goodbye london

i woke up the last day in London to sunny skies and the news that a plane out of Egypt had been hijacked.

it's bad enough to see that after the bombing last week of the airport in Brussels that but the authorities in Cyprus on TV were saying it wasn't a terrorist attack [really? tell that to the people kidnapped] and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades responded to a reporter's question about whether the hijacker was motivated by romance, laughed and said  "Always there is a woman involved".  hey asshole - here's a news flash - the person hijacking the plane was a MAN.  

GOOD JOB CYPRUS.  your politicians make Trump look presidential.

also, to the dick head that hijacked the plan and later threw a letter off the plane to his ex wife - next time use a stamp.  

i think my tolerance has sunken to new levels.  as i clear security at Heathrow for my flight out, my rucksack is unpacked, rexrayed and swabbed for explosives. they take away my toothpaste which was a medium size with just a few drops left.  i just hope everyone else on my flight is as well screened.

recently i seem to get rerouted alot and my brother, knowing this, suggests if they try to reroute you through egypt today - decline.  

once on the 'safe side' of security i beeline for the United Club - there is always a pleasant face there, fast wireless, free food and cocktails.   and a power outlet at every seat that accommodates both uk and us power cords.  what else could a girl ask for?

the stop at the united club may have been a mistake when the next leg of my journey plays out but in the moment i was loving it.

militant vegans

we were shopping around picadilly circus and wandered into the whole foods there.  i was surprised to find whole foods in the UK but i wanted to pick up a few things and do some research on their vanilla supplier so i stopped in.  they had a lot of the american brands and i was happy to pick up a supply of cliff bars.  i only bought six but as my friend pointed out, if i ration them like matt damon in The Martian, they would last a long time.

while i was in the line to check out there was a crazy disturbance.  in the meat section next to the check out line there were a group of militant vegans - one of them on a handheld loudspeaker chanting, shame shame on whole foods and some other stuff, others in the group of three or four were holding up pictures of animals, calves and lambs, while the woman on the loudspeaker was making all kinds of statements that might or might not be true about the animals in the meat case. 

first off, i'm offended by anyone who think that shame is a way to change people's behavior.  next, i think angry vegans act in a way that is contradictory to the path of veganism and damage the image of a mostly loving and compassionate group of people.  lastly, my friend pointed out that they must be idiots for protesting at a whole foods, where most people are not meat eaters and whose supply chain is much cleaner than the mainstream supermarkets.

the management moved quickly and they were shut down in a matter of minutes but it made me wonder, could that happen in the US - why have i never seen anyone protesting inside a store?  even michael moore is usually standing on a public sidewalk with a loudspeaker - as if the CEO on the 50th floor can hear what he's saying.  

takes my breath away

no, it's not big ben or a bridge or any of the other landmarks around london.  i was multitasking, dressing to go out for the evening and talking to someone on the phone when i looked out the window of my friends apartment.  i was literally speechless for a moment as i saw the laser.  my friend has an awesome apartment across from the royal navy observatory where they mark greenwich mean time and at night there is a laser that marks GMT line.  

that's pretty cool right?  because there's only one of those in the world and the rest of the world's time is based on that laser.  0 degrees longitude!  awesome

landing in london

i had barely landed and logged onto a wireless network when my phone lit up

with messages and news alerts about the terrorists bombing of the airport in Brussels. 

in the aftermath Belgium has been ripped to shreds by the news agencies.  some calling Belgium a failed state.  others just calling out their security services as pathetic. 

whatever the case, these attacks will gain the terrorists nothing.  not a great start to my stopover in london to visit friends for a few days.