Saturday morning got off to a poor start. There seemed to be a dispute brewing within BAA (British Airport Authority – it looks after the running of Heathrow and Gatwick airports, amongst others) and an intention to strike on January 7th was being mooted. The work force is apparently irritated about the closing of their pension scheme to newcomers even though those who are currently members should be unaffected. Be that as it may, guess when Keith and Marlene were scheduled to leave Gatwick; exactly, well done – January 7th. Although the strike was yet to be confirmed, it seemed prudent to try to reschedule their return and avoid disruption if at all possible, so Marlene called American Airlines and managed to get seats two days later for January 9th. Flight sorted, now Keith needed to amend the rental car booked for their return from Raleigh/Durham airport home to Richmond. Whoops – accidentally cancelled it; silly web site! Not disastrous, there were plenty of cars available to rebook, albeit at a slightly higher price. So, bottom line, we have company for a couple more days in January and Keith is not, now, a fan of National’s web site.
Time for some relaxation after the stresses of the morning. This time of year brings the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year photographic exhibition to Tring Natural History Museum. We were a little concerned about going on a Saturday, the rug rats having just broken up from school, but it looked like a good opportunity. So, off we went and, surprise of surprises, the tiny car park was half empty and there were very few people in the museum itself. The photos always make us feel completely inadequate with a camera but its great to see something to shoot for, isn’t it? You can see the winning entries here.
The planned strike for the 7th has been cancelled. Must have been mooted to cause all and sundry to panic and change their flight plans. Wonder if the planes on the 7th will now be empty.
Probably so – K&M have changed their flight back to the original 7th.