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                        _ __ | |__ | | ___   __ _ 
                       | '_ \| '_ \| |/ _ \ / _` |
                       | |_) | | | | | (_) | (_| |
                       | .__/|_| |_|_|\___/ \__, |
                       |_|    ...2017-04-14 |___/ 

It's 6:44

I'm on a plane heading for Amsterdam, Tallinn being my final destination, weird how it's cheaper to fly in the wrong direction.. Macro economics.. Anyway, one of the things that I appreciate about traveling is the forced change of pace, a loss of control in a comfortable way. It is an opportunity to think, read and to observe. Maybe it is not as much an opportunity as a sentence.. There's very little else to do. Maybe if one was determined to waste the opportunity, one could bring movies. But I rather enjoy this forced change of pace. After having my coffee, I though of an episode that happened some trips ago, which was of little interest to me at the time. A man reached out for his coffee, and burnt himself on the cup. Now mind that other people, myself included had received cups of that same coffee, it was hot, but not particularly so. I now reflected upon this incident and thought that it maybe show something about expectation. I wonder, if you, in the very instant you reach for that cup of coffee, expect it to be very warm, but you overdo it, you overshoot your expectation, so you actually expect it to be burning hot, and so, as you feel the heat of the cup, your expectation seems to be met, and you overreact, thus, burning your fingers on the cup, causing you to drop it and spill coffee all over yourself. Maybe it is the opposite, maybe you've totally forgotten that coffee is supposed to be hot, and you are so surprised that it's warm that you believe you have been burned by it, leading to the same reaction. I wonder, if both scenarios could be valid (at separate times, of course).

Books

I'm reading Larry Niven's "Limits", I'm under the impression that it is a collection of short (and shorter) stories, but I'm only a few pages into the first one, and so far that alone looks like it has the potential for being a full novel. I like his writing, it's direct, efficient and yet elegant. I think that I will continue reading now.. I won't be able to publish this before I get back online anyway, and it's not like there's a line forming of people waiting to read it anyway. I expect to update this journal some more today.. Because writing is (can be, ought to be) a product of thinking, and as I previously mentioned, thinking is one of those things for which traveling leaves time.

Co-passengers

One of the doubtful privileges granted to the frequent traveler is an insight into the behavior of people from other cultures. I find it interesting how it may be that it is in particular the British who are the worst to travel with? If you encounter loud, drunken people in an airport in Europe, they are with few exceptions going to be British. You will encounter rude and very sober Russians, you will encounter the deeply alcoholic, but quiet Norwegian, and the silently drugged Polish, but somehow being trapped on an island of damn hooligans fosters the British traveler who most disgracefully manages to combine all of these traits. Hopefully some good will come of their exit from EU in them being barred just a bit more from disturbing civilization. It's quite interesting to note that these are among the travelers who has the least command of any language resembling English. I'm certain that the vast majority of Brits traveling are just wonderful and quiet people of whom I make no note, and so I am sorry to put them in the British box in this rant, but it is a consistent enough observation. I also do not blame the quiet ones for not making their kinsmen "shut the fuck up", as I'm certain that would result in a broken lip instantly. ...out..