Back in Blighty - Monday 4th August

Anyway - in answer to my parting thought...however many days ago that was (uhhhhh the wee one is so confused!!) the Fostex is fine - I did ask a lovely airport security man if he didn't mind just holding my memory card while everything else went through - and he said he would - it may have been because of my face and how I very desperately and swiftly said - THIS IS MY MA PROJECT....DON'T LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO IT!!! (this is my liiiife...don't ruin it....I may die if you dooooo...please!)

It's a surprise they let me through LAX in the end really isn't it!

The lovely man reassured me rather well though as I was turning paler and paler with a nervous cold sweat trickling delicately down my right cheek (ok some serious artistic licence is going into this recount!! I'm tired - the only thing working is my imagination!!)

But I did ask, I did say THIS IS MY MA PROJECT!! and he did reassure me - and it was all fine - phew!!
Before that though - had a few hours to spare in LA - nice place to while away a few hours - particularly Korea-Town - and an all-you-can-eat Korean restaurant - mmmmmm!! Shame about the air quality and lack of visibility - seriously - Beijing thought it had problems - LA is like being shut in a sauna-come-exhaust pipe!

But anyway - Vedran and I had a lot of fun waiting for our check-ins (we were the last ones to fly out). We met up with a good friend of Vedran's who's Korean - hence the trip to Korea-Town. Did you know there are about 1.2 million people from Korea in LA - how cool!

I digress.

So checked in - found a Starbucks (it's not hard!) Had a coffee - bought some sunglasses (hehe!) and boarded my Air France jet back to Heathrow.

Tried to sleep - failed miserably. Watched countless films (again!) and started making polite conversation in French (at some hour somewhere in some time zone mid-air) with the air stewards, had a little chat with the people I was sitting next to, and then they fell asleep...annoying!

Landed..eventually. It rains.

Trekked across all of Heathrow to the bus station, with 26 kg of normal luggage, plus my 12kg max hand luggage (Jeff Capes eat your heart out) and then tried to spot my bus - but it wasn't there.

It didn't appear on the board until it was meant to be leaving - and that was only to say it was delayed - 'no REALLY!' I thought - 'think I could've worked that out for myself'!

No estimated time of arrival - just delayed....
delayed....
Still delayed...
lost...
lost to the world...
never existed...
you're going to have to set up camp in Heathrow bus station...
you're NEVER going to get home...
Home won't remember you...
Yes, this is a hole...
I've gone wrinkly...
I've gone grey...
Scouting around for a zimmerframe shop...
Buses don't exist anymore - they're now hoverbuses...
Apocolypse...
I can see the horses...
Jim Morrisson (ghost) singing This Is The End...
11th plague...
Thinking about my will...
Can I find a nice plot for me to lie down and DIE in in Heathrow...
...Probably not.
And so on!

The bus eventually arrived - I then got attacked by a very large group of international students - who apparently, for them, getting on this bus was a life or death situation and therefore just had to push past me and virtually knock me off the pavement to make sure that their 'oh-so-important' luggage was loaded..growl!

Eventually I got on, climbed to the top level of the bus (and not because I'm childish and I still like double-deckers and get all excited) but it was OAP central downstairs (of course no Stenna stair lifts on a National Express) and therefore no room on the lower level.

Found a seat - hooray I thought...

...What a fool I was - oh no - apparently the international students who had the oh-so-important luggage, find it inconceivable to sit separately, even one seat in front of the other (DISASTER apparently) so they badgered me in broken English to move...

International relations were almost destroyed at this point.

I gave up, I was so tired I couldn't be bothered to continue my fight to keep my seat - so got up...
...What a fool I was...

When I stood in the aisle - I could only see a couple of free seats next to people - so asked if I could sit there...were they free...were they hell.

Great - I thought. (And no - that wasn't the only thing I was thinking...or saying either...teehee p'eeed off Wee Nat is quite loud...amusingly!)

Finally this delightful women moved all her copious amounts of stuff for me (which was very kind) so I could actually sit down and start my 4 hour journey back to Exeter.

International students - sometimes I wish they just stayed international.

Anyway - finally got back to Exeter, the parents met me - had a small contre-temps with the international students AGAIN - because of course it was so important to get their luggage off first - yet it didn't occur to them that if you barge through at the departure point to get your luggage on first: your luggage is going to be at the back, and come off last - these students weren't natural equationists...!

Got in car...hour long journey home - and that ladies and gentlemen is how I was awake for 38 hours.

What's even better - I go back to work at the radio station tomorrow. Dear GOD help me.