mid-air.
i haven't been flying commercial much lately, so my gold status on northwest has been dropped to silver. i did the online check-in, though, so i was able to get bumped up to first class (what would i do without the ice cream!). :) one of my other favorite things about first class is that they hold your jacket for you, and you get to board first. oh, and no whining kids usually.

i bought a supermegamondo luggage yesterday. i thought there was no way i'd fill it up, but sure enough those 4 pairs of shoes and all my new clothes took up quite a bit of room. :) i'm not even sure i could carry the thing more than 5 steps without collapsing. well, since i'm not planning on returning home anytime soon i don't feel so bad. i opted to go with the spring/summer clothing, and didn't bring my big jacket on purpose. i hope i don't regret it.

so i'm on the way to detroit, where about 50 of my colleagues are on a project (the us mirror of the project that i am on in germany). i'm going to hang out with them tonight, head into work with them tomorrow morning, and then fly back to stuttgart tomorrow afternoon. i have a driver picking me up at the airport - he's great. it's so important to have someone you can call who you feel comfortable with and can trust. this guy, jay, drove nsync around last week! in fact, he hung out with them for a couple of days - just him and nsync, chillin at a basketball game. how cool is that?? he said they were all very cool guys, but that chris is probably the one he got along with best. sa-weet!

this dude next to me... not to be racist or anything... is a fob. (fresh off the boat, for you non-californians - and usually this is referring to asians). he smells like a fob (read: moth balls or something)... ick... and he's doing the head-bob. he also seems to have some sort of nasal problem, wheezing as he breathes in and out. niiice. i can hear it through my headphones! does it seem to you like asian guys always look like they need a haircut? i think i'm going to have to take a nap to drown out the noise and get some rest for tonight.

^