For some reason, the advertising slogan, “Getting there is half the fun,” keeps going through my mind. Well, I certainly would not describe my trip to Perth, Australia as “fun”. Five different plane boardings (only once onto the same plane); four times standing in line to get boarding cards; problem with travel visa (I missed putting both of my middle names on the forms); lost luggage; and canine inspection of luggage and confiscation of my apples. (At least I declared that yes, I did have fruit with me . . . but by not throwing it out before the dogs found it, I got to go to the end of an extra line to discuss the issue.)

My original flight from Chicago to Los Angeles was delayed nearly two hours. The plane I switched to had only three of its six lavatories working, and none of the overhead lights in my section working.

I’m pretty tired. And, I’m presenting at the AUSOUG National Conference Series 2007 at 10:30 tomorrow morning. I’m sooooo glad that, since I packed too many clothes to fit in my suitcase, I had to pack one outfit in my carry-on bag. I am also grateful to Qantas for providing an amenity bag with lightweight T-shirt and shorts . . . so I have pajamas, too.

All in all, it was a long, grueling trip. On the plus side, I did meet some wonderful people — Andrew and Sumit, who sat on either side of me on the longest flight, were especially kind and helpful and pleasant to sit and chat with. And in Melbourne, where I had the most problems with making it through a zillion line-ups (immigration/lost luggage/special services for ticket problems), countless people offered to let me ahead of them so I would be able to catch the final flight out at 12:15. A big “thank you” to all of them!

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