It seemed incredible to the waiter that there should be anyone in England who could ask such a question, but he had already gathered that the lady was an American lady, and American ladies, he knew, are often ignorant of the fundamental facts of life. He had once met one who had wanted to know what a football pool was.

Ah, nothing like a bit of Wodehouse to accompany you on a visit to the colonies.

I've decided that I don't particularly like airports. At least not these days. As you pass the security cordon, you're constantly reminded that while you may be physically located in a country, you're really Nowhere. This is a Nowhere where you're constantly monitored, and despite what rights you may be able to avail yourself outside the sprawl of the airport, in Nowhere, you exist at their whim and discretion.

Note to the current fashion set: destroyed jeans. Okay, it's your money, but, could you please make sure that you don't buy jeans that have holes in the back pocket? It's a little disconcerting, to say the least.

40,000 feet in the air; I've read my book, written my next review for Static (that, there, could be considered a plug. Not that I've written anything fantastic recently, although I am fond of the Tristan Prettyman review if you have a spare minute or two), played a game of Advance Wars, which was brought to a satisfactory conclusion with me routing the nefarious computer player's forces, and now I'm just waiting around for the 'light snack' before landing. This is invariably a pizza. Still, it's something I look forward to, as it appears to be a staple of the LGW/RDU flights, and even better, it is actually quite palatable. So there's that, then two hours until Raleigh/Durham airport (the airport so nice they named it twice, perhaps). Perhaps some more cleaning the computer's clock in the meantime.

Some time later

RDU may be an airport that only its mother could love, with illogical layouts and an amusing new police cordon to separate departures from arrivals whilst construction work goes on, but at RDU I haven't yet been taken into a sealed room complete with armed guards and questioned at length. So hurrah to RDU, friends!