Arrived safely

Christ on a bike I'm tired. I would have been OK only for some reason the smoke alarm on the landing outside my flat kept making noises all night. Just frequently enough to stop me getting to sleep until 3am. Which considering I had to be up at 5am was not good. To add to my ordeal, I really struggle to sleep on planes. Instead I usually choose to watch a film sporadically drifting off just until the point that my head lolls to one side and I wake up shouting in surprise. Still, it didn't seem to put the charming young man who worked for Dolby sat next to me off too much. I now have someone to go for a drink with in San Fran! Result! Maybe he likes his women sleep deprived, full of snot and vulnerable....
The flight was long. Really fucking long. Watched 4 films. "We Need To Talk About Kevin" which was really good, but lots of bits of it were really quiet, so I did quite a lot of lolling and shouting myself awake in that one. Then watched "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" which I didn't realise was set in San Fran. I don't think I'll bother going to the Muir Woods to see the giant redwoods again as that's where they all now live. It must be true, it was in the film. Next up was Attack the Block, which was strictly gangster innit. And the aliens were a bit shit. And finally I went for Horrible Bosses. Can't think what drew me to that. It was surprisingly funny, with some genuine LOL moments. As in laugh out loud. Not head loll / shouty moments.
I have a stinking head cold and sore throat at the moment, so loaded up on meds at Heathrow. I somehow think it would be a tad frowned upon to phone in sick on my first day. Felt a bit like the Outbreak money / Patient Zero in Contagion as I sneezed repeatedly infecting everyone on the plane. Oh well, hopefully the irritating American woman sat behind me with her son who spent most of the flight shouting maths (sorry Math) questions at him might now shut the fuck up for a few days. Sadly I won't be there to enjoy it. Instead, I had to listen to her idiot son struggling with rudimentary maths problems until the inflight entertainment booted up.
Had some really bad turbulence once we head the mountains. It got so bad the pilot had to tell all the crew to strap themselves in as well. I made the error of opening the blinds to see what was going on and the wing was wobbling about so much that it made my knees go weird. For a minute I panicked that my jokey prophecy that, after all this time waiting to start, the plane wouldn't get there was about to come true. Luckily it didn't. My ears nearly burst with snot pressure as we came into land, but the rest of the flight passed fairly uneventfully. Got some spectacular views of the Rockies and Grand Canyon as we neared the West Coast.

Made it out to Mountain View and found my apartment complex. Miraculously the keys were in the lockbox. The only minor issue is that my new home is on the third floor and there was no lift. And I have a very large and heavy suitcase that made my tired heart beat just a little bit too fast for my liking. Still all's well that ends well. The apartments are lovely. Will add some photos in a bit. Going to go out and explore in a mo. Looks like I'm fairly central to Mountain View - just round the corner from Castro Street which looked like it was all restaurants and cafe bars. Not that I'll need anywhere to eat as I'll have Google catering to take care of me while I'm here! Seem to be fairly close to the Muni trains as well, which will take me into San Fran. Might be a step too far to do that tomorrow. Tempted to go and hang out by the pool, enjoy the sunshine and try and get rid of this head full of snot before I start work.
Right. I'd better go and unpack. Will write more later if I manage to stay awake!
The Noogler xxx