Sheraton Hotel, Tel Aviv, Thursday, 1998-12-17 03:30 local (Z+3)
Hello, All,
Jean keeps urging me to get back to my journal-like messages, and I just picked up an email from Janice wondering what was going on with me. Actually, lots has been happening, but putting together the time, motivation, opportunity, and something of interest to communicate has escaped me for some months now.
However, in the middle of the night here and unable to sleep, I'll at least let everyone know I'm still alive and functioning. But for one item, I'll not try to recap the happenings of the past months; that would be too daunting a task. The one item is that I picked up a case of hepatitis-A in October, probably while in Santiago, Chile. Basically it put me down for a month, though I never did take any sick leave. I covered it with regular days off and days off they owed me. I still don't feel completely recovered, but I am functioning.
We arrived here Tuesday evening after a nine hour, fifty-five minute leg from JFK to find our usual ramp position occupied by Air Force One, and they parked us such that we had a grandstand view of the happenings. Actually, both of the 747s used as Air Force One were there. They're identical, at least from the outside, except for their different tail numbers. One is 28000 and the other 29000, and they're referred to as SAM 28000 and SAM 29000 respectively, the SAM referring to Special Air Mission, unless the President is aboard, in which case they adopt the call-sign Air Force One.
Tuesday evening SAM 28000, parked about 150 yards away at our 11 o'clock position, apparently was to be Air Force One. SAM 29000 was at our 2 o'clock position, also about 150 yards away. It was obviously the back up airplane. About 300 yards away at our 9 o'clock position was another Tower aircraft that had been chartered for the White House press corps. That's standard procedure for Presidential trips, and those charters are spread around various airlines.
It was obvious from the number of people, the lights, and the flags flying that Clinton was due shortly, so we stayed in the cockpit and watched. Sure enough, six helicopters came in. He and Netanyahu were in the last two. They left them to go to a small speaker's stand. At that point, the bus arrived to take us to the terminal (Tel Aviv doesn't use a concourse/jetway system), and we left. So, a little bit of excitement.
I crawled into bed exhausted at 20:00 Tuesday evening and slept 12 hours. After breakfast, my circadian rhythm—still on Eugene time—said it was time to sleep, and there went another 12 hours, which put me at 20:00 Wednesday evening, time to go to bed for Thursday's early morning wakeup to go to Paris. I managed to sleep again until 01:00 this morning, but couldn't continue sleeping and was really hungry. Room service here has only cold sandwiches after midnight—at $15 apiece—so I went out on the beach front looking for food. It wasn't nice, cold and windy, but at least the rain had stopped. I finally found a place I could get some spaghetti, but of course no meat since everything is kosher. I really get tired of the religious bullshit, not just the Jewish bullshit, but all of it: Christian, Hindu, Muslim, whatever. They all have rules I am forced to follow when in the countries they control—and that includes the U.S.—and they're all unwilling to extend to me the tolerance I extend to them.
About halfway to Paris I will pay dearly for not having taken something to sleep and not having stayed in bed. This is not a healthy lifestyle. I wish it were possible to store sleep. I'll hit the hotel room in Paris again exhausted, and if I sleep 8 hours, I'll be getting up at right about midnight. Paris is fun to walk around in during the middle of the night in the summer, but not in winter.
So, that's what's happening with me. Everybody take care.
Terry