Unfireworks

Where has this month gone? It has been a whirlwind! Haven't had time to blog much and looks like I'll be snowed under until summer school wraps up in a couple weeks. But I'm thrilled that Ash has moved back home with Lys and me after three years of living in England.

Her flight was scheduled to arrive around 2:30 last Sat. so I pulled into the parking garage of the San Francisco International Airport right on time. It was incredibly busy and the arrival sign said her flight was delayed half an hour. Finally, it flashed "arrived", then a bit later "in customs". The passengers began pouring out of the tunnel from customs, hugs and greetings echoing in the terminal, until I looked around (about 4:00) and realized there were only about 10 of us there. At last Ash appeared, carry-on bag in tow. I asked, "Where are your bags?" She said, "They didn't make it on the flight". She'd had a horrible day....

It started early that morning when she left the row house where she had been living, with sad goodbyes to her best friends/roommates. She had checked the tube station schedule to make sure all were open, lugged her three suitcases to the first station, and got as far as the Jubilee Station. There she was informed the station was closed -- she would have to take a bus! Buses, of course, are much slower, and she was not familiar with their routes and connections like she is with the subway. Somehow, despite the hassles and rude replies from grumpy bus drivers, she managed to arrive at Heathrow Airport -- the last person to check in. They took her two check-on bags, mentioning that their conveyor belt was not working. She usually gets to the airport in time to have a little breakfast, but because the bus had taken so long, she had no time to spare. A few hours later she ate the dinky meal offered on the plane -- tired, hungry, and already missing her pals.

So when she arrived in SF, she was even hungrier, and the news that her luggage hadn't made it on the flight was disconcerting. I took her out for a good dinner in Palo Alto on the way home, we came home, put on our jammies, and relaxed with TV. Her bags showed up on our doorstep two days later, and life is getting back to normal for her.

Next week is the 4th of July and I haven't had time to investigate this yet, but rumor has it that Monterey is out of moola so there will be no fireworks. :( Hmmmm. Stay tuned for our 4th of July unfireworks show.