Despite what this entry may say, it is actually still Thursday. I have discovered that when flying it is always Thursday.
The flight was incredibly quick, the 12.5hr flight was 11.5hr long. I think I shall write to United and suggest they enquire as to the shortcut our pilot found and put it as a regular thing. In truth of course we had a tailwind the entire way, hence the mild turbulence.
Landing was fine, I'm pleased to say that SFO is geared towards driving the passengers out of the airport in the quickest method possible. Immigration and Customs were surprisingly easy. I did find a mild frustration in trying to acquire a local SIM card. The only store I could find was closed (though it was 0615h at the time), and I strongly suspect the prices wouldn't be the best, given they appear to have a strong lock on sales.
Time progresses, this entry has been open all day…
Eventually - with the help of a patient info desk person - I managed to navigate my way to Mountain View. I suspect the info desk person may have helped hapless visitors like myself in the past, as evidenced by the slip of paper preprinted with directions to Mountain View.
By this time it was rapidly approaching a reasonable hour, and I managed to navigate my way to a decent coffee shop. Any illusions I held of a Mountain View being a busy metropolis of tall glass buildings and lights everywhere was shattered when what confronted me was more a large modern village. Don't get me wrong, eventually I found a mode of transport that presented a better view, but I wasn't expecting what I found.
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| This was not what I was expecting! |
After inserting a sufficient quantity of caffeine, further illusions were about to be shattered. The table of geeks I was sitting at seemed a likely source of information on where I could acquire a local SIM. Mostly disturbing however was that my question was met with blank – and then puzzled – expressions. It seemed clear they'd never gone through the process of acquiring a SIM separate to their service provider locked phones. Suggestions such as CVS (think supermarket) and drug stores (selling alcohol and cigars???) were presented.
To cut this technology fail story short, after trying multiple places recommended by multiple people at various other places, it finally dawned on me to try a local mobile provider store. 10 minutes later I walked out of a T-Mobile store with a brand new 3GB SIM. Cheers Gary, you served me well!
To sum up the rest of the day is easy: Sleep, Study, Eat, Sleep. Reminds me of University.