  OK guys, this one's interesting. I am right now in Texas, sitting in my hotel room, had nothing to do so opened this blog only to find out that Harry is now Everysurdy! Anyway, it's his life - if he wants to adopt a even funnier name, it's his choice. By the way, after reading his article, I thought it's high time I also logged in something. Afterall, you all have been waiting for so long! So here I go guys with my story of how I made it to Texas. San Antonio to be precise. First of all, 1 hour before reporting time, I was still at the office solving situtions. Just then someone joked that the pilot called and is waiting for me to board. He thought I would laugh.
Bad luck! I rushed to my apartment, emptied the cupboard and for the first time used my legs to pack the suitcase. It's a good technique actually. You can stuff in more stuff in your suitcase by applying the pressure at the right places. And so I was packed and I rushed to get my immigration done. Once I cleared my immigration and security at the Mumbai airport (forgot to mention I was at Mumbai), I just stretched my legs and tried to take the final nap before I embarked on the 36 hour long ordeal of reaching San Antonio.
I somehow had this gut feeling that this is not gonna be my day. And then I boarded the aircraft. I was sitting at my favorite seat - the window seat. The seat next to me was empty and then there was an Italian sitting in shorts proudly displaying his hairy legs. He was one hell of a talkative guy. And the rythm of his speech was beyond my comprehension. I shook head in approval silently for sometime thinking that he would get the message and would shut up, but he kept on talking about his great and adventurous tour to India. I know how adventurous it would be when he receives a card statement with double charges and rare handicrafts that never made it to his doorstep. But I didn't want to ruin my flight so I kept my mouth shut. But he went on and on and on. The more he spoke, the less I heard; the less I heard, the more he spoke. And then the captain announced that we would have to make an emergency halt at Turkey. The reason - there was some oxygen problem in the aircraft. Ofcourse there would be! If only this Italian would have shut up, we could have saved on some oxygen.
The aircraft was parked at Istanbul for 2 hours and then continued it's flight to Frankfurt, but this time flying only at 10000 feet, because the technical problem was not rectified. The only good part of that flight was that our plane went over many major European cities, over forests and over the Alps. I shall never forget that sight of those beautiful Alps. That was the only time I thanked the Italian for that oxygen problem. Anyway, we made it to Frankfurt and it was time for the 5 hour halt to catch my plane to Denver.
Frankfurt is a huge airport with countless duty free shops and lots of floorspace to sit or lie on. I also grabbed a vacant corner and waited. It was surprising to see so many people sitting on the floor. Indians should see this so that they start respecting a few things back home. It was time to board. And when I reached my seat, there was a Swedish couple (I saw their passports) who were seated next to me. They didn't look happy when they saw me. I later realised why. These buggers just didn't stop kissing each other in that 11 hour freaking flight! And everytime I looked in their direction - not at them, but at their direction - this guy would look at me just to see if I am ..... So I had no choice but to just look on the right side and outside the window, which for most part was covered by the sunscreen.
I was like in a cell looking at a blank wall in front of me and with a severe ache in my neck. To make things worse, there was a thunderstorm waiting for us at Denver. The pilot had to go around it to make a landing. It felt as if the space shuttle's taking off. We had a pretty rough landing and people started clapping when the plane finally stopped! But I was just waiting for this Swedish couple to stop so that I could get down.
Once at Denver, I realized I forgot all the documents to prove that I am on a business visit except to display my laptop. The officer asked for my company's letter. I said, "I don't have it!". He asked for my hotel stay confirmation. I said, "I don't have it! " The way he looked at me, it seemed as if he was admiring me for my guts while there was this patriotic military trumpet playing in the background. But I was wrong, he sent me to be questioned by another officer inside a closed room and all I could here was my heartbeat giving me a 21 gun salute for my stupidity. I think that officer in the room was the one, who had the authority to deport. I though that being extra nice to him or saying even one lie would mean deportation.
So I was straightforward and honest and he just let me through without any questions! Well after clearing the immigrations and customs and the tough security checks, I waited for my United Airlines flight at the wrong gate. The reason I was sitting there was because my boarding pass issued in Mumbai had that gate number and more importantly, there was this amazingly beautiful blonde standing at that counter. After a while, she announced for the flight to Atlanta. I came back from my daydreams to the harsh reality and rushed to the lady and asked what gate was the San Antonio flight. She gave me a sweet smile, which said everything of how stupid I looked and directed me to the right gate. I ran and ran until I reached there panting and my toungue touching the floor only to find out that the flight was delayed by 90 minutes. I was already awake now for 36 hours and 4 more hours were to go before I reached San Antonio. I was struggling to keep my head still. Wonder what the people around must be thinking? I thought I shall catch some sleep in the flight. But only if wishes could come true! There was this Chinese-American kid of 4 or 5 years of age.
He was a horror in the making. He was sitting right behind me. The flight was sold out and so I had no chance to change my seat. This guy would ask questions while hitting his legs against my seat and when he was ignored, by his obviously ignorant mother, he would start hitting more. He was much worse than the Italian I met in the first flight. Actually I started missing that Italian after meeting this kid from hell.
Atlast, I made it to San Antonio only to find that it was heavily raining and my hotel shuttle wasn't there as the flight was 90 minutes late. So I caught a cab to the hotel only to find that all the rooms were booked and there was only the handicap's room available. I begged him to give me anything where I could just lie down and doze off. The receptionist was kind enough to book me that room. Well that was 4 days back. I am in a new room now and happy. By the way, I am tired now and I think so are you if you are still reading this. But if you are tired reading this, imagine the state of that guy who went through all this. Thats me.... Lonestar 
