Effing this and effing that

That's what the guys sitting next to me said about God knows what, probably something Britishy, but I decided to use it as the title because I thought it had good cadence. I sat next to--well, not right next to, they were in the next row, so close enough--a couple of authentic Brits. They were drinking bloody marys and wine throughout the first half of the seven hour flight from Dallas to London. Quite festive fellows is the least that can be said about them. Pretty good senses of humor too. One of them, in regards to the cities the flight tracking map displays, said something along the lines of "I know Kent pretty well but I've never heard of Chartwell. That's not a big city." (I realize the humor fails to translate in this format but take my word, it was pretty funny.) They also mentioned herpes a lot, and proclaimed gonorrhea the best sexually transmitted disease you can get. All in good fun I hope.

To my left the seat was empty, but the other was occupied by a one year old or so baby. I know, I know. Babies? On a plane? No good can come of this, right? Surprisingly, yes. The baby was pretty cool. He offered me cookies and laughed when I shook my head no, only to watch me give in due to his tenacity. He talked to me for a bit--not so much talking but pointing and making mouth noises that indicated "THERE'S A GUY BEHIND US!"--and let me play with his doll which I moved about in front of his face, causing him to smile and laugh. Then, he went to sleep for the rest of the flight. He woke up when we landed; that I couldn't believe.

As for me, I couldn't get much sleep. I rested my eyes for two hours or so, which pretty much did nothing to boost my energy level. But when the pilot said we were close to landing, I got a second wind (which is now slowly fading). We landed, I got my baggage, went through customs, none of it with any hassle at all. Then I took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station and took a cab to my place of residence. I must say, everything thus far has been very organized and thorough. There was a huge line of thirty or so people waiting for a cab and it only took five minutes to get one; anywhere else that would've been at least an hour's wait. I have a mini-orientation at two, but after that who knows. Maybe some walking around Chelsea. Or perhaps some much needed sleep.