An auspicious? beginning

NASA satellite image of the first day of Grímsvötn's 2011 eruption

Here's how all of this begins: Early Sunday morning I opened Google News, and the top picture was this.  Not another Eyjafjallajökull, but Grímsvötn caused some nervousness yesterday and this morning and depending on the weather and ash cloud movement, it still could create some interesting situations.  Our flight was delayed coming from Iceland, so now instead of leaving at 9:3PM we're scheduled to leave around 1am and arrive in Iceland around 10am local time.

This morning we took the Megabus from Pittsburgh to New York City, and I'd definitely take it again.  Double decker bus, free wi-fi in theory, reasonable breaks, and an overall good experience.  Most excellently, we were able to bump into some of my dear friends who are moving abroad and so it was wonderful to chat a bit by the NJTransit waiting room in Penn Station -- such are our lives, that we rarely meet somewhere normal, and so today was no exception.

The train ride from New York Penn Station to EWR was uneventful, but once we got to the security checkpoint in Terminal B, where the TSA folks, who are used to people who can't/don't/won't speak English, found my mom's cans of tomato and pineapple juices that she tried to pass through the checkpoint.  So no Bloody Marys for us while we sit here waiting for our plane.  It was rather wild to watch the guy talk to my mom like she couldn't understand.  I was simultaneously offended and amazed, at both of them.  I'd like to think the Steelers sticker on my laptop helped to diffuse some of the tension farther down the line.

So now, we wait.  I just want to get to Iceland and see what it's all about.

The good news is that my mummy will be Guest Blogging -- if we can convince her.  So please leave some comments or send some e-mails encouraging her so that we can all benefit.