Diary, 15th of July, 2009 - San Francisco to Reading

This afternoon I finally arrived at Heathrow from San Francisco. Things got off to a great start on Tuesday morning picking up my passport from the Russian consulate in Pac Heights, relatively painless other than the $250 fee for expedited processing. Getting my passport back so late from the other visas has been a real pain in the butt.
After a quick visit to the office, grabbing a big wad of mixed american currency, some last minute packing and being made into a human pincushion it was time to head out to SFO for the flight to London. Trying to be frugal I figured I had plenty of time to take the train. This wasn't the greatest idea really since the walk to the BART station isn't particularly fun carrying 30 odd kilos of gear, and of course BART was running about 15minutes late in each direction and the platforms were overflowing.
Once on the train though things got a progressively more comfortable as people got off and we approached SFO. Check in went smoothly and I wandered over to the British Airways business lounge, to be greeted by a "Are you meant to be here?" from a particularly friendly BA staffer. Evidently people flying business class don't wear t-shirts. Or something like that. Maybe someone should let her know she's in California.
Anyhow, the flight was pretty good - slightly delayed, but the fully reclining seat and constantly refilled alcohol meant I got the best sleep I've ever had on a plane. I could get used to this, but my wallet can't.
Arrival at Heathrow seems to have been a preview of what is to come however. The woman at passport control gave me the third degree about my intentions in Britain, and beyond. Quite strange. Last time I checked Australia and the UK were friends. Maybe it's something to do with the ashes. Anyhow, we'll see how the russkies compare in a bit over a week.
After a bit of a terminal mixup Tim and Nic picked me up from Heathrow and we drove out to Reading. We're all going out for Indian tonight once Pete gets back from Prodrive. Most of the car preparation work begins tomorrow...