Sunday

Sunday I slept in a bit and after cleaning up, a bit of toast and coffee, Paisano and I walked to the LMB at the MRC. The labs are surprisingly run down for being the flagship research institute for the British Government, but they are undergoing a major building frenzy to put up new research spaces, the benefits of which Paisano will not enjoy (he’ll be long gone.)
Sunday afternoon, after a quick change of clothes (because it was so damned hot!), we went to the house of Ian and Kate. Paisano works with Kate, and her husband works in the ‘iceberg’ building at the MRC. It was an international group, mostly scientists, and I felt right at home. I met Jan, Paisano’s boss, who revealed himself to be a bit of a pyro by the end of the night. As the evening grew darker, Jan and Kate were looking for more and more things to put on the grill cum campfire.
I tried Pimm’s, a traditional English drink, found I liked it and had several more.
Paisano and I walked back to his house, where I finalized my bags in preparation for the trip home and caught a taxi to the center of Cambridge. There I boarded a bus to Heathrow that was supposed to be direct, but we were asked to exchange coaches at Stanstead. All but two pieces of luggage, mine and another couple’s going on holiday to Spain, were transferred to the new bus. We arrived at Heathrow and didn’t have out bags. It took the company (National Express, again) 40 minutes to locate the luggage. Finally, at 4:30 AM, we got confirmation that our bags were on the bus that had been sent to the fueling station.
They put the bags on the next coach out, to arrive at 6 AM. My flight was at 6:40 and when I spoke with American Airlines, they suggested that if I did not want to leave without my bags, then I should go standby. I did not want to leave my bags with the coach company in a foreign country. So now it is 8:30 and I am standby on an overbooked flight to Boston to depart A 10:55. I may get out today and I may not.
All this cost me the original 25 pounds for the ticket and another $200 US to change my flight status. And I have a headache. And it is crowded here. Please let me get to on the plane to Boston.