The red-eye ride home aboard a 777 was pretty relaxed. Plenty of seats went unsold in coach, so moving to a nearly empty row to stretch out and nap was no problem. From Heathrow, where we landed around 6 a.m., I took the Tube to King's Cross and caught a train to Ely, then walked the two miles home, where I arrived by 10:30 a.m.
Speaking of travelers, Kelley has been incommunicado better than three days now, except for a phone message she left Monday from Bagram while I was out, mailing a package to her in Afghanistan, among other errands. She left Indiana Feb. 20, then spent a couple days waiting in Shannon, Ireland, before flying to Manas, Kyrgyzstan, and then to Bagram, Afghanistan. She has no access to an Internet connection and phoned instead. She sounded in great spirits but was unsure what day it was. I expect to hear more in coming days. Bagram is not the final destination, however, and no telling how long her team must wait before hitching a ride south aboard helicopters to FOB Gardez.
The weather here was atrocious, a typical English winter, wet, cold and windy for most of last week. Overnight Sunday into Monday, the skies cleared, and today another blue-sky dawned over East Anglia. Tonight another class in the University of Oklahoma graduate program in international relations convenes at RAF Lakenheath, this one on international communications. The reading thus far has been interesting. The textbook, "International Communication: Continuity and Change," is a pretty good reference for anyone interested in the subject. The author lays out the history of international communication, from trans-oceanic cable to transnational multimedia corporations, like Fox and its competitors. A good book to keep on the shelf, full of basic information and lots of charts that lay the story in an easily digestible fashion.
The class promises to be interesting and I'll probably have something to say on it later in the week. Til then, be cool.
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