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Published: January 5th 2006
UhOh...
The guest bedroom ceiling was missing when we arrived home. So was the carpet and bed.The plane trip was uneventful and boring...and LONG. I don’t remember the exact amount of time we were held captive but I’m thinking it was about 10 hours to Frankfurt where we had a couple hours lay over and then another 12 hours to San Francisco.
We had a bit of a hassle at Chennai when our reserved, TWICE confirmed seats, appeared to have been given to someone else and we were reassigned to three seats separated and spread out throughout the plane. Praveen was not happy, especially after confirming them twice before we went to the airport, and especially after a similar incident when we first started the trip in San Francisco. The nice lady behind the counter told us that there was nothing anyone could do and she had no idea why the seats assigned to us in the computer were not the ones we "thought" we should have. Praveen would not be deterred though and tried talking to every Lufthansa person we saw as we made our way towards the gate. Amazingingly, he bumped into the right person who took our "case" to a higher court. This woman went upstairs to talk to someone who somehow got us our seats back. One thing is certain; Praveen says he will never fly Lufthansa again. It IS rather disturbing that this happened to us twice on the same trip.
The highpoint of the plane trip was finding a McDonalds in the Frankfurt airport and ordering some burgers and fries. Rather…the highpoint was from the moment we caught sight of the golden arches until we took the first bite. The food wasn’t quite what we’d expected, so the anticipation was better than the actual eating… Not that the food was bad, actually it was good, it just didn’t live up to our dreams of the perfect McD Burger. I thought it was the mayo with the slightly weird taste. Ruth thought it was the meat.
We all sort of cat-napped off and on during the flight when we could. It’s not easy to get comfortable and just about the time you think you are comfortable, it’s time to eat again. (They offer food and drinks often.) It’s also not easy to get up and walk around. The seats are so squished together that you can barely get in and out of them. It's especially difficult if the person in front of you has reclined their seat. I feel sorry for anyone weighing more than I do because it felt to me like I was at the max size to fit. Walking in the aisles is a pretty tight squeeze too especially if people are sleeping and have various body parts slightly extended into the aisles. There is also the obstacle of the stewardess serving carts. When one of these is in the aisle there is no other option but to stay seated. (Too bad if you waited too long for the toilet break, once those carts start rolling, it’s out of the question until they are done.)
Ruth and I watched a movie called “In Her Shoes” which was okay but not great. Praveen, who says he never sleeps on planes, was unconscious most of the second part of the trip. We wanted to take a picture of him ("not sleeping") but it was too hard to get the camera which would have ment getting out of our seats to get into the overhead carry-on storage area.
We arrived at the airport and went through all the process of getting back into the country, which again, aside from standing in lines, was uneventful. I guess they didn’t see any reason to make any of us jump through any hoops. After retrieving all seven of our checked bags (and three carry-ons) we were faced with the dilemma of getting home to Ruth and Praveen’s house. Instead of trying to call friends in the middle of a work day to try and find TWO vehicles (or making two trips) we opted for a cab….. a mini-van cab which with a bit of planning would hold all our luggage and us as well. We’d MAKE it fit.
The driver wasn’t too thrilled to find out where we (and our luggage) were heading, since Pacifica is sort of out in the boonies, not anywhere that he’d find someone wanting to make the return trip. But he did agree to take us…kind of as we were loading our stuff into his van (and he didn’t have much of a choice.) He drove like crazy though, FAST and crazy….maybe because he was mad to be taking us anywhere or maybe because he was just a crazy driver. Ruth advised him that there are a lot of cops in this area who give out a lot of tickets…but that didn’t slow him down either. Seriously he scared me (and Ruth too) more on that ride than all drivers we’d ridden with in India. When Ruth paid him she told him that she would have given him a bigger tip if he’d driven a little slower. He chuckled. I don’t think his English was too much better than most of our Indian drivers.
So…we get to the house and everything looks good so Ruth and I work at unloading the taxi-van while Praveen carries stuff in…then we hear Praveen say….”uh oh…minor little problem here…. The guest room ceiling has fallen in.” HUH?
Yes, it did. Apparently during the recent storms here, the wind blew a couple shingles off the roof over the guest room and the rain came in, soaking the ceiling which made it so heavy that it all fell onto the bed leaving the rafters exposed above it. No, we didn’t walk into this mess, it was already in the process of being cleaned up, thanks to Ruth’s housekeeper who is the one who found it. She contacted someone else who knows Ruth and Praveen who took pictures, contacted the insurance company, and then proceeded to rip up the carpet, and move all the wet stuff outside on the back deck (carpet, pad, mattress, plaster, and insulation). They got the roof repaired and a water-damage clean up person came to get the water out of the hardwood floor (which was under the carpet). His equipment was still sitting in the bedroom sucking up moisture (as it had been for over a week).
BUT…It could have been so much worse. If this had happened and the housekeeper hadn't been here, more and more rain would have come in. So, as bad as it seemed it was still a blessing that it was taken care of as it was…and that only the guest room was effected, not other parts of the house.
After showering, Ruth and I went shopping. Ruth was going to treat me to a “simple” meal…. Baked potato (with tons of butter and sour cream on it), spinach salad, and fresh fish. (We found some halibut that looked good). When dinner was almost ready I was setting the table and Ruth was taking the fish out of the oven….I heard a loud THUD…. And guess what? She dropped the pan with the fish…flipping it over and landing the beautiful, yummy smelling fish face down on the floor. It was a LOT of fish too…. I was pretty impressed with Ruth though… she didn’t even cry….not after the fish-flop and not after the ceiling disaster. I ‘m sure that if I’d been in her shoes I’d have been a sobbing idiot, if not at first (with the ceiling) then certainly with the fish… it would have just seemed to me that EVERYTHING was going wrong….especially after the long plane trip and the crazy taxi driver. As I said though…she showed remarkable restraint and at the most only a moist look in the eyeball…and a "determined not to react look" on her face.
After scooping all that fish off the floor and into the trash, Ruth pulled the remaining (small) piece of the fish out of the freezer and popped it into the oven. We just shared that, which with the potato and salad was plenty and everything was very good...especially the potato (which I smoothered in butter and sour cream.)
During the flight my ankles swelled up again, just as they did on the way to India. They looked like elephant ankles …and even my lower legs were swollen so that the skin was tight. It was kind of scary to look at, sort of like a balloon that might pop. Thankfully, I had on Birks that had extra buckle holes to open out the straps…If I hadn't, I’d have been barefoot.
This time it seems to be going away pretty quickly. I’m trying to do all the right things like drinking lots of water and no booze… This morning they were well on their way back to normal and now in the evening they are looking pretty darned good again....
Last night after dinner in the early evening I fell asleep on the couch (since “my” room has no ceiling). I woke up about 1:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep, but hey that’s okay, by Missouri Time, I’m right back on schedule… and I enjoyed spending the morning writing. Praveen joined me by 4 am and Ruth slept in until about 5.
This morning I brushed my teeth using running water from the faucet, the first time I haven’t used bottled water to brush my teeth in almost a month. It almost felt strange. This morning I went out on the deck thinking I'd watch the sun rise over the ocean.... then remembered I'd done the same stupid thing the last time I was here. The sun does not rise over the Pacific Ocean!
Praveen went to work today and Ruth and I hung around the house. We sorted out her collection of thousands of bangles, she showed me the wedding dress she will wear in June (which I will alter a bit for her), we ate quesidillas with yummy fresh salsa on them.... she worked on her laptop a bit, I read and napped a bit. She talked to the insurance people on the phone and a contractor who came here. I read and napped... It was a good day.
I know I missed writing about huge chunks of the trip and I will write more to fill in the gaps and post more photos. When I do, it will appear that I’m writing from India (on the title) but rest assured I’ll be either here (at Ruth and Praveen’s house) or home in Fulton.
I'll be flying out of here in the morning and be back in Fulton by tomorrow night.
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Maureen
non-member comment
I enjoyed every word of your journal! Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of your daughter's beautiful wedding and your wonderful trip!