There's no place like home

It's true, it really is. Sometimes for the littlest reasons, like having my green tea in the morning -- Celebrity Cruises, inexplicably, stopped carrying green tea. And sleeping in my own bed is a huge plus, even if I have to make it myself. Even doing laundry felt familiar and comfortable (don't tell Ransom).

The biggest plus though is, of course, family, and we are now all together. I picked up Cassie, Zeus and Zack this morning and so all is right with the world. Poor Zack: he experienced his first kennel stay -- a long one at seventeen days -- and then on Thursday we're gonna cut his balls off. He'll be surely wondering what the hell's happening to his world.

Picking up the dogs was easy (Cassie, left; Zeus, below; Zack at the bottom); picking up the mail, not so much. File this in the No Good Deed Goes Unpunished drawer: on the Hold Mail card I ticked A: I will pick up the mail upon my return, not B: Please deliver held mail to me when I return. I thought it would be the nice thing to do, to go get the large amount of mail -- mostly junk no doubt -- that accumulates over two and-a-half weeks, rather than make our poor carrier bring it to us. The Hold Mail card is addressed to my Post Office, here in Woodbridge; but the pick-up spot is at the main post office in New Haven. Doesn't say that on the card. Doesn't say you will need to drive an additional 25 minutes and wait in a very long line at a very crowded branch in another town. Funny, that.

Still, it's good to be home, petty irritations and all. We caught up on Nurse Jackie, watching all three episodes TiVo had saved for us, and in the morning I had a simple bowl of cereal, without the side of sausage, pancakes, croissants, pain aux chocolat, scrambled eggs or smoked salmon that I night have had on the ship.

One final thought: air travel is still a bit weird. Even after flying for decades, I still find it a tad odd to have breakfast in Barcelona and lunch in Connecticut. Both meals were fine and the flight, with three movies and a Wanda Sykes video, was perfectly comfortable. It's just weird to travel that far that fast.

Call me Phineas Fogg.