My plane to Beijing was delayed for a while (back in June, when I went to Beijing, that is). When we got on, the pilot was kind enough to inform us that the delay stemmed from some sort of fluid that had been leaking from the plane the previous night. I got a valuable lesson about airline maintenance proceedures that day (and precisely the sort of lesson you want at the start of a 14-hour flight, too).

Anyway, welcome back! (in the abstract sense that someone 5,000 miles away can use.)