Wednesday, May 19, 2010

One more sleep!

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that Eyjafjallajökull doesn't send any more ash our way.   There were a couple issues on the weekend,   when Innsbruck and Salzburg airports were closed.  Of course,  there are always the nay sayers,  who figure looking out for the safety of passengers is somehow not that big a deal.

You'd think it would be a fairly relaxing day,  since it's not like there's anything to pack,  since we keep some "stuff" at home.  We will be taking along a larger checked suitcase,  since there are a couple little items that need to come back.

Unmentionables.

We won't mention them.

Well OK,  maybe I have to mention something....
As long as I have room for a few packs of "Stanfields"  underwear and more socks,  I'll be a happy traveller.  I ended up getting a little crowded out of my expected allotment of suitcase space at Christmas time,  so hopefully that doesn't happen this time around.
Could go either way.
I guess there was something in the wedding vows that I must have missed?

Oh,  and I look nothing like the guy on that Stanfield's web page.   Sorry.  Maybe when I was about 17?  Even then,  had way more hair,  which is apparently oh so seventies.
Whatever.

 Speaking along those lines,  (um,  the hidden wedding vows) I had just settled in for my second cup of coffee this morning  when the phone rang,  scaring the living cr*p out of me of course,  and it was my lovely travelling companion,  who on the one hand had no difficulty getting to work,  but had unfortunately arrived there without a truly essential piece of equipment.

Now,  I'm willing to take the abuse and ridicule of having,  oh I don't know,  eight or ten pairs of "cheater"  type glasses between here,  the car and our house back in Canada. 
Matter of fact,  I just bought yet another pair the other day from Pagro Diskont for around six Euros.  Didn't come with a case though,  and I'm told they look like "lady's"  glasses.
OK.  Big deal.   I can see the computer screen.

And if I happen to take them off,  and sort of walk ten feet to the kitchen,  and suddenly need to see something, well  there's another couple pair in the drawer there.

So,  what to do?   The missing glasses were easily found,  right there on the table.

Road trip!   Well,  in my case train trip...since I can jump on the Subway just here at the corner,  get off at Wien "Mitte"  and take the S3 to Strebersdorf for the princely sum of €1,80.
I had done this trip once before when I had to fetch the car,  but this time I figured I'd try for a bit of a record,  since I'm considerably more familiar with the whole scheme.
Plus it was good practise for tomorrow morning....
Never that efficient to stand there gawking at the schedule,  unsure of where to go as the train pulls away.
So this time around, door to door was roughly 50 minutes.   Subway-train-bus.

That ain't bad.

Unlike some other transit systems, the bus actually is coordinated with the arrival of the train,  and sits there patiently while everyone saunters over and gets on.   Matter of fact,  he was starting to bug me just ever so slightly when we were getting into the second minute there and hadn't pulled away.   The company that cannot be named is two bus stops down the road.  I wore the appropriate company apparel,  which always makes for some interesting looks from the worker bees.
I can just see it in their eyes, "who the hell is that guy?"
"and.. where did he get that hat?"

*snort*!

I chose to come home by car though,  since by that time in the morning the traffic has eased up a bit,  and it take only around a half hour door to door.  Besides,  when given a choice,  I'm not really that in to public transit.

And that was the beginning of what has been a day of cleaning,  ironing shirts,  'cause we don't have a flippin' dryer  (need to not leave that many shirts in need of pressing....gah!)  along with the usual changing of the bed so we have clean sheets for when we come back.
Don't know what happened. 
Turned around twice and it was three o'clock.

The other slight challenge of course is to figure out what we'll be eating this evening and then tomorrow morning to as not to leave too much in the fridge.
Unlike Puerto Rico,  where the power went out almost weekly,  (oh man,  we learned that one the hard way!) we don't have that issue here,  but I prefer not to come back to any science experiments just the same.


Keep yer sticks on the ice.

(and hope the Habs get beat)

2 comments:

  1. Hey UB,
    Today I have both I-touches, mine & Ralphie boy's. One in left hand and tother in the right and walking on he treadmill. You were grousing...changed that for fear of ruffled feathers...you were saying that cycling and celling simultaneously just wasn't your forte? Well add to that talking to a co-worker while he strides on the elliptical and you have the makings of the perfect storm. So far so good! Sweats dripping, face is red ( but am still able to carry on a normal conversation...normal?...ha!). I'd just read your latest blog entry regarding transit systems, Yurp vs you know who. So 30minutes later I'm halfway through my workout and ready to add to your comment section.
    Before I forget, the reason I am two-fisted (that sounds dirty) today is simple really. When I try to explain to the old guy the ins and outs of wifi and downloading his eyes glaze over and I end up thinking for the millionth time "why did I go there?". It's not that he's technically challenged.After all this is a toy and men live for toys. I asked him once and he said "I'm lazy and besides that's why I bagged me a woman!". Like I said "why did I go there?"
    Hey! Hot damn! Timer says 50 minutes. I'm almost done my walk to nowhere. Better finish this off. Then again I could always stop for now and finish once I've showered (you're welcome!) and am sitting down for lunch.

    More later...

    Later...my ablutions are complete, lunch is served and my
    tale continues.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Don't know what happened there. I was just going back to see where my ramblings were headed and somehow my comment got published before I was finished. Hence the disjointed entry.
    Transit? Sucks!!! We have a few drivers here from Yurp and they are forever extolling the virtues of Yurpeen transit. If there is a heaven for bus drivers I think that it must be in Yurp. *sigh* We lowly Hamilton transit operators have come to the conclusion that the powers that be don't want people to ride the buses, trains, etc. We have found that if we drive according to our schedules nothing connects and when the dear gentle riders complain to the company
    they add further insult to injury by instituting programs like "connection request". Now we can't make scheduled connections either because once someone makes a connection request there is a snowball effect. Say I call for a connection and the other bus waits 5 minutes for me then someone on his bus asks for a connection (don't forget he's now 5 minutes late)...well I think you know where this is going? Then imagine if the person making the request is in a wheelchair...oopsey my bad...a personal mobility device. Schedule schmedule!!! However the people have spoken and the powers that be have answered and the drivers shrug their shoulders and think happy thought of Yurpeen transit.

    Anyhoo, just looked at the time. The second half of my day is about to begin.

    Later,
    Bonnie
    (2597 days to retirement)

    ReplyDelete

Well, I've been getting too many spam comments showing up. Just a drag, so we'll go another route and hope that helps. So, we won't be hearing anything more from Mr. Nony Moose.
I guess I'll just have to do without that Gucci purse.