woe is us!

Today

I must apologise for posting a little sentence. Adarsh was helping me figure out how to do this blog AND post pictures. I had been looking forward to this almost since we booked the tickets! Not sure why I was convinced he could do this, he didn't know anything about it either.  But he had knowledge of what to look for and eventually he figured it out!  Not that I can download any pictures, however............we never got our suitcases. That it is one reason I am sitting in Roxanne's living room at 3:33 am. Ok, that and the famous jet lag that caused me to start writing blogs when we travel in the first place!

Still struggling with how this works on an iPad, wish me luck.....

It was a bit sad leaving my Mom on Saturday morning, but we got Jim and Jennifer to arrive at Glasgow airport and begin the summer holiday!  Our first obstacle was getting off the bus from dropping the car off at long term parking. We were almost the last folks to get off and there was only one case left. It was not mine..........Alan and Jim ran to catch up with passengers and see if they could find it. The woman who had it must have been first off and a fast walker, but they caught her at the very last second before she would have entered the building and gotten lost in the crowds, whew!

The flight was uneventful, I even got to watch two complete and uninterrupted movies. I always thought that was impossible and many times don't even start to watch one. But I have been desperate to see these and an so glad I was able to. The first one was The Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep. It was a fantastic film, very well done and sensitive. I had read they concentrated too much on her dementia, but I loved it, in fact, I sobbed through the last part!  And The Artiste. A silent film that was a joy to watch. Nothing more to say about it!

At the new international terminal in Atlanta,which had opened 3 days earlier, the joy of being entertained died a sudden and painful death!  Not only are the lines for immigration ridiculously long (I cannot imagine Heathrow being half as bad even with all the press complaining).  Alan is able to come with me in the citizens and residents line. That took an hour.  We knew Jim and Jennifer would take longer, but never anticipated they would take TWICE as long! To add insult to injury, while in line, both Alan and I got texts from British Airways that our bags had not arrived with us.  

After getting through immigration, we found the BA rep to get details-not one of our bags followed us from the UK. This is usually not a big deal as they have always been delivered the next day.  In fact, it makes life easier not to,have to juggle bags through customs and in your transportation away from the airport.  I managed to get each couple compensation and away we went without a care in the world!  With a promise of being reunited with our bags at about the same time tomorrow.  You already know this did not happen. 

The documentation we have from BA gives ways to,track our bags, they do not work. The 1. 800. Number requires input of letters and numbers with the automated calling system, and none of the phones we have access to are able to do this.  They have my bag listed as turquoise and it is red.......so worried that these bags are not coming at all.

Lucky that we planned to spend a second night with Roxanne and Adarsh, but we intended to leave early and mosy down south on the way to New Orleans this morning. 

And we have no battery charging facilities for my phone or Alan's laptop. The card reader for the iPad is also packed, so all my energy of worrying how to download photos is almost a moot point. 

On the other hand, we could not be in a better place in the middle of a crisis. My niece, Roxanne, and her husband are very gracious hosts, we all feel wonderfully welcome and had a perfect day today, regardless of 'Hardship'!

That will be the story of my next blog, I am going to try to go back to sleep.

"Few delights can equal the mere presence we utterly."  George MacDonald