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A rather tumultuous day
Jun. 28th, 2005 09:07 pmI am in Sweden. I am safe and sound. Some of my luggage is, too.
Usually, when my luggage is not with me and safe and sound, it is because it is not with me; this time, to shake things up, the fates decided to give me my luggage, but not safe and sound. One of my suitcases broke open at some point and was delivered to me in a plastic sack, loose items sliding back and forth. Even the sack was torn in places, the holes occasionally emitting shards of broken CD cases.
As I am finally home at my mother's house and was able to inspect it, it seems nothing was really damaged except for CD cases (I'll just have to copy a lot of CD keys and store them someplace safe), and nothing appears to be missing. I nearly had a heart attack when I opened the case for a graduation present from my grandfather and found that the hundred-year-old gold pocket watch was gone, but it had somehow fallen out, and was still there, and still worked. This reassures me that no theft took place; a thief would probably go for things like a gold watch, electronics (my TI-83) and such, rather than, say, spare underwear. Other than the CD case irritation, I may win more than I lose: The people at the airport were apologetic and, without prompting, declared that they would send me a new suitcase to replace this one.
The journey itself was ... well, it was a trans-Atlantic flight; they're rather mundane, you know? A great irritation was the man sitting behind me on that plane, as he kept propping his foot against the back of my seat, which was thin enough that it hurt my back, then denying it when I politely asked him to stop; when I suddenly sat back and jolted the seat, he started berating me. After I ignored him for a bit, the whole thing mostly ceased.
He was still an irritation, since he smelled terrible. On the bright side, his son (a boy of maybe thirteen), seated next to me, was quiet and polite on the rare occasions that he spoke.
On the second flight—from London to Stockholm—I saw the worst dressed guy in history, but otherwise nothing interesting happened (until disembarking and discovering the suitcase).
As I got home, however, some very good news reached me—not one, but two items. First, I have been approved for a student visa for UBC; I am to collect it at an entry point to Canada. I was scared out of my mind about this; I have had so much trouble before. No trouble now! This letter, which I read before I checked the contents of my suitcase, was such a huge relief that it brought my mood back to almost normal. Second, I have an offer for a spot in a UBC residence. I am going to look more closely at that later today; I have a week or so to consider, but I do not expect to decline. Entry to the country and a place to live! Major irritations and scares today, but the future seems to be going my way.
Usually, when my luggage is not with me and safe and sound, it is because it is not with me; this time, to shake things up, the fates decided to give me my luggage, but not safe and sound. One of my suitcases broke open at some point and was delivered to me in a plastic sack, loose items sliding back and forth. Even the sack was torn in places, the holes occasionally emitting shards of broken CD cases.
As I am finally home at my mother's house and was able to inspect it, it seems nothing was really damaged except for CD cases (I'll just have to copy a lot of CD keys and store them someplace safe), and nothing appears to be missing. I nearly had a heart attack when I opened the case for a graduation present from my grandfather and found that the hundred-year-old gold pocket watch was gone, but it had somehow fallen out, and was still there, and still worked. This reassures me that no theft took place; a thief would probably go for things like a gold watch, electronics (my TI-83) and such, rather than, say, spare underwear. Other than the CD case irritation, I may win more than I lose: The people at the airport were apologetic and, without prompting, declared that they would send me a new suitcase to replace this one.
The journey itself was ... well, it was a trans-Atlantic flight; they're rather mundane, you know? A great irritation was the man sitting behind me on that plane, as he kept propping his foot against the back of my seat, which was thin enough that it hurt my back, then denying it when I politely asked him to stop; when I suddenly sat back and jolted the seat, he started berating me. After I ignored him for a bit, the whole thing mostly ceased.
He was still an irritation, since he smelled terrible. On the bright side, his son (a boy of maybe thirteen), seated next to me, was quiet and polite on the rare occasions that he spoke.
On the second flight—from London to Stockholm—I saw the worst dressed guy in history, but otherwise nothing interesting happened (until disembarking and discovering the suitcase).
As I got home, however, some very good news reached me—not one, but two items. First, I have been approved for a student visa for UBC; I am to collect it at an entry point to Canada. I was scared out of my mind about this; I have had so much trouble before. No trouble now! This letter, which I read before I checked the contents of my suitcase, was such a huge relief that it brought my mood back to almost normal. Second, I have an offer for a spot in a UBC residence. I am going to look more closely at that later today; I have a week or so to consider, but I do not expect to decline. Entry to the country and a place to live! Major irritations and scares today, but the future seems to be going my way.
