Sunday, January 10th, 2021
We made it back home!
Our friends D and A kindly picked us up at the airport. The HAM-FRA flight was completely full. Social distancing was not an option. Making the connecting flight was a different challenge entirely. We only had 50 minutes to transfer to start off with. The fact that our flight was some 20 minutes late and that I was singled out for a special security check, did not help. Once I did make it onto the flight LH was as unfriendly as always; chastising me for being the last person to board. My response: had your flight from HAM been on time, I would not have been late.
The flight itself was – at nine hours – unusually long. After harassing me about boarding last minute we ended up waiting on the tarmac for 25 minutes until the plane began to taxi. To make matters worse, there was a family with a small child seated two rows behind us and this child spend the entire nine and a half hours on the plane alternatively screaming (I suspect it had issues equalizing) or screeching. While this is just a general unpleasantness, I am happy to say we made it home. Given I was travelling with a stick (Jo) this had not been certain. Security in HAM airport also proved to be as obnoxious as always, involving federal policy in the question of whether I was allowed to travel with a stick. The officer was surprisingly friendly. He escorted me to the gate to check with the airline if they had any issues. Turns out the stewardess saw no difference between my broom stick and a crutch, so I could take it onboard! Of course, I did not disclose it to be a weapon used in the practice of marital arts
As we are to self-quarantine for ten days after our arrival, I had ordered groceries via Instacart for the first time. They were awaiting us on the front steps. In addition to our bags we hauled those into the house too. Not sure I shall repeat the exercise though. All the flowers I had ordered were replaced by different items, none of which I like. There were no bagels, instead we received two different kinds of green beans. Instead of ginger, the grocery bags had a turnip. Not that I mind turnips, they are just not at all useful for tea. On the upside, we have enough food to last us for a week or so.
The most unpleasant surprise, however, came as we entered the house, which was freezing cold at just 6C. For reasons we fail to understand the heating seems to have turned itself of. Likewise, there is something funky going on with the electricity in the study. The underfloor heating also appears to have shut itself down and the lights work at a fraction of their regular power. I guess I will need the builder to come in and check what is going on.
Pleasantly though the friends who had picked us up from the airport and are part of our bubble stayed for a bottle or two of champagne in front of the fire and kept us company until it was regular bedtime despite the cold. I did tunr teh heat up to 30C and with forced air it takes about an hour for the place to get warm. As they left, Max came home. I think he was quite pleased to have his humans back. I half heartedly unpacked. More tidying up to do tomorrow; including several loads of laundry. As a result of all the chores I face, I have decided to take tomorrow of too deal with them.
No opportunity to read the news, which is still dominated by last weeks events as people are trying to digest what has happened. Corona has all but disappeared from the front pages.
That does not mean it has ceased to exist. The USA reports 22.9 million and 252k new infections.