As most of you know my life has more than the average amounts of....incidents. Well I do like to share these things about a bit while naturally playing at least a small part in these ...incidents!
So for the start if this story we need to go back a little to the time when Integrity Toys announced the 2017 convention.
It was in Orlando and I really wanted to go, I had never been to a big doll convention and having my two girls I knew I would have to take them with me....along with my mum as their 'nanny'. So problem one was my dad...he's 87 and not in the best of health. But my friend said she would keep an eye on dad and dad said he would feed my nine cats so in the end I decided to go for it... this would most likely be my last chance as it's coming to the time when dad will not be able to be left.
So the day was announced when the convention tickets would go live and I was ready with my finger on the button.... it went live and..... my internet went DOWN!
That was that by the time I could get back on line all 530 tickets had gone....maybe it was for the best but I did put my name on the wait list not really expecting to go. Life went on and I pretty much forgot about it, until a e.mail came through offering me a second chance. I sooooo wanted to go but by now my friend was pregnant and I felt it might be a bit much still asking her to keep an eye on dad. Convention was the end of October and her baby was due 4th December. Anyway she talked me into going so in the end I went for it. The convention hotel was fully booked but I got in over the road at the Rosen Centre and we decided to add anther week (after all it was a long way to go from UK to Orlando for just one week. So we decided to fly down to Miami (we all LOVE Miami) and spend a week there and then fly home.
So you all know how THAT went with the flight from HELL to Orlando and I will tell you another time how convention and Miami went as this tale is more about my friend and what happened with her and what happened once we were home.
OK, enough on the background now for the story....
Pregnant friend has three boys eight, twelve and fifteen. The older two used to be at school with Amy but they were badly bullied and not only moved to another area but also a new school (Amy is now home schooled) Fortunately still within visiting distance so we stayed in touch. Now this fourth child (a girl) decided to make life a little more interesting and present with placenta previa meaning my friend was now a high risk and would need a c section. Before my holiday she had a few glitches but with convention and holiday booked not a lot I could do about it. So we went away hoping baby would stay put until I returned as I was looking after her boys while she had the baby and her partner (not the boys father) stayed at hospital to support friend and baby.
All went well for a while away, c section was booked for 22 November and either her partner or I would be with her as she needed to rest. She did have a couple of shows and was taken to hospital but all was OK and she would return back home. Last week her partner or I was with her as much as possible, then on Friday a bit of an oops! Another friend had been with her most of the day as her partner needed to go to work ( he was having two weeks of after baby was born) I had gone to do some Christmas shopping with my mum and girls. Just as I'm driving home he phone's, she had called an ambulance and he was on the way to hospital she was loosing a lot of blood. Other friend had let to pick up her own children so leaving my friend alone with her younger son who had to witness all that was going on! So dumping mum, girls and goodies outside mum's house of I went. I passed the ambulance as it headed to the hospital her two older boys had arrived home from school just before the ambulance left and were naturally a little stressed, the younger boy had gone with her in the ambulance. So after a lunatic dash around the house for clothes and bedding (and a clean up in the bathroom) We headed for the hospital, an ashen faced partner and frightened boy greeted us outside of maternity. I collected the lad and we went to my house. Now as soon as we know friend would need a c section it had been arranged that the boys would stay with me overnight but that was Tuesday night not Friday! Fortunately I had brought pizza and two blow up beds in advance and the boys were soon settled if as we all were a little stressed. I walked around gripping my phone awaiting that ping that heralded a text message. Now if you knew me you know I'm still old school and it's pure luck if I look at my phone more than once in a day. A message said she had lost a lot of blood 2.4 litres. They would be performing the c section later that night. At 8:20 a message baby girl had arrived and friend still in theatre. Later a photo followed by hair brown, weight 7 pound 15 ounces. Born at 8:17 on 17th Nov 2017. We all went to bed the boys crowded into Amy's room, Amy in Sophie's room and Sophie on the sofa in the living room. Cats all very confused. Not much sleep was had by me. Both ended up in ICU until Sunday morning. We visited Sunday afternoon and boy did she look ruff, baby though is a real little stunner. In the end boys stayed with me until Tuesday.
Amy loved her cuddle
Before I start I must just mention when we arrived in Bermuda we were all supposed to have a copy of a letter from Virgin given to us...only a few got them and I had to take a photo of someone else's letter
Yes, we are well.... not actually ON the plane but stuck in Bermuda airport. Now it looks like Bermuda could be a lovey place to visit and our hotel was very nice BUT
- We should be in Orlando
- We have now lost a day of our holiday and are heading towards the second day
- We are with 435 other tired and grumpy passangers
- It's fecking RAINING (apparently it hardly ever rains)
- It's not just raining it's FLOODING
- There is no information
- There's no crew
- We are getting hungry (remember we have only had two breakfasts and some crisps in two days)
- There are LOTS and LOTS of kids....remember we was trying to fly to Orlando
- We are still in the airport and can not leave
- We still have ALL our luggage
- The US had insisted that we all needed to go through a full customs check....again.
- The 29ers!
So lets go into this in more detail, we arrived back at the airport just before eleven and have been told our plane will take off about 1pm and therefor we will be in Orlando about 2:30pm.
At 11:30 we are told they are setting up tables for some food...(why when we due to fly out soon?)
The flight we are now told will be about 3pm?
We wait....we still have our luggage!
We are told they are flying in ground staff from NEW YORK!
(the few bits of information we are getting is coming from a Delta staff woman as Virgin do not have and staff in Bermuda)
By now it gone 1o'clock still no sign of food.
The afternoon goes on, every now and then we see a trestle table or a tea earn BUT NO FOOD!
Eventually we are told the food will be ready soon. But, when we go for our food ALL the family have to go together WITH ALL OUR LUGGAGE???? (Interesting for those with disabled or small children) I voice my thoughts to Ms Delta ....she tells me we have to do as we are told. (Now if you know me that's a bit of a red rag to a Bull)
Next up the disabled and people with young children are to go through first, the food is set up on tables down a back passage area and you come out the other side into the check in area. In amongst all this mess a 100 or so passages are trying to get on their flight, after all this is a working airport even if it is only tiny and the planes flying in and out are only tiny...then there's us! 439 passengers with our Bowing 747.
I'm still insisting it is beyond stupid for us to ALL go at get the food with ALL our luggage, I enquire as to who will help those of us that will find it difficult if not impossible to manage. I'm told there will be NO HELP!
So by now we have all left our seats (with tables) to line up WITH LUGGAGE to receive our burnt offerings.......AND.......
Up from nowhere come a few people with children plus the two disabled people AND the 29ers!!!!!!!! We all gasp in shock as they go around the outside and head for the serving tables!
No, my head did not explode but my mouth sure did! This was just plane WRONG! I say so and Ms Delta informs me that they are with disabled people and the other family have a baby and that was why they were jumping the queue! I inform Ms Delta that WE are also a disabled family along with other disabled families and families with young children who are as per instructions lining up! My voice gets louder (I have a loud voice at the best of times but now the whole airport can hear what is going on). I must add at this point that earlier in the day a convoy of police cars and vans arrived at the airport and I had joked at the time they were here in case we became unruly! Out of the corner of my eye I could see a cop looking over with interest. Bugger that, this is NOT right and I'm standing my ground. Another woman comes over and I get the impression she is in charge. We talk and she agrees with ....ME... it does rain in hell! HeHe. By this time the 29ers are looking uncomfortable and I tern to one and explain this is not about them but the injustice of all 29 going in front of the queue. She decided she is no longer hungry and moves away along with some of the others.
The staff open the 'pen'and we start to file through, oh look people to help carry the plates or the luggage? The food I'm thinking would have been OK when cooked but after hours of waiting around (I can only guess but I think it was ready before 1o'clock when we were first told about it) it was dried out pasta with a dried out red sauce. A slice of garlic bread and a slice of some sort of cake.
OK, are you ready for this bit.....first up most of us were sitting at tables that had now been cleared away, we come back out with our food ....and......we are greeted by....wait for it....TWO trestle tables and about 12 chairs around those two tables WTF????? So where are the other 427 people going to sit? Well some sat at the check in desks and the rest sat ON THE FLOOR!!!!!
Time went on we all got more fractious (especially the children). Eventually we are informed that the check in staff from New York have turned up (we found out that they had been asked to fly out the night before but had refused!!!)
So now we have the......three check in staff and two luggage handlers. There are no machines EVERY bag has to be checked in manually and the tags written by hand. It takes about 20 minutes for each family. Then we wait again .....
OK, so now we can go through to boarding ALL hand luggage must be screen checked and we must go through the body checker. The family and I go through and start to collect our bags, the numnuts supposedly watching the body scanner had been so busy chatting that he missed us going through, we had to go back and do it AGAIN! I voiced my opinion.... I got a look but nothing more!
So we go through to the over crowded boarding area. A few people come over to tell me they agreed with my mini meltdown and the food and the queue. We wait it's now getting on for 6pm. We have been travelling 36 hours give or take and putting into this the time difference between UK, Bermuda and East coast USA. Oh, and for some the travelling TO the airport before our monster flight!
At last it's time to board and again the disabled and families with babies go first. We are asked if the girls can walk up the steps? No, they can't...I can't not with the bags and guiding Amy. So we are told to wait while they get the lift thing out (we came down in it the night before) Others in wheelchairs go through???? I ask why they are going through and we are waiting? I through another mini strop as does my mother.... We are escorted to the plane...it's still raining...the lift is already there taking up the people in wheelchairs!!!! I notice the name of the plane it's called the .....BARBARELLA! Get it I'm going to a Integrity Toys convention.... big rival to BARBIE.
The take of is a little sharp (small runway I guess?) and the flight goes without incident. In Orlando our wheelchairs for the girls are awaiting us and we whizz through customs collect out bags and are taken out to catch a taxi to our hotel (although we have to run to catch up with the wheelchair people it helps that they know where to go and it makes things so much easier). We all pile into the taxi and soon we are at the Rossen Centre(our hotel) as by now it is the middle of the night no queue so we are soon booked in. Mum goes of in search of food and our luck was in the shop was still open and she orders up a pizza. Up in our room we look out of the window the Haytt is just over the road. It all looks very pretty .....it's almost 2 o'clock Wednesday morning!
There's more.... convention up next.....
The flight continued for about six hours and then....the captain come over the speaker... " Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to tell you this but we have a medical emergency on board and we are going to have to detour to another airport" or words to that effect! We all gasped and looked at each other in shocked disbelief. The captain continued "I'm so sorry in my twenty seven years of flying two emergencies in one flight is unheard of, I will give you more details and let you know what airport we are landing at as soon as I can."
Soooo will we land in Canada or USA? A flight from England will normally travel over Ireland, up across Greenland then down through Canada into USA along the east coast. I was thinking after six hours flying and looking at the sky map on the plane that this would be the sort of area we are heading for.
How WRONG could I be????? So after a while the captain comes back " so we are heading for Bermuda and will be landing in just over an hour"
FECKING BERMUDA!!!!!!!!!! Bermuda was so small it was not even showing on the sky map!
So off to Bermuda we went, our already loooooong and stressed out day just got a whole lot longer!
The medical emergency was a baby with breathing issues who had used up almost all of our oxygen. Apparently you are not allowed to fly once the oxygen reaches a certain level. We land in Bermuda and paramedics come on board removing the baby who went to the ICU at the local hospital. Now we sat and waited...what would be next? Hopefully the plane would now set off for Orlando? NOOOOOOO!
The crew were now over their legal flying time, so we would be staying for a while. On the plane or off? Off it turned out, WITH all our suitcases Virgin would be paying for us to all (439 plus crew) stay in hotels around the Island. Time passed as we awaited someone to off load our luggage. This was Bermuda it was not on the Virgin list of airports.... so no land crew. It was also the middle of the night. Bermuda is a very small airport, in fact this was the first Bowing 747 to ever land here (due to the fact the runway is a little short for such a BIG plane) ... nice to know!
In the end some baggage handlers were rounded up and all our bags moved through to the luggage hall. Next it was our turn and ....we all had to go through customs, we even got our passports stamped! They had found two customs people to do this!
Then we cued up (the first of many, many cues) our names needed to be checked of a list, they had two people doing this and this was when I first became aware of what we called the 29ers. Now the 29ers are a LARGE (29) group of people all in one party of which two are disabled. If you are disabled you get preferential treatment on flights (wheelchairs etc) my girls are disabled but I chose not to get wheelchairs as there was all ready enough going on without adding extras into the pot. BUT the 29ers they had wheelchairs and because of this ALL 29 felt they should be in front of everyone else? That included other disabled passengers and more to the point this being the middle of the night all the families with young very tired children (the 29ers are all adults). So they take up all the attention of one list ticker leaving the other one to check of the rest of us (413) I started up my protest and others joined me. I might add that by now the 'cue' was more a Rugby scum. So they found another poor sap...sorry helper to tick us off. Then we went through a hall and towards the main doors. We joined the next cue, this one was for the busses taking us to our hotels. Another guy sitting at a desk took our name and allocated a hotel and bus. We were staying at the Hamilton Princess. Now the airport is at the top of the Island and our hotel? Well a thirty minute drive in the middle of the night.
Once we arrived we were quickly booked in and informed that breakfast was included up to $29 each. The busses would be back at 10 o'clock in the morning to take us back to the airport and our flight would be leaving about 1:30 in the afternoon. Quick calculation the flight was about 2 hours so we would be in Orlando by mid afternoon. (Boy do I wish THAT had been true)
By now it was gone 2 o'clock in the morning and exhaustion was coming up on us fast.
The room was beautiful and as far as we could tell so was the hotel!
Up early in the morning as we were by now pretty hungry, remember we had breakfast in London, crisps on the plane and....well that was it in 24 hours. So we had the most beautiful breakfast and then went for a walk around the hotel, a guy was removing the flags a big storm was coming in! Oh, how FUN!
Now apart from being a beautiful hotel it also has some amazing art work
Getting on for 10 o'clock and time for the busses we returned to the hotel but on our way was informed the the busses were now coming at 11 o'clock, so we ask at the desk and over the next ....how ever long it was we were told 10 o'clock...11 o'clock.....10 o'clock....11 o'clock...12 o'clock ....no 10 o'clock ....no 11 o'clock so we thought we would go for a walk! Then as we headed out of the door a receptionist came running after us...the busses had arrived. (It was just gone 10 o'clock). We had a lovely trip back to the airport I think Bermuda could well be a very nice Island AND they drive on the correct side of the road as this is a British
overseas territory.
So there we are back at Bermuda airport, but we still have a way to go yet!
