AND SO IT BEGINS…. when mechanical and electronics don’t work well I blame it on Mercury in retrograde, but what do you say when your travel plans unravel?
The foreshadowing came first with my neighbor calling Friday morning in desperation looking for a place to stay while her apt was being ripped apart to replace risers. I semi-offered her our master bedroom with the caveat that I needed to check with the young man who was en route to NYC to apt and cat sit for us.
He told us he was driving the10-11 hours from Indianapolis and would park his car in front of our cottage in NJ and then take the train to Manhattan. Crazy right? We thought so too! Early evening arrived and I started receiving texts about his arrival time. When I asked where he was and the answer was Troy as in NY, we were mystified Another text informed of his arrival time ( millennials don’t call, they text).
That time came and went and I sent Peter to the lobby to wait for him. About 10 minutes later I did receive a call on my cellphone from him asking me if we were home? Of course we are home, we are waiting for you! OK he is just 2 blocks away and will be right there. I call Peter and say 2 blocks? Do you think he took a cab from Penn Station? I told him to call me and I would tell him how to get here by subway or maybe he took the Q and is walking here. And the answer is he WALKED FROM PENN STATION TO OUR APT after a 27 hr train ride. Well he is a long distance runner and competitive biker.
Saturday morning I awake to a grateful text from my neighbor saying she has found a solution to her homelessness, whew! BUT during breakfast my friend Jane called to ask if one of her former hotel employees could stay at my cottage during June-since I would be away and she would pay a little something. A key? How much do I want? And I have to call my cousin Janet and tell her the cottage will be occupied for half a month- this after I offered her free rein and use of our cottage and beach badges- just a little more drama to deal with before we leave.
Sunday, our day of departure, we finally leave Manhattan late, and hit a fair amount of traffic; Can’t get to RiversideDrive to get to the West Side Hwy because Delta Airlines is marching south beyond the 79th St access so we have to try to cross at 72nd St. Really? Delta Airlines! Really? OK so we are through the tunnel and Jane will meet us at the cottage, grab a key, we’ll park our car there where it will be safe for a couple of weeks and meet up with the driver who will take us back up the Garden State Pkwy and NJ Tnpk to the Newark Airport ($100+tip).
We arrived in plenty of time and waited for boarding time AND THEN moments before we were to board I got a bloody nose! Not just a drip-drop-sniff-it-up bloody nose; No this was pouring out of my nose. In a minute the handkerchief was soaked. I got to the ladies room where I proceeded to make a bloody mess. My hands and face were bloody, the sink was bloody, I couldn’t bend down to get toilet paper without dripping on the floor! I am this graphic because during this time four women came and went and NO ONE offered to help me. I asked one woman to please get me some paper and she just looked at me blankly so I practically shouted at her to please get me some toilet paper. In retrospect, it’s possible she didn’t understand English.
By now Peter is in the ladies room and telling me everyone is boarding and I look at him with blood smeared face and not so calmly say What do you want me to do? Then some TAP personnel come in and say they will call a medic, and won’t I please come out and sit down and tilt my head back? No I don’t want to because the blood is running down my throat and I already spit up a clot. I mean how gross is this whole thing ? Then one of them says we better call an ambulance! Oh no I am not going in an ambulance. But yet it keeps bleeding and one-more-official-than-the-others says there is no way you can fly and to emphasize the point for her I proceed to spit up more blood. In the background I hear a voice say that’s why she didn’t want to put her head back! A police woman has joined the group- I wonder if I broke a law? Finally it stopped!! BUT a) the doors had already closed, b)our luggage was being recalled, c) they would not let me on that plane.
We are terribly upset as they tell us: a) you missed the plane and there is not another tonight, b) tomorrow’s flight is fully booked, c) you can’t get booked on an Alliance flight because you didn’t have a refundable ticket, d) actually you’re not entitled to another flight BUT we’re trying to help you, e) there is a TAP flight leaving from JFK at 11:30, we can get you on, f) BUT you have to get a DR’s clearance to fly before you can get on that plane! At this point I tried to point out that it was Sunday, we were in airport, our car was at the shore…. g) suggest we take the Shuttle to JFK but must leave now to make flight -Great! h) we are too late for the last Shuttle, and i) you still have to get Dr release. j)we should take a taxi!!!! OMG, k) Peter find out what it costs and also there is a 24 hr Citi-Med in JFK airport, l) it cost $92.00 hurry put the bags in and driver turns to me and says plus $36 in tolls! What? The Verrazano? Are you crazy we ‘re not going that way! m) lady it’s that way or no way
To be continued…
Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
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