Zero

Zero.

Ke ke ke. I just played NES and SNES games for a half hour. Unfortunately, that’s all the longer that they were able to hold my attention. Amazing– I used to be able to play those games for hours. Hell, I used to make time to play those games. Now

I’m sitting on an airplane, just trying to pass the time, and I can’t seem to find the attention span to play Zelda for more than five minutes, or Z-Racer for more than a few laps. Sad.

It’s so strange to be in this monster airplane (a Boeing 747-400). In terms of space, it’s probably 1.5 times the size of my house, and it’s flying through the air. What’s more (except for a little turbulence that we’re going through right now) it’s outragously steady. Like… a house. It’s just strange. It’s additionally strange because all the shades have been closed for the last few hours, so it feels like we’ve been flying at night, despite it being… 2:00PM (with respect to our current

time zone) outside. It’s also strange that I’ve been on the plane for five hours and, despite having boarded at 1:45PM, it’s probably only 2:00PM. Yeah. Time is illusory. It’s a thief, a robber. Designed to devalue our lives and to turn our lives into quantifiable, marketable commodities. Eight to five. Eight to five. Five days a week. Punch the clock. They own you. The clock on the wall owns you. The atomic clock, keeping time precise within a few milliseconds over a few milleniums… unbending.

Unflexible. Steel bars that you can see life flowing past on the other side…

Ha ha. Random angst. =)

I’ll be in Tokyo in four hours, and Bangkok eight hours after that. How cool. I can’t even begin to explain how stoked I am.

The more I read about Thailand, the more I excited I find myself…

Twenty hours into this venture, I miss people, though. I see AOM and Counter-Strike on my computer… but who do I have to play them with? Who do I have to share a seat with, that won’t be annoyed at the American who fell asleep and fell on her shoulder?

Once I’m on the ground, however, I think that’s all going to be behind me. It’s just this damned plane ride– the seats are such that I don’t have any option except to gaze at my navel.

Hence the random-ass “time” angst, I suppose. Hmm. Back to my book. And Beethoven’s 5th. GOD I wish I had my headphones. These earbuds are TERRIBLE. By the same token, however, everyone around me, although they don’t know it, is very glad that my headphones (hopefully!!) are stowed in my duffle bag somewhere below us.

It is currently negative 63 degrees centigrade outside the cabin.

Speaking of which, I’m really curious now– I wonder if its possible to go downstairs into the cargo area from up the seating area, like you can in Rogue Spear. I’m half tempted to investigate, but doubtless someone would think that I was a terrorist (despite my obviously lack of a Walter WA-2000!) and I would get gunned down by an elite team of H&K MP5-weilding special ops units. Mmm. I miss Rogue Spear. I haven’t played that game in … forever. And I think it may still the title of “Mark’s favorite game of all time.”

Again, this is random, boring rambling. But it’s more entertaining than SNES games. Sad. I’m really going to go read my book now…

(posted from Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan)

About Mark Egge

Transportation planner-adjacent data scientist by day. YIMBY Shoupista on a bicycle by night. Bozeman, MT. All opinions expressed here are my own.
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One Response to Zero

  1. jaderobbins says:

    “stare at my navel”

    You did keep your shirt on during the plane ride, right?