So last time I wrote on this blog was a while ago. I ended up not doing the trans-Pacific crossing and instead joined up some time later in Australia. That has got to have been the longest flight I have ever taken. According to my airline app, I spent over fifteen hours flying from Los Angeles to Sydney. I slept a lot and watched a few movies that I had never seen before. It turns out that the passengers who were right behind me are also going to the Explorer of the Seas. I might see them on board at some point, even though I’m going to be hidden for a good portion of the voyage.

At the moment, the thing I am most concerned about is the jet lag. While you may look up the time difference between San Jose and Sydney as being nineteen hours due to time zones, it is easier to say that as far as daylight is concerned, Sydney is five hours behind. I got a similar effect when flying from Tampa to San Francisco at the end of my last contract.

Oh, and because I wasn’t sure if there would be food on the plane, I went and bought snacks that I never ate. Just like California, Australia has some pretty strict laws regarding agricultural products and even mud that cannot enter the country. One of the products not allowed is pork which I had on me in a sandwich that I bought in the airport which I never got around to eating. I wasn’t in trouble because I was honest and up front about having it on me, but they did take my sandwich. To be fair, I was going to throw it out anyway as it had been outside refrigeration for about eighteen hours. Restraunts shouldn’t serve food if it has been sitting out for more than four hours, buffets included. As it turns out, they had a new dog for sniffing out contraband and my sandwich was perfect for practice. Having helped raise puppies for Canine Companions for Independence, I was more than happy to help. They did a few quick tests where I had the sandwich in my hand so the dog would understand better the scent of pork. Then they practiced group searching by having the dog look for the sandwich that I placed in my jacket pocket. That dog really made my day.