IS IT GETTIN' HOT IN HERE?

Landing in Beijing is a trip.
Before they let you off the plane they make you sit there while guys in masks come through and check everyone's temperature.
When they paused and hovered over a couple up near the front, the rest of the plane flipped out, grabbing masks out of their luggage and murmuring nervously.
This ended up being a lark, and we all deplaned happily.



It got more interesting upon actually entering the Beijing airport.
Bombs and knives? No biggie. Just make sure you're not sick. Every checkpoint you pass through has infrared cameras that display your body heat on these big color monitors.
These dudes are not messing around.




Very cool, and scary as shit all at the same time.



Funny story...
Immediately after we landed, they closed the airport due to weather.
Supposedly they were routing flights to Mongolia.

AWESOME UNDER PRESSURE

Spent much of today packing.
Since i had a full day to pack, it of course took ridiculously longer than usual to get my shit together.
i would pace back and forth barefoot in my apartment, picking some things up and putting others away. My mind was awash with hundreds of completely irrelevant thoughts...
Suddenly i was aware of an acute stinging sensation in the heel of my foot.
Lifting my leg i was amused to find a square piece of something stuck in the padded tissue of my heel.
i reached down to pull it out, and did a double take as a long dagger-like piece of glass emerged, trailing behind it a glistening arc of wet crimson.

At this point my thoughts became a bit more focused.
Including:
"What the fuck? Seriously?"
"Do you realize how much walking i have to do over the next few weeks?"
"Where the hell did this glass come from anyway?"
And of course the obligatory "Ow ow, Dammit!"

Eventually the bleeding stopped, and i'm not having any trouble walking. Yay!
And wonder of wonders, i actually finished packing.

THE SOUND OF INEVITABILITY

i made my last commute to work on my bike today.
http://bit.ly/AFrw8
This is actually happening. Unreal.

GULP

Enthusiasm over my coming trip isn't so much fading, as it's slowly being replaced by an onset of near heart stopping panic.
Granted, i knew this would come eventually.
But as word gets out about my departure, and i make the rounds saying my goodbyes... the actual reality of not working here any longer is beginning to set in.
And i think... Holy shit!

People that know me are well aware that i hate my job with the intensity of a thousand suns. But working here has been such a huge chunk of my life for nearly 5 years now.
And here i am pushing away from my desk, standing up, and simply walking the fuck away.

Of course this is the right decision.
My only regret is not having done it sooner.
But still the reality that is my abandoning all of this angst and drama that has been such a ridiculously huge part of my life is creeping up on me. What on earth will i do without it? Sounds fucking insane doesn't it? Nevermind the fear of being... you know. Jobless.

And yes.
Though my heart mostly aches in the absence of wonderful people who had previously escaped this company, i will certainly miss many of those left behind, whom i myself will now be leaving.
Strange that i didn't realize this until i heard myself saying goodbye.