We Don't Know How Lucky We Are

Sometimes when I get down because of some annoyance or inconvenience I have to stop and think for a moment to appreciate how lucky I am.

I don't live in poverty, unlike so many others less fortunate. Even such things I take for granted like water and electricity are not as freely available elsewhere as I might suppose. For instance last week in Delhi I was astounded to read in the newspaper that on average residents have only a few hours of electricity each day and only 1% have all day electricity.

Sure enough, even the big hotel where I was staying had frequent brief generator failures and one uncomfortable hot night when the air-conditioning failed.

I don't know how lucky I am.

Update

Firstly, an apology for the lack of blogging lately. I've been on a very hectic schedule across 5 continents and 11 countries. I should get back on track later this week.

Secondly, an update to the delay I mentioned. The airline gave us a room at local hotel (about 15 minutes by taxi, the nearest reasonable hotel), a credit for a meal plus 3 minute phone call, and transport to and from the hotel. Thumbs up so far. They rebooked our wakeup calls to a ridiculously early hour of the morning (only a few hours sleep possible) and cancelled the pre-ordered taxis, replacing with a bus for all the non-locals. When we arrived back at the airport immigration wasn't yet open so we had to wait a while, a sign we got back too early. Thumbs down.

The flight itself was okay although I think we lost a meal (went from supper plus breakfast to breakfast only with some odd suppery choices!). The crew were great - they had the same disrupted schedule as the rest of us.

I'll be back soon.

Time is an Illusion

Somehow I manage to fit in more when travelling than I do when at home. It's as if the change in timezones has slowed down time and thus allowed more to be done.

A case in point this weekend in Perth. After an enjoyable day in the sun listening to jazz and blues at the West Coast Blues N Roots Festival at Freemantle, I still found time to stop in the city en route to the airport to fit in some shopping and even a haircut.

But it wasn't until I was back at the airport that time came back to reality with a thump. Flight delayed probably 9 1/2 hours. Ahh - that knocks out my next two flights also. It's at times of irregular ops that airline can stand out for great (or bad) performance. I'll post an update on how it works out.