United in-flight "Sky Mall" magazine offering Indiana Jones Leather Bull Whip for $199

Hi Andy! Since you're the only one following my blog so far, I'll address this directly to you. :) How are you doing?

Note the title of today's entry...I thought you'd be as excited about it as I am. Er, um, never mind. What is Sky Mall thinking?

Anyway, I made it safely to Montreal. Here are the highlights so far:

• First flight from Dallas to Washington DC was uneventful, despite being pretty bumpy with Hurricane Whoever along the coast. I even got my 40-pound carry-on bag into the overhead bin without knocking anyone down, and that was an accomplishment. (I normally wouldn't bother you with this level of detail, but it comes up again in my next bullet.)
  
• On my second flight from DC to Montreal, I realized I was going to have a little more trouble hefting my bag into the overhead bin, since I was also trying to carry a jacket, bottled water, two magazines, and a pizza from Cosi. Oh, and I was wearing new shoes that are "taller" than I'm used to, so my balance wasn't good to begin with. I decided to try to put one foot up on the armrest in front of me and kind of bounce the way-too-heavy bag onto my knee, then proceed to hoist it upwards from there. Great idea, wasn't it? I quickly realized what a terrible plan that was. The big guy behind me ended up catching my bag in mid-air as I pushed off the armrest with my foot, and I landed directly in the lap of the elderly lady in seat 9B. Everyone in the aisle cracked up, and all I could do was extricate myself from said elderly lady's lap and exclaim, "Wow, that was exciting!" It was fun for the whole family.
  
• I, of course, was seated in 9A, so there was no avoiding the (very forgiving and friendly) elderly lady after that. She ended up being a Montreal native, and when she learned that I'm here to work on my French, she proceeded to speak to me in French for the rest of the flight. I understood some, but not all, of it (the dialect is REALLY different). Long story short - anytime she touched my arm, which was pretty often, I said, "Oui" and nodded knowingly. This was a pattern: Undecipherable French blather --> arm touch --> "Oui." Repeat. She was probably saying, "I am going to eat your right arm," and I was enthusiastically agreeing. Beats me.
• Three people volunteered to get my bag out of the overhead bin when we landed.
  

When I landed in Montreal and got into my cab, there was a great big rainbow over the city, and the city looked positively golden with the way the sunlight was shining on the buildings. Everyone has been incredibly friendly -- including a cab driver originally from Iran who gave me his name and number if I need "anything at all" while I'm here. And, the apartment is perfect for me. I think I'm really going to like it here. I start work tomorrow and find out if my "film career" is what we think it's going to be...