Monday, March 20, 2023

Leaving...On a Jet Plane...Maybe...Change 1...Probably

 So...There We were*...Looking forward to a nice little vacay drifting down the Danube River for a week with our Wine Maker Friends and 26 others.  Enjoying various wines and wineries along the way with a couple of follow up talks and tastes on board.  

Ahh...Retired Life!  Woke up Saturday morning a tad early, still working on changing the body clock to sync with the alarm clock.  Mrs. J is still asleep, she's been working hard to get all her guests on board their flights and enroute to Munich.  All are enroute or in-country already.

All except she and I.

Insert ominous music score here.

So. I'm sitting in the kitchen, being as quiet as I can to let her sleep.  My cell phone dings, I glance at it.  The sender is British Airways.  NBD, I think to myself, they've been sending me updates on our flight for a few days now.  2000 TO from Austin Bergstrom to London. Clear British Customs, then board another BA flight to Munich to meet the bus to take us to Vilshofen to board the boat.  Been getting this info regularly.  At that point, I believe it was my Sainted Mother, now Guardian Angel, that tapped me on the shoulder and said "Hey, Dummy! Read the frickin' message." 

She's gotten a bit more direct (and tetchy) since she took over the Guardian Angel duties.

Anyhow, who am I to question her?  I open it and read that our London to Munich flight has been cancelled and we are now scheduled on a London to Salzburg connecting flight.  Should be no problem, right?

Right?

Google Maps

Apparently, there isn't an easy way to get from Salzburg to the River. Nice!

So, Mrs. J is working with the River Tour company to figure this problem out.  I'm being very quiet and doing what I'm told without asking or commenting.  

Self-preservation, doncha-know?  Waiting to see how this turns out.

Given the traveling, I think a little space/time physics update regarding this and this week's post is appropriate.  It's 6 hours ahead there.  Given the circumstances mentioned above, it may be a while before I can get to the internet and respond to comments.  Similar circumstances will occur a week from  now.  The boat docks next Monday early and we're herded to the airport.  A million hours later we arrive back home.  Responding to comments will be nigh on to impossible.  So...Discuss amongst yourselves, please.

On the Grand Daughter front, a bit of good news.  She had a visit with her pulmonologist this past week.  The appointment went well and the Doc gave LJW the OK to try weaning her off her supplemental O2.  She had been using it with a 50% supplemental oxygen level since birth.  The Doc said to lower it to 25% for 2 days and see if she handled it ok.  Friday (I'm writing this on Saturday VS usual Sunday, see reason above.) the experiment started.  Checking with LJW that evening, Miss B was doing fine.  So, finger's crossed and prayers up, please.  Success here will be a VERY BIG THING!

Pen making has slipped to the back burner of late.  Mrs. J commented that there was a lot of dirt being tracked into the house lately, what with the drought, and that we needed to have "Outside Shoes" and "Inside Shoes".  Recognizing that I was in the middle of a very large mine field, I responded "Yes, Dear" and the laundry room became my shoe transfer facility.

Unfortunately, the days of my being able  to reach down from an upright position and touch my toes without shortly thereafter touching my face to the floor are way in the past.  Which is problematic as the laundry room has no seating.

So..A project being presented, regardless of the source,  is a gift from above.  In the picture above, I'd just applied my first coat of polyurethane to the Shoe Rack/Bench.  I'm on coat #3 #6 now and it's beginning to look pretty darn nice.  Unfortunately, drying time will finish right about the time we need to leave for our flight.

Assuming, of course, that British Airways figures their contractual obligations out properly. (See update below.)

We'll see.

Given that good news, I decided this picture pretty much sums things up.

Mrs J.  Captioned it with "But they told me to pull this to Eject."  Girl's got Fighter Pilot blood in her!

Hang in there, y'all and Peace out.  Whatever will be, will be.

Late Breaking news.  Apparently, the moons of Jupiter are in alignment.  Mrs. J was able to talk to the right person who could talk to the right person who could...

The River Tour company's agents got us on a Lufthansa flight that arrives in Munich from London within about an hour of our original arrival time.  BA couldn't seem to make that connection (in all meanings of that word).  So, we've got to get to the airport a little earlier than we were in order to get new tickets printed, but with a little luck we should be good to go.  We will see what we will see.

(Hang in there, y'all and Peace out.  Whatever will be, will be.)2
 

 


21 comments:

  1. Safe travels & good luck to the little one on her o2 test!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Juvat, I too have learned to look at the "updates" from my flight carrier. And check the app frequently - sometimes changes are made and no message is even sent out. Glad that you will be able to get there on time.

    Great news on Miss B, and that picture is a lovely way to start the morning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THBB,
      Running through airports has never been my #1 PT choice and fancified emails with the actual message buried deep within is problematic when read on a phone. But we’re here and rested now, so…on with the show.

      Delete
  3. Juvat, great news regarding "Miss B's" supplemental O2 reduction and we offer Prayers Up for complete success and future reductions are in order! Was telling Mrs Cletus about your Salzburg to Vilshofen reroute and the former travel agent in her popped out and she said, if it's a tight connection for the cruise that's "problematik". However the cruise agent's agent made a good call to get you into Munich around your original time. Hope everything worked out timing wise and that the Danube cruise doesn't throw any additional curves into Mrs. Juvat's schedule.
    Cletus

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cletus. Mrs J said the same thing, but wanted to be a stateside problem handler with the ship crew handling overseas issues. Ironic that the only folks with a problem was us. But we made it and even made it to the welcome aboard “Octoberferst”. I don’t know if it was fatigue or what, but,Man! Did that beer taste great,
      juvat

      Delete
  4. Nothing gets your attention like changes to a tight travel schedule.

    Good news on Miss B, the look on her face could also be interpreted as "What? Everything on the jet works?"

    Yes, I have seen that look from an aircrew.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as you haven't had to swab out a cockpit, life's okay.

      Had to do that when in Civil Air Patrol during a fun plane ride the next-seater to me yarped.

      Question: Did the F4 have a drain so you could just hose out the cockpit?

      Delete
    2. Guys, Last first.
      I don’t think there was a drain. I think cockpit pressurization would be a problem. But…I don’t know for sure.

      Slept like a deadman last night. Vishofen is pretty cool. Pictures to follow when I get something better than an iPad to post with. PITA it is.

      juvat

      Delete
  5. I'll admit I'm a little jealous of that river cruise you're taking. Enjoy the wine, take lots of pictures. I'm looking forward to you filling your kodak carousel with the slides from your trip. Looks like Miss B is already starting on "normal" as she's missing a sock!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The thought of looking at the beauty of Germany without having to drive much does sound wonderful. Eat, sleep, float, look. Ahhhh...

      Delete
    2. ...In the nose of a B17 would be the way to go...

      Delete
    3. My fat fundiment would not fit well in any WWII era bomber, sadly. I've been in the bombardier section of a B-17 and, well, no. Not claustrophobic but...

      Delete
    4. Tuna,
      Actually that’s not a sock, it is a holder for her o2 monitor and heart rate. However, much like her feed tube and o2 tube, she’s starting to learn how to disconnect the. Not optimum…yet.
      Don,
      Our driver was regaling us with stories of modern industry in Regensburg. Someone,who shall remain nameless, menioned how the demolition of the obsolete industrial area occurred. Got kinda quiet at that point.
      juvat

      Delete
  6. That picture made my day! Thanks for sharing. Prayers being answered. Enjoy the cruise. Wish we were there!

    ReplyDelete
  7. From what I've read/heard/absorbed, the quality of BA has been slipping of late. And Luft is about as good as it has been. Will be interesting to see what the after-action report is.

    As to that face, my dad would say someone just passed gas. But my dad was irreverent and a smart arse so... Or he'd say "Elbows in, kid," referring to the early days of ejection seats and the unfortunate ability of the cockpit edge to remove or break ejecting pilots' elbows.

    Referring to the bench, the more I look at some (not all, just some) aspects of normal Japanese dwelling construction, the more sense many of them make. A lower entrance area with a drain that you take your outside shoes off and put inside slippers on (or just go socks only) and no carpets, just rugs and easily clean flooring. A bathroom (not a urinal room, a bathroom where you take a bath) that is fully tiled and waterproofed with a floor drain in the middle. Things like that. Ifn I win the lottery, I will have a decidedly strange habitation built.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beans,
    That was disappointingly apparent to me also. Details to follow in a future post.
    juvat

    ReplyDelete
  9. Enjoy the trip and great news on the little one!!!

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.