notes from the office
5:48am - woke to hear, on the radio, that all flights into the UK were suspended.
5:49am - realized that my boss, MY BOSS, was leaving for London at 6:40pm.
6:01am - sent off a slightly frantic email to the agent.
6:02 - 8:02am - washed up, got dressed, blahblahblah, got into the office.
8:04am - open email to discover boss and Other Important Person have been emailing re travel to London for two hours.
8:05am - call agent.
8:09am - call agent again. Check flight to UK.
8:30am - call boss. Flight not cancelled YET.
8:40 - 9:07 - do actual office work.
9:07 - start looking around the internet for pictures of volcanic ash.
9:25 - I don't know. Doesn't look SO bad.
10:20 - Maybe "it will pass."
10:27 - Maybe not.
10:35 - boss arrives at work. Energized by the excitement of not knowing whether or not he will be able to leave for London, with all of his luggage in hand, he requests timely "Ash Updates."
10:45 - now dubbed Ash Watch '10, we are jovial about the possibility that his flight will not be cancelled.
10:46 - 12:15 - we proceed with "work as usual" and pretend he is, in fact, traveling to London. Make several calls to agent who is unable to get answers from the airline.
12:15 - 1:15 - lunch.
1:15 - call agent. Use the "I'm not kidding" voice and request, nicely, that she demand airline re-book boss on SOME FLIGHT EVEN CLOSE TO LONDON.
2:00 - agent calls. Can boss fly via Canada on Air India?
bb: is Air India a good airline????
agent: NO.
2:15 - agent calls. Is boss willing to fly west to, finally, arrive east?
2:17 - not for $9000.00.
2:17:30 - and that's ONE WAY.
2:40 - agent calls. Would boss travel through Germany to arrive in London. On Saturday?
2:43 - wait? Did she say Saturday?
2:45 - he would! he can! Is the ticket still available?
2:59 - YES. BOOKED.
3:00 - 3:20 - a period of general hilarity ensues. Many jokes amongst several co-workers re Ash Clouds and traveling through Germany to arrive in London. Energized and feeling victorious, boss buys cookies from vending machine.
3:20 - realize, suddenly, that entire itinerary must be re-typed and printed and hotel and car service and UK counterparts must be alerted to change in plans.
3:25 - 4:25 - emailing, calling, printing, discussing, re-figuring UK meetings with nagging suspicion that boss MIGHT arrive in London and MIGHT NOT be able to leave. Is volcano supposed to just STOP?
4:25 - give boss revised itinerary.
4:26 - 5:15 - have a look at dozens of emails, answer phone calls, sort mail, route contracts, check in with Youngest and K.
5:15 - boss sends me home. He's good like that.
5:34 - arrive at station. Trains cancelled. Trains combined. Trains going local. Text K, text Middle, wait for Middle.
6:24 - depart station on local/combined train and endure seemingly endless ride home - AM SURE IT IS DUE TO VOLCANIC ASH.
Comments
b
I heard what happens when the ash gets into the engine of a plane. It's scary. It also pits the windshield of airplanes and the pilot can't see out his front window. Also a little scary.
We do not handle travel problems well in this country. Hope your boss makes it.
Maybe he's in Italy! Let me know I might have Fabio throw a dinner for him.
It's the ash talking.
The front page of today's Washington Post says that the last time that volcano erupted, 187 years ago, the eruptions continued for more than a year.
PS) Air India is not necessarily bad, but the flight attendants are notoriously cranky. And fat.
jbhat
I'm stuck in Italy and I've got friends from California stuck in London...
We think we're so powerful and yet we're still puppets in nature's hands..
Odd. Our sky is the same. No-one we know is exciting enough to fly.
But THE COMMENTS :)
"don't get your ash in an uproar"
"It's the ash talking."
"but the flight attendants are notoriously cranky. And fat."
"he comes home on the Queen Mary (or whatever ships are still floating)."
Ha! Totally enjoyed the comments!!!