As we were climbing out of LAX this morning we saw, and Nhut captured a couple shots of the Malibu Wildfire. I had noticed the red glow in the sky as we were driving over to LAX this morning, and now, sitting in Chicago, watching the news, I have a better idea of what we were looking at.
What a way to welcome travelers to the US. As you get off an international flight in Los Angeles, and walk through the passageway into the US Customs and Immigration area, you’re greeted by two framed pictures like the ones below. It’s enough to make you want to turn around and go back to where ever you just came from!
Well, off to Tokyo for a couple days, I’ve been seriously neglecting writing anything here because I’ve been so busy traveling for work. The good news is that I’ll hit Executive Platinum status again this year. The bad thing is I’ve been on the road for almost two months straight.
Anyway, so somehow we got ourselves routed from LA, through Dallas to Tokyo. Nhut was definitely going for miles on this trip. So we’re starting off really early out of LA, 6:00 AM flight, ugh. The day starts off annoying with the dumbass in seat 3F, no, 5E, oh I don’t know, all these numbers must look the same to him, and he doesn’t know where he’s sitting. 
I hate it when people move your stuff after you stow it in the overhead, and our clueless friend not only moved Nhut’s bag, he insisted he didn’t. So the flight attendant goes to close the bin, and she discovers that the door won’t close, so Nhut’s bag is now sticking out, and has to be moved. One of the joys of frequent travel is sharing the overhead bin space with people who aren’t really interested in sharing. It’s not that big of a deal, we’re in First Class, and there’s still some overhead space that won’t require any swimming upstream to retrieve it when we land.
The other joy of frequent travel, and I’m sure I’ve bitched about this one before, but it seems more annoying this morning, is the guy behind you who can’t get in and out of his seat without grabbing the back of yours. Wheee! feels like a thrill ride at the amusement park, thanks asshat! Oh, is that turbulence? No, just the moron behind you hanging on your seatback as he waddles his fat ass into and out of his seat.
OK, so We’re headed to Tokyo from LA, through Dallas? Sheesh, is this a mileage run or what? Whatever, it’s been too long since we’ve actually traveled together. We used some of my system-wide upgrades and are flying in First Class between LA and Dallas, and Business Class from Dallas to Tokyo. Which is good, because I’m almost out of spare upgrades for Nhut to use on domestic travel.
Oh, this is nice, finally a bright spot in our travel itinerary. We’re on a newly upgraded AA 777 in Business Class from Dallas to Tokyo, which means lie flat seats! These things are really nice, they’re set up so that the guy behind you can’t grab onto your seatback, there’s a wall separating the seats, and grabbing the wall doesn’t shake the seats. Nice. I know it seems weird to be traveling for pleasure after spending two months traveling for work, but oh well.
