mzrowan

V's mother died today, late in the day Australia time, in the wee hours of the morning US time. I didn't know her that well, but there's still a touch of sadness to my day. V, of course, is devastated.

A year ago today we getting on a plane to meet Sue in Italy. V and Sue had been talking about taking that trip for years...but never got around to making it happen. They'd even set a date for 2017, but Sue put it off for no clear reason. Well, I am a person who makes things happen, and this time, there would be no excuses. ;-)

And now, of course, I'm so glad I did make it happen, because one more year would have been too late. So Sue threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain in Rome, saw the San Giovanni Feast Day fireworks from a rooftop bar in Florence while drinking too much champagne, got her fortune told by a gay Romani (or so he presented himself as) in the courtyard of Castello Sforzesco in Milan, and toured the Fiat and National Car Museums in Turin (one of her lifetime goals). Among lots of other moments.

I know "never put off your dreams" is a trite thing to say, but seriously, if the only thing stopping you is some vague sense that you're not ready, or that people like you don't get to do things like that...go do it. Now. Life is short, and sometimes it's even shorter than we thought.

Here's a first for me in 20 years of road warrior life: the airline lost my checked bag. (Specifically JetBlue, although I don't think that particularly reflects badly on them compared to any other airline.)

Dropped my bag off at the counter in Boston...went to pick it up after stopping for a quick lunch in the terminal at SFO...no bag. Stopping for lunch meant all the other passengers were gone when I got there, leaving the unsettling possibility that someone had (mistakenly?) walked off with my bag. So after a few days without news, I figured it was gone for good. If someone were going to call in about accidentally taking the wrong bag, they would have done it by then.

But then! I got someone on the phone at JetBlue who had more data. Seems that the only scan they have for my bag tag is when it got dropped off. It should have been scanned when it got on the plane and again when it got off. This makes it more likely that my bag is lost in an airport somewhere, which actually is good news, I think.

I'm again hopeful I will someday get it back. I like that suitcase. It matches my other suitcase. It has stuff in in that is of sentimental value to me, but almost nothing of monetary value, except an extremely old iPad with no data plan.

I feel like I've been living in an urban version of the classic country song lately – my boss up and quit, my cat is sick, and my luggage has left me.

UPDATE: Got my daily call from JetBlue to tell me they haven't found my bag. On the one hand, I get why they feel they need to do that, but on the other hand, it gets my hopes up every. damn. time. Asked this person what info they had and it was different from what I was told last time: the bag was reported as having been loaded on the correct plane. And tag scans on unload are not usually done, so no data there. SFO says they don't have my bag. So we're back to someone took it home?

First thing I'm doing with my new and/or returned luggage is adding a ribbon to the handle and filling out the address tag.