Dorset to Glasgow and back
On Thursday, our eldest grandson flew to Glasgow for a business meeting. There was a severe weather warning in place, with Storm Eowyn expected to wreak havoc, but Callum had not been told of any alteration to plans. While he was waiting for people to arrive and the meeting to begin, a colleague said, ‘Right, I’m off home,’ and wished him farewell. The meeting had been cancelled, but no-one had thought to tell Callum!. Everyone was being advised to go home and stay there.
There being no point in him remaining, Callum decided he had better return home. All flights had been cancelled, so he had to arrange to travel by train. He would reach London Euston just before midnight. He could have stayed with middle daughter, Susannah, in London, but wanted to get home to his pregnant wife and little girl. Eldest daughter, his mother, Gillian, donned her taxi-driver’s hat and drove from Dorset to meet him and take him home.
We were watching Miss Marple, the adaptation with Julia McKenzie in the title role, when the dogs alerted to Alexa announcing, ‘motion detected on the drive.’ That’s nothing unusual, but a few seconds later the front door opened, followed by the porch door, and finally the sitting room door, and Gillian appeared.
Pandemonium ensued as two deliriously happy dogs mobbed her. She had decided to break her journey with us for a couple of hours and gee herself up with coffee before meeting Callum at Watford, the last stop before Euston. That was preferable to driving into London, and made for a shorter journey.
We tried to persuade her to come back to us for the night, but she was adamant that Callum wanted to get home, and we understood that.
It was so nice to see her, all the more so because it was unexpected. We knew she would not reach her home in Dorset much before 2:00 a.m. Consequently, I read until about 2:30, when I could be satisfied she had probably arrived home safely.
Eowyn didn’t do much in our area, but Herminia is threatening now, and many flights into Heathrow have been cancelled.
It has been a cold, wet and windy day, but at least there will be no ‘mercy dash’ by car to pick up a weary son/grandson.
On the other hand, son Gareth is supposed to be on his way to Austria today for a week’s skiing. I hope his time will not be spent in the airport lounge.
I do wish people would be more considerate and tell EVERYONE when a meeting is cancelled. I'm glad everyone made it home safely and hope the skiing son makes it to Austria.
ReplyDeleteIt's not as though he lived just round the corner!
DeleteYour poor Grandson! Fancy not bothering to tell him the meeting had been cancelled. It was very nice of your daughter to go fetch him.
ReplyDeleteThat's my daughter! She drove to Scotland on one occasion to pick up her daughter who was having problems with her pregnancy. She loves driving, which is fortunate.
DeleteTravel can be risky during storms but we like to get home.
ReplyDeleteHome always seems the safest place.
DeleteI was once not told of a cancellation and then not told of the rescheduling. Makes a guy feel wanted.
ReplyDeleteIt's so unnecessary, and it wasn't a local meeting for him.
DeleteWeather can be such an issue!
ReplyDeleteBrits don't cope very well with even slight changes in the weather. 😐
DeleteThat was some blunder. It affected several people quite a bit. I hope everyone is safe now.
ReplyDeleteIt was thoughtlessness. A zoom or Teams meeting would have been better.
DeletePoor communication is one of my pet peeves - it can have real, onerous repercussions, like the ones your grandson and thus your daughter had to contend with. Most of the time, there is literally no excuse for it, and even when there is a reason, an apology should be forthcoming by the responsible party. (Did grandson receive an apology?)
ReplyDeleteI expect they were apologetic in that shoulder-shrugging way some people have! 😐
DeleteAll's well that ends well? But very annoying
ReplyDeleteCallum was just relieved to reach home.
DeleteIt’s moments like these, even amidst a bit of chaos, that highlight the importance of family and support.
ReplyDeleteGillian's family are very close. She's an excellent mum.
DeleteThat must have been so annoying. Thank goodness there were family to fall back on, including you being able to host Gillian for a much needed break.
ReplyDeleteIt was so nice to see her, if only for a short while.
DeleteMy word those storms are chasing one another across your Isles. What a waste of Callum's time. In this age of digital meetings it's also a huge waste of money and resources to travel to meetings.
ReplyDeleteExactly! The meeting could have been conducted quite satisfactorily on Zoom or Teams, unless security was involved, which may well have been the case.
DeleteI did not realize you get bad storms in the winter months, and am happy to hear the canceled trip ended well with everyone home safe plus you had the unexpected visitor. ditto what Tiggers Mum said about the waste of time and money flying to meetings these days especailly during bad weather.
ReplyDeleteAll done now, until the next time!
DeleteWild weather for your grandson to be out in. How nice that someone in the family can pick him up and drive him all the way home when they finally reached him. But what a worry with the storms. Thankfully ours have calmed down for this week and warming up a tad. It is such a worry.
ReplyDeleteBad weather creates many problems, but UK doesn't suffer as greatly as many other countries.
DeleteIt's interesting to hear about your rather large family. I was inclined to ask how you keep up with them all, but then I do so with my large family. Well, I remember their names at least.
ReplyDeleteRemembering their names is commendable. It's more than Barry usually manages. 🤣😂
DeleteThat must have been frustrating to have traveled all that way and to find out that the meeting had been cancelled.
ReplyDeleteHe wasn't best pleased.
DeleteWhy do we have to have foreign storm names such as Eowyn or Herminia, why not good old English names like Storm Janice or Storm Barry - each devastating in their own right.
ReplyDeleteThey usually have two syllable names, though Bert and Wren are named for 2024-2025. I agree, Janice and Barry sound pretty cataclysmic, but I fear they would be more of a bang and a whimper.
DeleteThat was a nice unexpected get together! I am so glad that my air travel days are over, way too many hours spent in airports.
ReplyDeleteThat's my husband's cry. He spent so much time travelling for business and got heartily sick of airports.
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