Back and Forth Across the Pond

Murphy’s Law typically exerts some influence on our activities, but it really outdid itself on our trip here to England. At first, I was amazed at how Murphy-free Wednesday was going. Budget had the rental car we reserved ready when Steve got there. Steve got home earlier than expected. I got all the important stuff done. All the cases were packed and under the 50-pound limit. We even got on the road to Orlando close to my ideal departure time. Thursday was a lot different. First, the alarm clock didn’t go off. Well, actually it did, but the buzzer wasn’t working. So the clock was silently screaming at us to get up at 3:30 a.m. Fortunately, Steve’s used to being up early and he awoke on his own as it approached 4 a.m. Then, on the way to the airport, Steve realized that we needed to add yet more fuel to the car. We had filled it up the night before, but the gas-gauge needle had slipped slightly below the full line. If we returned the car with less than a full tank, we’d be charged a re...

It figures it had to get hot today; the day I'm the busiest getting ready for our trip. The problem is we don't currently have a working a/c unit. Steve took it apart when the heater crapped out. He's put it back together for the a/c, but it wasn't blowing, so he had to figure out what was happening. He was going to work on it this past weekend, but the forecast for this week called for temps in the low 80s. The house usually stays ten degrees cooler than the outside, so I told Steve not to bother. Indoor temps in the low to mid-70s are fine. The forecast lied. It got into the low 90s today, which means the house got into the mid-80s. That's not fine. That's quite warm. Factor in all the running around I've been doing today and you have one very hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable person sitting here. Guess what Steve will be working on when we get home! Tomorrow afternoon we head to Orlando and then it's hello New York Thursday morning. The final preparation...