9pm, Pacific Daylight Savings Time. I have been up for... [calculating]... 31 hours except for the two hours of weakness this afternoon in the car. My flying fears were not prophetic. In fact, both flights were unremarkable. Almost zippo turbulence across the Pacific. Bored out of my mind though, and my sinuses decided to clog this time.

I sat in the emergency exit row both times. On the Northwest Airlines leg, the flight attendant asked me if I could handle the responsibility of that location and then if I had any questions. I asked her how to open the door as the handle was not conspicuous on the McDonald-Douglas like it is on those Boeings. She said, hopefully you won't have to do it, but the handle is here. Uh, thanks, and by the way: I'm terrified of flying. Hahaa! I didn't say that.

Anyway there are huge differences between US carriers and Korean ones. Have I mentioned this? I have flown Korean carriers for the last few years, but recently I've been on United and on Northwest and have been shocked both times by the extensive safety precautions. They make me feel more comfortable. I like that the pilots talk to the passengers and I like that other passengers' crap isn't scattered all over the place. On Korean airliners, the flight attendants don't enforce even the most basic of rules and when the pilots address the passengers, not only is the language a problem but the speaker system is worse than the trashiest drive-thru. On this trip, the first leg of my flight was on Asiana. I watched the poor flight attendants constantly check and recheck the restrooms to be sure no renegade passenger decided to take a leak on landing. One old guy got up and went after the pilots had told the flight attendants to prepare for landing. I figure, if the flight attendants are so lax with the rules, the pilots might be too....

Well, I made it and that's the most important thing. I still feel like crap though. Complete and total crap from being awake and stuffed into the upper reaches of the atmosphere for 11 hours. Bleah. The flight arrived earlier than scheduled and I was out of customs and immo before Dave's mom arrived. I used the extra time to call Dave.

From there the day got crazy and I suppose that's what kept me going. Dave's mom's van is on the fritz so she couldn't take my bike, her daughter, and me to Seattle all in the same vehicle tomorrow. Instead, we took the bike to Seattle today, leaving it with Wayne until I arrive there tomorrow. Basically, it was a lot of running around, digging through storage, lifting stuff.

I had a haircut at 1:45 that went really well. Felt great to have my head massaged and now I'm happy my mane is under control for awhile.

Back at Dave's parents' house. I took a hot shower and a bath in their huge tub. Huge tubs are great in theory, but take forever and a day to fill. I got impatient and stopped filling only part way up so that a good portion of me rose up out of the water. I got cold fast.

For dinner we went down to some craft/street fair thing in downtown Puyallup. Quintessential America. I love the diversity of people I see. I catch myself staring in fascination. The food was the typical fair fare and I was totally happy to participate in this small town American chowing ritual.

Not thinking to well right now. When I pause for a moment to think, I feel my hands shaking from the fatigue. 9:30pm now. Only about one half hour until I hit the hay.