arrrgh

I wanted to post some photos of our family vacation tonight but I can't. We arrived home late this afternoon having started the process at 10 am Hawaii time yesterday so lets just say....boy, that took a long time. There was fun  on the way - like lunch with just my sweetheart at Dukes (romantic and brought back fond memories) and Dinner with the whole gang at The Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki. Do you remember the photo I posted of the restaurant in Niagara on the Lake that brought your bill in a folder labeled "The Damage"? That came to mind yesterday late afternoon. Do you think it is reasonable to charge $12 USD for a mai tai?
I don't either.


Anyways, after an hr doing the gas up and van rental returns followed by the shuttle back to the airport (with 10 people), we checked in. That is everybody but Eva -  we had to wait 45 min to actually get a ticket for Eva. See this photo? Us wondering where the heck the ticket agent disappeared to for 30 minutes!
Have you ever noticed that when you have to stand for a loooong time it helps to lift one knee. Or maybe this is some Cortens gene thing...   :) Oh , and it simply must be the left knee or it won't work.

We did eventually board our plane (big sigh here). There was not a single empty seat on this big bird because apparently United cancelled the flight earlier in the day. Two more planes later, we are all now home. I just heard from Paul and Mark and everyone is home safe and sound. Holiday is officially over - sort of.  Sammy and Allison don't have heat in their house and may be moving in with us but other then that, things are pretty much back to normal.

So Sherpa and I shopped and restocked the fridge and ...... rather then do laundry it seemed much more fun to play with photos in Lightroom. However the laptop with all my photos and edits is losing power and I don't have the power cord to charge it. That is because the power cord is in luggage that United bumped in Denver when it also bumped Sammy, Allison and Eva. Yes - they were informed as the plane was boarding. They did finally get them on.... but not Allison's luggage and since (warning: this is complicated) United tagged one of our bags with Allison's name instead of the baby car seat, it pulled our bag.

Can I tell you how I feel about United Airlines right now?

pause
deep breath
grace...

They have very nice stewards who take good care of you and the flights were on time and pleasant and if you don't have to actually deal with purchasing a ticket and paying for checked luggage and then retrieving said luggage.... well they are a pretty good airline.

However, I am loving WestJet all the more. ;) LOL I can't count the number of times someone in the gang said. "should have flown WestJet" or "WestJet never charged us that!" "I have never lost luggage with WestJet".
I am even starting to like Air Canada a little. Our last flight with them was really quite nice and they even joked (just a little) with their passengers.

But do stay tuned because when that power chord does arrive along with my makeup and Dave's golf shoes, I will share more photos. And I am thinking I might need my makeup before he needs his golf shoes. In the meantime I do have a photo from today on the camera of Colorado that I will upload to my computer and post for the days 365 which you can find on the 365 blog

If I don't fall asleep on the key board first.

Oh! GTG Allison and Family are at the door..... guess that furnace isn't working.
Must be the "year of the furnace" because our furnace was condemned 5 days before we left on holidays. But that is another story for another day (and more air miles to accumulate on that worn out card).

BAGGAGE UPDATE: Monday am update -  the United Air Baggage claim 1-800 number is in India. Just thought you should know. Sooo I phone India to ask if my bag has arrived here in Saskatoon (?)....   I think he was speaking English but at times I really wasn't sure. It took a lot of brain power (and a few extra minutes) to decipher the accent.  I am not a fan of call centers in India. When you are a tad disgruntled about service it does not help if you cannot understand the person you are calling for assistance.
Apparently the bags have arrived at the airport (I think that's what he said) and I have updated them with all the info - because there is no one at Allison's cold house - they are all here with a working albeit condemned furnace.  And life goes on.