h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'll stop cluttering other people's journals and have a little over here shall I!

Maybe I am jinxed - just about every flight or trip I've taken this year has been affected.

Snow currently in Belfast, but thumbs up to Belfast City Council for emptying the bins and recycling boxes! Airports still affected, but seem to be coping. No word from Argos re my dining table. And can't make the boiler in Lisburn work, so no heat there.

The biggest current worry though is getting Dai home. His Banjul flight is experiencing a 9 hour delay, so he'll miss the connection to Belfast tomorrow morning. Now, do I pay a small fortune and re-book him on a flight tomorrow afternoon? What if it gets cancelled? My travel insurance say they won't cover that cost, we'll have to claim it from the delayed airline. We're already out £280 for the additional flight we had to take to |Luton - AA won't cover that one either...

Where are you planning to fly to in future? If you can let me have the dates and destinations, just in case our journeys coincide, then I can plan alternative arrangements....

Get yourself a sailboat. Might take you a few weeks to get places but at least it'll be cheap and not prone to cancellation.

I hope he can get a when he gets home. I've just lost the water supply...

Oh I think he'll want something a bit stronger than tea! Especially since they don't do diet coke in Gambia, and he's been forced to dilute whatever vodka he can get hold of with the full fat stuff

Dining table delivered.

We've just decided to postpone our office Christmas do which was due for tonight. He's hoping the hotel can sort out a wifi connection, so maybe we'll be able to Skype later on. In between my construction of the dining table....

This is just to keep you warm, understand...

It does seem that we need a new form of transportation. One that is volcano-, pirate-, and snowstorm-proof.

What I want to know is, where are those transporter technicians when you need them?

Just look out for fly-headed humans...

No Skype-ing so we just said hang the expense and I called his mobile.

News isn't good. I managed to get through eventually to the duty officer at Gatwick, who confirmed that due to the recent snowfall the runway is now closed until at least 6 am tomorrow. And yes, the outward bound flight still hasn't taken off. So the absolute best Dai and co could hope for is to be boarding by early afternoon tomorrow, might make Gatwick tomorrow evening sometime. Maybe.

Something I learned long ago, what with Canadian winters and travels. The destination is going nowhere. He'll be back in 'Norn Irn' in time, and it is only time ...

On the plus side for Dai - he probably hasn't got any snow in Africa

He's on the right planet, even if he's not on the right continent.

Give him a from me when he gets back.

No snow in Africa (and no dalasis left and no clean underwear <yiles&gt

Didn't sleep well last night - I'm always restless when there's confusion. Gatwick seems to have re-opened this morning - there's no mention of the departure to Banjul, but their homeward bound flight is now showing as scheduled to land at 15.40! Not sure I believe this just yet.

I saw a woman on the news last night and she was complaining because she had been stuck in some airport for 3 days, and all the noticeboards still showed all the flights as "On Time".

The notice board at Manchester kept showing a final boarding call for a flight to "unknown origin/destination" - I was almost tempted to get on and see where it took me...

for today, Bea!

That does begin to sound Dirk Gently'ish, doesn't it?

Flight's in the air! Expected at Gatwick 16.15. Am currently on hold to FlyBe to see if I can get him on a flight to Belfast tonight...

Best wishes for your own drive to the airport. Aye Bee and Gnomon have mentioned foul weather in their zone ...

If it's to Belfast City Airport, Bea is within walking distance of it.

That does make things easier. Mind, my daughter is less than a half of a mile from an airport if you are a crow ... But some driving is involved if there is luggage.

My own flight back on the 2nd has just been rebooked for the evening Handy for getting to the airport at this side on time, but since I'm going into Dublin and taking the bus to Belfast, and my car is at Belfast city airport, I'm not quite sure how I'll get *there*.

Any news yet, Bea?