5.29.2013

A Comedy of Errors

I’m back from London and the Chelsea Flower Show. It was an adventure getting to London. The photos below are from the rhododendron area at Kew Gardens and are not related to my post below.
Prior to leaving for London, I wanted to ensure that my garden would be watered in my absence. My supervisor came over and helped me tighten up the connections to the drip system. I was feeling secure that my garden watered. I set the timer for the drip system to water three times a week. I went to work the next day thinking all is well.
When I returned home, I found watering pooling on the tile floor in the family room. I was panic stricken. I called my friend Bill who wasn't home; but his wife Katie offered a tool for me to use for turning off the water at the meter. I was wondering if this was beyond my mechanical ability, but turned to my reliable DIY guru YouTube. The first video I found gave clear instructions on how to turn off the water at the meter; a 90 degree clockwise turn was all that was needed.
My friend Katie also advised me to contact the dog sitter and have her bring water daily for my dog Aster. I went to the store and bought two gallons of water for the dog sitter to refill at her house. I wasn't sure of I should cancel my trip because of the water situation and was angst ridden.
The next day, I flew out of the Santa Fe airport. The flight has a 90% on time rate. We were on the runway for a while because of some storms in Dallas. The flight finally took off. As we neared Dallas, the plane was in a holding pattern. We waited for the weather to clear, but were eventually diverted to Abilene, Texas.
We waited on the runway until TSA staff could return to the airport for security reasons because the airport was closed. Someone at the airport ordered pizza for our dinner. Kudos to the airport staff in Abilene for all they did to help us. I found out later that there were devastating tornadoes in Dallas and that DFW was closed. The airline provided hotel and taxi vouchers. The taxi vouchers were only for one cab company. It looked like it would be a long wait for a cab that took vouchers. However, there was a business man from another flight that had been diverted who generously paid for the cab to the hotel from the cab company that didn't take vouchers. A few of us jumped in the taxi-van and were grateful for not having to wait.
Sleep was fitful. The next day the power was out at the Abilene airport and it was running on backup generators. The remaining passengers who didn't drive to Dallas from Abilene in rental cars got on the flight the next morning. It felt like a chartered flight because there were only about 10 of us on the plane. I hung out at the Dallas airport for about 10 hours.
The next flight leaving for London departed at 7:30 pm. I learned a lot about DFW while waiting. They have WiFi lounges on the domestic side to charge electronics and surf the web and email. However, the international terminal only had charging kiosks, but WiFi was available, too if you know how to access it. I had yummy Popeye's fried chicken for lunch. Something that isn't available in Santa Fe.
I finally boarded the plane and was ensconced in my seat belt when a fellow passenger came up to me holding a ticket for the same seat number. One of the flight attendants found another seat for him and we finally departed for London. Whew, what a challenging few days.
All's well that ends well???

24 comments:

  1. I'm exhausted just reading this!

    Beautiful photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was overwhelming and tiring getting to London, but I made it!

      Delete
  2. Those are some stunning Rhodies. I tried some here but they just can't make it in my neutral clay soil. I wish they could have.

    What a nightmare to have to deal with and can imagine how you felt having to leave without everything fixed like it should be. Hope things are going better for you now.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cher, I can't grow them here either.

      My Mom gave me some sage advise about the burst pipe and suggested that I have a good time on my vacation and not worry about the pipe. I could deal with it when I got home. It really helped because otherwise I might have fretted the the whole time.

      Delete
  3. Síce mi tvoj článok preložil translator dosť nepresne, ale podstatu som pochopila. Tvoja cesta do Európy bola veľmi dobrodružná, ale našťastie si do Londýna priletela, čoho dôkazom sú krásne rododendrony.

    Although like your article translated by translator rather vague, but I understood the essence. Your trip to Europe was very adventurous, but fortunately you flew to London, as evidenced by the beautiful rhododendrons.

    Daniela

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daniela, that sums it up. The rhododendrons were gorgeous. I don't think I've seen any that big before.

      Daniela, že to zhŕňa. Rododendrony boli nádherné. Nemyslím si, že som videl všetky, ktoré veľká predtým.

      Delete
  4. Gosh, you really went through way too much! Sorry to hear it. But I'm glad you finally made it to London, and that your trip was worth it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The first few days of my vacation were too eventful. I guess I had the storm before the calm instead of the other way around. :)

      Delete
  5. Theta, you sure create a vivid contrast between your water horrors and beautiful rhododendron images. I'm glad all's well???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lee, all is mostly well. The plumber comes tomorrow morning. I couldn't take time off from work until then. After the plumber, I can spend the rest of the day gardening.

      Delete
  6. Wow, great that you had such a positive attitude during all that! I am sure once you arrived in London it was all worthwhile! Your photos are stunning!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you have to make the best of a bad situation; otherwise, I would end up feeling sorry for myself. I had a great time even though I lost a day in transit.

      Delete
  7. Your photos from Kew Gardens are gorgeous, I used to go to Kew regularly many years ago and know the rhododendron area well. I hope your visit to the Chelsea Flower Show was just as successful, I haven’t been there in years but used to go, it is a magical place. I hope you have recovered from your trip, it sounds exhausting just reading it, but I understand you had a good time in my home city, London :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The last time I went to Kew was in March 2004 and not much was blooming. It was gorgeous albeit overcast. I'm glad I made a return visit.

      Delete
  8. Oh my...what an ordeal! You seem to have made the best of it by exploring the airport. I hope you had a great time after that period of 'initiation.' Traveling is not always one of the most pleasant experiences and when things like this happen it just makes it worse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Traveling used to seem less of an ordeal when I had to travel for work more frequently. London was wonderful despite getting lost now and again.

      Delete
  9. Gorgeous photos! Those azaleas are incredible. I'm headed to London this summer and I hope my trip is significantly less eventful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad the photos turned out well. It was an overcast day so sometimes it's iffy when there isn't good light.

      Delete
  10. This reminds me of my many ordeals in traveling...so glad you made it to London and glad to see you back...those azaleas are amazing. I still want to get to the UK during this Flower Show in the future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Flower Show was amazing. I'm hoping to get a post or two together soon.

      Delete
  11. What an ordeal!!!! At least you got off and not too horrible of a situation in Dallas. The bloom shots are stunning!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm wondering how you are!?
    Doin OK?

    ReplyDelete
  13. What an interesting juxtaposition of harrowing travel problems amidst some of the most gorgeous, calming imagery. Reminded me of my youth spent in Sydney where the rhodies were of similar quality. Nice job in capturing them.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...