Your newspaper's ringing

I had just arrived in a strange airport in, to me, a strange land. I cleared customs with little problem and no speaking. I had my bag from baggage claim. Everyone around me was speaking a different language, but the signs were pretty easy to follow.

I'd about made it to the terminal to meet my tour group when I saw a brilliant orange sign: Ihre Zeitung Klingen (OK, maybe not perfect grammar, but close.)

This translates literallz to Your newspaper is ringing. Given the situation, I thought I had underestimated my situation. Maybe it was a little much to think I could travel by myself in a foreign country, as the members of my group I met in baggage claim reminded me.

Fortunately, I saw the word mobil on the bottom of this brilliant orange sign. This was an upstart newspaper offering to deliver a newspaper subscription to your cell phone. Order was restored to my world.

Excuse me, but, your newspaper is ringing.

T minus 7 hours

Today's the day!

I was a little nervous last night because it was getting later and later and I had so much to do. But once the laundry was done and I got the socks in my suitcase and carry-on, everything looked much brighter. (I also put all the dishes in the top rack of the dishwasher and ran it instead of hand washing.)

Everything fit in my suitcase, and I even stuffed some extras in - lotion, a couple books and extra socks. The second pair of shoes was not as difficult as I thought it would be. My carry-on bag, however, proved to require a couple of re-packs to get it right. Now I have my clothes in the bottom, my in-flight entertainment in the middle, my travel documents on top, and my one, one-quart clear plastic bag of bottles of liquid on top of that. I may even re-pack before I finally take off.

I also had to do an inordinate amount of Web surfing last night to find out if I could crochet on the plane - well whether I could bring a needle and scissors. Turns out the answer is yes, for all of you who want to know.

Charlie is safe at a friend's house, hopefully not making too much noise, and my house is cleaner than it has been in probably a couple years. So I'm ready to go, and I'll talk to you all from Vienna.