St. Sam to the Rescue (and Lucerne, Switzerland!)

Well fellow travelers, that was a close one!

            “What are you talking about Donny? Everything seems to be good!… well, at least for now!”

            To be honest this is quite embarrassing, but I need you all to thank my new best friend Sam L. for his fortuitous generosity.

                                    “Why Don, what happened?”

            It’s quite  a story and it goes like this:

It was a dark and stormy night.

Suddenly a shot rang out.

The Maid screamed.

That’s when I forgot what it was that I was doing…. oh right…. I was packing. I put my laptop into my carry-on where it fits nicely. I also started to put my camera in the same carry-on when I realized that I had left my extra battery and the charger at Centenary College where my granddaughter Maddie’s recital was a few days before. Oops! It is impossible to go for two weeks on one battery unless you take just ten very judicious photos a day!

                        After frantically trying to get a hold of someone at the College, I remembered that I had purchased a few after-market batteries and a bulk charger. They were stored under my bed in the “Photography Department”.

                        Now we are back at the optimal “Problem Factor Zero.”

            “Nice story Donny, but where does Sammy fit in?”

            That my friends is the best (?) part because if not for Sam, you all would not be receiving these Blog Posts at all! (And now it gets really embarrassing! )Ok, so the laptop fits very nicely in my carry-on and there is even enough room for the power cord and converter. There really is plenty of room there, but one needs to remember to put it in there otherwise that space gets filled up with socks as quick as you can say, “Power cord, we don’t need no stinkin’ power cord!”

                        We were sitting at our Gate when I started to re-arrange a few things and then it hit me. I broke out into a cold sweat and started murmuring incantations to the Power Cord gods in the hopes that something would make sense. My first thought was one of those Electronics accessory stores that are in the terminal.

                        Not a chance. They’re great if you’ve got an iPhone ☹

                        Then I thought…. Amazon! They’re worldwide!  I started to try and figure out how to get something delivered to a random hotel In Lucerne, Switzerland. I would have had better luck manufacturing one from scratch. Finally I looked at Maps and found out that there were numerous stores in Lake Lucerne that were computer stores. I let it go at that; fate would have to carry me from here. Well, little did I know Miss Fate was scheduled to board the plane next to ours and she was sitting somewhere nearby. On my way back to my seat (somewhat dejected) I spied a power cord that resembled a certain cord that was playing hooky back in the motorhome. I took a step closer, and the gentleman looked up with that look on his face that read, “Why in the name of all that’s electric are you staring at my power cord?” Quickly regaining my elated (but subdued at the same time) composure I explained my quandary.

                        “Would you like to borrow mine for a bit?” said the now infamous Sam.

                        Replying, I explained that I didn’t just need it for a quick charge, I needed it for it to go on a trip with me to Switzerland and not be back home for two weeks.  “Ok” was all Sam said, adding, “Why don’t you go and test it first and then we’ll talk.”

                        Hurriedly I scurried back to my seat and plugged it in. The telltale power light came on and so did my smile! Back to Sam the Great where I reported my findings, and offering to buy it from him, at this point it would have been at any price!

                        All he said was, “Just take it and when you get back to the States send it back to me.”

                        Two Major Moofalahs in one afternoon, turning into two Fortuitous Facets of Favoronics! 

                        On to the Flights!

                        The first one was a small regional jet, the seating being      in the two-by-two format. Of course it is summertime and what happens every day in the late afternoon….. yup, Thunderstorms. And what don’t planes like to fly through? Yup, the same. Now we had a two-hour “layover” in Toronto before the next and final leg, that of the flight to Zurich. Normally, or should I say, “Back in the day,” two hours was plenty of time between flights.

                                                Hah!

                                                Now two days seems more like in keeping in the Comfort Zone! (If you want to read a good one, go back in the Archives to February 3, 2020, and read “Is This Any Way To Run An Airline?” I do believe that you will be amused!  

                                    Whilst we were sitting impatiently on the tarmac Paula’s phone received a Notification from Air Canada Central indicating that our next Flight had been delayed also! Not to the extent of our present predicament, but it was able to give us back about 45 minutes of the time lost in Newark.

                                    Now we’re back to at least a fighting chance!

                        In the meantime my Overly Sensitive Brain When It Comes to My RLS began taking its toll on my psyche.  Mind you, this interference into a somewhat Normal State of Being Whilst Sitting in a Confined Situation has really nothing to do with the random Normalcy that others are engaged in in the rest of the plane.  When this Thing goes full on crazy it borders on a Trauma-Induced Session of Claustrophobia. To those of you who have spent more time with me than others, you know what I mean, and….. I apologize to you for those random getting’s up from the table to ‘stand’ or just ‘walk around a bit’. Now you can see why I have this fear of flying. It has nothing to do with being 37,000 feet in the air. It has everything to do with being unable to pull over to the side of a cloud and get out for a few minutes and relieve the worms that are attacking me from the insides of my legs.   

                        Someday there will be poster of me hanging in the Air Marshall’s Headquarters marking me as a ‘Person of Interest’. 

                        We finally get clearance to vamoose Newark and since I can’t remember much else, I’m assuming that I dozed on and off in some Xanax-induced naps accompanied by (as related by Paula) some fear-shaking snores that left close-by passengers wondering if there was something amiss with our aircraft.   

                        I awoke in time for a very nice, very professionally crafted, landing in Toronto which for the life of me cannot figure out how it received its 3-letter designating acronym of YYZ. I know that some airports enjoy the obvious, JFK for example. I can even figure out EWR for Newark, DRO for Durango….. but YYZ? I guess that by the time they got to the T’s someone cried out in exasperation, “Why, Why”, and then fell asleep “Z”zzzzz.

Don’t get excited, it’s only a guess on my part!  

Getting through YYZ was not bad at all; we just had to follow the little “Global” insignia that indicated that we were not going to Canada (little Canadian flag) or the USA (little USA flag). All that’s left is a small round geometrically and geographically induced placard of the world. We followed the herd.

Just passing through meant that we needed to only scan our Passport, Eyeballs, Fingerprints, and give the whereabouts of our First-Born  (sorry Heather!) and away we went to find the only Gate that exists when time is of the essence. The one that’s at the End of the Terminal. Arriving we found that they had just begun the boarding process and we (being in that tiny section called Premium Economy were designated to the #2 Group which was just fine! 

My Post from two days ago introduced us all to Premium Economy. For those of you that have not flown Internationally (long haul) this is best described as almost First Class on a Domestic Flight which suits us (me, and my annoying legs) just fine. Mind you First Class and Business Class on these International Flights now come with a ‘Sleeper’ configuration for the seats, each seat also has its own bathroom, sitting area, and on Emerites, its own Library.

Each with a private Attendant.

We got a pillow, a blanky, and enough legroom for a giraffe. That was enough.

Our arrival in Zurich was thankfully uneventful, there were several “automated” kiosks to check in with for Immigration and as soon as we vacated that area a Magical Viking Representative appeared and whisked us away in a gorgeous Mercedes “Mini Van”  along with one other couple. It was about an hour to get to Lucerne and the Renaissance Hotel there that Viking uses. Rick and Pat arrived soon after.

Little while later we started our Explorations of the vicinity, we are within walking distance of that neat old Chapel Bridge and the Old Town. Lunch was had at one of the ‘Brewery’ type places with all sorts of wursts and what-nots on the menu. It was so late in the day that that meal became our dinner as well. The water is clear, the buildings are old, the peeps are friendly, and it’s all immaculately clean. But then, I suspect that’s the way the Swiss are!

            Big Adventures upcoming! Stay tuned!