Ok, so I've been absent from this spot for a bit. I was busy seeing new parts of Italy and then trying to get some work done at my house before heading back to India.
I'm planning on writing about the Italy trip, so check back here often because you never know when I'll actually write something witty.
Here are some random stories:
After coming home on 9/11, I quickly turned around and flew back to Europe. I get onto my flight to Frankfurt and quickly discover that my seat has no working audio, video or overhead light. I've come to expect this of United, since they seem to be postponing their inevitable demise. I made a point of telling the flight attendant, who summoned the purser. What the hell is a purser anyway? Just reminds me of Gopher from the Love Boat. She was nice and said it'd had been reported but clearly not fixed. She offered to move an employee who was flying in Business, but I said no need. I was going to sleep and never listened to the music they offered. Mainly because it usually sucks. United did surprise me by sending me a $400 travel voucher for my inconvenience. Nice effort, but maybe you should spend the $$$ on fixing up your planes.
I lost my boarding passes (with the paper tickets attached) in the Rome airport and had to pay 100 euros to get it reissued. I think I've only had paper tickets two times in the last ten years, so I wasn't concerned about sticking the boarding passes in my rear pocket. Of course they fell out and we couldn't find them. I made sure to stick the tickets in my front pocket after that.
I then had a nun, a nun!, cut in front of me in the security line. What was I supposed to do? I ended up helping her load her bag into the xray machine. She said "God bless you" and I thought to myself "Sister, if you only knew..."
The connection in Frankfurt was supposed to be more than enough to accommodate the flight to DC. Of course Lufthansa kept us sitting on the plane in Rome for an hour without explanation. When we landed in Frankfurt, it was a mad sprint to the terminal, two security checks, and our plane. I was shocked that United was holding for us, but there were.
When I got home, I met friends at one of our local watering holes. As I left that night, the valet said "Last time you were here you tipped me in rupees. Rupees don't help me here." I asked him how much I'd given him and he said "500 rupees." Now that is about $11, so I told him I overtipped! I did offer to trade him some US dollars next time I stop by. He still didn't seem all that happy, but I wasn't going to tip him twice in the same night and still not get my rupees back.
