On the way to PDC

Writing this on the flight to Los Angeles contemplating how I managed to be quite so disorganised. I've finished my book (the latest Rebus novel) and the Samurai Su Doku from The Times on Saturday (I will be submitting my entry in the hope of seeing my name in lights on the back page. Not to be left out I'm thinking of using a pseudonym - if you ever see Lord Rory of Twickenham printed you'll know who it is), and watched a movie ("Madagascar") so that doesn't leave much else for me to do. Only 4 hours to go though...

The ladies next to me are reading "The Life of Pi" (read it), "The Rule of Four" (read it) and "The Da Vinci Code" (read it) but engaging any of them in conversation about their book somehow doesn't seem appropriate. I've already had a pleasant conversation with the lady next to me about her recent visit to Scotland, the ugly nature of the new Scottish Parliament building and her adventures trying to find the Horseshoe Bar (a bit of an institution in Glasgow but not the most obvious place for a tourist from California to be seeking out). Anyway, I'm wondering now why I packed my "new" book ("44 Scotland Street") in my suitcase. It'll have to wait until I arrive.

We've got a fun packed week ahead of us with lots of shiny new things to learn about. I've never been to PDC before but I don't think I'll be disappointed based on what people have been telling me. I'm still not very good at attending conferences with jet lag - I generally want to be in bed by about 8pm.

I'm also gearing up for a 10km run in a couple of weeks - a first for me. And then the Nike "Run London" 10km run not long after than. Hopefully I'll break the 1hr mark for both of them. In a moment of weakness I also applied for the London Marathon next year. I doubt I'll be accepted though which is probably just as well. 26 miles dressed as the Office Paperclip was always going to be hard work.

So, as I while away the remaining 4 hours of this flight (we're just flying towards Milwaukee at the moment) I set to wondering how people get (or are allocated) the bulkhead / emergency exit seats. Can you book these upfront? I always check-in online but they're never available to select. Being 6'4" tall it's quite important to me. If anyone can shed any light on this I'd be most grateful. Perhaps I ought to just check in a lot earlier on the day...