so i’m back at Charles de Gaulle again after a restful 14 hour layover in Dubai.

the Soviet 12.7x108mm shell casing got nabbed by customs in Dubai on my way out despite being obviously inert and completely harmless. i was taken to the security office at DXB where i watched several policemen pass the shell back and forth because none of them knew how to properly classify it on the confiscated item form. finally, they gave it to the secretary who took one look at it and promptly threw it back at the policemen. i imagine that someone eventually put something like “rusty cylinder” down and called it a day. on the way back to the baggage screening area, the guy told me that they know the shell isn’t a security risk but that they enforce these silly rules because they’re afraid that U.S. customs officials would call and yell at them if it caused a problem stateside. oh well. no big deal.

i managed to sleep during most of the flight from Dubai to Paris, a small wonder considering how old the plane was and how many people were complaining to the flight crew about the dirty cabin and lack of personal media screens. when i woke up, a bearded Frenchman wearing a sheer mesh top, blue jacket and red pirate pants was doing his morning stretches directly next to my seat.