Still here in Portland, but won’t be for too much longer. Boarding will kick off in about a half hour, and then there will be a lot of waiting around because this Portland to Amsterdam flight is always full, and then I’m on my way. Once again I’m hoping to get some sleep on the plane, and I might have a better chance this time. I got up about an hour and a half early today, and I have a good notion why. But that may work in my favor for a change, instead of just making me groggy during an afternoon meeting.

I still have a touch of the sniffles, but overall I feel pretty good. Hopefully being in a flying metal tube for the next ten hours won’t re-embolden the germs.

I checked the weather, and oy. The lows for the week will be in the 80s, and I didn’t see a high temperature for the coming week below 102. I am starting to think that my photos for this trip will be interesting things in my hotel room and stuff I see out the window.

In looking ahead, I might not have a post until I get to Dubai. Although I’ll be in Kiev for a day, I don’t think the place where we’re staying has wifi. We will be staying at the “traveler’s inn” at the train station in Kiev. It’s mostly for people who need a place to sleep between trains (so prices are by the hour, kind of), but anyone can usually get a room there. My wife has used this place many times, but this will be a first for me. In Dubai we have a more Western hotel, so then it will be advantage James.

So, my next post may be in a couple days, but it will probably seem sooner, since I’ll be 12 hours in the future at that point.