London, Day -1

Countdown To London
We started the day as a normal Thursday; I got up early, showered, got dressed. Mrs. Farrago did her thing, making herself even purtier than she already is. But then our plan went into effect.

I didn’t feed the birds, as I usually do when I’m not on the road. And Mrs. Farrago didn’t feed them, either, as she does when I am on the road, or when I screw up and leave myself no time to feed them. We woke them up late, and they went almost immediately into their travel cages, and when I was ready to leave for work, we loaded the cages in the little car and I drove them to the birdsitter, where they will stay until our return.

And it was not the typical workday, either. I wore shorts and a t-shirt and sneakers as we’re in the middle of the move. I got to work a little late, thanks to the briefing of the birdsitter, and when I got there I went immediately to moving boxes to the rear of the building, to the loading dock. We are practically half moved into the newer place, but, thanks to my travel schedule of late, I was the only employee of the company, until today, who had not seen the inside of the new place.

As I planned to work only half the day, I finished moving the boxes that were ready to be moved, and I separated and took down the media shelves in the graphic artist’s studio. Then I loaded the box and the computer from my “office” – a patch of counter space in an edit suite – into the car and took them to the new place.

WOW! All I will say, in the interests of not boring you (further), is “room to grow!”

I stayed later than I had intended, and by the time I left – around 1:30 p.m. – traffic getting home was absolutely stupid.

By 2:00 p.m. A, Mrs. Farrago’s nephew, still was without a passport, and time was running out.

I came home to an empty house – a truly empty house, completely devoid of living beings (that I care to know about) – for the first time since I moved in with Mrs. Farrago. After her dog, Cosmo, passed in 2004, there was still Angel, plus the two birds, and Papa Swiss, Mrs. Farrago’s dad. We added a bird in April 2006, and in the following October Papa Swiss moved out. And then, of course, in April of this year we had Angel put down. Today, with the birds away at the sitter, and despite the fact that they don’t care too much for me, it was a lonely feeling walking into the quiet living room and seeing their vacant cages.

I put in a load of laundry, ran out on an errand and returned. Around 6:00 p.m. I got word that A had finally gotten his passport, and all is “go” for his accompanying us to London!

Tomorrow is the day of our departure, and the first time ever on a plane for A. And, since he’s on a different flight reservation than the rest of us, he’s currently booked in a seat several rows in front of Mrs. Farrago and me. It could prove to be an interesting flight.