, "I guess I forget that it's actually a foreign country." She said, "Don't worry about it. I'll just check you in here."

[Huzzah.]

Two minutes later I was breezing through the [non-existant] security lines. I have learned that the scanners do not like my keys, nor do they particularly like the assorted electronic hardware I carry in my purse so, despite the earnest statement of the young security guard, I put them in a separate tray to send through. No problems - they swabbed my computer for explosive residue, but I do not take that as an insult.

Anyway . . . where was I going with this? Oh yes, I now had two hours to kill in the airport. Luckily they have turned the Philly airport concourse into a relatively nice place to be, so I shopped for a while. And that is where I found the aforementioned [and asidementioned] book. Quick read - I finished by the time we landed in Hamilton - and both amusing and informative. I do have a better appreciation for flight attendants and what they do for a living now. I'll give it to Mom when she gets here [tomorrow!], since she'll breeze through it, but if you'd like it after that, let me know.

So, Bermuda. Last time I was here there was a hailstorm. This time, just a storm, although we managed to be inside at meetings during the vast majority of it. Very windy though, but warm and humid. Maura and Andy and I had a full day's worth of meetings on Monday, which meant that given the infrequent flights to the island, Andy had to fly Saturday from London and Maura and I arrived on Sunday. I got in around 12:30, and made it to the hotel by 1:30. I called Andy and we met for lunch, then split up for the rest of the afternoon.

I went to the hotel's spa, and had a new experience - a pedicure. It was very nice - foot massages are a good thing if you can get them. I now have a stunning autumnal bronze color on my toes.

Maura's flight didn't arrive until around 3:30, so we left a message for her to meet in the lobby to go to dinner. We went to a place just a quick taxi drive away and made it an early evening.

We met for breakfast and then into Hamilton for non-stop meetings all day. We made it back to the hotel around 6:00 and relaxed and made phone calls until 7:15. We were meeting one of our reinsurers at a restaurant along the southern shore - luckily the rains had departed, although it was still a bit windy and cloudy. Dinner was great - very relaxed and with much laughter.

The problem with Bermuda is that there is no way to get in, have meetings, and get out in the same day. I had a 1:30 flight on Tuesday afternoon, and Maura had a 4:00, with Andy stuck there until 8:00 p.m. He decided to meet with some other reinsurers to discuss some other aviation business, but Maura and I had a free morning, so we both took advantage of the spa facilities for a massage. We normally do this when we go to London, but our schedule was so hectic this year, we never got the chance.

After my "relaxation massage", I headed back upstairs, showered, changed and finished packing. The drive to the airport is about 40 minutes, but it is very scenic. There was a line at the check-in counter, but I got through in a half hour, went through US Immigration [yes, you go through immigration in Bermuda - which probably explains why I don't always remember that this is an International trip], cleared customs, and read for an hour and a half.

Our inbound flight was a little delayed, so we left about a half hour late, but made it up in the air. After the usual painful half hour delay at baggage claim, I made it home around 3:45. Suki hadn't done too much damage, which was nice. I got a call from Jeff and Lucia saying that they'd be here arond 3:00 or so on Saturday.

So now I'm just CLEANING and ORGANIZING the condo for Mom and Dad's arrival tomorrow. Yea!

Quote du jour:

"It's hard to be funny when you have to be clean."
-- Mae West (1892 - 1980) US actress

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