"Another One Bites"
"Trip Diary,
Summer Party, Gresvik 2009"
Day 1
Do you drive? I do! And now, ladies and
Gentlemen, so does MONICA! Yeah! She passed her test at the second attempt and
now she just goes and goes and goes… and I am so happy for her…… and for me!
She wasn't able to simply swap her U.S.
license for a Spanish one like you can if you're from Ecuador or Romania or any
other super-power nation and we were told that this is because there are 51
States in the United States (they figured that one out) and the laws in each
state were different so, without a federal license you couldn't do the exchange.
I could go on about this but I won't because I have something much better to get
my teeth into…..
I hate it when airlines change their rules
without telling anyone and I really hate it when the check-in moroness decides
to lecture me on how real airlines fly and their rules for checking in guitars.
Norwegian Airlines has a policy of charging
if you want to check in a musical instrument. A policy that is quite apart from
the excess baggage penalty which I understand (but also do not agree with). And
a policy that you have to be psychic to even know about!
Had I have known about this policy, I could
have put the guitar into a soft bag and carried it on the plane but now it was
in its hard case and too big to carry on.
When I dared
to ask about this policy, the moroness told me that all airlines had the same
policy and that´s when I unravelled slightly! I pointed out that, earlier this
very week, I had flown from Moscow to Madrid and then to Alicante with not one
but TWO guitars which I was not charged for and that on NOT ONE single flight in
over 40 years had I ever been charged to check in a guitar. This is not strictly
true because I did once have a problem with Sterling out of Oslo (hmmm…. This
plane is on its way to Oslo ….. ) but that doesn´t count, because they went out
of business and all of their moronesses are inconveniencing other innocent
people in other lines of work now.
She kept on
mumbling about this and I finally told her she was talking rubbish and left!
So Norwegian
bites the dust, although, strictly speaking, it wasn´t actually their fault. I
shall file a formal complaint and demand an apology for the total lack of
courtesy and respect but I'll voice my complaint by moving mine and the band´s
business to another airline.
As a paying
customer, it's good to have choice!
In then end I
went to the supervising agent because the abuse came directly from them and not
the ailine. They gave me a form to fill in which I just tore up and dropped on
the desk, knowing that it would only be ignored anyway! I had it all off my
chest and in the end the flight to Oslo was fine and even a bit early.
Petter picked
me up and we arrived in Fredrikstad early enough for me to unpack and prepare
for dinner.
If you have
read my previous diaries about the Summer Party you already know that
Fredrikstad is a river community and that, at this time of year, the riverfront
is always a very active place.
My plan was to
go there, have a little dinner and wine and get to bed early.
But, I didn't
make it out of the hotel! Once I realised how tired I actually was, I went down
to the hotel restaurant, had a big, juicy burger and an even bigger beer and
went back to my room to sleep.
I really
enjoy and am thankful for life's simple pleasures.
