Just a bit ago Maryna returned from the restroom tailed by two French security guards. They asked us (in French) what we were doing here, when Maryna didn't respond he asked if we spoke English. I was just waking from a nap, but answered 'yes' quickly. The young man on the left asked us if we had our tickets. I kindly explained how we missed our flight and are waiting for the next one into New York. "Oh, okay" he responded, turned and walked off as quickly as they arrived. Paris, 8:20 am Local Time
The return trip has been trying. It has been an exercise in patience which will eventually pay off. My Grandpa always said "you have to find the right person." We found a very nice French woman at the International Air France counter who got us on the waiting list for a 10:40am flight to somewhere in America - Cincinnati? or New York? it didn't really matter, we both agreed that we would have more options once we got to the states and neither of us wanted to consider returning to Minsk. We have been praying now that we will get seats on the flight. New York, 12 pm Local Time
Maryna and I proceeded to the American Airlines counter to see if they would work with us for missing our flight at 9am. In typical New York style, the unapologetic counter clerk said there was nothing he could do for us. He kindly explained to me that his airline didn't cause the missed flight and therefore there was nothing he could do for me. I explained to hime that Air France and Delta were in the same situation with us in Paris, but they kindly found us a flight to the US without even charging us for rebooking a day late. "I can't believe that I got better service from Air France than I am getting from American Airlines!! I'm in shock" I said (I wasn't really, I fully expected at least one of the airlines I was flying on to punk me, and I was grateful that I didn't have to buy a new ticket from Paris to NY).New York, 5:30 pm Local Time
We got raped by the American Travel system but we ended up on a flight to Tulsa tonight. It has been 40 hours since my last shower! I am just ready to sit in Tulsa, take a shower, eat some pizza and unwind. Cincinnati, 8:20 pm Local Time
Our plane to Tulsa boards in 45 minutes. It has been a wild wild trail home. Kudos to Delta and Air France for taking care of us, and a big thumbs down to American Airlines for their poor customer service and customer relations! After another two hour flight, God willing, we will be in Tulsa. 43 hours of not showering - I went to the restroom and freshened up as well as changed my shirt, this really helps ones mental posture. Maryna has been great. I could not have survived this trip without her. I spent much quality time while I was Grodno considering my dynamic clustering system. The ideas were flowing. I noted several things that I hadn't before, and I am making good mental progress on the design. Conceptually, I understand almost every aspect of the system now - most of it has been written in note form, but there are many layers of abstraction to traverse before implementing a functioning system. Next step: work on a simulation model so I can tell if all of this thought is justified or wasteful. Tulsa, 10 pm Local Time
Tulsa. *grin*
