Flying Through The Air

(Photo Credit)

I’m in Japan until next Tuesday. Technically I’m not in Japan yet. When this posts, I’ll be in the air on my way there. No, I’m not writing this from the airplane. I’m writing this from home last week. I’m not sure if I’ll have much internet access while I’m gone, so I’ve written posts in advance. If I’m able to get online, I’ll supplement with real anecdotes from the trip.

I’ve been on some long plain rides in my day. Once you’ve spent 14 hours on a plane, cross country trips are suddenly so much more bearable. I mean, on trans-pacific flights, you can sleep for 8 hours, and still have 2-10 hours of time to kill stuck on the plane, depending on which coast you’re flying from and where you’re going. (According to wikipedia the longest route currently in operation is Newark to Singapore at a whopping 18 hours and 40 minutes. Please, shoot me.)

These long haul trips have gotten easier to endure since the invention of the seat-back entertainment system. I'll admit, I have no idea if my plane heading out there has one, but I hope it does. Being able to flip channels, choose your movie, or even play video games really makes the time fly by. Ok, maybe not fly by, but at least it makes the near eternity trapped in a tiny little seat seem to take less time.

Unless the people programming the seat-back entertainment are idiots, as was the case on my last return trip from Hong Kong. Flipping through the channels I came across an episode of CSI. Now, this wasn't a channel that was just showing CSI. It was showing a wide variety of CBS shows in a loop, one episode of each. I'll admit, I like CSI, though it does seem to exemplify the ideal "all sizzle and no steak." In spite of it's failings, I quickly became engrossed in this particular episode and couldn't wait until the end to find out who'd done it. Except that, IT WAS A PART ONE OF TWO!!! What? Am I supposed to fly again a month later just to see part two? Why? Why would you do that?

I still have never seen part two of that episode. The lack of closure still keeps me up at night.