May 23

Up at 5:00 am and out the door by 6:00. We got to the airport in an hour! Maf deposited me in the appropriate line and after a couple hugs he was gone! :o( And I was alone again! Moments later I found out my flight was going to be delayed by 5 hours!! That would mean I'd miss my sea plane flight to Salt Spring! I didn't panic, I checked in, I headed to the departure area. I figured I'd talk to someone there, someone would be able to help me! After waiting for a rep from the airline to show up I found out there was NOTHING they could/would do for me.... On my own I figured out how to call James collect (2am BC time) to tell him the news of my delay. I gave him the phone number for the sea plane and he called in the morning when he got up. Meanwhile.... Airports are not designed for when things go wrong, they are designed for people in - people out. Not poor people who have to wait 8 friggon hours for their plane to take off. The Manchester airport is dirty, people do not use the garbage cans, they leave their rubbish all around. The people working there have a huge job of cleaning up after disgusting patrons! AND every 10 Min's there is one of two announcements. One warning not to smoke and one warning not to leave bags unattended. In the eight hours of my wait I must have heard them more than 50 times! Oh and get this! The flight is delayed because of FOOTBALL! Stoopid sports! :o( We finally were able to board but we didn't take off till 6:30. I did my best to keep upbeat about it all, no point freaking out. I did ask a steward on the plane if there was anything that could be done for me because I was going to be stranded at the airport. He said someone would be there to meet several of us who needed help. I could talk to the person then... I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if they could put me in a hotel...







We landed after 10pm BC time, no one was there to meet us, the woman at the information desk tried to get someone to come meet with us but no one showed up. I watched our flight crew leave...no one was accountable to the several of us who were stranded! Most of the people were able to make other arrangements but the few of us who couldn't were left to figure it out for ourselves. When I got my suitcase I went to the vending machines. I only had Canadian $20's. There was a chip machine that took $20's so I was going to buy a bag of chips I didn't want in order to get change to get a drink...the *%&!#% machine ate my $20!!! The seaplane office opened at 7am so I had from 10pm to 7am to wander the Vancouver airport. It is much nicer than the Manchester airport BUT the seats were just as uncomfortable. There were no loud announcements so the times I was able to doze I wasn't shocked out of it by a booming voice! I called James, IM'd James and Beth from the airport computer. (25 Min's of Internet time for $2.00, pretty good!) I ate crappy airport food, read, watched a movie...... time eventually passed and at 6:30 I took a taxi to the sea plane office. Salt Spring Air is a great company, they didn't make me pay for the ticket I missed, they were friendly and kind and they got me home. The pilot is pretty new to Salt Spring and he mentioned he has 2 daughters around Willow's age. They haven't moved here yet (in a couple of months they will be here) so we exchanged contact info and when they get here we are going to get the girls together. Maybe they will become friends!


After a 20 min flight we land in Ganges, and I saw Willow and James on the dock waiting for me. By the time I got home and gave presents and had a bite to eat I had been up for 48 hours!

My trip had come to its end! My two weeks away seemed longer in a way. I got to meet people who I had only known online, and whom I now know are friends for life! (you guys aren't getting rid of me LOL) Thank you again to Maf for bringing me over, Beth for sharing your love of glass art and for your friendship, to Lee for my new hair, to Maf and Lee for the Snug and all that comes from being Snugly, thanks to Barry for the gift of falling out of a plane and the DVD proof that I did it, to Kelly for allowing me to share in your birthday celebration. I had a great time! And boy it's good to be home!

T

May 21

Barry was going to drive me to a train station in Birmingham, but he woke up feel under the weather AND he had been driving a lot over the several days I was there! So he and Kelly drove me to a near by train station and before I knew it I was on my own again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have known Barry for approx 18 years or so. He stayed with me and my roommate back in Hamilton, Ontario. I then stayed with him. He visited James, Willow and I when Willow was 5. It was great to see him again and to meet his gal, Kelly. I felt welcome and even spoiled (my money wasn't any good there! LOL) I appreciate Barry's friendship and hospitality and hope he and Kelly come visit soon! I really enjoyed sky diving and WILL do it again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, that everyone I stayed with (Maf, Beth, Barry) as well as Lee are all welcome to come visit me here on Salt Spring!


So I am on a train to London... I feel nervous and jittery to be taking the train by myself, knowing I had to take two underground trains (the tube), then 2 more trains. I was way more scared to do this than I was jumping out of a plane! The train arrived in London, I dragged my suitcase (up or down) many stairs to the tube - one stop, my case (up or down) another million steps to the next tube platform - four stops. My suitcase (up or down) another million stairs to the train station, where everyone but me knew what was going on and how things work. I had to go to information three times before I figured out what I had to do and where I had to go. I made it on the right train but it was so crowded I had to sit on a seat outside the toilet (which was out of order thankfully so no noxious fumes!) Now something strange happened on this train. When I walked in I noticed a young woman behind the concession stand. She looked familiar, (remember the Scottish guys from the plane? They had been talking to this woman on the flight!) I asked her if she has flown from Canada recently and she said yes. I find it really strange to have a) run into someone from the flight b) recognized them c) I wasn't suppose to be on that train, I was suppose to be dropped at Birmingham d) it was a long train and I went into 1 car (was too full so sat by the toilets) Had I entered a different car I would not have see her. Had I gone to Birmingham I would have not seen her.... I would love to know what the odds of this situation happening. I told Maf and he seemed just as astounded as I was/am...

On this train I chat to the guy who was sitting in the other seat near the loo. He was a nice enough guy, we chatted about the usual kinds of things I found myself chatting about on public transportation. He thought I was American at first. :op He and his wife were throwing a small football party that night and so he got many calls from her about what kind of beer, how much beer, what kind of food etc.... After a short stop at Crewe I was on the last leg of my train journey. This train was less crowded, I had a chat with a youth worker from London who was going home for a visit. Before I knew it I was in Prestayn and Maf was there to get me! We went to Lee's favourite take out, (James') and I made the mistake of having the greasy fried stuff (more about that later). After hanging out for a while Maf and I went to pick up Lee and we all went to karaoke.







This was only my second time at a karaoke gig but I do know that I prefer Lee's style of hosting. The guy who was doing it seemed more eager to perform then let others (not that there were many of us). Though he did "Sweet Transvestite" and did an fabulous job at it! Maf sang several songs, another guy was there and he sang several, Lee sang one with the host. A young woman named Grace sang as well and she was the star of the night! She had an amazing voice and seemed like a really sweet person. She was with her mum and her mum was so proud of her. They left and then Maf and I got up and sang (was it a BNL's Maf?)
As we were leaving the bar I noticed a really strange looking bird sitting behind someones car. Maf and Lee thought I was weird for being amazed by A DUCK but it was a freaky looking duck!



So I had four glasses of wine at the bar and then Maf, Lee and I went back to Maf's. I had a little gin, we (tried) playing Guitar Hero (I stink!) Lee showed up a couple of card tricks that amaze me still! And before we knew it, it was 2am! Before Lee staggered home he promised to come back at 9am to take me to his hair salon to get my hair done. I didn't really believe him.....


May 22 9am - knock knock knock... it is Lee to pick me up to get my hair done! BUT unfortunately a combination of a lot of travel, drinking and bad food left me *vom* and really out of sorts. Lee called his salon and re booked me for later in the day. I spent the day on Maf's couch and in his bathroom. I finally pulled myself together somewhat and we went to get my hair done. All my wacky colours were covered over with a respectable red and my hair was given a cut. Thanks again Lee and Lee's stylists for giving me a new doo to go home with! Three hours later and Maf and I were headed back to his place to get ready for the last SNUG of the season. I truly wish I had not been ill this day, my energy was really low and I felt really poorly! Blog of the last Snug show (of the season) to follow...........................................................A taste of what's to come...