Well, I am in Dubai. Now to enjoy the hospitality of the lounge for the next 9 or so hours. Trying to decide if I want to try to sack out here, or go to the nap pod place I saw a few gates down--that's $28/hour though! Wish the dude in the corner would leave so I could snag his chair.

And because I'm super lucky, I managed to spill an entire bottle of water into my purse as I got up to walk to my gate to board my plane here. Soaked my tickets, passport, ipad, kindle, and iPhone. Fingers crossed but so far phone and ipad seem to be ok. (At first ipad kept asking if I wanted to turn it off, thinking I had hit the power button, but eventually that stopped) the kindle may be SOL though--I'd hit page forward, it would go forward for a second, then skip several pages back. Can't read like that. But I had a bunch of books from calibre downloaded that I hadn't read yet (and I hate reading on the ipad for long periods of time due to glare). Ugh.

On the. Plus side, this lounge is nice and quiet, and also has a whole fancy dining room with various foods and drinks! And a shower, which I hope to use later.

And I have definitely felt the phantom phone vibration! But I have not strapped any babies to m in battle.

I've had parents tell me that crying kids don't bother them as much now that they're parents--empathy and all that--do you find that's true?

I wouldn't describe it as being bothered or not so much as being better able to read a child's or infant's cries. Fussy baby/toddler stuff still sets me off to hear, but I don't judge the parents for it. Hmm, now that I think of it, the sounds can get to me, but I find my reaction tends to be mitigated by the not-my-kid factor.

I think they're trying to normalise it, but I just don't see their grounds for it.

I think you're right, the article is trying to normalize it, at least that's the implication of saying "everyone" has heard it.

IME tantrums can continue into the school age years, but parental tolerance usually peters out around preschool.

I can't fault the mom, she seems to respond by trying to calm her daughter down in a pretty normal tone of voice, which I'd consider the ideal approach. But wow, the kid's fussier than most infants I've been around.

Also: hear my name being called, feel my phone vibrate when it's not, see people moving on the sides of my peripheral vision.

My brain does that, too. I assume it's my brain. If it's spirits trying to tell me something, they need to step up their game.

Hot sunny day. Perfect time to make a Dutch Baby pancake, caramelized apples, and hot coffee for lunch, right? But oh, so tasty.

I frequently mistake the sound of the bathroom overhead fans for the phone ringing at work, but others do as well so I don't think it would count as an hallucination.

The only time I remember thinking I heard the phone and it wasn't ringing was back in the dark ages when phones weren't portable and I was waiting for a call. I've had hallucinations when my fever was above 102.

Crying kids mainly bother me when they hit that glass-shattering volume that two- and three-year-olds can achieve. I'm much more annoyed by kids that are doing something annoying and their parents are ignoring it. It's not cute when your child decides he wants to push the cart and he pushes it into my leg or blocks the aisle.

I imagine I hear and feel things all of the time. Sometimes, I'm even right.

meara,that is my travel nightmare, hands down. I hope that the glitches are temporary. Safe travels home.

I felt phantom phone vibrations when I went walking this morning. I was using my phone to listen to podcasts and had it in an arm band carrier. A couple of times I could have sworn it was vibrating, but when I checked there weren't any alerts or missed call messages. Maybe my arm band was just too tight.

Timelies all!

I don't think I've had the ringing phone hallucination.

Once you're clear of S4 there are no more plot overlaps with their idea and what's onscreen, for the record.

I do not know what this means.

New people started at work today. The idea of someone to take half my load over the next several weeks is awesome, but I am also convinced that it is all part of a plan to let me go.

my brain is very very fun.