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home again home again
May. 31st, 2006 08:13 pmMal and I made it back safe and sound, and with no more "luggage irregularities." (Two lost bags in one trip - I'm getting a complex). We even got to go through the poofy air thing at Dulles, which checked us out for Chemicals of Doom.
Mal, who had been a pleasure to travel with the whole trip, melted down in a big way shortly after takeoff from DC. I Benadryl'd him and then a lovely Indian woman and her 3 lovely daughters took him and played with him for about 30 minutes. He quieted right down, and slept the sleep of the drugged for the rest of the flight.
On the Frankfurt to Athens leg, a Greek woman sitting next to me offered to hold him while I ate, and when I looked up she had introduced him to the people behind, who had given him a jam croissant and some cookies - he had food clutched in both fists and was grinning at me.
Robert had been hit by a motorcycle (he was turning left from our one-way street, and the motorcycle was on the sidewalk and tried to go straight, bouncing off the middle of our car) the day before I got back, resulting in no real damage to the car. But as you know, car issues come in bunches. The car died on me halfway to the store today, about 45 minutes from home. While I was driving. It just stopped.
Picture the most congested urban area you've ever seen - Times Square, Hollywood and Vine, Foggy Bottom - and then take away 2/3 of the space for that much traffic, and that's about where the car quit. Just died. I had to pump the brakes feverishly to not hit someone, and then try to push the car off onto a side street. This was a one-lane road with traffic in both directions, and people were honking and gesticulating at me to get out of their way...as I'm PUSHING MY CAR. Finally an old man helped me, and then a guy got off his motorcycle and between us we got it onto the curb. Naturally I hadn't put my cellphone back in my purse after returning to Greece, so I had to walk .5 mile to the major street, with Mal, in the 100 degree sun, to try to get a taxi. About 14 refused to pick me up, as it's not convenient to get to my neighborhood. I gave the 15th a nice tip, and Mallory (standing on my lap, as no car seat) made friends with all the people in cars next to us, who smiled and waved back at him.
So the rest of my day involved getting the car towed, taxiing back to it and back home, paying a lot of cash for the towing, and generally not getting groceries. All with a jet-lagging baby.
REALLY looking forward to going into work tomorrow, where it's safe and calm.
Mal, who had been a pleasure to travel with the whole trip, melted down in a big way shortly after takeoff from DC. I Benadryl'd him and then a lovely Indian woman and her 3 lovely daughters took him and played with him for about 30 minutes. He quieted right down, and slept the sleep of the drugged for the rest of the flight.
On the Frankfurt to Athens leg, a Greek woman sitting next to me offered to hold him while I ate, and when I looked up she had introduced him to the people behind, who had given him a jam croissant and some cookies - he had food clutched in both fists and was grinning at me.
Robert had been hit by a motorcycle (he was turning left from our one-way street, and the motorcycle was on the sidewalk and tried to go straight, bouncing off the middle of our car) the day before I got back, resulting in no real damage to the car. But as you know, car issues come in bunches. The car died on me halfway to the store today, about 45 minutes from home. While I was driving. It just stopped.
Picture the most congested urban area you've ever seen - Times Square, Hollywood and Vine, Foggy Bottom - and then take away 2/3 of the space for that much traffic, and that's about where the car quit. Just died. I had to pump the brakes feverishly to not hit someone, and then try to push the car off onto a side street. This was a one-lane road with traffic in both directions, and people were honking and gesticulating at me to get out of their way...as I'm PUSHING MY CAR. Finally an old man helped me, and then a guy got off his motorcycle and between us we got it onto the curb. Naturally I hadn't put my cellphone back in my purse after returning to Greece, so I had to walk .5 mile to the major street, with Mal, in the 100 degree sun, to try to get a taxi. About 14 refused to pick me up, as it's not convenient to get to my neighborhood. I gave the 15th a nice tip, and Mallory (standing on my lap, as no car seat) made friends with all the people in cars next to us, who smiled and waved back at him.
So the rest of my day involved getting the car towed, taxiing back to it and back home, paying a lot of cash for the towing, and generally not getting groceries. All with a jet-lagging baby.
REALLY looking forward to going into work tomorrow, where it's safe and calm.
