Lena in the House

The day that we have all been waiting for. Lena arrived last night. Couldn't have made Deeds and I happier. What a treat it was to see her smiling face come through the doors at BKK airport.
Halifax - Toronto - Tokyo - Bangkok.
Left at 7:45 am Thursday Atlantic time. Arrived in BKK at 10:15 am Atlantic time on Friday. 26 1/2 hours of travel to come and see us and our place in Bangkok.
Standing on the deck looking out at the skyline at midnight BKK time on Friday night she said, "It's like a dream. I cannot believe that I am actually standing here right now."
Needless to say we chatted as much as we could about school, the future, August and many other things that were going thru our minds after finally being a family again. It's only been since Christmas but still we were so glad to be back together.
Lena's big travel story had to do with none other than the piano case. Yes the infamous piano case. I had thought that monkey was off our backs and filed into the archives of time. But ohhh nooooo. Not yet.

As it turns out this is the mother of all cases. Lena found this out when she went to pick it up a few weeks ago in Halifax. Ordered a cab to take her and the case home. Nope. Wouldn't fit into the cab. WILL NOT FIT IN A CAR!! It is that big.
Of course we never thought much about this because we transported the keyboard home a few years ago in the Prius. Fold down seats don't you know. Carry  eight sheets of plywood, box of nails and various electric power tools as well. Big big. So when Lena told me she needed to order a van to get the case home I knew there was a story in this thing still.
So Lena did her homework starting with a question to me, "Are you sure that the piano case is the same as a second suitcase?" "Oh for sure, and you are allowed two suitcases on international flights so don't worry" said I. Well not so sure she kept on digging. Found out that over sized articles are extra charge. No problem I said, we need to get your piano out of Halifax and getting it here where you will be next fall is the best thing to do.
So she soldiered on. Prepared to pay the extra cost of bringing the oversize article to BKK. Lena ordered a van to get to the Halifax airport on Thursday morning. Upon arriving at the check in counter the attendant promptly told her that the case was indeed oversize and a fee would apply. However Lena was notified that the case was also overweight. Total weight allotment is 32 kg. Piano and case = 33 kg.
Lena was prepared to pay for this but alas the attendant said No can Do. Cannot be overweight. Best you bring the case to AC Cargo, on the other side of the airport. Staff may or may not be there at this hour of the morning, not sure when they start. "How would I get there" she enquired. "You might be able to catch a cab out the front door" says he. "And make it out there, check the case into cargo, catch the cab back all in time to catch my flight" says Lena, "Which leaves for international connections to Bangkok in 37 minutes?"
The attendant was nonplussed so Lena did what only a girl can do in these circumstances.......... she turned on the water works. The attendant felt a warm spot for her and said, "Well I could call to find out if they may allow this overage just this once" (He of course wasn't sure if Air Canada had ever allowed anyone to break a rule by using their own head to figure something like this out on their own!)
The call went like this: "Morning Albert, I have a situation here where a passenger has brought in a piece of oversize luggage and it turns out that the item is also overweight. Uhhhh, 33. Uhhh OK.". Click.
"Yes we would be allowed to take the case."

Ya gotta see poor Lena dragging this case through the airport. When she saw us she gave one wag of her head at me, like get your self over here and take this thing off my hands I am dieing. It is big, and awkward and heavy. Now I know why rock bands have roadies. Holy Mother of Pearl. And you shoulda seen the look on the face of our airport driver when he saw me drag this thing out towards him. "Vely vely big big luggage" he said.
Hopefully sometime today Lena will play a tune for us. It sure would make this place seem like home to Deeds and I. To hear Lena play the piano in our house is life itself. It is so simple and ordinary. It describes many evenings, or after school, coming in the door after holiday dinners out or special occasions but most importantly is sounds like normal. Normal to us. A background sound, a warmth we have come to appreciate. It sounds like home. Very cool for us to be able to have that here in BKK. Soooo lucky.

Deeds and Lena are off for a mani and a pedi this afternoon. I am joining them after their waxing for a foot massage.

Peggy and Paul have been with us now for a week plus. It has been awesome. Fun. Adventurous (blog on this to follow). Great. We were so lucky to have them added in as part of our visitors. They go home tonight at six. They have done alot. A trip up to Chang Mai. Clothes. Palace and Temple. Out and about. And oh yeah I did mention an adventure that I will blog about later.

Shelly and Carolyn returned from Chang Mai this morning and are now back in the house for a few days before they head for some serious beach. Krabi I believe. Lena, Deeds, Shelly and Carolyn will go to the floating flower market tomorrow morning. I will tell all in a subsequent blog.
Me, well I have been invited to a chili chow down at Xbox Bar.
Chili is provided by Bob, he is Canadian. I am sure you all know Bob who makes chili. Did I tell you he was Canadian?
I played golf on Wednesday at BGC and the foursome I joined were a group of elderly gentlemen, yes ok, about my age and we had a heck of a time. In the course of the round they invited me to show up at what is probably a weekly affair. Good way to meet people and you never know you might hit it off with someone. Have a buddy to do some things with. It is necessary and I am going to give this some effort to make sure I have more than one group of people to hang with at the course and elsewhere as necessary. Not easy thing for men to do, make friends and nurture relationships. I am guilty and therefore need to be more mindful of this. So far so good.

So a week with my daughter around Bangkok. A little shopping is definitely on the agenda. We will go out with Shelly and Carolyn tomorrow as Deeds heads back to work. Much to do and show her. We asked her what she wanted to do and she said "Don't ask me, tell me what I am doing. I will do it all."

Tonight we will probably go to Suda for beerz and some good thai food. Four ladies and me. Honestly that is why old guys like me come to Bangkok in the first place. It's wonderful. Try it.
Sawadee Krup