The rest of 'day' trip

 When the announcement came that someone had been hit on the tracks because of a signal failure, there was a collective groan from all the passengers. These things take a lot of time. The entire scene is cordoned and there is intensive examination that takes place. At 1930, 2 hours from home, with the charge in our phones dying, we hoped for a quick resolution.

Thats when I got a call from my sister. She said their 2015 train has been cancelled. I told, yeah must be because of the accident cos the entire route seems locked down. She was a bit frazzled by this. She had my mom and dad on her hands and them being  elderly she was very concerned about their welfare. I sitting in a train was not going to be of much help. She spoke to the station staff who confirmed that there was no guarantee that trains would run that night. 

My sis panicked and started searching alternative routes to get home. She called me and we discussed that most routes might be a bit tedious to use and might be eventually blocked - cos this seemed to be a pretty bit incident. The best call would be to book a hotel and stay the night. The train tickets were anyways valid for any future travel to Leeds. She searched through a lot of hotels, most coming back with no vacancies since people who were facing cancellations were booking out. Finally after nearly 45 minutes around 2030 she informed me that she had managed to find a hotel near the station and they would head there.

Phew! that was one crisis averted! 

Pumpki was getting a bit anxious and restless since it had been over an hour. We tried to pacify her as much as possible and distract her by playing some games. K had a friend who lived nearly an hours drive away. He started checking with him, if it would be ok for us to get to his house. His friend was more than welcome. He also offered to drive and pick us up! But I felt it would be asking too much since it would be around 2230 by the time he would get to us and would take another hour to get back home - nearly mid night. With the next day being a working day for his friend, I didnt think it would be fair to make him take the trip.

It was around 2100  (around 1.5 hours since the incident). The driver announced that there was no positive sign of train moving forward. He said people who could make their way via various means to their intended destinations were welcome to do that. The doors of the compartments from which it was safe to get down had been opened. People started talking and discussing various options. Those who lived in London, started trickling out and making their way back home. There was a lady with young daughters sitting next to us. I started chatting with them to find their thoughts. She said she felt it was much safer being in the train, because definitely some arrangement would be made. They will not let a bunch of trains lie on a track over night because services needed to be resumed atleast for the next day. The arrangements made by the train company might take time, but they would definitely be there. I totally agreed with this, and convinced K that instead of making our way back to London or to his friends house ( depending on God knows which rail service), it was much better to sit in the train. 

At 2200 the driver announced that there had been a signal for the train to move! There were wide cheers from the train. It seemed like the best news a group of people had heard in a long time! 15 minutes later, the driver announced that the train would be moving back to London!!!! Whatttt!! Passengers were requested to make some arrangement of staying the night. That was a proper anti climax😖

Everyone got on the phones! I checked a few hotel sites and most of the places were getting booked out or charging extortionate rates. I rang my sister and asked if she could check if there was a room available. She went to the reception and managed to book the very last room available for the 4 of us!! Some close call! Not only that, they had also given us a late checkout. Which meant we could sleep in a bit late to recover from all the drama 😀

Finally at 2230, 3 hours since the halt, the train started moving! We reached London King's Cross station at around 2245. At the station one the rail employee was making an announcement to keep the hotel invoice to make a compensation claim. And people who had not managed to make an accommodation would be given taxis - fully reimbursed by the train. That seemed such a generous gesture by the train company.

We took a cab and finally reached the hotel at 2315. It was a happy reunion with Papa, Mummy and my sis. We had such plans for a day trip and it ended up being so much more. But God was watching over us all through the way and we were so grateful to Him to have eventually ironed it all out.

Just a day trip

 The kids' summer holidays are on in full swing. We have not planned much this time because of various work and home commitments. Also being a Guide Dogs puppy raiser needed our availability. So it was more to be a one day at a time thing. 

Papa is an avid botanist who harboured the interest to visit The Kew gardens in London. We planned a trip to visit the gardens. My sis, Mummy and Papa went a day prior to the visit. K, the kids and I were to make a day trip. Our onward train was at 0715 and we were to return at 1910. A quick and easy day trip - what could go wrong?

Well it seems like a lot. 😉

The day before our journey we got a message in the evening that our train had been cancelled. We had the option to take any train either before or after the slated time. We thought we would take the one before at 0645. It would be an even earlier start, but probably we could avoid much of the crowd which would probably decide to come later. We woke up at the unearthly hour of 0530 to start. As predicted by K, the train was quite sparsely populated. We managed to get some real good shut eye. We reached London at 0855 and as usual were hit by the vibrancy of the place 😀

We made our way to the gardens. It was a sweltering 29 degrees. As a result Chiyaa who has an Eczema condition was having a bad flare up. She kept getting annoyed as her skin irritated her. It was not turning out to be her day😔 We had to keep applying a lotion on her. Seeing her in such difficulty made us all worried and anxious. It was getting quite exhausting for all of us to walk through the garden as well. The place is not a small park, it is 300 acres full of plants from all over the world kept in various climate controlled set ups. Some of the greenhouses were quite difficult to go through because of the immense heat. 30-35 degrees seemed unbearably hot. But we persevered. We managed to cover quite a bit. It was very exhausting but enriching experience. We learned oh so much! A little bit of cloud cover could have made life so much easier, but we can only hope.

1600 we decided to make our way back to London King's Cross to get our train back to Leeds. We bagged some dinner and got on our 1910 train. My sis and parents had the train at 2015, an hour after us. We said goodbyes and got on the train. 10 minutes into the journey the train stopped! 

The driver informed us that someone had been hit by a train along the route, hence we would be stalled for some time! This had been quite a day. But just when we thought we were 2 hours away from the comfort of our homes, we had this! The rest of the story needs another post 😉

Lucky to have you

 Lucky - the puppy was to board with us for 2 weeks. When the guide puppies are raised they are boarded in many different homes. This gives the puppies a chance to interact with a wide variety of people because they could be matched with any person in the future. Before boarding Lucky's raiser Alison decided to bring her over to our house so that we could have a feel of her. When Lucky came to our house she was hyper, she was manic with excitement. She ran around, climbed on us, went exploring and was just crazy all over the place. We were just as excited to have her. We couldnt wait for her to come and stay for the 2 weeks at our home.

The day she came, it was super hot. She was settled on the floor and avoided the carpeted areas. She was all right with us and a bit curious to explore. But given the heat she went off to have a nap quite soon. We had been warned that since she was 4 months old, she was teething. She could have a witching hour from 6-8 in the evening when she could go a bit bitey and try to get a bit more aggressive. The plan was to try to take her on walks during that time so that she could settle down a bit. The first day, K took her on a walk with the girls. She was a bit uncontrollable and they did have a tough time in the 1 hour they were away. At night when we all settled down and K was with Lucky. She puked out all her food and then re-consumed it. It was a harrowing experience for K and he immediately called the helpline. They confirmed that this is quite normal behaviour with puppies! Some time later Lucky settled down and K could get his sleep too.

The next she woke up right at 6 and K was at her beck and call. He took her to the toilet, gave her breakfast and then a short walk around the neighbourhood. Since it was a warm day again, she was quite sleepy and inactive during the day. In the evening once the girls came back, she was hyper with them. She tried to - what looked to us - pounce on Chiyaa. I have been with dogs before so it looked like normal behaviour to me. But K and Chiyaa were quite shocked. We tried to keep her calmer by playing low intensity games. She retired eventually and she slept peacefully on night 2.

The continuous work was taking a strain on K. As with a baby there are a million things to be done with a puppy. Alongside a full day of work, it was quite strenuous. K pulled through the day. But in the evening it was a repeat of her aggressive behaviour. This time K got very nervous since he was very concerned about the safety of Chiyaa. K called up the helpline and asked for advice. Sensing his mental state, they recommended that it would be best if the puppy is removed from our house.

The next day our assigned puppy development contact came over and took Lucky to board her with someone else. Lucky went away in the car and left a gaping hole in the house. A lot of things reminded us of her - the shoes she had chewed on, the place in the garden where she used to go crazy, her smell. It was a long recovery for us, and for me in particular. It took me quite some time to get used to not having her. And it made us feel bad that we probably reacted hastily and incorrectly. But what was done was done. As a final closure we decided to visit Lucky at Alison's house after a few weeks. She was so much calmer and well behaved, it was such a pleasure to be with her. Lucky - it was amazing to have you with us. And hoping you have a splendid career as a guide dog. 

A step

 K hankers for a pet. They come up as regular discussions in our household. The girls are of course gung ho about a pet - any pet. But my stance is clear, the only permissible pet was a hen. It would be outside most of the time and Mother Nature willing would lay an egg. The girls were fine with that, but no chance that would fly with K 😅

So one day on the radio K heard an advert. It was from the charity Guide Dogs. They raise dogs, who would assist visually challenged or people who need assistance in being mobile. It is a quite a good charity making solid and positive changes in the lives of people. The charity was asking for volunteers, especially men with tattoos and beards to raise puppies. The idea was, puppies need to be exposed to a wide range of appearances early on so that they can acclimatise to their future life where they could be paired with any person. The cause was asking for people to raise puppies from the age of 14 weeks to 14 months -ish. Then the puppies would be taken for training and if they passed put forth to be matched with people needing a guide dog.

 K has both - tattoos and beard! He came home super excited. It was a very good cause. Most of the costs of the care aspect, food, insurance, etc would be covered by the charity. All they needed from us was the time to raise a puppy through 1 year. I agreed.

This set off a chain reaction. First K had to fill in a very detailed application. Next detailed pictures of the house, the car, the neighborhood so that they were aware what sort of environment the puppy was potentially going to be in. After that, he went on to the interview. During the interview, he was informed that since there was another adult (me) in the house, it might be a good idea if I was made a supplementary applicant as well. Else for insurance purposes I would not be allowed to do anything for the puppy, for instance take if for a walk if K wasnt around for some reason. My application was a bit lighter than K's. But he took all the pain. My interview was quite straight forward too.

Once done through the stage, we awaited the results 😊 We received an email that we had been through and all that was needed was for us was to come to the centre and walk a dog for them to see our dog-handling skills. At the centre we were made to walk a gorgeous 17 month old called Peter. We were both oohing and aahing at how adorable he was. After the walk, we both were given the green flag and were officially recruited as puppy raising volunteers. 

Our coordinator Helen took us through a few more details. She recommended that since we had not had pets before and were first time puppy raisers, it would be a good idea to board a puppy for a few days. Puppy raisers do need to go away be for vacation or work. In that duration, they need boarders who would be willing to keep the puppy for a short duration. We were more than happy to house a pup for some days to get a feel of what it was like. 

That set another ball rolling. K looked up and found a ton load of stuff that would be needed. They were minor details he really wanted to sort - a drinking bowl, a bottle to carry water for the puppy, a blanket and many such small stuff. He got some second hand, some required trips to the shops, but he set up the house in perfect order to host our boarding puppy - Lucky. 

The beautiful eyes of a child

 The other day Pumpki and I were going to school. The radio was on and there was a caller on the station. The caller said that she had a date planned for one evening. She went to the supermarket to get a bottle of wine so that she did'nt turn up empty handed. When she was checking out, she saw herself in the security camera. She felt she looked horrible. She was so disgusted that instead of going ahead with the date, she went home and drank the bottle of wine alone. Then there was a ton of conversation around how do those cameras work etc etc.

Pumpki listened to this and said "I love the way the cameras work. They do the opposite of the hand that I am using (mirror image) and I find it hilarious) I felt so happy at the innocence which a child has. I wish as adults we all look at the many many brighter sides of life always instead of getting bogged down by the negatives. Many of which exist in our eyes only. 😊

And we are done

We reached office the next day. It was our first proper day at the office. Michelle was greeted to a pleasant surprise. Her hitherto lost suitcase was at her desk. There was a very interesting story to the origin of it. The colleague who had kindly offered to follow her to get the suitcase back had conversed with the passenger who had mistakenly taken her bag. He had got the details of the location of the person. He happened to be in a rural area where the colleague of ours had a friend. He asked his friend if he could collect the luggage. The friend gladly agreed. And as another happy coincidence the friend was coming over to Cluj the next day. So he drove in with the suitcase and ended up uniting it with Michelle. It was a very quickly resolved issue indeed something that was quite unexpected.

The day resumed for us in its full glory with a lot of meetings and chats and catching up and some bit of coding as well :). In the evening another colleague of ours offered to take us around the old town. He took us through the history of some of the old churches and buildings. We were treated to some amazing authentic Romanian food which was simply divine. With the food and the tour around the town, we called it a day. 

The next day was unremarkable in what needed to be done. After a packed day at work, we spent the evening shopping some souvenirs. It was very nice bonding, chatting and spending a relaxing time with Michelle. Day done the next step was pack up and a return home. It was a work trip which mixed some elements of fun and winding down. A very different one for me, for I havent done this since the kids. I would love to take them all along with me sometime in the future to beautiful Romania :) 

An unexpected day

I could understand the predicament  of my teammate Michelle. She was without the bare minimum of her necessities. The Monday morning I offered her my company. She was wondering whether she should attempt going to the airport and start pestering the authorities or she should go shopping and get her stuff sorted. I recommended that she should get her stuff sorted because going to the airport might not be worth it. At least with the essentials shopped she would be able to function for the rest of the 4 days even if she wasn’t able to recover her lost luggage. She seemed convinced with the rationale. We had some breakfast at the hotel and then went ahead to go to the nearest mall. For me it was quite an experience. I had ventured on the trip expecting 3.75 days at office. But here I was with a team mate making my way to a mall. As with any foreign city, the sights and sounds were new and different. It was quite an experience noticing how things functioned, how people were going about their business and how daily life was. 

At the mall, Michelle went about doing her shopping and I spent time going around noticing stuff. Once she was satisfied with the stuff she had purchased we made our way to the hotel. We got in touch with our other colleagues and went for lunch with them. It was a warm and windy day. It was brilliant sitting in the sun and chatting about random stuff. 

Suddenly Michelle received a call from the airport lost baggage office.  It seems they had been contacted by the person who had mistakenly taken her luggage. He was willing to have Michelle come over and collect her luggage from their place. The airport authorities gave the contact number of the other party to Michelle. What ensued then was a nightmare of conversation  and translation. The person who had picked the luggage couldn’t speak English. So he in turn gave her the contact of his relative in UK who acted as a mediator. So the baggage collector spoke to his relative, his relative spoke to Michelle and the conversation happened in reverse order to communicate from Michelle to the baggage collector. It must have been pure torture for Michelle to engage in this communication, but the summary was as follows : The person wasn’t willing to travel all the way to Cluj since he lived nearly 3 hours away. He was happy for Michelle to come over and collect from his house. Since the distance was so great and it was an unknown place, Michelle asked to meet half way. He was ok to do that, but the location he sent as the meet up point ended up being some random railway station. It seemed a bit suspicious. One of our team mates recommended that Michelle ask someone from the Cluj office who was conversant in Romanian to accompany him. Michelle did so and one person was more than happy to accompany her when the data and time was fixed. 

This seemed good enough progress for a Monday. Our band of colleagues decided to call it an early day since we had travelled over night and meet up for lunch in the foyer of the hotel. We had some delicious food at a Greek restaurant and called it a day. 

Coming back to my hotel room I missed my kids. I have never travelled by myself. I have always the girls clamouring for my attention. Coming back into the quiet hotel room was a different experience. I got on a call with the girls since it was 1900 in the UK. They filled me in with all the details of what happened at school and back home. After spending nearly an hour chatting with the darlings I asked them to get off to bed. I proceeded to prepare for the next day at work :)  The day sure was most unexpected, filled with an impromptu trip for shopping, developments to secure the lost luggage, lot of help from colleagues at Cluj and some chilled interaction with colleagues. Next day was to be a new day :)