Saturday, April 17, 2010

Beating the volcano




Much to Wilf and Digby's chagrin the large hole in the ground has been filled in , the concrete poured, and the enormous fuel tank finally buried out of sight. The hoarde of excavators, diggers, shovelers and general hangers on that have been beavering away and playing catch with them for the last two days have gone. Peace has been restored although from the boyz perspective it is not such an interesting ,or smelly, place. Oddly, the two old leaky, malodorous fuel tanks that nestle dangerously in the basement have been left in situ. Time for a phone call to the contractors to make sure there has been no misunderstanding about what taking out the old tanks and installing a new tank actually involves.

After an epic journey 'the font' and the associated wheelie bag arrived home at eight last night to an enthusiastic welcome. Highlights of the journey included hitching in the cab of a large truck from the port to the outskirts of Paris, a shared cab to Charles de Gaulle airport, and the miraculous rental of one of the few remaining Avis cars . Then voila seven hours behind the wheel and home. From London to Toulouse in thirty nine and a half hours including the late night ferry crossing. It now looks as though people will be stranded until at least the middle part of the week. Great news for the kids , bad news for their parents

Must rush now to get the rental car back to Toulouse airport before they charge us for another day. Have a great weekend.

11 comments:

  1. I've seen on the news here how terribly the volcanic ash has tied up travel over there. Although the alternatives look bad! I'm glad to hear that the font got home safely.

    I suspect the boyz will find something new to amuse themselves with soon!

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  2. Hey there Mongoose!
    Our news is full of it too...very worrying indeed! The 'experts' this end are of the opinion that the Airline officials are spinning a yarn. They say there are NO guarantees whatsoever of the volcano settling and this could distrupt air traffic for weeks, if not months. My logic tells me that this is a reasonable "possibility". With the SWC on our doorstep, it's worrying indeed. I sure am glad the 'font' is home safely. Perhaps you and your posse should become more home-bound for the moment (?)
    MAXMOM IN SA

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  3. Houndstooth - The boyz have got Loic the gardener to play with this morning so they are quite happy. Even better 'the font' is back so the kitchen is again the centre of their existence!

    Max - The head of the Met Office has just been on the BBC morning news with the grim tidings that the UK's airports will remain closed until tomorrow morning ( ditto the rest of northern Europe) and that the dislocations may continue all through next week. A fresh wave of ash bearing cloud from yesterdays eruption is sweeping across Scotland. Drip, drip, drip the news just keeps on getting worse. At the airport in Toulouse this morning the rental car bureaux were besieged with hundreds of Airbus workers trying to get back to their families in Paris - the trains here are on strike!. 'The fonts' return rental was most welcome.

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  4. wow, wonderful to have the font out of that mess...crazy
    seems like the job, although not complete, was finished in record time! now we shall see how long it takes to retrieve the old tanks!
    have a great weekend!
    xoxo

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  5. Having been through the eruption of a volcano when we lived in Alaska, I know how the falling ash can disrupt everything!! So I'm glad to hear the news that "The Font" has found her way and returned home safely!! You both have had quite a week, so I hope the weekend brings the chance to relax and get any needed rest!!

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  6. The Herd always enjoys the various construction crews that have to do tasks around the house. I prefer the quiet days when nothing is happening.

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  7. Here on our side of the pond, when you know someone is in the midst of all the chaos trying to get home, aka the font, the troubles become all the more real.

    We are picturing the sequential what we call 'multi-modal" journey -- especially the initial part in the cab of the semi.

    Time for a timeout this weekend.

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  8. Really glad the font arrived home safely! "Where there's a will, there's a way," my mother always said. Hitching in the USA is very dangerous, too many crazies on the road. (And I'm not talking a bout driving skills!) And although it seems the neighborly thing to do, picking up a hitcher is even more dangerous! I never do it...could end up dead.

    Liz

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  9. Glad that the font made it! I'm guessing that it was a much more colorful and interesting journey than expected.

    Sorry that the fun has come to an end... but at least the boyz can catch up on their sleep!

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  10. YOO HOOO!!!! HEre we are!! better late than never!! We have been very remiss on our blogging but hope we will be better! Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!!!!!! Love and kisses A+A

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