The awesome jet is a Boeing 777-300 from Emirates Air, who are perhaps the awesomest airline ever (so far as I can tell). The awesomeness started when I saw a perfectly ordinary three prong power plug in the back of the seat in front of me. I\u2019ve been plugged in and productive for the entire flight, which is soothing my mind to no end. I\u2019m an inveterate Powerpoint tinkerer, and the ability to poke and prod my slides in flight is like lotion on chapped skin. I\u2019ve finished up two more sets of slides, bringing my set of ready-to-go talks to three. Coupled with Dag\u2019s two day set of SGE slides, I think I\u2019m pretty much set for the first three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ICE (Information, Communication, Entertainment) system rocks \u2013 and keep in mind that I write this from coach class. There were four or five movies available that I actually wanted to see \u2013 out of a selection of dozens. I can pause, rewind, fast forward and so on. I can send text and email messages through a somewhat crufty system that costs $1 per communication \u2013 though I don\u2019t have in-flight wireless. Maybe I just haven\u2019t flown international in a while \u2013 but this is pretty darn sweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also, being an airline from a Muslim flag country, occasionally indicate the direction to Mecca on the \u2018flight status\u2019 display. I get a kick out of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s been incredible flying weather the entire day. The trip to New York was uneventful, and as I write, I can see the Western coast of Europe \u2013 Lisbon to be exact \u2013 glowing below us. I\u2019ve seen Block Island, Portugal, the Northern coast of Africa, the island of Crete, The southern reaches of Iraq, a massive set of thunderheads over Kuwait. In addition, I kept seeing what must be either military or oil cities \u2013 incredibly bright squares and rectangles of perfect organization lighting up the otherwise black ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Transcribed a bunch more pages from my notes on the Dalai Lama teaching of the Lamrim texts<\/p>\n\n\n\n
District 9 is a decent movie. Not tremendous, but a nice break from writing slides. Nothing else really lit me up. Watched the beginning of \u201cFood Inc,\u201d and the high points of the most recent Harry Potter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The food is terrific. I somehow got marked as \u201cstrict vegetarian,\u201d which is fine with me. It means I get my meals before the rest of the plane \u2013 and the incidence of mystery meat is kept to a minimum. It\u2019s also worth noting that the alcohol consumption on this flight is low low low. It\u2019s available, but they\u2019re not pushing the hooch to any degree \u2013 and people aren\u2019t sucking it down. It\u2019s somehow civilized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yes, I\u2019ll go ahead and mention that the stewardesses are cute. There, it\u2019s said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aaaaaaand, sunrise over the indian ocean. God that\u2019s pretty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, now that I\u2019m sitting in the Dubai airport, at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, I find myself thinking \u201cUm, the bars are open pretty early here.\u201d Dubai smells like Vegas, but with salt water in the air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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