I was at my desk at 09.05 this Monday morning. Nothing extraordinary there but considering I live in South West London and this particular desk was in Newcastle, this represented quite an achievement. And this prompt start was only possible due to a considerate, thoughtful taxi driver. I ordered a taxi at 05.45 on Monday morning. I slept downstairs on the sofa bed to avoid disturbing the household at that unearthly hour....
On the return flight from Newcastle to Heathrow, I was sitting behind a family who were lucky enough to be going to Sydney, Australia for a holiday. I was immediately behind two young lads (8 and 6). Obviously both were very excited at flying for the first time. They were excited when we pushed back, they were nervous when we accelerated down the runway and they were delirious when we left the ground....
Or, in my case: Hello BMI, Goodbye BA. Last Monday, my flight to Newcastle was cancelled and the later one was delayed. When I re-booked at Ticket Sales, I asked whether I could make use of the business lounge as a gesture for the inconvenience caused by the delay. Ticket Sales said that might be possible and to ask at Fast Bag Drop. Fast Bag Drop said that might be possible and to ask in the Business Lounge....
The courteous, cheerful, courtesy bus driver from the car park to Terminal 1 at London Heathrow Airport greeted me with: ‘Got your mobile phone safe, Sir ?’. Unfortunately, I was a little taken aback by this opening gambit and simply replied ‘Oh yes. I do. Thank you.’ Two minutes later, a better retort struck me ‘Yes. I left my flight tickets back in the office. I forgot to print the address of the hotel and my photographic means of identification is back at home but, yes, please rest assured my toy phone with its irritating ring tone is safely here in my pocket....
Just because Prince Philip confirms your hotel booking, don’t assume he will greet you at reception. He won’t. Just because a shopping mall is called Heron City and contains water features, don’t assume there will be herons. There won’t. Just because you spent an hour in a taxi telling the driver, you are flying on British Airways to London, don’t assume he will drop you at the correct terminal. He won’t....
Well it’s been a while but tomorrow I will be resuming my battle with BAA security staff as I pack my thermal underwear for a chilly Stockholm (near Sweden) where I am hoping the Queen’s husband will greet me at the hotel reception. I am giving a presentation (sorry, facilitating a workshop) imaginatively titled ‘Managing Siebel on Oracle’. This should be fun as this is completely new material and should include a lots of hands on practical work which inevitably will provoke a lot of questions and discussion....
You can save lots of time and get even more things done by checking in online for your flight at www.britishairways.com. You can even change your allocated seat (sometimes) which is useful as BA will always allocate an aisle seat if your preference is window and vice-versa. Version 2.0 of the BA site (June 2006) will even include a brief description of your prospective neighbour in order to help you with this difficult choice....
I just think everyone’s out to get me. Search Term: +“Norman Brightside”+“Blog” Please, please don’t let it be the BAA security staff from T4.
The first in an occasional series. No. 1 - O’Reilly’s in Brussels. Difficult to find, particularly if you hold the street map upside down and wander aimlessly down dark, empty streets and end up in Schaerbeek. Easy to find if you hold the map the right way up. Stella - 4 Euro per pint. Lively pub. One big screen and several small screens dotted around. Plenty of seating available. Blackburn 1 - MUFC 1 (Carling Cup Semi Final)....
On Wednesday, I found myself patiently waiting in a queue, talking with a nice lady from Toronto, to get through airport security at Heathrow Terminal 4. Nothing unusual there. Although, for someone from London to exchange pleasantries with a complete stranger is a little unusual (but she started it). However, on this occasion, only two X-ray machines were in use so the queue was a little longer than usual and slowly and relentlessly growing in length....