And ... Back to the Real World

We got in at 05:00, after nearly six hours of fidgety seat mates, screaming kids, and rude and inconsiderate people. But that's air travel, these days ... too many passengers for a given plane, seats too close together, and a generalized cattle car mentality that pervades everything about the experience.

Sigh ...

So we make the long walk from baggage claim to the long-term parking. In 43 degrees, with a light rain falling ... after 9 days in 82-degree weather ... in a t-shirt and sandals. Ah, well, that part's my own fault. At least I was wearing long pants. :)

We loaded the suitcases in the back of the truck. I grabbed for my wallet in preparation to pay for the parking space ... and no dice: the wallet's gone. A sense of unreality descends, as a look of horror grows on my wife's face. ("We have to call DMV, and the bank, and and and ..!")

I hopped in the truck anyway, and turned the key. It was a bit chilly, after all, so let's get some heat going, right?

It turned over once, and begins a soft clicking. Then the lights went out completely.


A guy who just pulled in offered a jump start, but then remembered his cables are in his other truck. Do I have any? Why yes, indeed. They are secure in the trunk of my wife's car. At home. Seven miles away.

Okay, then. My wife runs back inside to the baggage claim counter, and asks about the wallet. They call the plane, she tells them where we were sitting, and voila!, the wallet is under my seat. We're saved!

Well, almost.

She returns with the wallet while I call the taxi company for a jump start (yeah, they do that up here. Your mileage may vary).

The taxi jumps my truck, everything works, and the day is saved. I was so tired I hadn't either panicked at the wallet's loss, nor really gotten excited about its quick return.

But note that every obstacle was quickly overcome, without serious incident.

The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time. (Psalm 34:19)

We drove home, brought the bags inside, drank a pot of coffee with a quick breakfast, and went to bed for a couple of hours.

When I woke up, I went out and bought a new set of jumper cables for ye olde truck, along with summer wipers and gas. Now we're unpacking, doing laundry, and all the usual post-vacation things. Tomorrow we head back to work. (Insert sad face, here.)


Random note: after 9 days of posting and answering e-mails on an iPhone 5, the laptop appeared to be screaming at me. I had to reduce the font size.

First world problems, eh wot?