San Carlos, California, USA
Burlingame, California USA
Good morning. Everything is packed and ready to go. Today the adventure and the rest of our lives begin. It has just gone seven in the morning. The sun has just begun to peak over the hills and light up the valley as the first trip between the car and the office is made. It is going to be a beautiful day here in California. It is a crisp 6 degrees celsius (43 F). It seems in invigorate the soul.
My 600-pound life vs my 93-pound life was the thought beaming though my head as I took another load to the car. The comparison will upset some people, but it really is all about the excesses in our life. 600 Pound life is a sad story, but still, it is about eating too much and not getting sufficient exercise. The people that feed, no pun intended, into that existence are to blame. The buy, buy, buy culture created by the advertising wizards of Wall Street. An old saying is that he who dies with the most toys wins.
Society doesn’t need half of what it produces. Most of it just ends up in the waste disposal facility anyway. Getting my existence down to 93 pounds of luggage is all about realizing that we consume too much and waste too much. It really isn’t fair to say that all of my luggage weighs out at 93 pounds. This doesn’t count the suitcase sent directly to the ship. It was 42 pounds.
The realization is just beginning to hit that some serious over packing has occurred. It will be justified by saying: “well, we’re on the road of six months, and we need, x, y and z.” There is shampoo to last six months, toothpaste, soap, and who knows what else. Things things are available along the way. Often supplied by the AirBnB, hotel, or ship. There is the justification that we need both summer clothing, winter closing and adequate shoes for every occasion. Some truth exists in each of these things. A fair predication maybe that by the end of the cruise, fifty pounds will seem excessive.
In 1970, after high school graduation, I boarded a plan for Luxembourg with a fifty-pound pack. Four months later I returned to California with less than a ten-pound pack. That was excessive, and in part due to the fact the airline lost some of my things. Even with the lost items the total wouldn’t have been more than twenty pounds. In 2019 Grace and I toured Europe for nearly three months with just a European size carry-on suitcase. So why is there so much more? Ok, be fair, by the end of that trip there was an additional full-size suitcase. It is hard to travel with a twelve-year-old granddaughter and not indulge her desire to acquire things along the way.
This morning we will vacate the Marriott Residence Inn in San Carlos and head to the Hyatt Regency at SFO. Not the one we wanted to go to, but the just down the road one which is half the price. Yesterday I went to confirm, what I though was a reservation at the Grand Hyatt at SFO. Lots of searching online didn’t produce a reservation. No email confirmations or confirmation number in the calendar and no reservation according to the Hyatt reservation line. What? I forgot? But it is on the calendar!
Apparently yes. It was written into the calendar but there was no follow through on making the actual reservation. Being online, on the Hyatt App, and on the phone with the reservation clerk at the same time, I determined it was less expensive to book it online than over the phone. In fact, about 20% less expensive. The problem is there are two Hyatt’s listed as being at SFO. The Grand which is actually attached to the airport, and the Hyatt Regency on Bayshore Highway about two miles from the airport. The Grand is twice the cost of the Regency. The Grand seemed like it would be nice for our last night in California. Looking at the prices however, the Regency is much nicer. It is beside the fact that the reservation made was actually at the Regency and not the Grand. Oh well!!!
Checked-out by 9 AM and in the car on the way to the office. Mary went to hers and I went to mine. Of course, Mary had a few things which needed to be returned via UPS prior to our leaving. I repacked one but couldn’t find a reasonable box to return the two pair of shoes. So, I left it to her own devices, which meant to the staff of the office, to get it to UPS. A few minutes later the cigar shop was opened, and I was enjoying a final cigar in California. Rony turned on the heat, and a cigar later Rod joined me.
We watched a couple Night Court episodes, went and got a bagel for breakfast/lunch. A little before it went one, I bid everyone goodbye and headed to the office to meet with Penny the new bookkeeper for the law firm. Penny and I worked on various entries for about an hour and a half, then I left her to input the deposits. The deposits were always Mary’s thing and she and Penny had had several sessions to go over these. Since Mary and the Office were out at her retirement party, and it appears we weren’t going to have dinner tonight, it was off to the Boiler Express for a Monte Cristo sandwich for my lunch/dinner.
After the Boiler Express I took the luggage to the hotel and checked us in. Then it was back to the office and a final few questions from Penny and packing the last items for Mary. A call to Uber began the final leg of the day.
Or so we thought! Faye, our Uber driver, took us efficiently and somewhat quickly, in rush hour traffic to the hotel. We got to the room and immediately began packing and repacking things. Shifting the load and getting it ready for the flight tomorrow. Everything was finished up, the suitcases locked and ready to go, when Mary’s watch indicated a message coming in. “This is British Airways; we regret to inform you that your flight to London has been cancelled.”
What the heck! Now the flight was purchased through American Airlines. We are/were in First class. Interestingly I never received a message that the flight was cancelled. After several attempts to get a hold of someone at British Airways, a several calls were made to American Airlines in an attempt to find out what was going to happen. Finally, a customer service agent, a very loose term, was snagged. The next hour was spent trying to work out some flight to Roma.
The bottom line is we will be in California another day, we now fly to Dallas on Sunday morning, then on to Roma Sunday night, arriving in Roma at 11:20 on Monday. Not too bad. Just about nineteen hours later than expected. There is, of course, the extra night in San Francisco, and the paid for night in Roma which we won’t be able to use. Oh, and while the flight to Dallas is First Class, the Flight to Roma is Economy Plus. Please offer your prayers to the customer service agent who will be dealing with Mary about the refund and reimbursement which WILL be required.
Once it was all said and done. The Britannia Hotel in Roma notified, and car service pick up on Sunday rescheduled to Monday, yes still awaiting responses but emails have been sent. We decided to head to the front desk and see about an additional night here at the Hyatt Regency. The very nice young man not only extended our stay but gave us a $30 credit on the bill to ease our pain. Easing the pain seemed appropriate so we went to the 3SIXTY Bistro/Bar to apply some libation to ease the pain.
Mary eased her pain with an Absolut Vodka Martini. I chose something I have never had, an Irish Coffee. Further attention to the easing of the pain, included a Pear Crème Brûlée (sweet Bartlett pear & vanilla bean custard, burn sugar, Bay Area honey and a Sonoma beehive cookie) and an Apple Crisp (oat streusel, cinnamon gelato, dusted with powdered sugar). No longer caring much about the world we made our way back to the room and called it a night. Tomorrow will be another day. And it will all work out.
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