MUPGT Transistions As Well

It is Saturday, January 24. I have been scheduled to fly to Ghana. All the prior week, there has been talk of the horrible winter storm that would stretch from my home of Albuquerque, all through the south and south east going up the East Coast including my stepping off point across the Atlantic, Washington, D.C. 

I spent numerous days tracking the projected weather for each of the three cities I would be transiting through, Albuquerque, Denver, and Washington. The information was consistent. I should be able to slip through before things got bad anywhere I was headed. The airline was offering to allow me to change my flight. I thought about leaving a day earlier but finally decided that I was content to go with my original plan and whatever would happen would happen. 

I woke up the morning of the 24th and no, there was no bad weather event yet in Albuquerque. Just some light rain. My Uber got to the airport in normal time and I checked through without problem. We had a slight delay taking off but I was in Denver with plenty of time for my next flight. It was very cold in Denver but nothing that was delaying flights. We arrived in DC on time. 

Then things started to go slightly sideways. Our flight to Accra, Ghana was listed as delayed due to mechanical problems. We were to take off at 6:30pm while the snow was scheduled to start at 11:00pm. By the time, we boarded and were ready to push back, it was now 7:30pm. We push back and now we wait quite awhile. The Captain comes on and says there are a couple more mechanical things showing up. They are going to need to go back to the gate and have mechanics come on board. 

This is done and another hour passes. During all this, I decide it is an excellent time to see if my practices related to gratitude were actually going to manifest in this rather stressful time. I can't say I didn't have negative thoughts like, "What if the crew times out and I get trapped in Dulles Airport during the winter storm and can't get out for days," But I didn't obsess on them. I reminded myself of all the great things I've experienced by being willing travel. 

The mechanical issue is resolved. But evidently a passenger decided to get off the plane. They need to find the person's bag which requires unloading most of the baggage containers then reloading and re-balancing them. It is another hour before this is achieved. But we do get out before any of the bad weather hits. 

As we are taking off, to my surprise the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel manifests before me.

"What the hell de-I! This was an opportunity for an epic battle. I throw all kinds of things and you and you just, just, I mean just paid no attention. What kind of way is that to fight?"

I tried to explain to the perpetually youthful demi-diety of travel mayhem my attempt to be in a place of gratitude in my life. 

"Well that's all fine and well mortal, but I think you are being really selfish. I really do. What if everyone started acting like you? What would be left for a demi-diety like me to do?

"Well MUPGT I haven't exactly abandoned you completely. Did you hear about your new neighbor on the lower slopes of Olympus?"

"Ya there was some noise about a new demi-diety.'

"Yes the Magical Sales Manager Goddess of Grapenuts."

"Pathetic. What are they doing to the demi-diety business anyhow allowing these parvenus in."

"Well my horned equine nemesis, that parvenu demi-diety is my daughter who I secured a promotion. AND she and her family have just committed to really upping their travel game."

I could see MUPGT brain whirling. A relative of de-I. Traveling a lot. And a fellow demi-diety. How much fun will that be.

 "Okay de-I I take it back. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. But I'm still going to throw at you an incredibly turbulent flight. I mean, I still have to do what I do."

"I would expect no less."

The flight was very turbulent. I watched the wine in my glass sloshing side to side, going over and soaking the tablecloth underneath, something I've never experienced before. But I was grateful to still be traveling, to still be able to enjoy this special thing in my life.   

Yes! We Are An Incredibly Serious Family

 I am sure that many of you when you read my posts related to the family and their visiting might think we are bit less than serious. YOU WOULD BE WRONG. We are a serious and sober family. Cotton Mather and Massachusetts Puritans would feel frivolous compared to the de-I/Wife clan. Even though the #3 arm of the clan is in Sweden, we often have very engaged and deeply thoughtful text chats. Here is an only very slightly edited version of one that took place just this morning related to daughter #3's love for the breakfast cereal, Grapenuts, which she sadly cannot find in Sweden.

3.1 - Mom we have constructed your perfect burger: lettuce or two thin slices of brown bread with stuff in it for burger bun, a two Patty burger with one being halloumi and the other a bean patty, with mushrooms, tomatoes. Onion, aubergine and broccoli, with a side of a salad WITH Dutch frieten and mayo and your dessert is Grapenuts DQ

 

3A - The burger would be 50%+ broccoli though. And, we are not sure if there would be more Grapenuts than ice cream in the DQ dessert

 

de-I - Is this something that has actually been achieved or will be achieved soon. Or is this a theoretical construct

 

3.1 - Theoretical, for now…Until mom sees it of course.

 

#3 - I will bring Grapenuts next time to DQ...

 

3.2 – 3.1, are you offering to make it?

 

de-I -Yes Yes Yes. It must be done now 3.1!

 

3A - Don't force them to tap the NO GRAPE NUTS!! sign again

 

#3 - *sigh* if only extra Grapenuts were an option every where

 

3.2 - I'm looking at you Burger King!!!!

 

de-I - If Grapenuts were everywhere we would end up with things like frieten with Grapenuts mayo, Grapenuts Potato Salad, and our pizza would come with a packet of Grapenuts to sprinkle over each slice. Best the remain a hard to find US breakfast food

 

3.2 - Personally I think that mom would love if the world was taken over by Grapenuts.....Buuuut from a health standpoint maybe its best if Grapenuts aren't everywhere

 

de-I - If you could find something that would bind Grapenuts together, you could form a statue based on your Mother’s image and it would become the goddess of the Grapenuts cult! 😃

 

3.2 - Whose gonna provide the Grapenuts tho? You think I'm made of Grapenuts?

 

de-I - I will. I will bring them in September. We will have to hide them from Mums or she will eat them before you can create the idol.

de-I - You should be honored that you are deified as their cult Goddess. This will entitle you to rent a place on the lowest slum slopes of Mount Olympus where the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel resides. Then you could become the Magical Sales Manager Goddess of Grapenuts!

 

#3 - 🤩, MSMGG! Has a nice ring to it.

 

de-I - I’m telling you deification has a lot of upsides

 

#3 - All of this just makes me want Grapenuts

 

3.2 - Are we supposed to be learning of this? Or is it a secret cult?

 

de-I - Well as one of the cult founders you kind of need to know. How can you sculpt the idol of the demi-Goddess if you are unaware of the cult?

 

#3 - OMG marshmallow cereal treats made of Grapenuts!! Birthday cake sorted 3.2

 

de-I – 3.2, The Magical Sales Manager Goddess of Grapenuts speaks!

 

3.2 - WHAT??? NO!!!!

 And thus do we as a family deal with the true and deep issues of the day.

 

 

Aftermath - What Life Is LIke Once Vikings Escape

Having the Viking Expeditionary Force from Sweden fulfilled one of my great dreams as the founder and manager of de-I Sandia Outfitters Albuquerque Resort and Penal Colony. Namely having an Entire Family at my beck and call! How Cool Is That! The Elders knew they had to get up early every morning and have my coffee prepared for me. The Youngers were sent into the kitchen to do all kinds of labor intensive food preparation. The Elders were commanded by Wife to replant an ENTIRE GROWN TREE. Finally the Norse Warriors had had enough and tried to escape, only to find that de-I had conspired with the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel to have their plane delayed. They had to remain another whole day and thoroughly clean the facility before we allowed them to finally go. Of course, I asked if they had had a good time despite having been put into virtual slavery and reminded them to put a good review up on Google. As 3.2 said, "No problem de-I, we Vikings are used to being slaves." These are the kind of guests that make running Sandia Outfitters worthwhile. 

Okay...Now the Serious Part

It was totally lovely having family with us. I was really quite amazed at how well we all got along. Anytime you have family groups together for long periods it can be difficult. Different habits. Different patterns, But all-in-all, it worked out just fine. I think it helps that the house is large enough that everyone can have a place to be alone.

And we got to have family for the holiday. We even did our whole holiday festivities early to take advantage of everyone being here. The #3's were a huge help, doing all kinds of work helping set-up and take down Christmas decorations, helping us with things that needed to be done around the house. 

Seriously 3.1 and 3.2 did major work in the kitchen. 3.1 did a ton of the work for the Christmas goodie making as 3.2 got sick and the adults all had other things that needed to be done that day. 

Then there was the 'RAVIOLI EPISODE'. The one thing 3.1 and 3.2 said they wanted to try was making Ravioli from scratch. So that we did.

 Viking Warriors Realizing the Reality of the Their Captivity

 Making the sheets for filled requires more precision that regular homemade pasta

It took a couple of tries before we got the knack of the technique

Not so good

 Better

 

 Seeking perfection despite harassment

 Finished product

 Aftermath

They cooked up fine. We discovered that despite all the effort, there were not enough to feed everyone so we made additional pasta and sauced it with the filling material of which we had a lot leftover. The general consensus...they were okay, not great. Even though we rolled out the pasta sheets to the thinnest setting, the pasta still seemed to overpower the filling. And, as a number of us commented (me included), we don't actually like ravioli that much. An interesting experiment that will not be repeated. 

Being gluttons for punishment, only days later we were at it again making Lasagna for our 'early Christmas' dinner. I totally stuck to my traditional recipe devised decades ago in the 70's.

It came out extremely good.

 

 

 It was finally time to release the VEFS. We need them to be strong next year to continue the Re-reconquista.

3.2 giving me a goodbye squeeze, asking me to explain the Stockholm Syndrome as she is looking forward to returning.

 

 And I look mournfully at the place where my coffee has been made for over 10 days and realize I am going to have to make my own.

Eldership 2025 Spain - The Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel Takes on de-I & the VEFS

Up on the very lowest slopes of Mount Olympus, barely acceptable to any deity, no matter how lowly, the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel (MUPGT) resides. She looks down on the world  of travel, seeking opportunities to sow mischief. She is a bit bored. She really didn't have much to do with the shutdown of the U.S. government though it has certainly caused plenty of chances for travel chaos. She is old school. She relishes the more personal travel disruption interaction. Call it the clash of heroes from the classic Greek literature. 

Ah! What is this she spies. It is one of her favorite foes, de-Intimidator. He's getting ready to go to the Alicante airport evidently to return some mercenaries he hired to do some dirty deed. Since he is not himself flying, he will never be suspecting a bit of torment from MUPGT. That will be his misfortune.

Wife and I, Wednesday morning had the VEFS crew up and ready to head to the airport. We set off with plenty of time. It is hard to believe that the fearsome Vikings 3.1 and 3.2 have to fly as unaccompanied minors. This is always a bit of a pain at the airport but something we have dealt with numerous times.

We know our way to the airport quite well now. Many of our day trips have gone right by it. As we get to the exit off the highway, however, the traffic is completely backed up. Fortunately, I see vehicles pulling out of line and determine there is a breakdown in front of us. We've lost some time but not that much.

Now we head into the airport. We know where to go to park. Well we should know. For some reason, Wife and I miss the turn (which is for arrivals and then to the parking garage) and go to departures. What the @!%$. This is terra incognita for us. There is a HUGE back up. Turns out the only way through is to go through an express parking area. You get a ticket. Enter. It is a single lane. THEN you have to wait as cars BACK INTO DIAGONAL PARKING PLACES. Crazy. This takes valuable time. I can hear a snickering from the ether. I have suspicion. We finally get through, Exit and go around the airport, reenter and park where we should. 

Now we go to our airline (Norwegian of course for Vikings) to check-in and do the unaccompanied minor thing. The line is long but not too long. But there are some people ahead who have some issues and are taking a lot of time. By the time we get to the agent it is 45 minutes before boarding. In fact, we are a few minutes later than that. We know this because the agent says we were to be there 45 minutes ahead of time and the Vikings' reservations have been deleted. (Uproarious laughter on lower slopes of Olympus.)

Wife calmly says we were in line in plenty of time and cannot control someone ahead of us having a problem. The agent reluctantly acquiesces. She calls her supervisor and they reinstate 3.1 & 3.2. (Humph of disapproval on Olympus). BUT, the agent says, "Do you have the special form for each Viking that has to be filled out in duplicate?" #3 never told us of any forms (she says she checked on their website and there is no mention of it). The agent gives us the forms that we now need all of us to fill out as it requires information only known to the Vikings as well as our own. (Equine smirking..."Time is running out de-I"). 

We finally get the forms completed. Boarding passes and passes for Wife and I are provided. They tell us they've called the gate but we need to not tarry. Well conditioned from following the Vikings around their conquests, Wife and I hustle with them to security. Wife puts down her pass on the reader to gain entry. In she goes. 3.1 does the same. Nothing. Multiple tries. Nothing. 3.2 tries. Nothing. The security person tells us we need to go back to the check in counter to see what the problem is with our the boarding passes. (Raucous demi-deity laughter wafts over the supernatural communication pathway. "You will never make it now de-I.)

Back to the check-in counter. Wife is having nothing to do with lines and just muscles her way back to the agent (even the Vikings are impressed with this martial prowess...MUPGT, not so happy). The agent realizes she gave 3.1. and 3.2 the old arriving boarding passes, not the new ones. Updated boarding passes in hand, it is back to security. In go 3.1 & 3.2. But now Wife's entry pass isn't working. Since she used it once to get in, it is no longer valid. Wife talks the security agent into letting us all through.

(What the &@#!$ MUGPT shouts with dismay!)

Boarding has already started. We have to go through a huge long shopping arcade (typical of international airports) before we get to the gates. But the Vikings gate is the very first one. And unaccompanied minors are the last to board. We even have time to quickly get a drink for the two warriors. 

 

"You haven't heard the last from us Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel! We are Vikings and know plenty of good recipes for Grilled Unicorn."

Reflections On The Magical Unicorn Pony God Of Travel

It is quite amazing the mind's ability to forget about pain. My flights to and from Ghana were reasonably smooth. Going out, there was a delay with the last flight from Washington to Ghana. That led to a long delay in getting my luggage when I arrived. But in the whole scheme of things, it wasn't a big deal. On the return, my flight back to Albuquerque from Washington was delayed as well. But again, that wasn't a big deal actually. 

So my mind was thinking, "Oh does each traveler have their own personal incarnation of the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel?" Does it age as you do so its abilities are lessened? I was going to write a whole post on this phenomenon. 

Then I decided I should go back and check the archives of posts related to MUPGT.

Oops. 

Am I getting dementia? Since 2022, there has been a non-stop series of battles with MUPGT. All the chaos in Ghana. Wife's security ordeal going to Amsterdam. Getting from Alicante to Copenhagen. Epic trying to get to Malaysia. 54 hours trying to get from Ghana to New Mexico.

Now instead of feeling mellow and complacent, I'm wondering what battle awaits us the next time we travel. 

Europe Fall 2024 - First Stop Amsterdam

We've found when we have multiple legs of a trip in a regions (Europe, East Asia, SE Asia, etc.), that you have more options and get better pricing when you fly round trip from the U.S. to a major hub in the area you're visiting to begin and end your trip. Then you can take short-haul flights to get you between wherever you ultimately want to be spending your time, usually more effectively for your schedule and more cost-efficiently as well. When doing our initial research, a flight in and out of Amsterdam made the most sense and allowed us to fit in our couple of days of nostalgia.

On Tuesday morning we got to the airport in plenty of time, and checked in without problem. However, the dear Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel still had a few more tricks for us before we finally got to our destination. We're going through the TSA Pre security check and Wife's passport is denied. They ask for her driver's license. That's denied too. What the &$@!#? We're told we have to go back to the airline check-in to figure things out.

Thank goodness we have status and are going through the priority line at the airline. They look at Wife's check-in profile and all the information in it is MINE! How did that happen? Why wasn't it seen when we checked in online or when we dropped our bags off? The agent puts in the correct information. Back up to Security. Nope. It's still rejecting Wife's information. The agent calls in a superior who goes off somewhere while we wait and wait, thanking the stars we came to the airport early. Finally he comes back and says Wife's basic information is correct but her PASS ID number is incorrect (or not present) so she cannot go through the TSA Pre line. She has to go through the regular security line. If you know Wife, you know she is royally pissed. Thank goodness the TSA senior agent says he'll bring her to the front of the line. 

That ordeal over, before we board our flight, the airline agents at the gate call us up. Yup. The information on Wife's record is wrong. They scan in her passport (yet again) and we can board the plane. Our flight to Salt Lake City and transfer to our 10 hour flight to Amsterdam go smoothly. All is well until a couple of hours before we land. I need to dab some saline gel on my nose to keep it moist. I barely touch the nose and it starts bleeding again. Just as fast as before. 

Fortunately, I know the drill now. I have a spare clamp I brought from the emergency room and I'm using it, tissue and my hands to apply pressure. This I do for the rest of the flight, all the way through getting through the airport, and getting to our hotel. Roughly three hours in all. It's stressful and uncomfortable. (Try not breathing through your nose for an extended period of time. You feel like you have emphysema.) One of the attendants on the flight told me she has had this kind of problem for years because of the dryness of the air in airplanes. 

Finally getting to the hotel, I took the clamp off and found the bleeding had stopped. We were both pretty exhausted and kind of collapsed. 

Around The World In 72 Days - The Close, Home

We didn't quite make it 72 days. 

We got home on Monday afternoon. We canceled the last part of our stay, another beach resort based on not wanting to take another chance on a facility I had only researched online. 

The flight home was uneventful. But whatever Ghanaian travel god subsidiary of MUPGT was stalking us while there had one last trick up their sleeve.

I go online to order an Uber. It won't take the credit card that is attached to the account. The message is "your balance is too low". What? It's a credit card, not a debit card. I book again with with the alternate card on tohe account. It says the bank has refused the charge. What? I'm going to have to enter a new credit card. It succeeds but in the mean time the price went up 110%! I'm too tired to fight this and a cab would be just as much.

Getting into the Uber, it's hot. Wife asks the driver to turn on the a/c. He claims he doesn't understand English. Then he tells us it's broken. He drives home at under the speed limit with his car shaking like there is a problem with the front end. Getting home, he refuses to get out and help us with his bags. I retaliate and don't shut his trunk as we roll the bags up to the house.

But, we get in the door, our house sitter put on the coolers for us. We're home. The saga is over. 

Around The World In 72 Days - MUPGT Revenge Ghana Style

Our travel ordeals continue. Clearly the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel has a special acolyte deity in training who specializes in Ghana. Our plans for yesterday were to fly from the coastal city of Takoradi to the old Ashanti Ghana Kingdom capital of Kumasi via a plane change in Accra. Takoradi iairport is tiny and located within an Air Force base. Evidently few if any do a connection on Africa World Airlines because the person doing our ticket initially had us only going to Accra and not on to Kumasi. They finally told us we had to exit in Accra and get some kind of stamp on our boarding pass to go to the next flight.

The flight to Accra was smooth. The domestic terminal in Accra airport is old and there is no way to get from arrivals to departures without going outside and climbing the roadway ramp. It was pretty quiet inside. We go to the ticket counter where they tell us, "Your flight has been canceled. Go over there to rebook." We know where 'there' is as that was what we had to do when we missed the outgoing flight. There was a big group with just two people working the rebookings. We were told our first available option out was the next day in the afternoon. 

Wife and I agonized over what to do. We talked with our local team. There was consideration of getting a car and driving up. Or taking an executive bus. But the team discouraged us from his as it was already late in the afternoon and the road is rough. We ultimately decided to drive but wait until the next day (today). That meant loosing a night with our rental in Kumasi and getting another hotel in Accra. 

The drive takes five hours and it is a rough five hours. We're exhausted when we arrive. Thankfully, our local contact was here waiting for us and the apartment we are renting is nice.

We're supposed to fly back on Saturday and have already paid for it.  Do we take a chance with AWA again? Or do we pay a lot more and subject ourselves to the long, hard drive?

Around The World In 72 Days - From Accra To Western Region - A Magical Unicorn Pony God Of Travel Adventure

It has been a LONG TIME since de-I linked horns in battle with the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel (for new followers, MUPGT is one of those demi-deities in charge of various things in daily life that if you don't placate, will do you in. You know like the micro gods that hid your belonging when you most need them, the nano deity that causes you to stain your shirt or blouse just before a big meeting. Those ones). Long-time readers know that as I transitioned out of full-time work into whatever we call my life now, the intense business oriented travel withered. Leisure travel (in general) does not create the same demands for having to be places at specific times. You have more time to go with the flow. That doesn't mean that there are not times when the deity decides it is time to shake you out of your complacency. 

Wednesday we were scheduled to leave Accra and go to the Western Region. There are a number of places we wanted visit. This would be my first extended time outside of the capital city area. We were packed up and ready to go at Noon time. Our flight is at 2:10. It should take 15 minutes to get to the airport. The terminal for local flights in Ghana is much less crowded than the international terminal. Our driver texts us that she has arrived. Then I looked out our apartment window and saw this totally black sky to east of us.  

By the time we get down to the lobby, there is a torrential downpour!

 

Our driver is texting that she hopes she and her car don't get blown away. It is 30 minutes before it finally slows enough for us to get our bags down, in the trunk, and we moving out. But that 15 minute trip? It now takes an hour due to accidents on the road due to the storm. This little airline closes its ticket counter 40 minutes before departure. We arrive 39 minutes before departure. Cut us some slack because of the storm? No way. We are sent to separate counter to purchase a ticket for the next available flight which is 2 and a half hours later. But no. At that counter they call the other counter. They tell us to go back. We can check in. We do that. But no. They tell usthey are closed. Go back and rebook. We finally do this. They extract more money from us. We are now on the 4:30 flight. 

We are first in line to check in. Thank goodness because checking in is incredibly inefficient. There is actually food on the other side of security. Now we wait. After about an hour we hear an announcement that the flight we were originally on is delayed because of the bad weather. "What! They didn't let us on the flight and it has been sitting around for hours!" We were not happy. Our original flight leaves about the time the new flight is supposed to leave. Then we're told our new flight will be even later because it is the same plane that goes back and forth from Accra to the western town of Takoradi. 

At about 6:15pm there is an announcement that our flight will now be leaving at 8pm (we will have a two hour drive after that!). At 6:30pm they start boarding our flight. Crazy. We finally make it to Takoradi a bit before 8pm. We haven't eaten for a long time and in Ghana it is hard to get food fast so we head out to our beach resort near the Cote d'Ivoire border. The roads are horrible. It is as bad as any road we've been on in our travels. 

We get to our destination at around 11pm. We called ahead and the owner (who is in the U.S.) got his people to make us some dinner. We get into our room. In our exhausted state, we are noticing this is nothing like we imagined. We're paying a lot for this. It seems yucky to even get in the bed. The sheets feel weird. The mattress is bigger than the box spring so you can't sit on the end of the bed. The bathroom door doesn't close. The sink faucet is loose and barely has any water pressure. The walls are stained. But we're so tired we just collapse. 

Getting up in the morning, there is no hot water. We're looking at this place and realize we're the only ones here. We decide we need to bail. We are looking at all kinds of options but our driver has requested we look at a place up the road which he says is the best in the area. We pack our things, put in our request for refund, and drive to this next option. It is definitely a nicer place. It's huge! They show us a room way out from the center that is fairly small. We are not interested. They show us a room right by the center that is way bigger and nicer. 

Going to the front desk they want way more than we're willing to pay. So we decide to drive back to Takoradi and see what we can find. But then our driver goes in and starts negotiating. He comes back and asks us what our budget is. We tell him. The deal is done!

We get some lunch at the bar. The bar is on a corner with sea breeze coming from three directions, It feels lovely and the ocean sound is relaxing. We are noticing this place looks deserted too. It takes a long time to get the food (it comes from the restaurant kitchen in another part of the complex) but it is good. We next do the touring that we had scheduled for the day. It too was good. Another whole post on that one. 

A nice hot shower, some after dinner drinks, and we are way, way better frames of mind than we were this morning.

Mostly Spain - But Not Completely - On to Copenhagen, Denmark Where MUPGT Intervenes

 It was not logistically possible to get the #3 family to visit us in Spain, and financially it was actually less expensive for us to fly to Denmark. Hence one of the reasons this is a 'mostly Spain trip. 

On Friday, we flew from Alicante to Copenhagen. It reminded us of our deep, deep love of the travel experience. 

Our flight was not terribly early in the morning but we needed to drop our rental car off and were going to an unknown airport. Plus we wanted time to get some breakfast. Our getting out of the apartment went smooth but as soon as we started our current GPS provider, Apple Maps (you will remember we've been changing them to find one that will give verbal instructions suddenly stopped talking.

Crap.

I mostly knew the way and was following the map display only when, I missed a turn because it had the exit number wrong. I am watching the display and it is not rerouting. I get off the highway, and find a place to stop. I realize Apple Maps is not connected at all to signal. I try Google Maps. Not signal either (the phone has plenty of signal and I have internet connection). I try Waze. No signal. Screwed! I have a paper map. It's not very detailed. But I can see we got off way before we should have. I think the GPS' last gasp was sending us to downtown Alicante, not the airport. One can hear the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel laughing her equine ass off.

I jump back in the car. Wife says she's getting signal. I try Waze and it connects. And it talks! We make it to the airport. We are running way later than expected. I don't have time to find a gas station. We will have to turn it in low on gas and take the hit on the exorbitant price of fuel from the rental car company. (In fact due to EEU regulations, we pay pretty much the same as if we bought it at the gas station!) We arrive at the rental car company just before 8am. No one is there. It doesn't open until 8am! I have to park in this tiny space and leave the key in the drop box. 

On to the main airport. Schlepping our bags we find we are at the total opposite end of where our airline checks in. Thankfully, it's line is very short. The airport is much larger than I thought and very crowded (it is the beginning of the season). The line for security, which is way back at where we started. It is very long. But it goes quickly. From this point on, things start going smoother. There are no problems to speak of until we arrive in Copenhagen. 

We get a taxi driver who seems to have no idea where #3 lives. It takes a long time to get to her apartment but essentially, it was not a hose job as far as cost. We were pretty tired when we arrived but so happy to be with #3, 3A, 3.1 and 3.2 again.

Win, Lose, Or Draw?

 So it's off to Ghana today. 

I am off with a very inauspicious start. Last night they predict snow to start in Albuquerque at just the time I am to be picked up by Uber to go to the airport. Knowing Albuquerque and snow, this leads to much angst about whether the ride will show up.

I slept well though and true to the prediction just before 5am the snow starts and it is coming down at a very respectable pace. But my driver arrives and is a bit early. He then stands and watches me schlepp all my bags down to the car (he did not back up into the driveway while the snow covers my bare head. I even had to put the bags in the trunk (no tip for this guy). The roads are really pretty slick but thankfully there are few cars on the road. He drives faster than I think is safe and ends up sliding through a couple of red lights. But thankfully, we get to the airport in good time. 

I get on the plane (the first of three). I am off to Atlanta, then New York City, and finally to Ghana. We are on board and the cockpit announces we will need to be de-iced. We are waiting and waiting but no de-icer. The captain says there is only one and we have to wait for it. It finally gets to us AND IT RUNS OUT OF FLUID! I can hear MUPGT laughing its horse-tailed ass off. We are an hour late. They are finally doing our plane. It is taking a long time. Our plane was out overnight and a heavy layer of ice built up on top of the plane. THEY HAVE RUN OUT OF FLUID AGAIN!

Others in the plane are frantically trying to make changes for the connections they are going to miss. I was supposed to be joining a meeting but that's not going to happen. It is two hours late. The captain (very nice, understanding, but nothing he can do actually) sadly tells us at the three hour mark they are legally required to return to the gate. Our airline asks another if their truck can come and help. SUCCESS. 

It is two and half hours late. We finally takeoff. When we arrive I am at a far end of the airport, about as far away as one can get in gigantic Atlanta airport. I finally make it to where my gate is and go into the airline lounge BECAUSE I STILL HAVE FOUR HOURS WAIT. My layover in Atlanta was originally nearly seven hours. 

So despite all the Pony God with Horns of Travel did, it meant nothing to me. 

And I made the last half of the meeting.

Malaysia 2022/23 - #1 - Getting There

We are well into day three of this epic trip to Malaysia. Truthfully, that was not exactly our plan, to have an epic trip I mean. The original design was we would have a relatively mellow trip working out a base of operations. I am sure those who are devoted follows of the travels of de-I and Wife are astonished that things did not unfold exactly according to plan. I say that tongue in cheek as the unexpected seems to be our regular traveling companion (perhaps there is a Mystic Pegasus Mare Goddess of Travel Planning Disruption?).

As you know from my previous post, our trip began with an immediate encounter with the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel and a full one day delay to our start. Day two began with not only few problems but with resolution to some travel related issues from the day before. We were able to get boarding passes with seats assigned on our two, rescheduled All Nippon Airways flights. We were smart enough to go to the ANA gate desk early, as my gut told me there would be additional document checks. In fact the gate agent said, "Oh Mr. de-I we were waiting for you from yesterday." She also got us seats together which we didn't have before.

We were a bit late taking off for the 14 hour flight but had plenty of time to make our connection. This flight to Kuala Lumpur was almost 8 hours and left at midnight. Well, MUPGT had one more annoying trick. We pushed back from the gate and were hit with a two hour delay because the number of bags on the plain didn't match the number checked. Of course we only hear of this at the end. The flight attendants give detailed notices on what's happening, talking for five minutes - in Japanese. Then the English version comes and its 10 words which communicate virtually nothing. We finally found out that the number of bags loaded did not match the number that had been checked-in. So they evidently had to unload them all and recount them. 

We arrived at Kuala Lumpu International Airport without further delay. Coming in from the airport, I had forgotten how big and modern this airport was. Finding our driver was no problem and we set off for Melaka, around an hour and 45 minutes. But we need to get some kind of provisions, so we kind of talk our driver (he is just an airport transfer driver) into dropping our bags off at the house and then taking us to a supermarket. It takes an hour in the supermarket. We are really spacey. 

Then we get to the house and we are dealing with all the issues associated with coming to any new place except there are more issues because this is Asia and the place is oriented towards Asians (surprise!) like there are no butter knives, but plenty of chopsticks. I will get more into interesting aspects of the house and neighborhood in the next post. 

We bought some ready to eat food from the supermarket. We had some issues with hot water (more on that next post too). But finally had eaten and then showered. We both crashed at around 7pm. 

But we are finally here.

I Miss You Too MUPGT

Everything packed. Uber ordered and on time. Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel onboard. Check.

Wait. You are a new reader? You don't know who the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel is? Let me educate you. 

We are all aware of the major deities - Sun God, War God, God of Love, etc. But there are a host of minor deities that govern multitudes of daily life. I was introduced to the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel (MUPGT for short) by daughter #3 about the time I started writing this blog 16 years ago. As a veteran road warrior, I had always felt there were some powers at work trying to disrupt your smooth flow of travel. It didn't make sense that the disruptive situations one ran into would be just random. There HAD TO BE some deeper more malevolent force at work. 

Once I recognized and acknowledged this minor, pain-in-the-ass dealing deity, I truly became the road warrior. Disruptions were not to be passively accepted. It was de-I, road warrior sworn foe to the MUPGT, her nemesis, and she was mine. Oh, the incredible battles we had. She would throw up natural events, mechanical events, people events. I would fight back with my knowledge of the air transportation system, rebooking, running on standby, pulling my luggage off of planes at the last moment to avoid them being sent to Uzbekistan when your plane was rerouted. 

When I transitioned into semi-retirement mostly traveling for fun, the intensity of the battle dropped off. For many years, travel was pretty tranquil. We were like old adversaries now reminiscing about old times. But the Covid world changes to air travel have made it too tempting for MUPGT and she has reentered the lists big time.

Recently my battles with her have been through the mechanism of airline schedule changes. This is what happened on our return from Sicily. It is very clever of the horned travel tormentor to just screw up scheduling in order to wreak havoc. But she is not against the direct battle either.

Just as we are ready to go out the door in our Uber, the text message comes in. Your first flight will be 35 minutes late. We only have 70 minutes between flights. That will be cutting it way close. The road warrior knows you never wait to see how it will unfold. You don't try to make the change at the airport. You call (not get online, you call) your airlines customer service number as soon as possible and see what options you have. If you are have been wise to get status on an airline, that will give you a leg up. 

I am trying to do this as we are manhandling the bags into the Uber. Of course the first call gets disconnected. We also find there is a huge back-up on the highway to the airport. But veterans as we are, that hardly fazes us as we exit and take one of the alternative routes. I call again. I get some one who is clearly inexperienced. They tell me there aren't any options. Now we are at the airport. The check-in desk, as expected is not much help. 

We get through security and buy some lunch. Then the next automated update (one can hear the crude unicorn disrupter e-snickering as the text comes in). Our flight is further delayed. Now we absolutely cannot make our connection. In many ways this is good as far as rebooking because in the airline's eyes now something has to be done. 

On the phone again. Score. An experience rep based her in the U.S. who knows the system. We come up with two options. One is would allow us to keep going as we are now but is really dreadful in terms of additional flights, layover lengths, total amount of travel, and wretched arrival time. The other is to just go home, start over tomorrow with the only change in itinerary leaving earlier so if there is a problem from here to our first stop, we have plenty of time. We took that one.

We then had to figure out how to get our bags that had been checked back. That took a good while talking to three different airline people. I closed off the battle day spending an hour and forty five minutes on hold with All Nippon Airlines so I could get new seat assignments only to find you can't do it the day before the flight. It's done at the gate.

Well enough travel battles for today. I am taking a nap and relaxing until we pickup the sword tomorrow.

MUPGT False Alarm - But We Are Put On Notice

 Because of the high price of airfare this year, when we made our reservations to fly to Sicily I was forced to do the trick of booking the international leg starting from a hub city (Chicago), and a separate ticket to get to the Hub. I had done this like six months ago. In between there had been multiple changes in the airline schedule getting to and from Chicago. I even had to change airlines and rebook to accommodate these changes. But at least, I was on one airline (United) even if it was two separate flights and I had to collect luggage, recheck luggage and go through security again in Chicago.

Our flight was from Albuquerque to Denver, changing planes in Denver, going on to Chicago. The airline apps now have a feature where you can track your luggage. Doing so while in the plane waiting to take off, I could see that one of our bags was not supposed to be loaded on the plane. I kept waiting for it to show up. Finally, as we were pushing back from the gate, I asked a flight attendant "How accurate are these apps?" "Oh, very was the reply." "Well", I said to myself, "if that's the case, I'm screwed. I can here the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel snickering in the distance. If I arrive in Chicago, the luggage isn't there, how are they going to send it on when the next flight is booked on a different ticket?

Then we stop taxiing and come back to the gate. They say that the weight and balance on the plane is wrong and they have to correct it before they take off. I've never seen anything like that on a big plane like we were flying (a Boeing 777).

Well, there is nothing we can do about it, so it is off to Chicago we go. Of course, our bags were there just fine. Wife is convinced they went back to the gate in Denver because they realized they had missed a bunch of bags. Whatever, we are in Chicago and headed to Munich next.

Eldership Ready For Takeoff

 Our intrepid crew of two Elder Fleet officers (and enlisted people as we do everything) have all loaded and ready to go for the great Cefalú, Sicily colonization adventure. Eldership Fleet Command is anxious to to get data on the longest stay in one place ever attempted.

Packing is complete with everything loaded from underwear to tripod to microwave popcorn (don't ask). We have placed our bets on Uber reservation - will they actually show up at 5:15 as reserved? I don't know. History says the odds are 50-50. 

The Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel has already announced it is on the field and ready to engage. We fly to Munich, Germany arriving Saturday to fly on to Palermo, Italy. On Friday the Lufthansa pilots are going on strike for 24 hours. Will it be over by the time we arrive? Who knows. 

Let the travel adventures begin.

The Laugh Of Vengence

I spoke way too soon about MUPGT having simply gone through the motions of interrupting my travel. For, in the event, getting home incurred yet a number of new major delays, and rebooking. Instead of going to New York, I was routed through Amsterdam. My next flight was going to be five-hours late causing me to miss my connection. I changed flights again now going through Atlanta. Actually, I have been pretty proud of myself, that my knowledge of how to communicate with and work the airline reservations systems during times of crisis had come back to me easily.

Finally, at the end of Monday, almost the start of Tuesday, I got home a full 54 hours from when I should have started my return trip. Unfortunately, all the changes I made caused my bags to do their own layover in Amsterdam. It is a day after I have arrived and the bags are still making their way to me. 

But the important thing is I did get back safe and sound.

Aged Rockers - A de-I/Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel Revival

 If you are older than 25, you have had the experience of that group you loved years ago doing some sort of reunion concert or tour. If you are an old, old rocker, you have the agony of watching these fellow overweight, sagging geezers, who used to be the hot stars, trying to revive their past (in many cases because they've mismanaged their money). 

I have long suspected that the supernatural powers that control the demi-deities of frustrating human existence actually make individual avatars of the master dem-deity for each human. Hence the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel that was first identified by daughter #3 about 15-years ago, is in fact not the same entity that has been the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel with whom I have faced off. 

I have previously noted that it seems like the fire of our battles are a mere shadow of what they were in their prime. Hence, when I saw that the weather was going to be terrible in the Northeast US where I needed to fly on Saturday night, I was not surprised when I got messages from Delta airlines that my flight had been canceled.

There are not a whole lot of ways to get from Accra, Ghana back to the US on any one given airline. Plus I had issues like my Covid test expiring before I could leave, where I would stay, etc., etc. All the kind of things that my worthy foe MUPGT would be gloating over. In the even, it really didn't take all that long to rebook a flight and I was able to get another test, and stay in the same apartment for a day. It all had this feel, as I mentioned above, of MUPGT and I just going through the motions for old times sake. 

But to be honest. I am just as glad to not have all the drama. Hopefully will be home by Monday night.

Sicily 2021 #26 - MUPGT In Covid Form Overcome & Naxos Pizza

Could all things associated to the issues associated with traveling in the Covid Era be attributed to the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel? Or does she have some minion like the Paranormal Pegasus Foal Diety of Pandemics? I don't know. I don't care. Well, that's a total and complete lie. I care a lot. BECAUSE EVERY FREAKING TRIP I TAKE INVOLVES SOME KIND OF STRESS RELATED TO THE COVID TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS!

As usual, there is a Covid test (mercifully a rapid antigen test) required for vaccinated travelers to return to the U.S. In a tourist area like Taormina, you can be sure that they know and understand this. Sure enough an internet search (Not a Google Search Damn It - even if I did use Google 😟 - ) identified a lab. I was going to do the test on Thursday but realized that since the U.S. in its enlightened way allows you three business days rather than 72 hours before you travel (as almost all the rest of the world does) to have your test done, that we could do the test when we were already planning to be in Taormina...no special trip.

We found the lab without a problem. No one was there. We were taken care of right away. They told us we would get an email notification and could get the results online. 

Here is where I made two errors. First, I didn't ask when we could expect to get the results. Second, an alarm didn't go off in my head saying "Danger! Online notifications almost never work when you are in another country!" An antigen test is supposed to be ready in hours. Thursday comes and goes and there is no notification. I am sure we are going to have to go to the lab on Friday and see if we can get it in person (this is what happens to me every trip to Ghana). 

This morning, Friday, comes. It's pouring. I mean a deluge of rain. I have lost sleep over this worrying about what happens if for some reason the test results are lost and we have to do something the last minute. Now this. The thought of going up the winding mountain road and a long walk up hill in pouring rain to get to the lab and deal with the people with their limited English and our non-existent Italian is putting me in stress overload. Then I came up with an idea. What if I asked our condo hotel manager (remember this place is just about deserted at the moment) to help us. 

We go down and he says, "No problem. I will call them." He does. They go back and forth for a few moments. He tells us, "They are going to email them to me and I will print them out for you." Boom, five minutes later we have our Beautiful Negative Covid Tests in Italian and English. I am so incredibly grateful. One gets the impression this is NOT the first time this has happened with a guest or with the lab. The icing on the cake was we wanted a last pizza and he gave us a recommendation for a place in the next town over. 

A Pizza Story

 Our Pizza Maestro - There was just one guy in the little place and they were only doing takeaway

 Real Deal Brick Oven Fired by Wood

 

Don't think they are proud of this baby? This sign says, "This oven was made by the Master Nardino on the 24th of April 2019"

 

 Putting a Pizza together

We were so hungry by the time we got back to the condo, I forgot to take a completed picture before we ate a slice.

They were one of the best we've had. Only the pizza we had our first night in Catania was comparable (though the one's we brought back from the bakery in Siracusa were pretty good too!)

AH! But Wait! Pizza Action Films

Assembly

 

Into the oven - watch the save with the second pizza

Out they come

Final Prep

 

The rain had finally stopped and we went out our patio (barely used because of the bad weather) to take a couple of ocean pictures.

 

Sicily 2021 #10 - Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel, I See You Have NOT Forgotten Me

I am going to jump ahead. Yesterday was a chill day. We went back to the Ortigia area of Siracusa, had a lovely lunch and spent time in the afternoon just walking around with the family and doing photography. I will get pictures posted of that day when I get access to reasonable internet.

Today was a transit day. Originally we hoped to go from our rental (from hell) in the Siracusa area to one in the Palermo area on the other side of Sicily. But a mistake in the booking system led to us not being able to get to the new rental until Tuesday. We decided to stay for two nights and one day in the Agregento in the south of the island. Agregento is the gateway to the Valley of the Temples, one of the best sites for ancient Greek temples in the world.

 

The day started easy enough. We had a leisurely breakfast with the #3’s then both families got packed up and left, they for Catania to catch a plane back to Amsterdam and we off to Agrigento. The weather is projected to be extremely bad then next five to six days. But our drive to Agrigento except for heavy wind, was quite nice. We chose a longer route that took us all along the southern coast of Sicily.

 

It was amazingly agricultural. In fact this is something we’ve noticed almost everywhere we’ve gone here – the vast amount of agricultural activity that is taking place. The fields of plastic covered hot houses go for miles and miles. We stopped at one town and had a lovely dinner of pasta and fresh grilled fish. Then we headed for our destination.

 

I had realized that the B&B I selected was smack dab in the center of the old part of town. The old town being a medieval, mountain location. You know what that means. Lots of narrow, winding, steep streets. Fortunately, the GPS got us to our location with a minimum of fuss. The location of the B&B was not immediately apparent. A phone call got the manager coming out to bring us up and help with our bags. Here is where things started to go south.

 

We are going up the entrance to the small, old building. There are a lot of steps. I am thinking ‘this is not good for Wife…or me for that matter!’ Then we are shown our rooms. Now, I had made this reservations through Booking.com specifically because it said it had two rooms with a connecting bathroom. That’s perfect for Wife and I with our different sleeping requirements.

 

After I had made the reservation, I had gotten a note from the owner saying that it wasn’t exactly two rooms with an adjoining bathroom, but two rooms with a hallway leading to a bathroom. I had responded asking if that hallway was a public one leading to many rooms or a private one just for those two bedrooms. I was told it was private. Oh, and by the way, there is a third bedroom on that hallway but he promised me they would not put anyone in it. Hmm, I thought, I guess that would work for us.

 

In the event, we arrive and are told that actually there IS PEOPLE IN THE THIRD BEDROOM. And we will all be sharing this common bathroom. STOP. Not acceptable. The gentleman doing reception seems to have anticipated this. He was fully prepared for our reaction. I think he must of told the owner that he was trying to pull a fast one. Fortunately for us it wasn’t that late, around 5:30pm. The reception person found us another place down off the mountain in the beach area. He called and made sure they had rooms. He helped us with our bags. He was a real gentleman.

 

Of course, getting to the new hotel turned into a bit of a trial. The GPS took us to the back of the building and we didn’t realize it. So we spent several minutes wandering around narrow, windy roads until we finally found the entrance to the hotel which was somewhat hidden. By this time there are ominous, dark clouds rolling in. We get checked in. Our new reception person is incredibly helpful. The car park is across the street so not that easy to get to the car from the hotel building itself. As we settle into the room, the skies open up, thunder, lightning, a massive storm. We have lots of drinks and food in our car but aren’t going to brave the weather to get them. We are just happy that we got into a place, dry and warm that has an elevator and where we are not sharing a bathroom!

A Bumpy Takeoff

 I wouldn't exactly call it the return of the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel but the start of my flight back to Albuquerque was not exactly what I would call seamless either.

I was picked up at my rental apartment as usual by my long-time driver. It was raining and when it rains in Accra things can grind to a halt. We are not far from the airport but after about 5 minutes of driving, his car stops...an overheating problem. But he calls another vehicle from the airport taxi firm for which he works and it gets me to the airport. (Please understand that this is Ghana so when he calls his compatriot there are about 5 phone calls with all kinds of highly emotional descriptions of where the hell we are and why the hell can't he find us. This is pretty much the way directions for everything are given and received in Ghana).

I get to the airport a little later than I would have preferred and it is crowded. All my Covid required paperwork is in order but when I go through security they see this tiny scissors I use for my eyebrows. This is a significant security risk and must be confiscated (they were actually very apologetic about it). I'd already gone through passport control but because of the 'security violation' they checked my passport again. The guy checking it says, "You like Ghana a lot?" I don't think much about the question and say "Yes." He then asks why I was coming. Ah, now I get it. So I tell him I do charitable work. That seems to mollify him. However, it is a red flag that I'd better have my story straight for the next time. There is not particular category for charitable work on their entry form. I am on a tourist visa (with 5 years!) so I hope I don't have to change that.

Finally, I am getting onboard the plane and they stop me because when I checked in they failed to ask for one of the Covid required papers. 

After than things were fine. I'm in New York now. I have three more flights and 12 hours to go!