Well, I’m in the middle of an airline nightmare, thanks to Air India and a combination of bad machinery and unhelpful staff. Our flight was scheduled to leave Delhi at 2:20 a.m., arriving in Chicago at the decent hour of 7:45 a.m., and I was looking forward to getting some good sleep in my spiffy business class bed. But as soon as the guy next to me sat down, he dropped off, and soon was snoring like a buzzsaw. I mean, he was so loud that passengers two aisles over took notice. As business class was full, so I couldn’t find an empty seat to escape the din, I knew I was gonna be in for a rough night. There was nowhere I could escape the egregious nasal racket.
But it turned out to be even rougher—in an unexpected way. The air-conditioning broke down as we were ready to take off, and we returned to the gate for a supposed one-hour fix. Then out to the runway again after nearly two hours, and another a/c failure. After an announced 20-minute “minor repair” that lasted 1.5 hours, we headed out yet again. And then, as the plane turned to the gate for the third time (without any announcement from the pilot), I knew we were in trouble. Finally, as he killed the engines, the pilot made the dreaded announcement: the plane was irreparably broken, and we’d have to deplane.
If you’ve been to India, you’ll know that mass confusion immediately ensued: rebellion from an angry and vociferous mob that had stewed for over five hours on a hot tarmac, with no information about their fate.
Eventually it turned out that they would bus us to a hotel (for how long we still don’t know) where we’d wait for Air India to retrieve us and take us back to the airport, hopefully to a working plane. Of course we had to ferret that information out of the staff, who didn’t give a tinker’s dam about our plight. It was far worse in steerage, though, where people were soaked with sweat and small children were crying.
So, I’m cooling my heels (literally) in the Radisson in Delhi, sharing a room with a nice Indian physician (Air India’s too cheap to get us our own rooms), and with no idea when we’ll be out of here. It’s time to go home, and I haven’t slept a wink for thirty hours and six minutes. But I kvetch. . .
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Cyrus and Hili muse about the eternal mystery of the human animal:
Hili: Do you understand human prejudices?Cyrus: A bit. I had to cure myself of something like that.
In Polish:
Hili: Czy ty rozumiesz te ludzkie przesądy?
Cyrus: Trochę rozumiem, sam się z czegoś takiego musiałem leczyć.
And Gus has pretty much demolished his box by now. His staff will have to buy another Ikea lamp because that Ikea lamp box was the only box Gus ever loved. (And you always gnaw the one you love.)
And some new photos of Gus with notes from his staff:
The first goes with the video from yesterday [just above], I think he looks like he’s holding a piece of toast. Then there are a few of him sitting on the piano keys, that’s where the sun was shining….And the last one, I should have had for last week, as Gus is not amused.
So much for business class – what a palaver. Hope you are soon back in Chicago and manage to get some good rest in the meantime.
People wonder sometimes why meditation was invented in India.
I experienced a similar delay last year, in the early hours of the morning, but at least we were in the terminal at Hong Kong, which was furnished with comfortable seats and a good carpet for lying-down purposes on the floor. And Cathay Pacific produced a trolley with free cakes and soft drinks and offered vouchers for a nearby airport eatery. I would hate to be stuck in the airplane for that length of time, going nowhere. (I think I actually get a form of claustrophobia if I’m trapped in a vehicle that isn’t moving).
Anyway, I have mixed emotions on such occasions – I simultaneously want them to just fix the damn thing pdq, while (bearing in mind what might happen if it falls off in midair) I want them to please be thorough.
Hoping they fix the fault and get you on your way soon…
cr
Hey—the translation of Hili’s dialogue isn’t quite right. It should be:
Hili: Do you understand those human superstitions?
Cyrus: A bit. I had to cure myself of something like that.
I can’t really agree. Superstition is when you think that a black cat crossing your way is a sign of bad luck. Prejudice is when you think one tiny sliver of humanity is ruling the whole world. Or when dogs think that all cats are there to be chased.
Yes, your definition is OK. And Hili used the word “superstitions”, not “prejudices”.
przesąd = superstition
uprzedzenie = prejudice
Gus is beautifully lighted on the piano…like films by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
It’s Air India, don’t you wish they would treat you like cattle?
Ha! Yes, but the food might not be so good.
India, a country of wonders! Wonder why they don’t do that…wonder why they don’t do this…It’s a fact that you’ll eventually come back to us soon Jerry!Don’t loose faith!
And beautiful photos of a bunny-musical cat!
Professor, when you complain, you are cute! :)) How’s the Airport’s security check? :))
THOROUGH! To get into the airport you have to show passport and e-ticket, and then you have to show them four more times before you can get on the plane.
Did they not know PCC(e) was on board?!! Shame on them!! Enough to ruin a good trip. Just get back safely.
And people wonder why I no longer travel like I use to. Besides, now not having too. It is surely part of that – having no choice.
Pretty sure that Gus has some Termite genes in there somewhere.
I hope your room mate was not snoring!
That would ice the cake wouldn’t it!
LOVE Gus’s bunny ears!!
Hope you get a good sleep before getting the call, PCC(E).
Yes, those rabbit ears are a hoot. Wonder if he can get channel 6 on his eyeballs.
Oh that sounds absolutely dreadful! I’m glad that you at least seem to have a nice roommate. Imagine if you had the snoring guy instead!
Love Gus-on-the-piano. The first picture is especially nice and would make a lovely print!
If the plane had actually got away you could have ‘accidently’ woken up your snoring companion.
The only time an international flight has been delayed for me the airline put me up in a nice 4* hotel. The room wasn’t overly large but it was all mine.
I wonder how many people you share a room with if you are flying steerage.
They get a room?
ROFL!
It’s called the Departure Lounge 😉
cr
Yeah but in a not-so-nice hotel. The roommate thing was a bit weird, but I made a new friend.
I have a somewhat new-age sister-in-law who can be counted on, in both difficult or in beneficial circumstances, to utter the same words “it was meant to be”. As irritating as her pronouncements always are, there is perhaps something sickeningly soothing in her fatalistic message. In your case Jerry “it was meant to be” that you did not have to suffer your fellow passengers annoying snoring any longer. I would certainly think that as an incompatibilist yourself perhaps you would adopt her attitude on such mishaps. Or perhaps it was meant to be, that as an incompatibilist, you will not.
What an awful way to end your vacation, Dr. Coyne. Safe and uneventful travels from hereon.
I hope Gus’s lamp isn’t this kind (recalled):
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/about_ikea/newsitem/031716_recall-GOTHEM-lamps
I see what Gus has been after – that nifty Sherrif’s badge. He’s in charge, in case there was ever any doubt.
.. sheriff..
He’s the “Rick Grimes” of cats. 😛
Sorry to hear of your traveling woes, Jerry – I can empathize! Had a remarkably similar experience traveling to Greece.
Stunning jpegs of Gus on the piano!
Whoa! That airline nightmare deserves some serious kvetching! Maybe it’s your penance for teasing us all with such fabulous, mouth-watering Indian food. Seriously, I hope your travel travails are soon in the past. Best of luck!
That’s worse than my worse. A plane from Chennai did not even make a pretense of leaving until 05:30. I can tell you, the floor of the Chennai airport is hard. 🙁
Better luck next time with the snorer.
I rate airports on:
Do they have plenty of comfortable seats and carpet on the floor
Do they have outlets for cheap food and drinks in the departure area
Do you get through all the bureaucratic ‘security’ nonsense reasonably quickly
And to hell with fancy architecture (in fact my rating is usually inversely proportional to the pretensiousness of the buildings)
On those criteria, Paris CDG passes, Brisbane passes, Hong Kong passes, Dubai fails miserably, Auckland gets a grudging pass.
cr
“And you always gnaw the one you love”
Hah. A potentially euphemistic reference.