The Reverse Midas Touch

Actually this entry has not a lot to do with Kay but I writing it to illustrate something. I haven't quite decided what yet, but maybe it will come to me as I write. Today I had a couple of important appointments at the office. Important enough for me to break off my holiday and travel from Provence to Eindhoven by way of Marseille and Amsterdam. In order to to this I had to catch a 6:55am flight out of Marseille which meant getting up at 4:15am. The return flight is at 20:30 this evening.

Now France is a mess at the moment. 2/3 of our local fuel stations are closed and I was concerned about a) a very long day and b) leaving enough fuel in our car. So I decided to get a taxi. He arrived at 5am and estimated the taxi fare to be Eur 150-, I had Eur 250 cash. Heading towards Marseille we hit a problem: the motorway was closed, diversion via Aix. Add 25km and extra time. At Aix, the taxi fare reached 180,- so I got out my iPhone and checked the remaining distance using TomTom, 25km. I estimated the fare to come out at 230,-. Then the driver missed the turn off for the direct motorway to the airport in spite of the fact that I told him that my nav system said go right. He went into the centre of Marseille and the proceeded to get lost. I ended up giving him instructions from TomTom.

So we arrived at the airport at 6:10 (!) with the meter reading 280,- (!!!). I paid him 230, and ran. But he'd dropped me at the wrong terminal so I had to run further than I expected. I just made the gate on time for boarding when I saw that the flight was delayed. Still, they boarded it on time, a puzzle. But when we were all seated the pilot announced that the French air traffic controllers were striking and that the flight was delayed by an hour. Whoopee.

Eventually we arrived at Schiphol 45mins late. Due to huge queues for tickets I missed the first train to Eindhoven. The second arrived 10 mins late and then, due to "trains in front", drove most of the way to Eindhoven at a crawl. I ended up arriving at the office 70mins late for my first meeting.

Now on the way back. But again, due to slow traffic in Eindhoven I missed my chosen train to Schiphol and am now sitting here on the following train worrying about missing the return flight. It's in 2 hours. In theory the train should take another 40 mins, then security, then Schiphol is a big place... It's going to be tight.

I hope that the return flight is not delayed. Or should I hope that it is?

At least all this travel hassle is taking my mind off Kay. By this measure I suppose I should be pleased with the distraction. But on the other hand it does feel like everything I turn my hand to at the moment turns to s**t. But then I shouldn't be so self indulgent, if that's the word I'm looking for.

Frank called to tell me that everyone is sitting on the terrace enjoying another glorious sunset. "How fine to know, my dear friend", I replied. Or words to that effect.