So...While June and the first couple of weeks of July were unusually rainy for the area, the last couple of weeks have been much more Texas-Like.
Yes, Beans, that means Humid and Hotter than Hades, but no rain. I had gotten in touch with Tony DaHayGuy (I think that's actually his name. That's how my phone ID's him anyhow.) and asked about his schedule. He told me he was working a hundred acre job, but we were next on his list. Didn't hear back from him for a while, so called again over the weekend. He said he'd finished the previous job, but it had taken a while as he'd harvested 500 round bales (at $30 per).
But he said that he'd be here early this week, provided it didn't rain.
Which, of course, aroused the ire of the weather gods. So we shall see what we shall see.
On a different note, MBD is getting close to entering her third trimester. At the time I am writing this post (Mid-day Sunday) she and SIL are attempting to fly to the Big Island, Hawaii for a "babymoon". I guess this is something new as back when the dinosaurs roamed and Mrs J was "with child" we were not in a position to take a "babymoon". Money and high risk pregnancies made that a non-viable option.
But, circumstances are different for our offspring, so a planned trip to Kona is attempting to be executed.
Attempting? Yeah, Sarge, and thank you Brother Fibbinauci and Walgreens. Seems our overlords at the CDC still enforce the requirement for a Covid test within 72 hours of getting on an airplane to travel. The results of which must be electronically delivered to the airline in PDF format.
Sounds inconvenient, but doable right? Get the (insert Beans' favorite C word here in adjective form) -in' Test, have them email it to the airline, check in, put on your (insert Beans' favorite C word here in adjective form) -in' mask, board the Plane and travel to Hawaii, right?
They were scheduled to take off around noon, Sunday. MBD's test results were transmitted to the airline at 6PM Saturday. No word on SIL's test, MBD calls the Airline. No, haven't received anything. Calls Walgreens, gets told the test materials were delivered to the testing facility together, Saturday morning immediately after they were tested. Called the lab. Well, they're having computer issues. The system keeps crashing and they haven't been able to transmit test results. No, we don't know when it'll get fixed.
Sunday morning, Still no test results, so they haven't been allowed to board their flight. MBD and SIL are fairly upset and called us as we were coming out of Mass. I immediately start planning air strikes on the various people involved in this (insert Beans' favorite C word here in verb form) fest. Mrs J, however, puts on her Travel Agent hat and starts looking for other flights.
That's why I keep her around, she keeps me out of jail.
Hawaiian air doesn't have another flight for a few days, so they would lose their AirBnB credits (several hundred dollars worth), putting Hawaiian out of the picture. Alaska Air has a flight leaving in the evening to Kona via Seattle, so she makes a reservation. And life is returning to normalcy.
Not so fast...The Walgreen's (insert Beans favorite C word here in verb form) -up hasn't been resolved. Their computer system is still crashing and it's been 18 hours since MBD's results were transmitted (and still counting). The current plan of attack is to get another test for SIL at a different facility and get the results to the airline before they're forced to cancel this flight also.
Stay tuned for further details.
Walgreens Delenda Est!!!!
Using Roman terms of endearment, seems to have worked. The lab has fixed their system and SIL's original test results (yes, Beans, both are negative) have successfully been transmitted to Alaska Air. Now it's just a matter of a short flight to Seattle (~4 Hours), a 10 hour layover, a short flight to Kona ("only" 6 hours), and then "AAAAHHH, Paradise."
And our menagerie has increased by one for a week or so.
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| While her name is officially "Piper", the local fighter pilot callsign committee has deemed her "Splat" |
Update to be filed upon confirmation of arrival.
Peace out y'all.
And, as luck would have it, as I finished this post, I heard a rumble outside.
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| Tony DaHayGuy ain't coming for a few days. |
*SPNS - old school Pilot Training grade. It stands for (insert another word that means crappy and begins with an S) Pattern, Nice Save. AKA The student screwed up by the numbers all the way around the traffic pattern, but managed to get the aircraft on the ground successfully. Yes, Beans, there are a few of them in my grade book. No, you can't read it.
Good to see the younger folks get off the ground and on their way, of course a special trip calls for problems and worry especially as a deadline looms.....sheesh! Sounds like Tony is the Texan branch of the Sopranos........:) Good luck with haying juvat, planning an outdoor event would turn that 60% into 100%.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we got a little overnight, which is probably good as lawns and flowers are starting to require watering. The rain won't be an actual problem until Tony actually starts working. Don't want it to be muddy for cutting and we certainly don't want it to rain after the hay is cut and drying. Once it's baled, well, bring it on!
DeleteThanks
Wow, what a mess. Glad it got sorted, far past time to get the government sorted.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the gummint sure thought through the emergency procedures in this process quite well didn't they. Oh, you invested a bunch of money to travel and require a test and results within 72 hours of departure? No problem. Chauncy should have the system up sometime within the next week., No we can't give you a paper copy to take with you.
DeleteJuvat, this is similar to when our oldest, Nighean Gheal, went back to school in a foreign country in January for her last semester. She had to get a test within 24 hours, have said test results in hand, fly (with mask of course), disembark at arrival country, get tested again, and then quarantine in a hotel for 3 weeks. The co-ordination between the testing was extraordinary and razor thin and like you, am grateful that The Ravishing Mrs. TB was able to deal with it - my initial reaction is similar to yours (pointing out, of course, the foolishness of basing a policy on an inherent number of cross-company variables which no-one can control).
ReplyDeleteI hope they have an enjoyable time.
Little Juvat departs this week for that foreign country, so I have been advised of the procedures. It is unlikely we will be visiting them there any time soon.
DeleteMBD said the bed in the hotel last night was a "life saver". They had originally planned to just gut it out at the airport. Mrs J, expert negotiator that she is, talked them out of that.
All hail Mrs J. The older I get, the more I find things like that are of great benefit and completely worth the money.
DeleteAs the titular head of the family, if not the actual, my guidance to her as she entered the negotiation was "I don't care if WE have to pay for the hotel, they're not staying in the airport." Her reply?
Delete"Yes Dear", but you knew that was coming didn't you? ;-)
0.7" of rain for us this morning and the walkway was covered with over a dozen frogs hopping all over. How the heck do they survive years of dry sand and then when a rainy year comes along they suddenly show up? As far as hay, the neighbor baled over 100 round bales last week and I'm seeing lots more around Wilson County; it's been a good year. Air travel? I used to love it but the security/health theater caused me to prefer driving; I miss the aerial view but I've seen some neat places traveling the back roads.
DeleteThe following is not pertinent to this post but refers to the one Sarge made a few days ago showing the aircraft carrier steaming into San Diego. Excellent overhead photo of CVN-70 and CVN-72. https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2021/08/uss-carl-vinson-cvn-70-and-uss-abraham.html
-Barry
Yeah, we've got those frogs also. No big deal until you unknowingly step on one as you're walking into the house. Seems the wife doesn't like frog guts on the floor or something.
DeleteYeah, I put a little advertisement for Sarge on that posting, just now.
Juvat - Yes, that is the way it usually works, is it not? Most of my "decisions" seem to have been pre-approved before I suggest them.
DeleteIt's not the frogs that bother me (though they did bother the dope-smoking brain-dead idjitess that was in the next-northerly apartment, so much so that at 4AM I had to go 'rescue' a frog because the idjitess was screaming like a (insert name of monkeyoid found in the movie "The Omen", no, really, thought I was at a zoo or something, and while walking away I said to the frog, "That's okay, you're safe from the screaming lady..." but lady she was not,) it's the crunchy crunchy snails that get stuck to the bottom of one's shoe late at night as they all come out onto the sidewalks. Like walking on broken glass, except the squishy part isn't one's blood leaking out.
DeleteYep, amazing how living with someone for quite a few years you start to notice the little "tells" they give off. I've managed to teach Mrs J to turn off her cloaking device when she wants me to do something without actually telling me. I pick up a lot more nuances that way.
DeleteBeans, The snail's were very prevalent in Okinawa also, Hot, Humid, rained a lot. Much like Florida I would suspect albeit with a lot more unexploded ordinance around (or at least was in the late 80's).
DeleteMan, I love ground attack. I' have had the same things roll in my noggin with the dinks are working like that. Glad they pulled a win out of the dumpster fire. And that Mrs. J, clone her for me if you don't mind. I thinks I could use a young lady like that around the casa.
ReplyDeleteAnd the rain.... oh brother. If you need rain, start re-roofing, or cuttin hay. It don't matter which, even in a 1,000 year drought, you will finish in the rain. And harvesting milo will give you the most humid days possible in an otherwise normally 20% humidity year.
Splat looks like she's cooling down. I'd do that if I could get away with it. Trimming for cruise....
She's a keeper all right.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about drought recovery procedures. Certainly works for us, lately.
My hips start aching the minute I see her like that.
And this is why I, even if pockets were full of mad amounts of cash, will never go anywhere farther than I can drive comfortably.
ReplyDeleteI think MBD and SIL would have been better off on a cruise, though with the CDC/Walgreen issue, that would have been an issue too.
And, seriously, travelling in the third trimester, willingly? Your MBD is made of stern stuff. Or is crazy. Or both.
Did not know one needed "papiere, bitte," to fly on der Verkehrsflugzeug. So far one does not need 'permission' past a driver's license, insurance and a vehicle, to drive. Yet. Though Fumbles McPuddingbrain and his band of idjits are trying to push for papiere. Fortunately for you, juvat, and me and those who live in our states, any papiere is illegal in-state (Texas and Florida are paper free, so far.)
How infuriating. So much for the carefree jetsetter lifestyle. I wish you MBD a painless and issueless third trimester.
Now, weird question, will she and SIL need to get a test to come back?
She'll be in third trimester the end of August, and OB/GYN strongly advised going after that and first trimester was took some getting used to morning sickness and such. So, pretty much now or never.
DeleteMrs J is trying to talk me into a Trans Pacific repositioning cruise in 2023. I'd like to go, but ain't wearing a Mask for 18 hours Houston to Sydney. So, I understand your driving thing, unless you're one of those drivers wearing a mask alone in their car. THAT I don't have a clue to understanding.
Mrs J doesn't think so. She said this is a Hawaiian requirement. But...These days, who knows.
I can see wearing a full hazmat suit in Hawaii as that place is a socialist hellhole. But to fly there? It's always been a different place...
DeleteOn my in-processing at Camp Smith in 1990, an O-6 came to welcome us all and asked if there was still a communist country in existence. He then said there was, it was Hawaii. He wasn't wrong.
DeleteSome day, when it doesn’t put anyone at risk, I may post about mt sister in law’s travails when trying to return to Egypt after Mumsy’s funeral.
ReplyDeleteSuffice it to say it took over a month.
Little Juvat had a similar problem when he deployed to Iraq in Jan '20 for a 2 week TDY. He got back to Kuwait in September.
DeleteIt is 1540 Monday afternoon and Juvat has gotten and is getting a lot of rain the past two days. We got a little rain down here in Beautiful Bandera, Cowboy Capital of the World, this morning. There was a got light show with audible effects around 0700 to 0730. Stay dry, Juvat!
ReplyDeleteYeah we had two downpours come through that were so heavy we couldn't see more than a hundred yards. Lasted about 10 minutes each, and then cleared up. Hay's been watered and looks a little bit greener and the ground dried up pretty quickly. Still waiting to hear from Tony, though.
DeleteAh yes, the 'joys' of travel in this day and age... Anything that 'has to be there' won't be... We got a short shower yesterday morning, that's been it for the last two weeks.
ReplyDeleteThey got there OK and went to a Luau last night. We'd given them tickets as a anniversary present. Stayed at the Hilton Waikaloa. We'd taken MBD there for her second birthday and she wanted to swim in the lagoon again. She remembered it from the first time. They're checking into their BnB right about now for the rest of the week. But the phone conversation with them today seems to indicate they're having a good time.
Delete"...but managed to get the aircraft on the ground successfully."
ReplyDeleteOr as one of my IPs said while we were holding for the active in our T-37 in UPT watching another fellow "Tweety Bird" land: "That wasn't a landing, that was an arrival! " :)